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The "Armpit of Houston"


Howard Huge

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Montrose1100's analogy is spot-on, I think!  :-)

 

I love Houston, so I don't want to single out any particular armpit for special attention ... that would be like telling your children which one was your favorite.

 

That said, in my opinion, I would not worry as much about Gulfton.  There are children who are much more homely than that in this house!  Gulfton is like a child who might have seemed if she had a chance at a teen beauty contest, but instead ran off with a drug-abusing boyfriend.  She's older and wiser and has reached a state in which she has a bit of charm.

I've never seen charm in Gulfton today or ever. Building huge, multi-block low-rise apartments was a recipe for disaster...probably was a cheap and efficient tactic for the fast-growing city in the 1970s, but there's no way that could've worked out well.

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I don't get the hate for gulfton. It's the most diverse part of houston and best variety of food also. The irony in the early 80's it was a hip place for young professionals (white) but now that's it's full of people of color the same place is ghetto. Subliminal and perhaps involuntary racism. but yet on the other side of chimney rock is bellaire which is the place to be. Very odd but disturbing also to see people's mindset on this.

I don't get the hate for gulfton. It's the most diverse part of houston and best variety of food also. The irony in the early 80's it was a hip place for young professionals (white) but now that's it's full of people of color the same place is ghetto. Subliminal and perhaps involuntary racism. but yet on the other side of chimney rock is bellaire which is the place to be. Very odd but disturbing also to see people's mindset on this.

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I've never seen charm in Gulfton today or ever. Building huge, multi-block low-rise apartments was a recipe for disaster...probably was a cheap and efficient tactic for the fast-growing city in the 1970s, but there's no way that could've worked out well.

Gulfton is the most densely populated area in Texas.

 

It is an example of what other parts of Houston will become.  We cannot accommodate another 4-5 million without looking towards high density neighborhoods like this.  I agree with Slick that its interesting and there is some really fascinating cafes there.  Though I think there are certainly lessons to be learned.

 

I wouldn't ever call it charming.  But I do not think of it as the single worst area in Houston.

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I don't consider the Gulfton area "diverse". Sugar Land is diverse. Gulfton is just a ghetto pretty much controlled by Hispanic gangs.  

 

I do remember when it was new and had disco clubs and a party atmosphere. I had a lot of friends that lived in the area. But the apartments were cheaply built and not maintained so it was inevitable it would succumb to the poor. They are probably still paying more then it's worth.

 

I don't blame it becoming a ghetto on "class" so much as typical Houston slum lords. 

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ehhhh... Gulfton was pretty sketch even when new.  Where else could you rent an apartment and get a new video recorder?

Believe it or not, such giveaways were common in the 1970s and 1980s. Sign a lease, get a 12 gauge shotgun!

Gulfton is the most densely populated area in Texas.

It is an example of what other parts of Houston will become. We cannot accommodate another 4-5 million without looking towards high density neighborhoods like this. I agree with Slick that its interesting and there is some really fascinating cafes there. Though I think there are certainly lessons to be learned.

I wouldn't ever call it charming. But I do not think of it as the single worst area in Houston.

Well, some tasty restaurants aren't enough to absolve a neighborhood of its problems. But the thing is, if you are a fan of denser development, you don't want to have an endless sprawl of 2-story cheaply-built apartment complexes. One of the reasons it's so full of crime is that IS so concentrated, not unlike government-funded high-rise projects for the poor that are now universally acknowledged to be failures, and because there are just a handful of separate owners, there's now huge low-rent areas with no other better land values to off-set it (that's how Sharpstown is in a much better position, because there are S/F homes to balance with apartment buildings.

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I don't consider the Gulfton area "diverse". Sugar Land is diverse. Gulfton is just a ghetto pretty much controlled by Hispanic gangs.

I do remember when it was new and had disco clubs and a party atmosphere. I had a lot of friends that lived in the area. But the apartments were cheaply built and not maintained so it was inevitable it would succumb to the poor. They are probably still paying more then it's worth.

I don't blame it becoming a ghetto on "class" so much as typical Houston slum lords.

I guess you haven't been to gulfton. Go the the fiesta on bellaire and hillcroft it is the most diverse place in houston. Africans, Arabs, south Asians, Mexicans, central Americans and blacks it's quite fascinating.

Sugar Land is not diverse, it has whites Indians and Vietnamese/Chinese. How is that diverse when there are slim to zero blacks and Latinos? Seriously I have a lot of friends from sugar land that until college had never had a class with a black or Latino person.

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Believe it or not, such giveaways were common in the 1970s and 1980s. Sign a lease, get a 12 gauge shotgun!

Well, some tasty restaurants aren't enough to absolve a neighborhood of its problems. But the thing is, if you are a fan of denser development, you don't want to have an endless sprawl of 2-story cheaply-built apartment complexes. One of the reasons it's so full of crime is that IS so concentrated, not unlike government-funded high-rise projects for the poor that are now universally acknowledged to be failures, and because there are just a handful of separate owners, there's now huge low-rent areas with no other better land values to off-set it (that's how Sharpstown is in a much better position, because there are S/F homes to balance with apartment buildings.

I guess New York and San francisco should be full of crime because they are so dense?

Hilarious that you think of sharps town better than gulfton it's not even a comparison. Also on both sides of fountain view and hillcroft are a lot of single family homes. Actually there are a lot of young professionals moving to fondren and hillcroft area a bit south near braeswood.

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I guess New York and San francisco should be full of crime because they are so dense?

Well, gee, if you watch a crime show on TV, guess where it is?

In all seriousness, though, NYC was notorious for crime in the 1970s, and there are still major parts of both cities that are still very sketchy, to say the least. Furthermore, there are multiple studies linking density with crime, and especially poverty with crime. (I would also associate aging infrastructure, though I'm not sure if there's hard studies on that)

And if what you're saying is true about people moving back to Gulfton, then if gentrification continues to hold, then the slumlords will sell out and evict everyone living in those apartments for nicer, newer apartments, and the process begins anew.

Know what? Forget it, it's not worth arguing and de-railing the topic over, as everything reply, no matter how factual, just represents a challenge that needs to be replied to

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I guess you haven't been to gulfton. Go the the fiesta on bellaire and hillcroft it is the most diverse place in houston. Africans, Arabs, south Asians, Mexicans, central Americans and blacks it's quite fascinating.

Sugar Land is not diverse, it has whites Indians and Vietnamese/Chinese. How is that diverse when there are slim to zero blacks and Latinos? Seriously I have a lot of friends from sugar land that until college had never had a class with a black or Latino person.

Oh I've been to Gulfton. Too many times. And I'm not talking about Fiesta. I'm talking about Gulfton. It's not any where near the most diverse Houston area.

 

Just because an area is not loaded with blacks and latinos does not mean it's not diverse.

 

Fiesta attracts many many ethnic groups.  That's why I love Fiesta. They have everything. 

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Oh I've been to Gulfton. Too many times. And I'm not talking about Fiesta. I'm talking about Gulfton. It's not any where near the most diverse Houston area.

Just because an area is not loaded with blacks and latinos does not mean it's not diverse.

Fiesta attracts many many ethnic groups. That's why I love Fiesta. They have everything.

I disagree. An area with only two particular types of minorities to me is not diverse. Gulfton is diverse. People shop at that fiesta because it's close to them, many people in that area don't have vehicles so it's not even a choice. I go to gulfton 5 times a week so I know it as well as anyone.

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Well, gee, if you watch a crime show on TV, guess where it is?

In all seriousness, though, NYC was notorious for crime in the 1970s, and there are still major parts of both cities that are still very sketchy, to say the least. Furthermore, there are multiple studies linking density with crime, and especially poverty with crime. (I would also associate aging infrastructure, though I'm not sure if there's hard studies on that)

And if what you're saying is true about people moving back to Gulfton, then if gentrification continues to hold, then the slumlords will sell out and evict everyone living in those apartments for nicer, newer apartments, and the process begins anew.

Know what? Forget it, it's not worth arguing and de-railing the topic over, as everything reply, no matter how factual, just represents a challenge that needs to be replied to

Major parts of San francisco and New York? Give me a break you can find a handful of dangerous neighborhoods of you combine them. Mission, Brownsville, bed stuy, and maybe queensbridge. That's it.

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Armpit of Houston? Elysian/Hardy area from Downtown up to the North Loop. No retail to speak of. Maybe a gas station or two. There corridor just screams "lock your doors!" West side of North Side will be redeveloped long before the east side--if ever...

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I disagree. An area with only two particular types of minorities to me is not diverse. Gulfton is diverse. People shop at that fiesta because it's close to them, many people in that area don't have vehicles so it's not even a choice. I go to gulfton 5 times a week so I know it as well as anyone.

You contradict yourself in your first three sentences!

As of the 2010 census Sugar Land had a population of 78,817. The ethnic and racial makeup of the population was 44.4% non-Hispanic white, 7.3% non-Hispanic black, 0.2% non-Hispanic Native American, 35.1% non-Hispanic Asian, 0.2% non-Hispanic from some other race, 2.2% non-Hispanic from two or more races and 10.6% Hispanic or Latino.

(from Wikipedia)

So 45% White, 7% Black, 35% Asian (a third of that is Indian), 11% Hispanic, 2% everyone else.

Here's the Super Neighborhood info on Gulfton: 75% Hispanic, 11% White, 9% Black, 7% Asian, 1% everyone else.

The biggest two majority groups COMBINED in Sugar Land are just five percent more than the single biggest majority in Gulfton.

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You contradict yourself in your first three sentences!

(from Wikipedia)

So 45% White, 7% Black, 35% Asian (a third of that is Indian), 11% Hispanic, 2% everyone else.

Here's the Super Neighborhood info on Gulfton: 75% Hispanic, 11% White, 9% Black, 7% Asian, 1% everyone else.

The biggest two majority groups COMBINED in Sugar Land are just five percent more than the single biggest majority in Gulfton.

Hispanic is diverse within itself. You probably just think mexican. But no, there are Mexicans, salvadorians, Guatemalans, and Hondurans, plus some Panamanians, Venezuelans, Colombians, Bolivians, and Peruvians.

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Hispanic is diverse within itself. You probably just think mexican. But no, there are Mexicans, salvadorians, Guatemalans, and Hondurans, plus some Panamanians, Venezuelans, Colombians, Bolivians, and Peruvians.

 

Not mention Cuban and Puerto Rican. Okay I'll give you that. Hispanics can be very diverse but your idea of diversity and mine are completely different. I will say I used to work near the Gulfton area but haven't been around there in at least 5 years. Maybe it's changed but I can't imagine the area improving any. Not without tearing down a whole bunch of run down apartments.     

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I don't like having run-down, poorly maintained apartments either.  I would love for places like Gullfton to be redeveloped into places that attracts the larger community, rather than being used as an example of what the city should be ashamed of.

 

But ... nevertheless, people have to live somewhere.  And, if they can't afford Memorial or Sugar Land, they have to settle on something.  For that matter, maybe Gulfton is better than where some folks came from, at least in some ways.

 

In reading the comments here, I can see where everyone is coming from.  However, I think its good to consider that we are also talking (directly or not) about the people who live there, who are our fellow human beings and -- in the great majority -- are good people.

 

 

 

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Hispanic is diverse within itself. You probably just think mexican. But no, there are Mexicans, salvadorians, Guatemalans, and Hondurans, plus some Panamanians, Venezuelans, Colombians, Bolivians, and Peruvians.

 

Anyone that doubts that there are significant differences within "Hispanic" should try calling a native of any other Central American country besides Mexico a Mexican, and see how quickly said native gets really PO'd. 

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Hispanic is diverse within itself. You probably just think mexican. But no, there are Mexicans, salvadorians, Guatemalans, and Hondurans, plus some Panamanians, Venezuelans, Colombians, Bolivians, and Peruvians.

 

Aren't all of the races listed diverse within themselves?  Are there countries called White, Black, and Asian? 

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I guess you haven't been to gulfton. Go the the fiesta on bellaire and hillcroft it is the most diverse place in houston. Africans, Arabs, south Asians, Mexicans, central Americans and blacks it's quite fascinating.

 

 

I see the same thing at the Fiesta at Westheimer and Dairy Ashford, plus Vietnamese and Chinese.

 

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