Market Street In The Woodlands

[bachanon]

it seems that market street is the place to be for bored woodlands' teenagers. hundreds of them are flocking there to linger after most of the upscale businesses close. the mounted police are trying to move them out, but it's kind of a kick in the ass. market street was created to be a place to be, to linger. but these fiesty, pot smoking (i've smelled it) teenagers are making it the place to loiter, run in to friends from school and continue their snooty lifestyles, long after school is out. this was not in the "master plan"

i'll admit, i adore these kids, but hell, parents. do you know where your kids are at 10PM on a friday night. sorry folks, but 15 year olds have no business "lingering" with tons of other minors in a public place late at night. just because the streets of market street are lined with limos, porsches and mercedes does not mean it's ok for kids to run amok. some of you woodlands' residents have 250K home theaters and back yard theme parks for god's sake. make them have a curfew and keep 'em home. there are fun thing to do there, with your supervision.

fine, good, ok. just say it...........bach gets real.

[Guest danax]

I think you've pointed out something perhaps hadn't been considered when these suburban town center type projects were drawn up and, is unavoidable; that they're in family-based communities and any place that is made to attract people will likely end up being the latest version of the mall; a teen hangout.

The "simple" solution would be to enforce a 10pm curfew for unsupervised, under 17 kids on the premises, but how would they be sure if a child was with their parents or not?

Kids that age don't want to hang around watching movies or playing endless video games like when they were younger. They want to socialize and will find places to congregate. Better there than on street corners.

I suppose that's the "good side" of the inner-loop schools having a mostly poor reputation; you develop mostly adult communities.

[bachanon]

i think these kids are good; however, market street seemed like a great place to chill with your adult friends or a date and now it's kind of uncomfortable with all these kids with attitude. people will not not want to go there and spend money if it's an extension of twhs or cphs.

maybe the managers of market street should blare nat king cole or etta james after 10PM.

my hope is that after they build waterway square and more retail along the waterway, there will be more places to be and the concentration of kids will disperse.

[RedScare]

Several months ago, a thread was started about suburban developments being teenage wastelands. Debate raged for several weeks about whether cities were better places for teenagers, since there was more to do. This post somewhat reinforces that thought.

The Woodlands, like many other suburban developments, is an adult playground. It is also a YOUNG family playground. What it is not, is a teenager's playground. There are shopping centers, restaurants, golf courses and tennis courts for the adults. There are playgrounds, Chuck_E-Cheese's, daycares, churches and parks for young families to spend time together.

There are ballfields, schools and other places for ORGANIZED teen activity. What the Woodlands lacks, is any place for teens to hang out away from their parents, which is critical to the process of growing up and becoming an individual. Suburban developers do not plan these things because parents do not ask for them. Indeed, they do not want them. Bachanon himself, mentioned that there are things for teens to do at home. That is, in fact, the whole point. Teens want to socialize with other teens away from home.

Since these teens are not independently wealthy (it comes from their parents), they can't or don't always want to hang out in stores or arcades. The parks in the Woodlands generally cater to families, not teens. The layout of the Woodlands discourages pedestrian activity. So, when a space is developed that encourages low cost pedestrian activity, teens will congregate. Such is Market Street.

Rather than run these kids off, Woodlands planners should supervise them in a way that does not force them to find another place. Perhaps recruiting some stores that cater to teens, placed in a section of the development that allows them to congregate, would work. But, forcing them to stay home, or only go out with their parents, is a disaster waiting to happen. Even Wally and the Beaver hung out in the neighborhood with their friends occasionally.

[editor]

it seems that market street is the place to be for bored woodlands' teenagers. hundreds of them are flocking there to linger after most of the upscale businesses close. the mounted police are trying to move them out, but it's kind of a kick in the ass. market street was created to be a place to be, to linger. but these fiesty, pot smoking (i've smelled it) teenagers are making it the place to loiter, run in to friends from school and continue their snooty lifestyles, long after school is out. this was not in the "master plan"

i'll admit, i adore these kids, but hell, parents. do you know where your kids are at 10PM on a friday night. sorry folks, but 15 year olds have no business "lingering" with tons of other minors in a public place late at night. just because the streets of market street are lined with limos, porsches and mercedes does not mean it's ok for kids to run amok. some of you woodlands' residents have 250K home theaters and back yard theme parks for god's sake. make them have a curfew and keep 'em home. there are fun thing to do there, with your supervision.

fine, good, ok. just say it...........bach gets real.

I can solve this problem with two words:

Free Xboxes

[KatieDidIt]

Well, there is a younger end to Market Street with Johnny Rockets and Extreme Pizza and that Ice Cream Place. How about putting a large gaming Arcade in that area. They can hang out there, flip-flopping along with their tight tees and guts hanging over their far too low, glittery hip huggers.

There is a REAL lack of parenting skills these days. I honestly don't think these parents care where their 15 year olds are at night. The language that comes out of these kids, and I mean the younger ones too, is amazing. I have noticed a lot of disrespect and shear brattiness that I have never witnessed before.And why do the parents let these girls dress so horribly up here? WOW.I know kids that have FAR wealthier parents than this crew, and they don't act this way. Maybe its boredom or its like a suburban thing. Or brain damage derived from training to be a Pro-Cheerleader since they were 6.

My husband and I tell each other, when we see this stuff, that we really have our work is cut out for us.

[bachanon]

it's unfortunate that style has become confused with slutty. my niece constantly claims that her clothes are "sexy". i think they look like something a stripper or a prostitute would wear.

maybe we should start a mountain/wilderness commune for teens (with teachers head hunted from kinkaid of course) they get to leave when they are 12 and come home when they are 18. they can skip the artificial society called high school. when they attend their freshman year of college they will be bewildered at how strange the other kids seem.

is it time to dismantle the public school system? isn't age specific education over? let everyone learn at their own pace. camille paglia had a great article in salon some time back about this very thing. let the 14 year olds who accel at programming get a job as an apprentice and move in that direction without four more years of wasted efforts.

oops, on the soap box.......off now

[editor]

i think these kids are good; however, market street seemed like a great place to chill with your adult friends or a date and now it's kind of uncomfortable with all these kids with attitude. people will not not want to go there and spend money if it's an extension of twhs or cphs.

maybe the managers of market street should blare nat king cole or etta james after 10PM.

my hope is that after they build waterway square and more retail along the waterway, there will be more places to be and the concentration of kids will disperse.

I seem to recall some city I visited once played Mozart in public spaces to keep the kids from congregating.

It sounds like these kids are tresspassing. Putting a few in handcuffs for a couple of hours will certainly get the message across.

[rps324]

They can hang out there, flip-flopping along with their tight tees and guts hanging over their far too low, glittery hip huggers.

yes the back-fat propping out between the jeans and the short blouse is always a fetching look. When did walking around looking like a busted can of biscuits come into fashion anyway?

[KatieDidIt]

When did walking around looking like a busted can of biscuits come into fashion anyway

Ah. That made me laugh.

If you transplanted one of those gals back in time to an 1980's High School............oh that would be funny.

[RedScare]

You guys are funny. Reminds me of what parents said in the 20s...and 30s...and 40s...and 50s...and 60s...and 70s...and 80s...and 80s. I would not worry about these kids too much. Given that our parents were so worried about us, and now the US is so conservative it sounds like the Taliban took over, I don't think these kids will turn out so bad. In a decade or so, they will probably be more conservative than we are....and we'll have to tell them to lighten up!

[DJ V Lawrence]

It's not like they're not doing anything you guys were doing in high school...

we're in trouble

[pineda]

Bach-

Maybe some of the parents living in the Woodlands are out partying on Friday night themselves, without their kids, of course. They won't be back until the bars close or the party's over, and since their kids are old to babysit themselves, they feel perfectly at-ease leaving them to their own devices. Maybe some parents think that once the kid has car keys, the parent has lost control over them anyway. Maybe some parents think that the kids are old enough and responsible enough to take care of themselves, especially in the idyllic Woodlands, what could happen there, right? Maybe some are tired and just don't care anymore. Maybe some parents were lied to, having been told that their Susie or Sam was spending the night over so-and-so's house, and then the kids just walked on the footpaths over to hang at Market Street.

What's the solution? Should we round them all up and arrest the lot of them? Nope, that would be bad press for the Woodlands, so that would never happen. How about if we build them a skateboard park? Nope, it's been done and it's turned out to be a nightmare for the neighbors nearby. Why don't we offer them an arcade or a "Teen Center"? Nope, they'll get bored with it quick and be back out on the streets. Besides, kids can smell any attempt to herd them together into these kinds of places, and are naturally repelled by these attempts by well-meaning grown-ups. How about a curfew? Do they work in Houston? How much extra will that cost to fund this program? How successful would it really be? Who knows? The best you can probably hope for is just to station extra cops around Market Street to make sure the adults can feel safe walking around with the teenagers there, and hope for the best.

[MidtownCoog]

pot smoking (i've smelled it)

At least they sound normal.

[f95kai]

I'm with Red Scare on this one., and I'm sick and tired of these self-righteous people like Katie did it. Get a grip.

I love The Woodlands for noe, my kids are 8,5,3. Once my eldest reaches 15 or 16, we'll move back to a city.

[TJones]

Bach, ummm....remember those things in the 80's that were huge with the teenagers hanging out at and loitering, and security would eventually have to run us off ? They were called Malls. Sounds like a case of same stuff...different day my friend. Suburbs have always been "teenage wastelands". It looks like most of us came out ok.

........and as far as fashion goes Katie and RPS.... I'll bet that there are a couple of pictures with you in a pair of parachute pants and big frothy hair, stuffed in the bottom of some box somewhere in the back of your closet, with your Madonna lacey skirt and Denim jacket with Metallica and Iron Maiden patches all over it. Hypocrites !

[sevfiv]

I'm sick and tired of these self-righteous people like Katie did it. Get a grip.

she was just pointing out her observations...it isn't self-righteous to comment on the ways teenagers dress or how their parents parent...

plus, you gotta admit, oozing pillsbury is gross!

[HeightsGuy]

Red Scare, I'm with you too. As a card carrying Gen X member, I can honestly say the country will be in pretty good hands when we take over. That's a far cry from what we were thought of when "Slackers" was in the box office. It's gotten so bad that I've heard reports of Nirvana in Mix 96.5's rotation.

[KatieDidIt]

I'm with Red Scare on this one., and I'm sick and tired of these self-righteous people like Katie did it. Get a grip.

I love The Woodlands for noe, my kids are 8,5,3. Once my eldest reaches 15 or 16, we'll move back to a city.

You have no clue who I am or where I come from, so stuff it. Personal attacks are not cool.

[bachanon]

play nice.

BTW, i never loitered. yes, it was the eighties and i did have duran, duran hair, a closet full of matinique, willie wear, generra, and occasionally eye liner when going to clubs or concerts, but i never loitered. until i was 16 or so, bedtime was nine o'clock around our house. any and all activities were supervised by adults until i went to college.

[KatieDidIt]

play nice.

BTW, i never loitered. yes, it was the eighties and i did have duran, duran hair, a closet full of matinique, willie wear, generra, and occasionally eye liner when going to clubs or concerts, but i never loitered. until i was 16 or so, bedtime was nine o'clock around our house. any and all activities were supervised by adults until i went to college.

Bach you and I seem to come from the same planet, and I'm a Gen Xer.

Regaurding the other, personal opinions are fine, personal attacks are not.

[RedScare]

I admit it. I loitered...amongst other things.

[TJones]

I was a victim of Z.Cavarichi pants, Coca-Cola gear, and Swatch watches. If you were hanging out at the Mall, doing nothing but talking to your friends and trying to be cool, YOU WERE LOITERING !

Now I have to wear POLO shirts and Khaki pants, and be somewhat PC around my co-workers, and worry if I'm raising my 3 yr. old right, and with another child on the way now, how in the world do I teach them NOT to do the things I did growing up.

[Montrose1100]

There was a big fight up in market street a week or so ago... I was walking in the "Central Park" and there were 100s of teenagers, 1,000s of kids, and alot of adults. Then, 2 people got into a fight, which turned into 4 people, and they were rolling around the lawn. The little kids were running everywhere, it was obscene. I remember the little red biker guy trying to stop then... That was sad. Then the police were everywhere when it had been finished for 10 mins.

[rps324]

Bach, ummm....remember those things in the 80's that were huge with the teenagers hanging out at and loitering, and security would eventually have to run us off ? They were called Malls. Sounds like a case of same stuff...different day my friend. Suburbs have always been "teenage wastelands". It looks like most of us came out ok.

........and as far as fashion goes Katie and RPS.... I'll bet that there are a couple of pictures with you in a pair of parachute pants and big frothy hair, stuffed in the bottom of some box somewhere in the back of your closet, with your Madonna lacey skirt and Denim jacket with Metallica and Iron Maiden patches all over it. Hypocrites !

Well I didn't have the Madonna lacey skirt....

[ConstructionManagerMAS]

Several months ago, a thread was started about suburban developments being teenage wastelands. Debate raged for several weeks about whether cities were better places for teenagers, since there was more to do. This post somewhat reinforces that thought.

Well I grew up in a rural area not far from here. The largest town in the county had about 3,000 people. And I think the "teenage wasteland" moniker could have been applied there also. I remember some wild "pasture parties". It was our equivalent of a mall. The teenage years can be very dangerous. I think parent and adult guardians have to be very vigilant (and involved) no matter where you live.

[HeightsGuy]

Well I didn't have the Madonna lacey skirt....

I'll bet TJones did, you know how those shifty conservative types are;)

[TJones]

I'll bet TJones did, you know how those shifty conservative types are;)

The only Lacey ANYTHING at my house, were the panties left in my bedroom by my girlfriends.

I don't appreciate the personal attacks either, you liberals leave me alone, can't we all just get along ?

[VicMan]

I suppose that's the "good side" of the inner-loop schools having a mostly poor reputation; you develop mostly adult communities.

That is actually moreso many of the "between inner loop and beltway" schools and the inner loop schools really, really close to downtown and on the east, north, and south sides. The inner West side (West U/Bellaire/River Oaks/Meyerland/Upper Kirby/Braeswood) schools are very popular. The Edwards in the west side inner loop is seen with tons of kids. Briar Forest, Spring Branch, and some of the Uptown elementaries also have good reps, so expect kids there too. Of course, there are also tons of kids in areas with not so good school reps, including the East End, Sharpstown, Gulfton, Northline, and Hobby Airport areas.

[f95kai]

You're right, I apologize for having been mean.