5thWardCalifornia

thanks. I don't know if bumping old threads is frowned upon on this forum as it is on some others, but I have nothing to contribute about present day Houston . I found this board because I plan on moving back to Houston in the near future and I wanted to see what was happening and find out about the housing market and desirable/undesirable area's. The house I grew up in near Lyons/Lockwood has been torn down, but my family still owns the land. I don't plan on building there. I guess being a child out there, I had a different view of everything. Yeah, we had street fights, and we passed lots of abandoned homes on our way to school. most of the people I knew were poor. Some were REALLY poor, and others were doing well...but it didn't seem that bad. the Hester House was a great place to go, the schools I went to (Atherton Elem. and Fleming Middle) were actually some of the best schools I ever attended...with teachers who knew everyones parents and actually seemed to care...it was a short trip to downtown...and all of the people on the street knew my mom as a child. There was the late Mickey Leland's grandmother who was a dear person to me, A lady who's son was a Harlem Globe Trotter...another who's nephew was a world famous R&B singer...but all of those people are dead now, And I've heard that the neighborhood bears no resemblance to the one I knew. I heard that on several occassions a few years ago...men stood on the Roof of the Health Clinic and shot at HPD cars traveling down Lyons Ave. woah...

I grew up within a block of that clinic...on Sam Wilson St. we used to play ball in the parking lot and even sneak up on the roof and look out over Lyons. Ave. My mother told me about the Lyons. Ave. of old. She said the area was black middle class and Lyons Ave. was their shopping district, especially since they weren't always welcomed in stores like Woolworths downtown. So, Lyons Ave. it was. I remember being a kid out there in the 80's and seeing the old abandoned theatre and other businesses. It was a sad sight even back then. I left in 1987...during the crack era and right before my neighborhood became a warzone...but still not as bad as other parts of 5th Ward.