War Zone On FM 1960?

[TJones]

Doesn't 1960 have an actual name? I know SH6 is technically Addicks-Satsuma Rd. I'm thinking a new name would be good for the area.

FM1960 apparently is (AKA) Jackrabbit Rd.

THis name would certainly fit what I saw in that video from last Saturday night. That is what everyone looked like, scared Jackrabbits, runnin for the hills, or the nearest METRO bus ?

[Vertigo58]

FM1960 apparently is (AKA) Jackrabbit Rd.

THis name would certainly fit what I saw in that video from last Saturday night. That is what everyone looked like, scared Jackrabbits, runnin for the hills, or the nearest METRO bus ?

[TJones]

Armageddon Heights

That has a nice ring to it.

[editor]

Bus routes expanding in a neighborhood are a sign of that neighborhood's change, not the cause of it.

In a fantasy world where transit systems had tons of money to expand their tentacles into areas where the service isn't needed -- that's where the "buses bring crime" fear would make sense.

But the fact is that most transit systems, Metro included, are only given enough money to run in the areas with the highest demand. If there's no demand, there's no buses. It's very easy to audit the number of people who get on a bus (and to a lesser extent getting off) to determine if buses are needed in a particular area.

Blaming buses for bringing crime is just lashing out at an obvious symbol of urbanization. The problem is not the buses, it's the crime that is already there.

The problem is that we're all looking for a single "right" answer. There isn't one. I've seen multiple right answers in this thread that when combined do a fair job of explaining the changes in 1960.

Fact: Before there were cars, there was virtually no crime in that area at all. Maybe everyone should get rid of their cars and it would be a utopian paradise? Maybe not.

[psilverot]

I have to agree. Very NICE neighborhood.

I was at F. M. 1960 to go to the Container Store to get a special board... Greenwood Forest looked like a Memorial in the northside.

Which stretch of F. M. 1960 is having the crime issues?

Also, I see this as an inevitable decline. Suburbs age, folks.

[hbcu]

road access to older, neighborhoods in Houston has made 1960 to what it is now

for example...veterans memorial runs from I-45 in Acres Home all the way to 1960..so if I lived out there, I can take a bus to work and maybe even move out there now as the bus gives me a reason to live far away. But if you observe Veterans past the Beltwat towards 1960, there are alot of starter homes that were built years ago which is pretty easy to get into...eventually, those folks in those homes move out and someone else moves in...

With a straight shot from Greenspoint and affordable housing in the area, the area was set up to change demographically. As you can see, the Champions area was built and managed well over the years and it hasn't changed but cheap investment property on that end of 1960 by probably some of the same folks who live in Champions have made a turn for the worse.

[TheNiche]

With a straight shot from Greenspoint and affordable housing in the area, the area was set up to change demographically. As you can see, the Champions area was built and managed well over the years and it hasn't changed but cheap investment property on that end of 1960 by probably some of the same folks who live in Champions have made a turn for the worse.

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner.

The bus route is symptomatic of some aging and poorly managed apartments; the greater threat and one that is for some reason off the radar to most people north of 1960 is that there has been explosive growth just opposite the highway from them of a sort that would be analogous to Sunnyside just after WW2. Cheap housing for the lower-middle class becomes crappy shacks for po' folks in a short period of time. ...but hey, in 50 or 60 years, your neck of the woods will be putting out world-class rappers (or the equivalent).

[Guest Marty]

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner.

The bus route is symptomatic of some aging and poorly managed apartments; the greater threat and one that is for some reason off the radar to most people north of 1960 is that there has been explosive growth just opposite the highway from them of a sort that would be analogous to Sunnyside just after WW2. Cheap housing for the lower-middle class becomes crappy shacks for po' folks in a short period of time. ...but hey, in 50 or 60 years, your neck of the woods will be putting out world-class rappers (or the equivalent).

If you are talking about east of I 45 then you are correct it's starting to look like Greenspoint more and more everyday.

[TheNiche]

If you are talking about east of I 45 then you are correct it's starting to look like Greenspoint more and more everyday.

That area too. I drove through a neighborhood in that area just on the north side of a large industrial park that had converted a lot of land to a new trailer park. ...it's been a long time since I've seen a new trailer park.

[mrfootball]

RE: East of I-45

That's not in the 'GNW', I've always considered that area more or less the 'Greenspoint' area, part of Aldine ISD, which is nice segway to bring us back to the original topic. That area is right next to where this incident occured. And it has never been a very nice area.

While that (Aldine/Greenspoint) area is rough, it pales in comparison the real 'war zone' in SW Houston. In the time we've been talking about this incident, several people have been gunned down, raped and murdered in SW Houston.

[PureAuteur]

Criminals may not use Metro to get them to the crime scene but perception is sometimes as important as reality. The fact that a lot of people think that Metro bus lines increase crime causes them to avoid areas that have a lot of bustops. When I'm shopping for a house the first thing I want is to be as far away from an apartment complex as possbile, but the second thing I want to be away from is a bus stop. I'm sure there are a lot of people that think the same way. This can cause homes sales near bus stops and apt. complexes to slow and prices to drop which leads to more crime.

I now avoid Westheimer at all costs because of all the bums and drug addicts at the bus stops staring at me. There are good people who ride the bus too and I feel sorry for them having to sit next to the criminals. I had a friend over from Europe a few months back. He was appalled at the people hanging around the bus stops. I was embarrassed for our city. I made sure not to take him down Westheimer again. My wife will no longer drive our convertible with the top down... too many bums standing right next to the car staring at us from bus stops. We're going to sell it and probably won't get a convertible again.

Your loss. I was driving down Westheimer around Fondren last weekend, and I saw the types you're talking about, but to give up on a cool car because the premiere road in our city is going downhill is probably overreacting. I did instinctively lock my doors when I got to the light at Fondren though. Westheimer, for the most part, is still very safe. It is the westside afterall, and bordered by the Memorial and Briar Forest neighborhoods to the north, but that intersection at Fondren is like the gateway to the SW side, and it gives you just a little taste of the jungle as you drive past.

[PureAuteur]

Criminals may not use Metro to get them to the crime scene but perception is sometimes as important as reality. The fact that a lot of people think that Metro bus lines increase crime causes them to avoid areas that have a lot of bustops. When I'm shopping for a house the first thing I want is to be as far away from an apartment complex as possbile, but the second thing I want to be away from is a bus stop. I'm sure there are a lot of people that think the same way. This can cause homes sales near bus stops and apt. complexes to slow and prices to drop which leads to more crime.

I now avoid Westheimer at all costs because of all the bums and drug addicts at the bus stops staring at me. There are good people who ride the bus too and I feel sorry for them having to sit next to the criminals. I had a friend over from Europe a few months back. He was appalled at the people hanging around the bus stops. I was embarrassed for our city. I made sure not to take him down Westheimer again. My wife will no longer drive our convertible with the top down... too many bums standing right next to the car staring at us from bus stops. We're going to sell it and probably won't get a convertible again.

There are some exceptions to what you're saying about home sales near bus stops and apartment complexes. I just got an apartment in the Willowbrook Mall area right by Methodist Hospital. There are at least 10 apartment complexes within a 2 mile radius, (which is no big deal, since it's Willowbrook and a major employment hub), but there are also 2 bus routes, the 86 and the 44, which run right by my complex and the bus stop is literally 30 yards from my glass sliding door, but I am really not worried at all, because I know the area is nice, and if anything is INCREASING in value because of the solid demographics and people moving in wanting to get away from other parts of town.

The fact that there are luxury townhomes being built, going for 240k, that are surrounded by mid-priced apartments and a few feet away from several bus stops on the Metro route, would go against your assertion. I know Willowbrook has more of a police presence (HPD and Harris County Sheriffs) than say, Ponderosa Forest and Westador, which have bus stops near their entrances, but the fact that townhomes are going for 240k while surrounded by apartments and several bus routes on all sides, should tell you something about the real effect of the bus routes and perceptions of crime.

[hbcu]

I lived behind Willowbrook Mall but the bus route was a long walk away and the apartments were secluded so there wasn't much of a presence...but the apartments behind Fiesta was a different story as folks took advantage of the bus route and lived out there.

[Vertigo58]

I imagine everyone has seen and or heard of recent crackdowns or sting ops in this same area. The number of DUI's was staggering. It has always been notorius for the numerous bars/clubs so the DUI's are nothing new. It could take years before there is any real visible change in crime. The area is just too over crowded now.