Adding Heights To An Area Name Is New?

[9075]

And for every old resident who was the salt of the Earth, there were some pretty creepy and dangerous people living in the Heights. 

 

There still are some pretty creepy and dangerous people living in the Heights.  Several long-term residents on my block are ex-cons and registered sex offenders.  There is also a house on the street where the cops show up at least once a month and make an arrest.  

 

Anti-social yuppies are not the worst neighbors one can have... 

[BullMan008]

Police on your street? Oh my! We live inside the loop, in the 4th largest city in America and there are police showing up in our neighborhood? Thats crazy. 

 

No one said anything about 'yuppies'. I did mention rude people. Not everyone but lots. Oh and about ND, Im sure there are some good things that have come out of that site. Great info sharing about current projects or happenings. But lots of post that made me shake my head. Like this one time I read "I saved a black guy from getting thrown in jail" LOL or someone posted a picture of a suspected car and it ended up being another persons maids car. LOL Yeah, too many of these made me leave. Great for some but not for me.

 

Before you buy a house, you can check out all of the sexual predators in your zip. I was amazed on how many there are inside the loop. This is a great discussion guys. 

Edited April 23, 2014 by BullMan008

[mollusk]

There still are some pretty creepy and dangerous people living in the Heights.  

 

River Oaks and Memorial have had their share of pretty creepy and dangerous people, too.  I'll grant perhaps not as many, but those that are sure get blown all across the media. 

[west20th]

There still are some pretty creepy and dangerous people living in the Heights.  Several long-term residents on my block are ex-cons and registered sex offenders.  There is also a house on the street where the cops show up at least once a month and make an arrest.  

 

Anti-social yuppies are not the worst neighbors one can have... 

Can you name a neighborhood that does not have ex-cons and RSO's? I didn't think so.

[mkultra25]

http://tampicoheights.com

 

And for those active on Twitter, dueling accounts:

 

https://twitter.com/tampico_heights

 

https://twitter.com/tampicoheights

[Subdude]

I go back and forth on the whole neighborhood renaming thing.  In general, I’m against it when the neighborhood name has historic roots (Third Ward) or when a new name is conjured up solely as a marketing effort to convey a sense of being upscale (Uptown) or bohemian (Eado *gag*).  The offense is especially egregious when the new name is simply replicated from an existing area with the name (Uptown).  I just have it in my wizened old head that cities with any self-respect would find renaming as marketing to be just a tad embarrassing and second-rate. 

 

All that said, we can’t freeze the past, and some changing of neighborhood names over time is to be expected.  As long as they don’t derive from a concerted marketing effort new names can be fine.  Tampico Heights seems to be a spontaneous eruption and it does kind of crack me up.  I can easily see it catching on over time; it seems it’s already enshrined in Google maps.   And some re-brandings do fail to catch on.  Anyone remember the Magic Circle?  NoDo?

[plumber2]

I remember the "Magic Circle". Kind of a stupid marketing name being as there was no circle anywhere near Post Oak and Westheimer, other than someone's penciled in circle on a map. Voila!, a magic circle.

[IronTiger]

Wasn't "Neartown" attempted for Montrose?

[Subdude]

Wasn't "Neartown" attempted for Montrose?

 

Yeah, although it is one of those names that one imagines only real estate agents ever use.  

 

 

 

 

To be honest, I kind of prefer "Magic Circle" over "Uptown".  

[NenaE]

You know Uptown is not a new invention, right? ... Was used to describe where residential areas were located, as opposed to the business district, in early Houston. Had many apartments, 4-plexes,...If I'm not mistaken, it was near or actually the area referred to as South End.

Who voted for EaDo, anyway? Sounds nasty.

[Subdude]

You know Uptown is not a new invention, right? ... Was used to describe where residential areas were located, as opposed to the business district, in early Houston. Had many apartments, 4-plexes,...If I'm not mistaken, it was near or actually the area referred to as South End.

Who voted for EaDo, anyway? Sounds nasty.

 

You are correct.  Uptown was the area south of the South End (today's Midtown) that grew rapidly after World War 2.  The Uptown name made sense if you think about the progression down Main: Downtown, Midtown, Uptown.  The Uptown name wasn't hijacked and applied to the Galleria area until the 1990s I believe.

 

 

And you are correct:  Eado is nasty.  

[IronTiger]

You are correct. Uptown was the area south of the South End (today's Midtown) that grew rapidly after World War 2. The Uptown name made sense if you think about the progression down Main: Downtown, Midtown, Uptown. The Uptown name wasn't hijacked and applied to the Galleria area until the 1990s I believe.

And you are correct: Eado is nasty.

I think Uptown was used because Hines didn't want people to use "Galleria" as a description for the area.

EaDo makes no sense, it's a bad rip off of San Francisco and New York (SoHo, "South of Houston", though the New Yorkers pronounce it all strange; SoMa, south of Market). How do you pronounce it? Is it E.A. Doo? E.A. Dough? Ee-doo? Ee-dough? Ee-yado?

[IronTiger]

You are correct.  Uptown was the area south of the South End (today's Midtown) that grew rapidly after World War 2.  The Uptown name made sense if you think about the progression down Main: Downtown, Midtown, Uptown.  The Uptown name wasn't hijacked and applied to the Galleria area until the 1990s I believe.

 

 

And you are correct:  Eado is nasty.

The current set-up makes sense if you follow down US-59. Uptown at 610 (roughly), Neartown [Montrose] further up, Midtown closer to Interstate 45, then Downtown. This makes about as much sense as the Main progression, since Old Uptown was south of Downtown.

Hopefully developers won't rename Sharpstown as Far Uptown (that's just silly) or Fifth Ward as Far Downtown.

But seriously though, how do you pronounce EaDo? One of the four above is right...maybe.

[BullMan008]

The current set-up makes sense if you follow down US-59. Uptown at 610 (roughly), Neartown [Montrose] further up, Midtown closer to Interstate 45, then Downtown. This makes about as much sense as the Main progression, since Old Uptown was south of Downtown.

Hopefully developers won't rename Sharpstown as Far Uptown (that's just silly) or Fifth Ward as Far Downtown.

But seriously though, how do you pronounce EaDo? One of the four above is right...maybe.

 

Ive heard a friend who lives there pronounce it 'Ea-Dough' but he tells me its East Side.

 

He makes jokes about whats happening in the Heights to me. Says there are people 'sucking up all of the vibe' in the Heights. I told him its coming to Eastwood and he better be ready. 

[mkultra25]

Hopefully developers won't rename Sharpstown as Far Uptown (that's just silly) or Fifth Ward as Far Downtown.

 

Or Clear Lake/Webster as SoHo. 

[urbanize713]

Here is an idea. Lets call it the east side and third ward can be the lower east side. If were gonna copy just go for the straight rip off

[NenaE]

In reference to IronTiger's comment, I don't have a clue how to pronounce it...was thinking it was probably pronounced "Ee - Dow". They should have just gone with E2. (from East - second ward). Sounds like a parking lot no. but at least you know how to say it. 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2014 by NenaE

[Subdude]

Note that posts about the Bell Heights redevelopment of the old Heights AT&T building have been peeled off to a new topic here:

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/30470-bell-heights-former-att-building/

 

 

[mkultra25]

http://www.freepresshouston.com/houstonia-we-have-a-problem/

 

Surprised this hasn't shown up here yet. I think the ire regarding Houstonia's propagation of "Tampico Heights" is a bit misplaced, but the points made about the language of gentrification are spot-on. 

[IronTiger]

Well, "Washington Heights" I thought was the name of the Walmart center, which is near Heights Blvd. and Washington Avenue. So that one doesn't count. 

[livincinco]

Anyone that includes the word "Heights" in the name of anything in Houston should consider enrolling in a geography class.  I suggest Tampico Flood Plain instead.

[Specwriter]

I think Uptown was used because Hines didn't want people to use "Galleria" as a description for the area.

EaDo makes no sense, it's a bad rip off of San Francisco and New York (SoHo, "South of Houston", though the New Yorkers pronounce it all strange; SoMa, south of Market). How do you pronounce it? Is it E.A. Doo? E.A. Dough? Ee-doo? Ee-dough? Ee-yado?

 

New Yorkers refer to the street in the south part of Manhattan, from which the SoHo district derives its name, as "House-ton Street." Obviously the 'e' is silent and we all know the common term for a (usually) single-family residential structure rhymes with 'mouse' not 'new.' Yet SoHo is pronounced with two long 'o's (?).

 

Edo, as it is written in English, is the ancient name for modern Tokyo and seems generally to be pronounced Eh'-dough. Any similarity to the Japanese megalopolis and the area immediately east of the Houston CBD evades me.

[IronTiger]

New Yorkers refer to the street in the south part of Manhattan, from which the SoHo district derives its name, as "House-ton Street." Obviously the 'e' is silent and we all know the common term for a (usually) single-family residential structure rhymes with 'mouse' not 'new.' Yet SoHo is pronounced with two long 'o's (?).

 

Edo, as it is written in English, is the ancient name for modern Tokyo and seems generally to be pronounced Eh'-dough. Any similarity to the Japanese megalopolis and the area immediately east of the Houston CBD evades me.

Two long 'o's would be correct (that's an o with a bar over it, or ō), so that it would be "Sew-Hoe". Interestingly, in a way, the New York!pronunciation of the word almost makes more sense than the real way Houston is pronounced (hew-ston).

I have a feeling that no matter how EaDo is pronounced or supposed to be pronounced doesn't matter, because everyone will still cringe at it.

[Specwriter]

Two long 'o's would be correct (that's an o with a bar over it, or ō), so that it would be "Sew-Hoe". Interestingly, in a way, the New York!pronunciation of the word almost makes more sense than the real way Houston is pronounced (hew-ston).

I have a feeling that no matter how EaDo is pronounced or supposed to be pronounced doesn't matter, because everyone will still cringe at it.

 

I'll always cringe for sure. It's just "too made up" and so much a rip-off of SoHo.

 

I read somewhere long ago, and I don't remember where or why, that Sam Houston's last name came, of course, from his father's ancestry. Apparently a distant antecedent in Scotland was credited with founding Hugh's Town. Don't quote me on that though.

 

[NenaE]

http://www.freepresshouston.com/houstonia-we-have-a-problem/

 

Surprised this hasn't shown up here yet. I think the ire regarding Houstonia's propagation of "Tampico Heights" is a bit misplaced, but the points made about the language of gentrification are spot-on. 

 

I just saw this... interesting. One writers perspective.

[s3mh]

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2014/06/high-end-apartments-under-way-near-downtown/#21137101=0

 

And now we have "Jefferson Heights".  

[NenaE]

From Houstorian's Map Collection - 1895 Whitty & Stott Houston Map 

 

1. College Heights

2. Anne Hts.

3. Sunset Heights

4. Houston Hts.

5. Woodland Hts.

6. Third Ward Hts.

7. Bryan Hts.

8. Independence Hts. (outside of map boundaries)

 

... I'm sure there were more. Addition and Place were common name endings, as well. 

 

I guess Park was popular, too...there is a Deer Park (wooded property) and a Riverside Park on the map, off Washington (Heights Area).

 

 

 

[Angostura]

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2014/06/high-end-apartments-under-way-near-downtown/#21137101=0

 

And now we have "Jefferson Heights".  

 

 

Why "Jefferson"? It's nowhere near Jefferson St. Is it because it's two blocks from Washington?

[Avossos]

Why "Jefferson"? It's nowhere near Jefferson St. Is it because it's two blocks from Washington?

 

No idea at all why "Jefferson"... if anything 'Baker' would have made the most sense. but this is just the name of a building... not an area.

[s3mh]

No idea at all why "Jefferson"... if anything 'Baker' would have made the most sense. but this is just the name of a building... not an area.

 

I could only guess that they are drawing from the old Jefferson Davis hospital name, which is now the Elder St. Artist Lofts.  It is as much of a landmark as anything in that area.