DaTrain Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Thanks to Katrina, Houston now has its own version of these small cities (which are suburbs of a larger city) as if they were taken and stuck all the way down in Southwest Harris County.*Gary, IN (Chicago) -- easily*Camden, NJ (Philly)*Newark, NJ (NYC)*Richmond, CA (Oakland)*Compton, CA (Los Angeles)*College Park, GA (Atlanta)*Liberty City, FL (Miami)*Prince Georges County, MD (DC) -- this could be what North Fort Ben County feels like; a suburban toss up between ghettoish and nice-n-newThis would be if SW Houston was its own city (which ain't gonna happen thanks to it being swallowed whole by the ever-annexing Houston), then it would be the most dangerous city in Texas and one of the ten most dangerous suburbs 75k-125k ppl.I may be halfway biased on the subject, but drop your thoughts if U agree or disagree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 how old are you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJones Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Don't kid yourself DaTrain, SW Houston was bad before 2005, Katrina just added a small amount of fuel to the fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Thanks to Katrina, Houston now has its own version of these small cities (which are suburbs of a larger city) as if they were taken and stuck all the way down in Southwest Harris County.Specifically which area, Westchase?, Alief? . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feufoma Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Thanks to Katrina, Houston now has its own version of these small cities (which are suburbs of a larger city) as if they were taken and stuck all the way down in Southwest Harris County.*Gary, IN (Chicago) -- easily*Camden, NJ (Philly)*Newark, NJ (NYC)*Richmond, CA (Oakland)*Compton, CA (Los Angeles)*College Park, GA (Atlanta)*Liberty City, FL (Miami)*Prince Georges County, MD (DC) -- this could be what North Fort Ben County feels like; a suburban toss up between ghettoish and nice-n-newThis would be if SW Houston was its own city (which ain't gonna happen thanks to it being swallowed whole by the ever-annexing Houston), then it would be the most dangerous city in Texas and one of the ten most dangerous suburbs 75k-125k ppl.I may be halfway biased on the subject, but drop your thoughts if U agree or disagree.Yes, SW Houston is a dangerous dump. Our wonderful police department doesn't seem to be doing much to mitigate the crime problem either. I simply won't go anywhere near that area of town. I remember when I first moved to Houston we decided to check out Sharpstown Mall. Amidst the gang bangers and purple suits we stuck out like sore thumbs. Scary, very scary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trae Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Sharpstown is not a scary mall. You might feel uneasy after 10 PM, but between 5 PM-10 PM, it is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feufoma Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Sharpstown is not a scary mall. You might feel uneasy after 10 PM, but between 5 PM-10 PM, it is not.Yes, my only visit was in 1995 so things might have changed by now (that's encouraging). Still, that side of town is like driving through a 3rd world country by and large. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trae Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 (edited) Not really. Along Bellaire, it doesn't look that bad. People think Sharpstown is bad because there is a lot of black people there and it doesn't look like Memorial City Mall. It is still a thriving mall, just the people who go there are not the same as they were 25 years ago. Edited December 21, 2006 by Trae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Sharpstown is safer than many areas of houston commonly thought to be "safe". Sugarland, the Woodlands, and many other areas of higher crime rates than Sharpstown.The mall isn't white folks and JCpenny anymore but it isn't Kings Market either. It is very metropolitan. The neighborhoods are still great, and with some investment in the area (already starting) the apartment complexes will slowly start cleaning out as well.Alief is far worse than Sharpstown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PureAuteur Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 I'm going to agree with Trae and GWilson. Feufoma, the reason you thought you were in a Third World country was because you were probably driving through the Gulfton area. The general Sharpstown area is actually pretty safe, although you're going to see the hip hop culture and hear other languages being spoken. There are still a lot of white people in Sharpstown area, but they usually stay in their homes and don't go anywhere (mainly because they are elderly). These are the people who, when they were young, ruled the Sharpstown area, which was a posh middle class area when it was first developed. People used to wear nice suits and ties/dresses and drive around in fancy cars to the Sharpstown Mall. I'm curious to know how the property values of homes in that area are being affected by the cultural changes. I would call this general area near Southwest. The crime gets much worse when you go further south or further SW. Westchase and Alief are worse. South Fondren area is extremely bad. I heard there are two apartment complexes over there that pizza places refuse to deliver to at night, and one that they refuse to deliver to at any time of day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaTrain Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 (edited) Specifically which area, Westchase?, Alief? . . . I was gon say Sharpstown but that part of town is improving and that's pretty much the only part of SW Houston I'd go, mostly if I wanted to see a show at H-Town Arena or go to the Urban cultured mall that bears its name. To be specific: I was referring to SW Houston specifically as: Fondren south of 59, Bellfort between Kirkwood and Hillcroft or Chimney Rock, Harwin, Braeswood, just about anywhere south of Bellaire Blvd west of 59 (Beechnut and Bissonnet) and north of US90A South Main, etc. And I did not mention the city of Bellaire. Now you can see why we should expect people to say in diff ways: "SW Houston is so bad, I never get off the freeway when I go thru that part of town." In layman's terms, the Southwest Freeway goes thru Southwest Houston, no wonder it has that hidden "Suicide Alley" split personality for anyone that gets off onto the frontage roads just to get gas, snack, whatever. Edited December 21, 2006 by DaTrain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeebus Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 (edited) Yes, my only visit was in 1995 so things might have changed by now (that's encouraging). Still, that side of town is like driving through a 3rd world country by and large.Have you actually been to a 3rd world country? If you had, I doubt you'd compare even our least improved neighborhoods (infrastructure-wise) to what you would have seen there.Southwest Houston has only poorly managed apartment complexes to thank for its problems - not HPD. Edited January 8, 2007 by Jeebus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston1stWordOnTheMoon Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Have you actually been to a 3rd world country? If you had, I doubt you'd compare even our least improved neighborhoods (infrastructure-wise) to what you would have seen there.Southwest Houston has only poorly managed apartment complexes to thank for its problems - not HPD. Agreed. I havent been to Sharpstown Mall in 2 years, but the last time i was there i didnt feel that it was scary. I saw a lot of kids/youth in thier hip hop apparel mostly hanging around the mall. The same thing i see in the Willowbrook Mall. The only difference was the color of thier skins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trae Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 You ain't seen ____ unless you have seen Katy Mills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfootball Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 That area on Bellaire Blvd past Renwick until you hit 59 is pretty much like a third world country...no doubt about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double L Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 I wanna go..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 People think Sharpstown is bad because there is a lot of black people there and it doesn't look like Memorial City Mall. It is still a thriving mall, just the people who go there are not the same as they were 25 years ago.I saw a report on the Channel 13 news last night about how the East End Management District has been paying for extra police coverage at Gulfgate. They showed crime statistics for many of the major close-in malls, and Sharpstown had eighty-something crimes this year. The next highest mall was Greenspoint, with some figure in the high teens. Gulfgate had three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feufoma Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Have you actually been to a 3rd world country? If you had, I doubt you'd compare even our least improved neighborhoods (infrastructure-wise) to what you would have seen there.Southwest Houston has only poorly managed apartment complexes to thank for its problems - not HPD.Have you every heard of sarcasm? Nevertheless, that area of town is a dangerous dump. Period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpringTX Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Sharpstown is safer than many areas of houston commonly thought to be "safe". Sugarland, the Woodlands, and many other areas of higher crime rates than Sharpstown.Where's the data on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeebus Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 That area on Bellaire Blvd past Renwick until you hit 59 is pretty much like a third world country...no doubt about it.This is coming from a guy that grew up in Champions and now resides in Longwood. I'd imagine almost every neighborhood in Houston is "3rd World" by your standards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trae Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 This is coming from a guy that grew up in Champions and now resides in Longwood. I'd imagine almost every neighborhood in Houston is "3rd World" by your standards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 Sharpstown is not a scary mall. You might feel uneasy after 10 PM, but between 5 PM-10 PM, it is not.Greenspoint is ok during the day. Although it is Crack Mall central after hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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