COMMENT OF THE DAY: WOODLAND HEIGHTS BACK IN ITS NAKED FOLK DANCING DAYS 
“When I first moved to Woodland Heights in the 80s, responsible parents were more likely to strip naked and perform a tarantella on the Houston Avenue overpass than to send their kids to Travis, and I got burgled frequently enough to do my very own comparison test of TVs.
Things change.” [mollusk, commenting on Comment of the Day Runner-Up: Looking Sharp] Illustration: Lulu
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In 2000, members of the Oak Forest playgroup we were part of were up in arms about sending their kids to HISD, talking about private schools, homeschooling, etc. Now, it appears from postings on OFHA facebook Oak Forest neighborhood Kindergarten is full (I’m sure their Vanguard K has always been full). My kids opted for magnet programs for MS (Black MS was at 1/3 enrollment at the time and didn’t acheive vanguard status yet, so yes, we are guilty of flight from our local schools). Once home prices go up enough, parents are willing to get involved in their local schools because it becomes pretty difficult to afford a 700K (for new, even a remodeled ranches are pushing 400-500K) home and private schools. I’m not sure a home in Oak Forest has cracked the million mark, but soon. Yikes.
I hope you continued reading the thread and read Daniel’s harrowing tale of living in Sharpstown. That was my vote for comment of the day, not this Pollyanna Heights story
Actually, I did read the thread. While Daniel’s tale is a cautionary tale for living in any urban or suburban neighborhood, I think that Sharpstown is ripe for revitalization. I now work on Bissonnet near the Beltway, and not everything is blight. Any place can and does experience crime–during the spate of burglaries in Oak Forest during the winter/spring two homes on my block alone were burglarized in broad daylight during working hours. According to long term residents, a few years before we moved here, gunshots were frequently heard from 43rd Street. I guess everyone has to have a place to say “at least I don’t live *there*”.
No. I’m glad they didn’t make that the comment of the day, WASP. I would have had to repost my story about watching a guy shoot heroin in on the sidewalk in Midtown; and having the window to my office in Midtown smashed and computers stolen…. I don’t like to dwell on that kind of thing.
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My theory about people who constantly bash Sharpstown: they grew up here and didn’t like it. Maybe in high school they were bullied social outcasts. Maybe there are other reasons that they were unhappy. But in their minds they wrongly think Sharpstown is the problem. I get it. I really do. But the reality is that this area is poised for a comeback. We’re just waiting for a few other neighborhoods to get too pricy for artsy types, and one by one they’re doing it.