9 Comment

• Superdave April 30, 2012 at 11:38 am

  No way Sharpstown is the next big thing in Houston. It belongs to a ring of outer-ish lying burbs that will only be fully realized anew once more desirable inner areas have gone been turned over. Plus its problems (gangs, drugs, decaying apartments, poverty) are too entrenched to move it up soon.

  Also, I thoroughly researched crime rates about two years ago and Sharpstown consistently ranked at or near the top for violent crime, so I’m not sure what stats the pro-ST crowd are citing. I’m going to look this up and post back later today with what I find among the current data. I know that every day you can open the Chron’s local news section to the third or fourth page and there is a murder nightly in that part of town.
• Superdave April 30, 2012 at 12:44 pm

  Here’s my follow-up…according to the website “houstoncrimemaps.com” Sharpstown ranked #2 for highest crime rate of all Houston super-neighborhoods as of October 2011 (Alief ranked first, which is practically next door).

  The data on the HPD website is sorted by street name and “beat” which I can’t map or group, so I can’t provide info taken from there.

  This is the quote in the Chron article that bothers me… “The district publicizes crime statistics from 2010 that show the police patrol division that includes Sharpstown has the seventh lowest crime rate among more than 20 divisions across the city.”
• jgriff April 30, 2012 at 2:41 pm

  I had to drive through the Sharpstown area a couple years ago. It was around 2:00pm, you know… when most people are working. I saw multiple people in gang colors drinking 40s on their porch. Lots of the typical low hanging pants, etc… Sorry, I won’t be driving through there again. Seriously, I’m never going there again. I choose to spend my time somewhere else.
• Utility April 30, 2012 at 2:57 pm

  lol, you guys are hilarious. Some of the best food in the entire city is on this stretch of Bellaire in Sharpstown. I guess if you’re too scared of getting stabbed I’ll have an easier time getting a table.
• ZAW April 30, 2012 at 3:32 pm

  If you just look at crime or demographics statistics, you an incomplete impression of Sharpstown. Those numbers are invariably skewed by the massive conglomerations of low-rent apartment complexes that surround Sharpstown and are considered part of the neighborhood by demographers – because they have a bigger population than the single- family areas. If you dug a little deeper into your stats, you’d find that the non-multifamily areas (commercial, institutional, and single-family) are much safer.
• dan April 30, 2012 at 3:40 pm

  That place is terrible. I remember when it turned. I was doning summer classes at Jane Long Middle School. I had never that kind of gang activity and graffiti in my life. There were kids doing drugs and drinking before classes at age 13. That place is a hell hole. No one in their right mind would move in over there. It is exactly the same.
• markd April 30, 2012 at 4:27 pm

  Sanctuary City.
• Superdave April 30, 2012 at 7:32 pm

  @ZAW – that doesn’t make any sense to me. The fact that Sharpstown is surrounded by “massive conglomerations of low-rent apartment complexes” means that a significant characteristic of the area are the “massive conglomerations of low-rent apartment complexes.”
• Bernard May 1, 2012 at 1:41 am

  Ha!!! The Heights used to be pretty shady too. Times change. Neighborhoods change. Sharpstown’s day in the sun is coming, but it’s still a ways off.

  It’s not hard to look at the wave of redevelopment that has poured out from the center of Houston and realize Sharpstown is the path of growth. Back in the 80’s West U houses were being bulldozed by the dozen. Soon lots of folks were priced out of West U and the bulldozers turned to Bellaire. Now they are turning south all the way to the South Loop. Meyerland is in play too.

  Right now the primary western barrier is the edge of the Bellaire HS zoning map. As Meyerland continues to improve though, the childless pioneers who don’t care about school zones will be the first to start the gentrification process in Sharpstown. Eventually… critical mass.

  If the neighborhood associations were smart, they’d start their own tax district and ear mark all the proceeds for demolition of the junkiest properties. Demo some junk. Demo some more junk. Hold the land as it appreciates. Sell it to a developer who has a plan to build that you like (not just the highest bidder). Pour the land sale money into more demolition. Rinse. Repeat.