Itâs a touchy and complicated subject for sure. I honestly predict the entirety of Northside of Houston (everything between 610 and Beltway) will be massively changed over the next 10-15 years.
Third Ward is going to get gentrified, at least north of Old Spanish Trail. Itâs inevitable. Fifth Ward will take longer.
Just check out Kieth-Weiss Park in the Aldine area. Itâs almost as big as Memorial Park, but lacks a golf course.
The boom of Oak Forests/Garden Oaks is slowly bleeding into both Independence Heights and Acres Homes.
I drive through Third Ward on a semi-regular basis. Maybe the stretch I see is not as pronounced as what I see in Bellaire. Some of those houses look like one good push would knock them down. But thatâs no reason to replace them with those hideous versions of a house.
I watch the grandkids in Bellaire at least once a week, and it distresses me to see nice homey-looking houses getting replaced by ugly crap. Same goes with east downtown. Disgraceful.
Whatâs not disgraceful is all the dilapidated homes being torn down and replaced by new, whether single family multi. A lot of inside the loop is horrible due to lack of zoning regulations. The only solution is massive tear downs and replacements. Its worked well South of downtown between it and the hospital district. That area is light years better than it was in the 90âs.
This is the solution City of Houston citizens chose by not enacting zoning.
Well Houston doesnât technically have zoning laws per se, but it still has deed restrictions and policies that determine what can and canât be built. Itâs just not called âzoningâ like it is in other cities across the country.
Inner Loop has the most progressive zoning laws which is why so many townhomes have propped up in areas like Montrose, Heights, EaDo and now Third Ward since the early 2010âs. However, where you wonât see this type of construction is in old money neighborhoods like River Oaks, Rice Village/West U, etc.
As far as the ugly neighborhoods, which are predominantly POC low income, well itâs a combination of active push back of gentrification as well as lack of good schools slowing down remodeling/renovations.
The thing about these townhomes is that while itâs technically homeownership, itâs not really a place young people want to raise families in. So once they are ready to have kids, then they end up moving out to the burbs if they canât afford a starter SFH + private school in the loop
People move out to the burbs for better public schools. They donât necessarily send their kids to private schools in the loop.
Dilapidated homes should be knocked down. But what became of aesthetics?
Bellaire, West U and Southside are independent cities that have super strict Zoning laws. Thatâs why they never filled up with apartments or townhomes. Or have used car lots.
Theres townhomes in heights but if you want to have traditional SFH you have to build them and sell them for a high price. It has to make sense and right now getting 800k on 2 houses in one lot makes sense. If someone built 1 big house for that price, market would change. Its cheaper to build 1 than 3 storie frames.
âInner Loop has the most progressive zoning lawsâ
No, there are no zoning laws by the City of Houston. The only restrictions we have in the âgreater Houstonâ are are done by HOAs and those that are are actually outside of the City of Houston boundaries like the City of West UâŠ
City of Bellaire has them too, but the City of Houston, which includes the Heights, does not have zoning lawsâŠmuch less any âprogressiveâ ones. LOL.
I lived in the Heights and moved a couple of decades ago. My old next door neighbor had two lots basically and sold them a few years later. A builder bought them, knocked his house down (which was actually pretty nice) and put four cramped together âhomesâ on the site, making a pretty penny Iâm sure.
They did the same to a house and old horse stalls (that literally had been converted to tiny apartments at one point) down the street.
But I guess itâs at least nicer than the trailer park that was a few blocks away! Wonder if thatâs still there?
Only issue is that there is no builder going to invest the money in the land inside the loop to build single family starter homes for a family. There is no return on the investment, so it will be townhomes/condos or expensive homes.
Or the Ashy High rise. Or a dental office in the toniest neighborhoods in Houston. And neighbors canât do anything about it.
Good private schools in inner cities are relatively the same as the best public schools in the suburbs
Both are essentially inaccessible to low income people either through high costs of tuition (private) or high property taxes (public)
Letâs call it what it actually isâŠ
I just called it zoning for the sake of the conversation
Call them deed restrictions, minimum lot sizes, of building regulations, whatever you want to call them
Fact of the matter, the inner loop has the most progressive laws which is why there is a lack of townhomes outside the 610 loop (discounting the old money neighborhoods like RO, West U, etcâŠ
edit: Not suggesting that there arenât any townhomes at all outside 610, there are, but not as much.
There are townhomes being built as the article puts, in places like Acres Homes, Independence Heights, etc
Deed restrictions, min lot sizes are part of HOAâsâŠnot the Cityâs regulations (which is all the city has and they are very minimal).
I think youâre misapplying the term progressive here. Not having zoning laws is the opposite of that.
The 3rd ward is the most desirable real estate to be developed in Houston. It is bordered by downtown, the Med Center and 3 Universities.
It will be developed into high density living that is inevitable.
Again, call it whatever you want
Essentially the same concept applies across all cities in America whether its HOA or city regulated
Inner cities will typically have the most dense type of housing, allowing for slightly more affordable homeownership via townhomes and condos
Outer suburbs are much less likely to have this type of housing because regardless of the medium, there is some kind of restriction/minimum lot size that donât cater for dense housing
I wouldnât say itâs the MOST desirable, but I agree that it is way too prime to not be developed and developed quicky
The most desirable real estate in Houston will always be River Oaks and its adjacent neighborhoods
Ok but that has been developed. 3rd Ward is virgin territory for development. 80% of the residents rent so it will be acquired and developed.
I hope it keeps itâs history of being the music area of Houston. If along with high density residential it develops live music and bars it will be great for all three universities and the city as a whole l.