Duce630
(DustinK - Damn it feels good to be a Cougar. -Dwight Davis)
1465
Complete speculation but also illogical speculation. If those kids are going to UT/SMU/TCU or out-of-state, then they wouldn’t be hanging out at the bars/restaruants really that may pop up through gentrification in Houston.
In reality, Houston’s nightlife continually shifts, moves, and evolves. Richmond strip to midtown/downtown to Washington Ave to Heights/Garden Oaks (and some back to Midtown), etc. Alternatively with the way some of those areas have developed like Heights/Garden Oaks in recent years with much more residential mixed in, the entertainment district may not jump around quite as much as they once did but I wouldn’t bet on it.
I don’t think that developers are going to build bars/restaurants in Third Ward just to attract a very specific demographic (Junior/Senior UH students). They are going to develop those establishments to attract people from all over (just like the places you mentioned in the second paragraph. Now could those establishments still benefit UH students? Absolutely.
Washington Ave is pretty much dead at this point, but the fratty-style bar scene (both college grads and current students from various schools) predominantly lays in the Heights area (W 20th St.).
That demographic could one day shift to a gentrified Third Ward.
That said, the reason Garden Oaks/Oak Forest was able to be a successful renovation story is because it perfectly fit the ‘not to far from the city, but far enough for good public schools’ medium in a similar vein as Memorial High School serving Hedwig/Bunker Hill (despite that the option of Kincaid / Houston Christian, etc… still remains)
I don’t think Third Ward is going to be able to capture this, even post-gentrification. It’s going to be a private-school driven area because the demographic that attends public schools now won’t be able to afford their properties anymore (i.e. gentrification)
I think it’s more likely, given demographic trends, that most of any gentrifying neighborhood is going to consist of childfree adults, and given the Third Ward’s proximity to UH, TSU, and midtown specifically, a gentrified version of the Third Ward probably be university students and young professionals mostly under 40. There won’t be a lot of kids or teens there in general. I don’t think a lot of the crowd at, i.e., Axelrad or Social Beer Garden have kids waiting on them at home.
In general, early-wave gentrifiers tend to be either retirees or yuppies, and the Third Ward feels more likely to attract the latter crowd.
OK, then see my post. Would anything comparable to Rice Village next to UH cater mostly to gentrified yuppies and retirees, the UH community, or both equally?
If you’re basing on alumni status, then West U / Rice Village serves far more non-Rice alums than it does Rice if I had to take a guess. I used to go that area all the time and would see plenty of UT/A&M/UH kids walking around - There’s a fantastic parking garage in the middle of the area
But that’s why I am of the opinion that Third Ward will just turn into another Rice Village type of area
I think where this could benefit UH is that it gives people a direct line of sight to the UH Campus, and that alone could impact whether students may choose to go to UH over our competitors (UT/A&M).
If you’re a kid having a sunday funday near UH, you see a gigantic football stadium, cool looking facilities, and some fancy houses around → this person may think “man screw living in bumf**k College Station, this place looks awesome!”
Older people - love being around college campuses as long as the neighborhood is safe (currently, it’s not [also disregarding history of systemic racism, etc…].)
Yuppies - still want to feel connected to a college atmosphere even if its not their own school
College kids - self explanatory
College kids coming home for Summer - access to campus-style establishments and activities (frats could throw parties in the summer)
I don’t really think the yuppie crowd is all that different from college students in their wants/needs. They want restaurants and coffee shops and bars and don’t really need stuff like childcare or K-12 schools. The biggest difference is spending power, and to that end, it’s likely that most local businesses would cater to them rather than to students, but I don’t know if that makes a huge difference.
Dang there goes both places including Pink’s Pizza that I routinely stopped by before and after games. There seems to be a real a-hole owner driving up the costs.
The original Calhoun’s Rooftop was also working and even gave some nightlife to the campus.
It’s worth pointing some attention at University of St. Thomas, which is a counterpoint to the whole thesis that gentrification is coming to save UH, or even will noticeably help it. They’re smack in the middle of maybe the best neighborhood for restaurants and nightlife in Houston and yet they’re still a crappy school with no student life full of commuters and homeschooled weirdos.
2 Likes
SigEpCoog2005
(SHAUN - Bill Yeoman needs to be honored with a BOBBLEHEAD!)
1475
That shopping center, I believe is is called the Cougar Den, feels a little out of touch with it’s tenants. Pink’s left because they raised the rent. It’s class A and they quote the I-45 traffic counts like that matters. The location looks great on paper, but it makes no sense, it’s close to 1 on campus housing property and its hard to get to. That property is only holding the campus back.
They absolutely do sell students on having the amenities of a major city, especially for out-of-town kids where their “hey, we’re a Catholic School and close to home” schtick isn’t quite as persuasive.
I don’t know how gentrification of the 3rd ward will affect the UH student body, but it would have to be better than what’s there now. As long as the area around UH is considered unsafe in general and ghetto by many, it will be a deterrent for parents sending their kids to UH.
That’s just a fact, no need to get into the whole racism debate, we have to be able to deal with the actual perception of today, not what we want it to be.
I don’t know that they are a “crappy” school. Kinda depends on what you are going for. If you are looking for an immersive Catholic experience, and d3 sports, then it sort of fits the bill for that type of school in this locality.
It’s one of the schools that is recommended by the Cardinal Newman Society, and that society only endorses Catholic schools that are very faithfully Catholic (many of the Catholic colleges and universities that are richest and highest ranked by USNEWS, such as Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston College, Fordham, etc. are notably NOT on the list; having lived in the DC area for years and having been on Georgetown’s campus many times, I can say straight up that it does NOT feel Catholic at all!).
Also, if D3 athletics are your thing, they are the only school that I know of in the Houston area that competes at that level.
In the end, if your “schtick” is that, then UST is the right school for THAT “schtick.” And I think that they market themselves in precisely that way, and also as a major Hispanic serving college.
I’ve never noticed that they make much ado about either their neighborhood surroundings, or being a Houston school more generally in their marketing pitch.
Their niche is essentially what I said. And rather than being “crappy,” they are, in fact, VERY GOOD at providing precisely THAT experience, if that’s what a prospective student is looking for. They fit THAT bill.