The Resurrection of America's Slums

[TexasProgresive]

1. Houston is seeing this in reverse, evidently.

I grew up in the Montrose neighborhood between the ultra rich in River Oaks and the African American neighborhood, 4th Ward. Saturday I drove past my boyhood home and was dismayed to see most of the old lovely houses had been razed to be replaced with 4 and more story apt buildings. So then I headed downtown through 4th ward. It was the same all the shotgun houses that lined W. Grey were gone with the same kind of development going on.

I did a search on 4th Ward Houston to find what happen to the residents. They have been force out to Pearland, Pearland of all places.

http://texasleftist.com/tag/houston-4th-ward/
snip:

So what is happening that so many African-Americans are moving out of the central city, and even out of Houston city limits altogether?

For poorer citizens, the reason is simple… gentrification. Houston’s historically black neighborhoods are being rapidly torn down and replaced by an upper income, young adult class. People that used to live in 3rd ward or 4th ward can no longer afford to be there. If they own property, they are under immense pressure to sell so that developers can build the type of housing that suits the “new urban” clientele. As a result, many African-Americans are leaving Houston proper for suburbs like Pearland and Missouri City, because it’s what they can afford. NPR covered this trend in 2012 where State Rep. Garnet Coleman discussed the alarming rate at which the city is changing.

You REALLY, REALLY, REALLY can never go back home