What can the City of Houston do to not make Houston become another Detroit?

Question

It has not improved since the last time I was there in Spring 2007.

I watched a movie called Third Ward,TX and a guy said in the movie it looked like a bomb had been dropped in Third Ward. The buildings are falling apart too many open lots houses look like they were burned severely just nothing positive going on. I no it is not just Third Ward but gentrification is a real slow process to me.

Answer 1

Well, one thing we can do is NOT build cars here. That'll keep a lot of the corrupt unions away.

One thing people don't realize is that we almost did become a version of Detroit once. Back in the early 80s, Houston's economy was driven by two things: The oil and gas industry and manufacturing (mostly for the oil and gas industry). When OPEC opened the spigots to full and the price of oil tanked, Houston had massively falling home prices and high unemployment that didn't recover until nearly 1990.

Fortunately our economy has diversified since then. We stand little chance of turning into Detroit, but there are certain areas that are bound to get worse.

Answer 2

I saw 'The Third Ward' at SCSI in 2007 and to me the film showed positive change to the area and that the people wanted desperately to take pride in their homes, just needed some financial assistance. Last month, I met someone living in the area and (female, caucasian, 32) she enjoyed it and recognized the positive direction the neighborhood- that is not to say that it does not have problems and as always, you should be aware of your surroundings, etc. though it is not the only problematic area in Houston. Not far from there- have you been to the campus of Texas Southern- that school is barely still functioning...

Also, a good friend of mine is from Detroit and will talk it up and defend it until his last breath- it just depends what area you are in-

There are good and bad areas in every city.

To answer your question- not much needs to be done because detroit is not such a bad example- people just need to care about where they live and the future of the area

Answer 3

It can stop trying to be like it purposely for one thing.  

Answer 4

that's those yokels in government for you. out of sight out of mind. Really, with some of the buildings around this city needs to be torn down completly and rebuilt, but the city doesn't own the buildings, private people/companies do. They have to follow the law and contact the owners and place an order to repair/remove the damaged building. The owner has a right to fight in it court since it is his personal property. This can take many yrs to resolve. It's sad. They way I see it, if a building needs to be torn down, tear it down , then notify the person/company was it was torn down and send the bill to them. Until the laws are changed concerning these locations, it will be yrs before anything is done.

Answer 5

The third ward has been that way for years and years. As long as I can remember, actually. I think that if you leave the third ward and enter downtown Houston, or go into some of the suburbs, a lot of positive things are happening. They may be slowing because the economy is so slow right now. You should come stay in New Orleans for a while. Houston is doing fine, relatively. They haven't repaired a road in New Orleans since right after Katrina. Delapitated buildings and blighted property are everywhere. Just because one area of Houston tends to let itself be a hellhole doesn't mean the whole city is going down the tubes....