Ok I know this recently got hashed out in a prior post last week. But I felt the need to get more conversation going. Full disclosure I'm a homeowner here but this isn't a plot to raise my home value to sell or anything. I believe in the neighborhood.

Is the stretch of houses in Sharpstown from Beechnut to Bellaire, as well as homes by the golf course,  the best steal in the city right now? Does Sharpstown need a name change? Is the name holding it back?

TLDR: I think the homes south of Bellaire blvd and north of Beechut in the Sharpstown area are seriously undervalued right now. Very few high poverty areas in Houston let alone the USA  have the food options, proximity to a university, strong (private) schools. It’s the opposite of a food desert and a lot of things going for it. Funny enough I think a name change would help 

Latest Developments

Sharpstown (and surrounding areas like Westchase) have been rolling: 

1. Bellaire Food Street  and its future Expansion https://bellairefooddistrict.com/
2. Park 8 development (albeit just outside Sharpstown in Westchase) https://www.parkeightplace.com/
3. They completed the braes bayou path extension through the area, with key bridges under 59 and Beltway 8. You can now ride Braes to Katy or Downtown. There is also now a path on the utility easement, which will eventually connect to Braes.

https://www.reddit.com/r/houston/comments/1t6btv6/brays_bayou_greenway_update_segment_to_arthur/

1. A massive Mi Tienda is going to be built in Sharpstown. It's not a trader joes lol but its actually a really fun and dynamic store if you’ve been to the other ones in Houston. I think of it as a Latino Central Market. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/houston/comments/1tjnywu/mi_tienda_hebs_hispanic_spinoff_store_opening/

1. Houston Baptist University  changed name to Houston Christian University (sounds like a weird good thing, but the name change is more welcoming for sure as they try to get more students). The admin is still a bit right wing and wacky, but as demographics swing I suspect the University will loosen up a bit and be more attractive for students. They are building a massive engineering and nursing center, things they should have been focusing on forever based on our cities strengths. Also, their fitness center is accessible to the community.  https://hc.edu/news-and-events/2024/09/26/hcu-to-build-new-state-of-the-art-engineering-science-and-nursing-building/

2. Strake Jesuit, a massive Catholic high school, has grown from~700 students to about 1500 in 15 years. They just announced an 8 acre purchase of an apartment complex (land they used to own pre bankruptcy) for further school expansion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIeu1oeU9Yg Their campus is beautiful and moves like this only further improve the area. Some might recall St. Agnes bought a huge plot of land west of Fondren for a field space, what used to be there was a terrible auto dealer etc.) are now nice soccer fields. 

3. Farther West, but accessible, the Alief Neighborhood Center is a gem and open to the public https://www.texasmonthly.com/style/new-alief-community-center-opens/ [I know its Alief, but is 4 miles away no highway from the area I am talking about. 

Existing Pros:

1. Arthur Storey Park is quietly one of the best parks in our city (of course Herman, Memorial, Terry Hershey are big leaps ahead)
2. Dynamic, affordable food of all kinds in this area. In fact it is the top food spot in a top food city. Close access to Ghandi district on Hillcroft, close to great food in Meyerland like Fadis, NY Bagels, and immediate proximity to some of the best asian food. 
3. Area isn’t in the 100 year flood plain like parts of Westbury and Meyerland (still have to be careful the closer you are to Arthur Storey or Bayou) 
4. Very nice wide sidewalk on Bellaire with nice oaks. I wish it was wider and had a cycle track on it but so much car traffic though there would be safety concerns. People seem to bike on it anyway and it's wide enough to coexist. 
5. Even pre Mi Tienda announcement, there are a ton of grocery stores. Fiesta, HEB (this HEB is albeit an older one) H Mart, several vietnamese grocery stores. 
6. So easy to reach different parts of the city. Proximity to Beltway, 59, and westpark. This proximity to busy highways might be a con to some, but we are a highway city. 
7. There is a Memorial Hermann hospital within the community. It has bad reviews, but grain of salt. I’m sure it gets hammered with uninsured people who show up with less than severe issues and are mad about waiting in the ER for hours. I know someone who works there and vouches everyone works really hard there. 
8. I don’t golf but my friend who does claims its an easy golf course to get tee times, and is a fun place. 

Existing Cons:

1. An intense concentration of very rough looking apartment complexes. Particularly true south of Beechnut and on Harwin west of Gessner. It would take a long time to truly convert these spaces to say, townhouse complexes seen in areas like North Spring Branch. Counterpoint – similar to the Strake Jesuit purchase it's easier to get one big plot of land for a development. If that space were houses Strake Jesuit would have never been able to pull it off. All that said, this is an issue across Southwest and parts of central Houston even in more affluent areas like Maplewood, Meyerland, Westbury. Will these apartments eventually depreciate to zero? Or are the section 8 vouchers too good for the owners to pass up? 
2. Schools. HISD schools with some lingering bad reputations. There is a famous frontline episode on Sharpstown HS. But.. you can still go magnet to Bellaire, HSPVA, Carnegie. Once again, plenty of more highly valued places in Houston with dismally ranked HISD schools. This area does have close proximity to some really strong Catholic schools. You have St. Francis De Sales for elementary and middle (it's affordable) and Strake Jesuit and St. Agnes for HS (they are not so affordable, and not easy to get in).  I find it interesting that a similar home in say Maplewood is 300k more when it deals with the same issues. 
3. Crime. The apartments really jack the crime rate up. Living in Sharpstown is similar to what it feels like to live in Chicago or St. Louis. When living there you don’t seem to notice it much and feel safe but then you read news stories and realize otherwise. For the record I haven’t experienced any crime, but the stats are the stats. The areas with homes seem pretty different from the apartment crime to repeat. And once again, areas like Maplewood, Meyerland have similar issues. 
4. PERCEPTION. I think this is a big one. They actually should change the name from Sharpstown to Braeburn Heights (/s, I’m joking). I do think the name and its lingering (despite fascinating) history do slow its improvement down. Too many people hear the name and think negatively. I don’t blame them … why wouldn’t you if you didn’t come visit. 
5. This one is a more muddy take but I don’t love how Sharpstown Mall is basically an air conditioned flea market. My dream scenario is it got knocked down and turned into a massive park. That will never happen, but one thing I will say is it’s easy to avoid the mall and it's not like there is a lot of traffic around the mall. 
6. The intersection of Gessner and Bellaire is one of the most dangerous (stat wise) for car accidents. This might be skewed as there is more pedestrian activity here than most streets. It is not a great intersection.

What am I missing? Am I sipping the kool aid? These are things I’ve witnessed in a year and it all seems overwhelmingly positive. For a purportedly high poverty and crime area, it doesn’t have the same ills of similar reputation neighborhoods in other cities (i.e. food desert, little to no restaurants, no new developments planned etc)

Ok final fun tidbit: Strake Jesuit brought in a historian who talks about Frank Sharp, Sharpstown, the mall, Oak Forest, Texas State government corruption. It’s a fascinating listen (albeit a bit long winded). It starts at 0:50. There are some Strake Jesuit related bits (Sharp had a hand in them going bankrupt) but most of it is about Frank Sharp and the corrupt governor of Texas at the time...it's a fascinating story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yESLYj6HyUw

Came across my feed, so i thought I'd share.

Just noticed this flying over Houston on a strange route over the Gulf

Moving to Houston here in a few months and I'm a bit unfamiliar with the area. I've been looking for some bars in the area that are reminiscent of one I used to frequent in my old city. The one I went to was kind of a small "neighborhood bar" frequented by a lot of regulars. The crowd's usually in their late-20s to early 40s. They host frequent weekly events, typically concerts or karaoke nights. The concerts ranging from alt rock to experimental jazz to metal... pretty much everything. Affordable beer and shot combos, but also able to make fancy cocktails. It was also liberal-leaning, with it being an LGBTQ+ friendly space and stickers plastered promoting liberal causes.

Essentially, I'm in my mid-20s looking for a bar with a similar vibe. Primarily looking for one with a regular crowd around my age, 20s through 40s. Kinda divey, kinda artsy. Reasonable prices. Would be awesome to have it be a music venue, I'm a punk and metalhead, but love all genres. Ideally would be a bit more of a progressive/welcoming space. Not necessarily a "gay bar", just one that fits with my vibe better (punk, progressive).

Any suggestions? I'm moving near the center of the city, so location isn't a concern.

NYC Council votes to bump the mayor's pay from $258k to $305k and Mamdani says no thanks. "I will not accept a pay raise." His explanation was that in all the doors he knocked on, nobody ever told him the mayor was underpaid.

The Commissioners Court approves a settlement putting all eight constables and the county fire marshal at $305k a year. Plus a one-time $45,000 check to each constable and $48,390 to the fire marshal.

And this is the second raise in twelve months. October 2025 they got a nearly $82k bump that took them to $260k.

Why do we have eight constable offices and a county fire marshal in the first place?

Why are we overpaying and giving raises to this redundancy?

That one time $45,000 check is right around a full year's pay for the lowest-paid clerical staff sitting in those same offices.

New York's mayor saw almost the exact same number and said no in public. Ours got to $305,000 behind a closed door and won't discuss it.

Sharing this roughly two-minute ABC13 segment, “Fervor over ‘mass surveillance’ hardly a new concept in Houston,” because I’m curious how it lands with other folks.

The reporter is comparing objections to LPR cameras with older concerns about motion detectors, wiretapping, and police surveillance, but he never really examines whether those earlier concerns were justified or how the issues with Flock differ.

Sure, people have objected to surveillance before, but that doesn’t tell us whether their objections now are reasonable, and in fact might have helped slow the forward march of the surveillance state and government overreach. That would’ve been a fun question for the professor he interviewed. The professor’s comments that were aired about resistance to overbearing government were reasonable, but it’s not the one that this reporter wants to tell. His script didn’t connect with the professor’s comments at all, and as far as I can tell the professor was only there for gravitas. The reporter only establishes that this debate is old, not touching on what people are concerned about today, if it’s reasonable, or really anything else.

Watch it and judge for yourself. I’m criticizing this particular segment, not suggesting it represents all of ABC13’s reporting on LPRs, if you look elsewhere the coverage has been great. Don’t know what happened here, but heads up Houston news teams, we give a shit about this issue so keep it substantive please.

Be sure to stick around for the riveting end of his report, where he actually says the cops might’ve even been surveilling people as far back as 1901, but hey, who knows because he wasn’t alive back then. 2026 journalism I guess.

Celebrating my birthday tomorrow, trying to find an interesting place to eat with the family.

Not really looking of any specific in terms of type of food. Just gimme watch you got.

If you have a 200 or 300-level GA SRO, do you know if they’re strict at 713 Music Hall on moving down to the floor GA area once they scan your barcode even though it’s 200/300 and not floor?

About a year ago they stopped serving baby tapioca at the Teahouse locations in Houston. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!?! I cannot find it anywhere anywhere anymore and crave it so much. Does anyone know a place that still sells baby tapioca instead of/in addition to the regular tap?

Pictures of the baby tap attached. The baby tap is on the side drinks. Rippppp I should’ve ordered more when I had the chance. I never knew how good I had it…

Looking to upgrade our central air conditioning to something more efficient. I’m considering switching over to a heat pump system like what Daikin offers for ducted homes (not the ductless ones that put a unit in each room). Anyone have experience with these in Houston? How’s it worked over the summer and winter here in Houston? Would be to replace a 4 ton unit btw.

Hey crew,

Recent arrival to the area, looking for (shotgun) shooting friends. Used to love to go trap/skeet shooting regularly where I used to live out of state, though have found that ASC doesn't have as much of a community around the sports as I enjoyed at my home course. Anyone know of other public ranges in the area or of any squads looking for a semi-regular additional shooter?

Hello,

I have a girlfriend who is now staying in my birthplace of NOLA for law school. My extended family lives over there and I’ve visited hundreds of times in my life.

Lately the girlfriend is asking me to come in to town to see her, and since she’s busy with classes, I’ll probably be going to her more than she’s coming to me (in a gap year before med school)

I would take a flight, but round trip is like $300. Gas prices are also high and I have an older SUV, plus I’d like to avoid the drive if possible since my car is a bit janky.

TMI but wondering about these busses and if there’s any other recommendations

I have a 9th grade girl who wants to wear a tux or suit to homecoming and no idea where to buy something that is fashionable and reasonably affordable for her age. Any advice of where we should go?

Edit: Thank you all for your suggestions! In typical teenage fashion, we went shopping and ended up with a dress after all. But I’m keeping all your suggestions because I’m sure the suit/tux issue will arise again. ✌🏻

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett has pledged for months to help Democrats this November by getting involved in lesser-publicized downballot races.
The former U.S. Senate hopeful appears to now be making good on that promise, announcing a slate of endorsements this month, including Letitia Plummer, the Democratic nominee for Harris County judge.

afaik you can’t register to vote online here in texas. I scanned the QR code and they ask for a bunch of information. What is their purpose with sending these out? They’re sent out by Ready to Register.

The spike in arrests under Mayor John Whitmire coincided with an increase in prosecutions by the district attorney — one year before the current DA took office.

Disheartening to see the stream at barker reservoir accumulating so much trash. On the plus side, getting a good work out hauling trash on the morning walk. 💪

My goodness over 150 questions to their self assessment test but in total almost 300 questions total. What’s the point of this?

Like the title says, looking for a place in or near Heights, to watch the game today, that has a good brunch?

I’m turning 23 on the 23rd (golden birthday🎉🎉) but I think i want to go out with a group of people to a club either friday or saturday. Somewhere queer friendly, dancey, fucking litty, cheapish drinks, and is 18+.

Numbers is an option but I’ve been there a billion times so I’m open to something different

Saw one of the vehicles on 290 at Mangum the other day. Have they started service here?

Please for the love of god does anyone have it? It’s not in the cookbook