Check your inbox. I did not know this is where the Houston Jewish community settled. Historically due to segregation and other abject racism times the Jewish community/students was indeed very prevalent at what are now HBCU’s.
Yes…the wealthy Jewish community built their mansions on McGregor because they were prohibited from living in River Oaks
1 Like
I am 100% with you. That makes no sense at all. Every community want to improve their neighborhood. African American neighborhoods are no different. By writing/saying they do not want to is more than questionable. I do not know one home owner that does not want to have a higher home equity, none.
I don’t know why you couldn’t answer publicly to my request.
Anyways, about the neighborhood, the school on Southmore closer to Scott (I forget what the name is) for a long time was in the building that once housed Congregation Beth Yeshurun. The sign on the building over the school entrance said “Education Building” and had a Star of David on each side. They never took that down. That building has since been torn down and a new school was built.
The original Beth Israel building is part of the HCC Central campus now. Oh and it wasn’t just wealthy Jews in 3rd Ward, I know my family was not wealthy when they lived there way before I was born. Right now I forget which street they lived on. Rosalie maybe, not important. Though the mansions on McGregor part is right as of the deed restrictions (technically still on the books) of River Oaks excluded Jews.
I believe you are right about some Jews attending HBCUs as they were excluded from other schools. I don’t know that to have been a case in Houston though. In my family, my dad and three of his brothers all went to UH for undergrad. Then a fourth brother came to UH for law school after going to UT.
Now you’ve learned something new today.
The ironic thing is that the residents who wanted a better life for themselves and their children were courageous enough to move out
History as a guide tells us it will be gentrified eventually, there are just obstacles in the way.
The older cities are perfect case studies of how cities develop on top of each other, improving wirh each layer.
Immigrant enclaves/ languages spoken/ accents/ social economic status are all temporary vehicles between generation to generation UNLESS they group is so rigidly stubborn they chose to remain in their current state generation after generation.
I specifically pointed out the Irish in the five points because they were lowly regarded. Many businesses refused to even hire them. They were the poorest if the poor yet today, their current geberations are thriving.
Not to discount the Irish immigrant experience, but wasn’t that often the case for whatever group of immigrants were new in a city or area?
Yes…there are lessons there that can be applied to the Third Ward but the Five Points was regarded as the Worst neighborhood in the Anglosphere, as a direct case study.
Gentrification saved it and its residents
Italians were another group that was discriminated against. My Father in Law was born in Italy and immigrated to the US. In the early 1940s he took this
to work every day.
I mean, it’s less about crime for me and more about urban design – this board focuses heavily on Scott because it’s basically the entrypoint to campus for sporting events, but it’s not that close to most on-campus students and crossing it isn’t pedestrian-friendly. Even if the Third Ward was Peyton Place, those things would still be true.
1 Like
Agree. In my dream world the north side of the bayou should have Greek housing and 4-5 cool restaurants and bars with great outdoor spaces. You’ve got multiple student apartments there already and trails for people to hike/bike. I used to ride my bike from my house near Rice to UH all the time only having to cross two streets (Main at Hermann Park and Scott).
3 Likes
The city has been working to connect the bike trails across the city in recent years too.
1 Like
but once those same groups got to America they quickly assimilated and received opportunities cause they immigrated by choice
they shortened their names or had a foothold in the door due to color - you see the younger generations that married outside their culture you barely can tell their heritage
Think about it - Italians dominated the grocery business all over growing up - how? not sure but in every small town in the south and in Houston/New Orleans they had the business on lock - African Americans never could get in like that
Jews controlled the record industry, had real estate, etc.
All came to America by choice and had access to capital somehow due to some reason - African Americans never was welcome, never had access to real capital and then when another minority group shows up such as Vietnamese they get help to get in the door
now look at 3rd ward - jews ran away, whites ran away, etc. for whatever reason - build and abandon - blacks get it but then mysteriously someone realizes they gave up prime real estate and jack up prices in the area to get it back or create new economic opportunities for their groups
but this generation doesn’t want to see 3rd ward as a vibrant area - they see it as an area you can ahve fun it and get out of town - if they were serious they would address housing, schools, etc.
I focus on Scott because that is the only place for significant private development. All other areas of the campus are university controlled with only two exceptions. The rest of your statement I agree with and have mentioned those issues before in a different thread.
Honestly at this point we should be focusing on essentials. If you’re an on-campus (or especially a just-off-campus) student, where do you buy groceries, or pick up your prescriptions? Bars aren’t super important if you don’t have that stuff.
Agree. Prescriptions though are available through the health center.
This might be the path of least resistance vs scott where we’re fighting the gentrification deal which is political so let’s just move it to wheeler etc where no out cry happens, it would be safer and easier for students to cross/ walkable .
What land is available and where by wheeler. You mentioned parking lots but is that the green lot or fb parking? Next time I’m driving there for a game , I’ll check.
All of these things come after residential development, and a demographic that will sustain those businesses. HEB built a new store close by, but bars/restaurants will not be invested in until the demographics change. It’s high risk. High crime, low income is not a recipe for success if you own those types of businesses.
That said there are local businesses we could patronize on game days etc. Frenchy’s, Ray’s on OST for good BBQ. There are daiquiri places over there too.
I’m confused, who sees 3rd ward as an area to have fun in?
You’re way oversimplifying the experience of those immigrants. Also, not all immigrated by choice, Jews were ran out of many other countries and ended up in the US. I know that is the case for at least part of my family. I know my family actually were farmers and had a dairy farm in the Houston area (actually, I only recently learned this). They never accumulated any real generational wealth or real estate, unfortunately. Also, much like every other immigrant group (Chinese, Italians, Irish), Jews were discriminated against and at times still are unfortunately. As we have already mentioned, many of the same neighborhoods that had deed restrictions against African Americans also had the same against Jews. I believe even sometime in the 60’s, the top law firms and accounting firms would not hire Jews even though many were the top of their class at UT, UH, etc.
Really, each immigrant group got through by getting in an industry that would accept them. The entertainment industry, films, records, etc. had a lot of Jews because that industry was open to them. Also, as that industry was very new at the time, the Jews in entertainment grew along with the industry. Just like how in some cities, the Irish controlled the police departments and/or fire departments, or Italians with groceries as you mentioned (just look at the Mandola family). Yes, many of them expanded to real estate in later generations especially as the later generations did not want to run the family business. Weingarten’s grocery is the precursor to Weingarten Group (REIT), Rice Food Markets shut their last store down last year and are now only in real estate, Lawrence Shipley III sold off Shipley Do-Nuts and is now concentrating on real estate, I believe. It wasn’t like these immigrants showed up and land was handed to them or they had some secret funds to buy up land. Other name
Now, I’m not trying to argue who had it worse, as it is obvious that African Americans have had less socio-economic mobility as a group than did more fairer skinned immigrants.
Think of the stories of other families and how their business over time grew into generational wealth, at some point, they were all immigrants - the Moody’s, the Fertita’s, Maceo’s, or the Jamail’s. Then of course there are families like the Cullen’s who made their fortune in the oil industry, Hugh Roy Cullen worked at it first.
Also “Jews Control…” is a very cringe trope and I am giving you the benefit of the doubt that you didn’t quite mean it like that. Please keep that in mind for the future.
3 Likes
My Italian immigrant maternal grandfather and his brothers had grocery stores in Beaumont.
Talk about fitting a stereotype!
1 Like