Denver Harbor

A freehand sketch of New Hope Dale Carnegie, a 170-efficiency unit affordable housing development. The apartments will be near the Gulfton and Sharpstown neighborhoods, some of the areas most prone to gentrification in Houston, according to a new Rice University study.

By Fauzeya Rahman – Reporter, Houston Business Journal

Dec 19, 2018, 3:40pm EST

A new report from Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research took a closer look at how Houston-area neighborhoods have gentrified dating back to 1990. The group also predicted the parts of town most likely to gentrify in the future.

Researchers found parts of Houston’s Third Ward, Denver Harbor, Fifth Ward and Gulfton neighborhoods are among the most likely to gentrify, with a more than 90 percent probability. Also, virtually all neighborhoods on Houston’s east side within the 610 Loop are susceptible, the report found.

The report defines neighborhoods vulnerable to gentrification as areas that exceed Harris County’s average number of renters, average non-white population, average percentage of low-income households and average number of people over 24 without at least a bachelor’s degree. As high-income residents move into these neighborhoods, those who lived there before could be pushed out as prices continue to go up. Houston saw very little gentrification between 1990 and 2000, the report found, but saw the greatest change between 2000 and 2010.

More recently, Denver Harbor near Port Houston saw its average sales price for single-family homes over the past 12 months rise 20 percent compared to the same period a year earlier, according to data from the Houston Association of Realtors. Meanwhile, civic leaders in Houston’s Third Ward are trying to find the right balance between new development that wants to come in and the needs of the neighborhood’s original residents.

“Gentrification is a problem in more than just Houston, but our city’s specific combination of socioeconomic and cultural diversity and sprawling residential patterns has some unique challenges,” Wendie Choudary, a report author, said in a press release.

Additionally, neighborhoods that flooded during Hurricane Harvey are more susceptible to becoming gentrified, as residents may not be able to afford costly repairs and instead opt to sell to investors interested in the area, the report stated.

Other areas likely to gentrify:

Southwest Houston: Sharpstown, Westwood, Alief and Gulfton
South of 610 Loop, east of Highway 288: Sunnyside, east side of South Acres/Crestmont Park, South Park
North Central Houston: Independence Heights, Greenspoint, parts of Klein Far South and Acres Home
Southeast Houston: Pecan Park, Magnolia Park and Lawndale/Wayside

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