The city of Houston Texas; Neighborhood Memorial - Research Paper Example

? THE OF HOUSTON TEXAS; NEIGHBORHOOD "MEMORIAL” The of Houston Texas; Neighborhood "Memorial" Brief of the neighborhood History Memorial neighborhood is located in Houston, Texas, the United States of America (Memorial City District, 2008). The neighborhood took shape in the 1960's following development in the nearby neighborhoods of Buffalo Bayou. It was an area previously characterized by empty land and farms with few market-to-market roads and thoroughfares. Development in the area began in the late 1960's as upper-middle-class subdivisions were built in the surrounding areas. It was supported by social amenities from the neighboring Buffalo Bayou that had received construction of government facilities including schools, police and fire services (Memorial City District, 2008). Along with development of houses in Memorial area, there were also major roads like Memorial Drive that were developed in the area. Commercial growth along these roads soon followed allowing for suburban growth as the city expanded. The Interstate 10 was constructed through the city in 1968 making the area even more favorable for developers. Over the last four decades, construction in the area has increased to consist of high class development of Memorial Villages between Beltway and Interstate 610 making it a popular settlement destination for prominent public figures (Memorial City District, 2008). The Texas Legislature created the Memorial City Management District in 1999 stipulating its official location as being along Interstate 10 between Beltway 8 and Bunker Hill Road (Memorial City District, 2008). It was presented the identifying marker of a four five-storey obelisk with lighted tops along Interstate 10. It has evolved over the years to settle some of the wealthiest populations in the United States with housing prices ranging from an upwards of one million dollars. It contains retail, medical, office and apartment complexes with one apartment complex being specifically reserved for senior citizens. It is also currently a special management district in Houston allowing it to use street signage of a different graphic style and color scheme that the standard white-on-green signs that characterize many of the neighborhoods in the city. Population and Demographics The area was previously sparsely populated but gained population between 1980 and 1990. As at 2006, the population in the neighborhood was estimated to be about 1.3 million. Of these, 35.5% were Hispanic, 37% were non-Hispanic White, 8.8% were Asian, 16.6% were African American, 0.2% were Native American, 0.1% were Pacific Islanders, and 1.8% were other communities living in the area and over 50% of the residents were above 24 years of age (Memorial City District, 2008). Most of Memorial is largely Republican and is considered one of Houston's richest neighborhoods. They elect their own mayors and councils and do not vote for Houston officials. Many of the city's employees work within a 10-mile radius with the three largest employers being Memorial City Mall, Chase Bank Service Center and CEMEX United States operations (Memorial City District, 2008). Key institutions Memorial has got retail and office buildings mostly within the city with very few retail zones being located in residential areas. Memorial shopping Mall is regarded as one of the city's largest and most prestigious shopping malls. It also has key hotels: The Candlewood suites, four points by Sheraton and Radisson Suites located within the city (Memorial City District, 2008). It also has major hospitals with the Memorial Hermann being considered one of the best hospitals in the area. It also has per-kindergarten, elementary school, Middle school and High schools in the area that serve the community. It is served by Houston Community College, Houston Baptist University and the University of Houston System at Cinco Ranch depicting an advanced and complete education system. Memorial is served by the Kendall Library of Houston Public Library to provide public library services to the people. It is also served by various media outlets including The Memorial Buzz which is a monthly magazine mailed free of charge to all the residents in the area. It frequently focuses on people, products and services in the community. The Houston Chronicle is the neighborhood's regional newspaper with the Memorial Examiner being the local newspaper used within the community. In addition, it is served by the United States Postal services for mail services all over the world (Memorial City District, 2008). Overall summary of the image the articles/news stories (as a collective) provided of the neighborhood. What are the issues/topics discussed in the articles? Who, if anyone, was interviewed for the articles? Do the articles discuss the neighborhood in negative, positive or neutral terms? Do they present the residents in negative, positive or neutral terms? Provide examples to support your analysis. Some of the issues discussed in these articles include the overall depiction of Memorial from the outside observer. Memorial is considered a “sweet sleepy suburb” by most people (Shilcutt, 2012). This is despite the several commercial developments that have characterized the area. This depicts the general environment and climate of the neighborhood. It is considered a quiet neighborhood with scenic greenery that adds a natural aspect to the entire landscape amid houses. It even goes to state that despite the various shopping malls and commercial trading zones that have been set up in the area, it is still quiet and sleepy. The conservative nature of the neighborhood is brought out in this aspect and clearly describes the nature of the people who live in these neighborhoods. It is most likely to attract families that are conservative and looking for quiet areas to settle calmly with nature. In this particular article, no one was interviewed but he writer gave her own personal opinion of the neighborhood to the newspaper. This article (Shilcutt, 2012) depicts the neighborhood in positive light giving it that serene atmosphere that may attract settlement of families. It depicts the neighborhood as safe and conservative to the urban developmental changes that is faces. This gives it stability when compared to other neighborhoods that change to accommodate noise and industrial pollution following industrialization. The composition of the resulting population has also been tackled by some of these articles bring out information on the family structure characterized in these areas (Memorial City District, 2008). There are few families with children less than 18 years. Most of the families in the area have got children more than 18 years of age. Out of the populations in the area, there are 43.2% married couples living in the area. 15.3% have a female householder with no husband present while 36.3% of those living in the area were non families. This depicts the conservative nature of the people in this area, to detail the family structure in such a manner. Family units have thus been given considerable emphasis in this area. 6.2% of all the households also had someone living alone who was above the age of 65 years or older (Memorial City District, 2008). This depicts the high number of aging population who came to settle in the area following retirement from other areas of the country. The average household size is stipulated to be 2.67 and the average family size was 3.39 notably very small. This is mostly a neighborhood with very few children and mostly consists of a married couple. There was nobody interviewed for this information as it mostly consisted of data that had been derived from household surveys done in the area (Memorial City District, 2008). It depicted the neighborhood in a positive way simply stating their level of conservatism when it comes to family values and relations. The age of the current inhabitants of Memorial also stands out in these articles with most of the demographics defining the average age of most of the people to be above 24 years of age (Memorial City District, 2008). This implies a steadily declining population in this area with most of the inhabitants being adults. This may be the reason why the neighborhoods are still defined as quiet and sleepy by some sources (Shilcutt, 2012). The population greatly consists of senior citizens with fewer families having small children. The younger population mostly consists of those who have come in to provide the much needed labor to the members of the state. It currently has the third largest Hispanic Population in the United States as of 2006 and is one of the leading factors for the presence of a population younger than the national average in Memorial (Gardener, 2011). The Hispanic population is just but among the several other communities that have come into the state to look for work. Other populations that have been reported in the area include Asian Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, African immigrants, Europeans and South Asian Americans. In this article, Karl Eschbach, a University of Texas demographer was interviewed. This article depicts the neighborhood in negative light owing to its mention of Hispanics as illegal aliens to Memorial. The discussion of age also places emphasis on how distinct Hispanics are in Memorial because they are younger people settling in a largely senior citizen neighborhood. Memorial is also depicted largely as a republican conservative area. It is also considered an area with a significantly large number of Hispanics living; enough to allow Orlando Sanchez, of Hispanic origin to make a bid for the Mayor's seat (Rodriguez, 2010). The article did not interview anyone but related the events made conclusions as they occurred. The article depicts Memorial in neutral light merely stating the characteristics of the population. Racial variations and disparities within Memorial are also addressed in these articles (Gardener, 2010). The Hispanic population in Memorial has been on the increase following more immigrants coming into the country from Latin America to look for work. In this article, Peter Stranges, the supervisor of the refugee services of the Catholic Charities was interviewed (Pinkerton, 2013). This article depicted the positive side of Memorial owing to the catholic churches' effort to set up a refugee services office to assist refugees from Cuba who arrive into the country with no possessions. Nigerian populations have also been depicted to be the highest in the United States according to Charles Corey of the United States Department of State who was interviewed in this particular article. Their main reason for settlement in the area has been attributed to warmer climate and trade. It is even depicted in these articles that there were previously no flights with direct routes to Nigeria. But because of their recent migration and trade in the area, the energy sector is considering setting up direct flights to Nigeria from Memorial (Moreno, 2011). White flight is a concept that has also been tacked in some of these articles with some writers suggesting that Memorial received some of the white populations that had left other areas of the country (Rodriguez, 2011). It refers to the movement of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions (Rodriguez, 2011). These articles depict Memorial in a negative way because of the manner in which they have depicted race to be a determining factor for choice in area of settlement. The have also attributed a cause of settlement for all the races showing the obvious outsider nature with which they have considered the racial groups within the area. Memorial has also been struck by several natural calamities in the form of strong winds and hurricanes. The article offers advice on some of the requirements necessary in the event of a hurricane (Katy ISD, 2012). It incorporates the comments of Bremer who advises of the importance of preparing in advance for the hurricanes. In your opinion, how, if at all, do the issues of race, gender, class, and ethnicity play a role in the coverage? In my opinion, the issues of race, gender, class and ethnicity play a role in the coverage of news in Memorial. This is because it consists of a largely conservative community that seeks to ensure that their values are upheld. In so doing, they have established systems of government that have allowed them to pursue their conservatism. Class plays a role in media coverage because those of high class receive media coverage when it comes to advertising and reporting. This is realized in the case of Memorial whereby the real estate market has been reported to be in the millions range (Memorial City District, 2008). The exorbitant prices that are charged for houses in this neighborhood has attracted the attention of the media allowing it to cover the features and sale of such houses. Race and ethnicity have indeed played a role in media coverage as realized in the case of Hispanics and Cubans (Gardener, 2010). Because of their increasing numbers and their significant influence on the activities of this neighborhood, the media has focused on them to understand the significance of their numbers in this largely conservative community. And because of their conservative and republican nature, the people of Memorial have aligned various gender roles to members in society. Thus gender has indeed played a role in media coverage when it comes to the analysis of family structure as either being that of married couples, female headed and non-familial units (Memorial City District, 2008). What urban theories did the coverage reflect? Provide examples to support your analysis. The coverage reflects several urban theories that govern the development of cities in places all over the world. Communicative planning (Altshuler, 1965) as a theory of urban development comes out in the coverage presented by the various media. The articles depict the serene nature of Memorial through the use of words like “sleepy” and “sweet” (Shilcutt, 2012). Communicative planning allows people to shape the places in which they live based on their own requirements. This depicts that the people within this neighborhood may prefer and require a quiet and serene area Another urban theory is that of “new urbanism” (Altshuler, 1965) in which there is a planned approach to urban development. It often hinges more towards the aspects of ideology but some of the aspects stipulated in their design have been often implemented. They aim to develop close knit communities as is realized in Memorial where the housing has been organized into neighborhoods. This urban theory also calls for the development of housing for different income groups with the basic unit of planning being the neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are often limited in size, have a well-defined edge and a focused center. The daily needs of individuals are often accessible within a certain small radius. This is realized in the case of Memorial whereby the center of the town has been characterized by shopping malls, industries and colleges while homes and other forms of settlement have been restricted to the outer areas of the city. They have also been organized into neighborhoods that are limited in size. A certain radius has been allowed between the homes and the focal point which is the city with all the shopping malls and other amenities. They have been appropriately connected with roads that facilitate accessibility to those areas within a few minutes. New urbanites also favor urban forms that stimulate neighborliness, community involvement, subjective feelings of integration with one's environment and aesthetic satisfaction. Community involvement and neighborliness in depicted in the articles that talk about the role of the Catholic Church in helping Cuban immigrants who come to Memorial without food or clothes (Pinkerton, 2013). This article depicts the neighborliness that is commonly sought by urban planners when they design neighborhoods under the concept of “new urbanism”. Subjective feelings of integration and neighborliness is also realized in the article that describes a Hispanic man's quest to vie for the Mayor's seat (Rodriguez, 2011). Despite the fact that this man is Hispanic, he seeks to integrate with the belief systems in Memorial. The people in Memorial are largely Republican and their political views are thus geared towards concepts of conservatism. As such, the article states that this man was Republican and upheld the beliefs of conservatism in society. This article thus implies that for one to be truly assimilated into the community then he must integrate himself into the belief systems of the community. Aesthetic satisfaction is also achieved when the article depicts the “sweet, sleepy suburb” environment. This creates an image of well-manicured suburb lawns with paved sidewalks. This article has also implied on the concept of zoning and growth management when it states that “Although it's undergoing some massive growth in the form of redevelopment and expansion at Memorial City Mall and the construction of the nearly finished City Centre "town square" off Beltway 8, Memorial is still in many ways a sweetly sleepy suburb.” (Shilcutt, 2012). Growth in this town has been managed in light of the urbanites views of urban zones. Safety and security is also a fundamental part of urban development. Hence developers seek to ensure that the housing schemes are developed in a secure manner to attract settlement. The issue of security has been handled by the article that provides information on hurricanes in the Memorial area. The concept of urban decay has also been handled which is the process by which a city or part of the city falls into a state of neglect. This causes depopulation, property abandonment, high unemployment and crime. This forces the concept of restructuring of urban areas as is implied in Shilcutt (2012). Rodriguez (2011) also discusses the concept of white flight in his paper detailing the areas that are likely to be affected by the concept. What is your reaction to the article? Based on your readings, what role do you think the media plays in affecting perception of urban areas and neighborhoods? Media has a vital role to play in the perceptions that one has of urban neighborhoods. In the choice of aspects that they choose to focus on, the outsider may perceive the community only along certain lines. This allows the readers to form their own views of the location even though that may not be the case. References Altshuler, A. (1965). The City Planning Process. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Gardner, D. (2010). "Revealed: The maps that show the racial breakdown of America’s biggest cities." Daily Mail. Retrieved from http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2001_3339488 Katy Independent School District. (2012). Katy ISD prepares for hurricane season. Retrieved from http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/ranch/news/katy-isd-prepares-for-hurricane-season/article_d36105a1-a403-51bb-b3ce-1732c7c0ccc7.html Memorial City District. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.memorialcitydistrict.org/about.asp Memorial City Management District Boundary. (n. d.). Memorial City District. Retrieved on January 25, 2009. Moreno, Jenalia. "Houston gets first scheduled nonstop flight to Africa." Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.chron.com/business/article/Houston-gets-first-scheduled-nonstop-flight-to-2271125.php Pinkerton, J. (2013) "Hundreds of Cuban immigrants finding a welcome in Houston." Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Hundreds-of-Cuban-immigrants-finding-a-welcome-in-4285175.php Richard West (1975). "Texas Monthly Reporter". Texas Monthly. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=qywEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=nottingham+forest+houston&source=bl&ots=jG2PKd2LMP&sig=mXBImDDqF7YpIr5Ecxz0p1CR4VM&hl=en&ei=12adTI-jGY6-sQOLt6jWAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=nottingham%20forest%20houston&f=false Rodriguez, L. (2011). "Sanchez's mayoral bid targets disparate voters." Houston Chronicle. Sunday October 7, 2001. A1. Retrieved from http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2001_3339488 Rodriguez, Lori. "THE CENSUS / Census study: White flight soars / UH analysis spots segregation trend." Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2001_3296953 Shilcutt, K. (2012). The 10 Best Places to Eat in Memorial. Houston Press. Thursday December 3, 2009. Retrieved from http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2009/12/the_10_best_places_to_eat_in_m.php Read More