Walmart Heights: Not In My Backyard
The manufactured controversy over the development of a new Walmart in Houston’s Heights neighborhood is about as ridiculous and hyperbolic as the so-called Tea Party Movement. Harsh words, but they ring true. The people up-in-arms about the planned and almost definite construction of a Walmart Supercenter just south of I-10 on Yale are angry because it’s Walmart, but more and more the nasty face of classism is making itself known.
Many people who now make up the most vocal populations in the Heights, West End, and surrounding neighborhoods are, for the most part, relatively new inhabitants in the area. I grew up, not in the Heights, but next to the Heights. I went to high school, however, at St. Thomas (which is on the edge of the Heights), and several of my family members and extended family members went to school at either Reagan High School or Hamilton High School. So, I know of one of this city’s most beloved locales fairly well. I was also there through the transition. I watched some of my favorite neighborhood places get torn down, remade, and/or changed to suit the new influx of people buying into the area.
First developed as a “Street Car Suburb,” in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Heights fell into economic disarray after the exodus of white residents beginning in the 1950s. That all changed at the turn of the 21st century. Minute Maid park was right downtown, the Metro LightRail began servicing Downtown, and the so-called “rebirth” of Houston’s Innerloop began. Beginning in the mid to late ’90s, the older houses that were sold after White Flight to less affluent minorities and lower-middle class whites, were being bought and sold to people who now wanted to experience big city-urban life. In the last fifteen years, the Heights and the West End, went from being a “ghetto” many people drove around, to being the darling of every newly minted yuppie. Beautiful turn-of-the-century Heights homes, and great little mid-century West End bungalows were torn down to make room for disgustingly generic town homes. Great old haunts were being bought out and replaced by homogenized franchise establishments. In short a micro-culture was lost to the new influx of young, affluent, self-interested people. Fast forward to Summer 2010, and we get the current ruckus over Walmart.
This is my problem with the anger over Walmart infiltrating the Innerloop: It is hypocritical to say that such a store will be detrimental to the neighborhood after so many of its current residents have already destroyed much of its culture and historical value. These are the same people that bought stucco monstrosities from the likes of Bob Perry. These are the same people that forced, and tried to force, great Houston haunts like Mary Janes, Silky’s, and Walter’s, out of business so that they could try to build their own version of Austin’s sixth street. The people who oppose the Walmart, namely those who run #StopHeightsWalmart, are fighting a battle that is not based on some altruistic notion of worker’s rights or fair trade practices. No they are fighting a battle much like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin are fighting; they are fighting to keep the identity of their little piece of the country the same. In fact, here is a self-description of the community this group says they represent:
The West End is a redeveloping neighborhood, with a heavy mixture of recent and new construction patio and town homes, next to some mid century pier and beam construction. Most older construction homes have fallen into disrepair, and the neighborhood has become a targeted area for younger singles, couples, and some families to relocate nearer to Downtown, and with a central location close to the heart of the city. The neighborhood also borders the bustling Washington Ave Corridor. (StopHeightsWalmart.org)
No where in this description does it talk about the people who have not sold out yet. Where are the people who have lived in the West End for 30 years or more? I guess they’re the ones with “older construction homes” that have “fallen into disrepair.” This description of the inner city makes it out to be a pristinely planned community that’s practically brand-new and virginal to the ravaging effects of one too many cars. In reality, the Washington Avenue Corridor is one of the city’s oldest and busiest commerce routes to and from the west. The planned location once held a large and important steel manufacturing company. Johnny Franks gave the many other factories a run for their money in terms of drawing traffic. The Sunbeam bread factory is also a major draw to the area. And, I won’t even start discussing the massive rice mill that once banked Memorial Drive.
The argument against the Heights Walmart is not about being against Walmart, it’s about the people of Walmart. Opponents of the store can lament over the destruction of great neighborhoods and they can finance their private economic impact studies, but if this store were planned for a different part of the Innerloop their vocal objections would be non-existent. If they are so worried about the “responsible development” of Houston, why is this group ignoring the approval by City Hall for companies to drill for gas below Herman Park? Where’s the outrage over that?
Chronicle of Higher Education