There’s some news in today’s paper that, quite honestly, has me a bit sad. It’s something we thought might happen, but now it seems likely before the end of the year.
As you might have read, Doyle’s Restaurant, located on 34th Street, has apparently entered into an option period with a local developer who has pitched an idea to the Oak Forest community about converting the land into a multi-level apartment complex.
For those new to the area, and maybe for folks who live south of 610 who don’t travel north for warm meals, Doyle’s is a family restaurant that boasts good pizzas, great sandwiches, better salads and friendly service. I don’t personally know the Doyle family, but I enjoy their food and I’ve always appreciated family-owned restaurants that figure out how to stay open.
The reason for the sadness isn’t that we’re losing a restaurant – Lord knows another one will pop up by the time I finish writing. Instead, the sentimental side of me sees that Doyle’s has been in business for 65 years, and that likely will end after a really good run.
In much of Doyle’s marketing material, they proudly boast that they opened in 1954. You know what else opened in 1954? That’s right. The Leader.
Now, I don’t have the support staff in place to research how many businesses in our community have been around for 65 years, but if you eliminate all the big-box businesses and just look at the ones owned locally, I’m going to guess you could count them on a couple of hands, if the second hand is even needed.
For most of its lifetime, The Leader operated in an office less than a half mile from Doyle’s, and together, those two businesses have been part of the Heights, Oak Forest and Garden Oaks landscape. Both businesses have had their ups and downs, but both have been resilient through the downs and have found a way to survive.
My guess is Peter Doyle could find a way to keep his business open, or he could find someone willing to buy the restaurant from him. But I also imagine the value of his land for a developer like Avenue CDC is so much greater than what he could get for a few multipliers of his restaurant’s profits.
I don’t begrudge Doyle’s if they ultimately decide to sell, and I don’t think another person in this community should either. As a local owner of a business that started the same year as Mr. Doyle’s, I’m glad both of our businesses have made it this long.
If you’re wondering if a similar fate awaits The Leader, I don’t think so. Through some changes in our company, we’ve been able to reinvigorate this community newspaper, and we’re gearing up for a new challenger who will enter the market in the next couple of months. We’re excited about the opportunity to become a better publication and, thus, a better business in this community.
More important, The Leader doesn’t own any super valuable land on 34th Street, so nobody’s calling anyway!
As the conversation about Doyle’s shifts from sentimental memories to a development that could bring mixed income households to that plot of land, I’d like to offer some caution to the residents who will be most affected by a new apartment complex in the area.
Earlier this week, some residents in Oak Forest heard about the development by a man named Aaron Campbell, who happens to be an Oak Forest resident. Though I wasn’t at the meeting, I’ve been told by multiple people that much of the conversation centered around building government-funded housing in an area that has boomed economically. Often, we hear about apartments like this and homeowners cringe.
I really hope the conversation about Avenue CDC’s plans don’t center around income levels. I hope the words “Section 8 Housing” don’t become fodder for blanket statements. I don’t know Campbell, I have no connection to them, and I didn’t even attend the meeting where Campbell spoke. But during my career in journalism, I’ve dealt with a number of hot-button topics like government-funded housing.
There are a few things we need to take into account as this discussion begins: First, Section 8 housing doesn’t ever mean “Criminal Housing.” Just because folks are on a different economic level than others doesn’t make them unworthy of being our neighbors. I spent the first decade of my life with very little – others of you have similar stories.
Instead, Section 8 housing can be filled with law enforcement officers or teachers or firefighters whose wages don’t come close to middle class. Sometimes, the best among us are the ones who need a cheaper place to live.
Instead, as our conversation about this complex becomes louder over the next few months, let’s focus on the issues that will really matter. Can our schools handle 100-150 more students? We’re hearing reports that they can’t, and we need a solution to questions about education and available seats.
My bigger question will come as we look at the infrastructure of that area of 34th Street. In the coming weeks, The Leader will examine the development along 34th, especially as a huge retail development shows signs of life across the street from this proposed complex.
Consider this: Doyle’s probably had a couple of sinks, a couple of dishwashers, and two bathrooms located outside the building. If the reports of 72 apartments is true, that means we’ll now add 72 kitchen sinks, at least 72 bath tubs, probably 30 more showers, at least 72 more bathroom sinks and at least 72 more toilets. That’s almost 320 more plumbing lines draining to sewage lines that once had, what, six lines? And when retail stores open across the street, what will that do to drainage along 34th Street.
As this project moves along, I think we should keep our attention on the real issues, not the ones that don’t matter.
Email jonathan@theleadernews.com
Ana says
February 16, 2019 at 6:23 amI’m a teacher. We start at $52k in all districts in Houston. With 9 years, I earn close to $60k. My husband is a police officer in his 9th year. He earns $67k.
We DO NOT qualify for Section 8 housing, FYI. I wouldn’t qualify even if I lived by myself. Please stop spreading this false narrative to make people believe we’d be living in those apartments. If that were the case, we’d move out now. 34th is a much better location than where we are!
I’m also curious as to where the student numbers came from. Most families have at least 2 children. Let’s be realistic.
Please inform yourselves before making comments. If the Pinemont P & R housing was fought against, I don’t see why you can’t fight this one.
Let’s stop trying to be politically correct all the time and worry a little bit about our future and our investments. I wake up at 4 am, work weekends/summers, and I’m devoted to my job. As a hard working individual, there’s nothing wrong with taking care of things that I have worked my entire life to have. In my case, that’s a nice home whose value won’t deppreciate as fast as a new complex is built.
MyTwoCents says
February 20, 2019 at 11:45 amAmen Ana. I live in the area, and have worked two jobs many times in my life to make ends meet, and I also want to make sure that my single biggest investment (home) doesn’t plummet.
Charles Garcia says
February 15, 2019 at 10:38 amBeware, with the recent developments at yale and crosstimbers and along w 43rd there is a line of traffic in front of my drive now every morning and every evening that stacks up at light at w 43rd and shepherd. In addition to people being oblivious to allowing you to pull into or out of your own driveway, we get to listen to blaring music, honking traffic and pick up trash thrown out of these cars on a daily basis! Oh yeah, and our property taxes continue to rise to help pay for these folks who will utilize our neighborhood resources!
Barbara H says
February 14, 2019 at 6:58 pmThank you for adding to the conversation. I know some very fine people that are teachers.
Jason Hochman says
February 14, 2019 at 5:24 pmFive over one buildings with soft wood framing are the big thing around Houston and most of the US. The construction workers for this type of work can be found on a street corner or big box parking lot, and the cost of materials is low, but then you get the construction site fires.
Karen says
February 14, 2019 at 11:50 amI agree that people who are in a lower income bracket might not be able to afford “regular” housing. The problem I have is the same one I see as older people move from OF and their houses are put up for rent. No one governs what happens after renters move in and the next thing you know there are more people living in the house so they can afford the rent (at this point in my life-I couldn’t afford $1,400 – $1,700 a month ren). The biggest concern I have w/ section 8 housing is that it is that after a year or so – no one really governs who is living there. Once a family member falls on hard times, gets out of jail or bullys a person living in Section 8 to let them live there – it is now a criminal breeding ground. My family moved to OF in 1958 and I still live here. I feel I’m qualified to speak as I have seen the entire area morph & not always for good. They tried to make the HOV lot on Pinemont Section 8 housing & the neighbors in Forest West, Pine Forest & OF battled w/ the city to stop it. There is a sign up that states they will be putting in a city annex building – guessing a small city court house. I’m sure 99% of the people developing in our area don’t live here – just the greed for money.
Darian says
February 17, 2019 at 7:20 pmIt’s Forest Pines and the annex is a County Annex.
MyTwoCents says
February 20, 2019 at 11:48 am“Once a family member falls on hard times, gets out of jail or bullys a person living in Section 8 to let them live there – it is now a criminal breeding ground.”
And that does happen; not to all of them, but to enough to bring a very bad element into the neighborhood, and to make other people living in the complex feel unsafe.
Lane Lewis says
February 13, 2019 at 10:00 pmExcellent Editorial.
Rachel Riebeling says
February 13, 2019 at 6:12 pmThank you for calling attention to the real issues! I am also extremely worried about even more dangerous cut-through traffic on our block (we live in Shepherd Forest between 34th/610 and Oak Forest/Ella); my kids can’t ride their bikes as is.
Kristine Kocan says
February 13, 2019 at 4:48 pmI wholeheartedly agree with you. Being one of those, not on Section 8, but on a fixed income from being disabled. My disability shouldn’t require that I live in an unsafe environment just because of my income. I’ve also lived in Oak Forest for over 7 years now and have been forced to move twice due to rents going above what I can afford monthly. Was I a bad neighbor. Quite the opposite. I loved my 1950’s bungalows as if they were my own. If Avenue CDC will maintain the property, and not let it get run down like the properties on 34th toward Mangum are, I welcome an affordable option should I ever need to move again.
MyTwoCents says
February 20, 2019 at 12:03 pmActually almost everyone (with the exception of the ultra rich) is on a fixed income of one sort or another whether it’s earned or given to you by the government (taxpayers), and that income dictates what they can afford. I’m not not a bad neighbor either, but I may still end up having to move if property taxes continue to increase. Rental increases are in large part to cover property tax and insurance cost increases, so you were forced to move for the same reason a lot of people are forced to move, disabled or not, they were priced out. Your disability doesn’t give you the right to live in a safe neighborhood anymore than someone not disabled, and you’re not “required” to live in one. You simply have to live someplace less expensive and there are plenty of those in Houston that are perfectly safe. They may just not be where you want to live.
Monica Russo says
February 13, 2019 at 4:44 pmI’m curious. Where the 150 student figure is coming from?
David T. says
February 13, 2019 at 4:08 pmAs a realtor I’ve come across some fine folks who wanted to live in the oak forest area but just couldn’t make it work financially. I am not going to make the assumption that this proposed development would be bad for the area. Balance is good. Too much gentrification isn’t good for all people, that’s for sure.
Carrol Johnson says
February 14, 2019 at 10:21 amAvenue may be a wonderful developer with high standards for prospective tenants but my concern would be for the future. What happens when Avenue eventually sells the complex and someone new takes over? Do we have a guarantee that a slumlord won’t take over? Of course we do not. The only way to insure that doesn’t happen is if the apartments are never built.
Lydia says
February 13, 2019 at 12:40 pmWell said!
Robert Mark Megna says
February 13, 2019 at 12:26 pmThanks for shedding light on ALL the issues!