Let me tell you about the neighborhood and the purpose of this blog. Eastwood is a neighborhood started in 1913 by a man named William A. Wilson. He also developed Woodland Heights which is part of another inner loop neighborhood on the west side of Houston called the Heights. By October 1913, the Houston Daily Post said Eastwood was a "model suburb, one of the most convienent, beautiful and attractive homesite areas of Houston." Eastwood has one of Houston's largest intact collections of arts and crafts homes. Eastwood is located just 2 miles from the downtown of Houston inside the 610 loop. Sadly, the neighborhood fell into decline. Starting in the 1990's people started trying to save the neighborhood. By 2007 things were really looking much better for the neighborhood. Then the housing bust happened and a lot of the remodeling of the old homes stopped. Eastwood has a very active civic association and a very tight knit community. Yes, there are homes that are still falling apart with burglar bars on them next to beautifully restored homes. I consider it "edgy" ;)
Eastwood is basically a working class hispanic neighborhood. The public schools are nearly 98% hispanic and 95% economically disadvantaged. You would think this might translate to rough schools with terrible ratings. This is not the case. The school my youngest will be attending is called Lantrip. It scores a 7 out of 10 on the greatschools website. We visited this school and were so impressed. The administration is stellar. They love their school and have so much school pride. The school itself is the most beautiful school I have ever seen. They have an amazing Environmental Science magnet program. I can't wait until Matthew will be attending Lantrip! Jackson is the middle school and they score a 5 out of 10 on the greatschools website. Not as good as Lantrip, but they do have an amazing Vanguard magnet program. Vanguard is their gifted/talented program for students. Jackson also has a wonderful band program. The administrators at that school were also wonderful! I can really see the pride they have in their school and the care and concern they have for the students. Eastwood Academy is the school my oldest will be attending. It is probably the most impressive school. It is an HISD charter school. It has about 400 students. It is ranked number 37 out of all the high schools in the nation. It has a 100% graduation rate, 98% attendance rate, 100% college enrollment, 1315 average SAT score.... I could go on!
Here is the caveat to Eastwood. While all who live in this neighborhood think it is wonderful and love there, a lot of people believe it to be a dangerous 'hood full of drive by's, shootings, drug raids, gangs, etc. Most people can't understand why we would "choose" to live in such a place. However, based on conversations with people in the neighborhood, none of this is accurate. Eastwood is a safe, family friendly neighborhood full of great people!
So, why did we move to Eastwood? Well, first, I didn't want to subject my husband to a long commute on Houston highways day after day after day. Eastwood is only about 5 miles from Jimmy's job. Second, the schools are excellent. Third, I wanted to live in a neighborhood with a strong sense of community with friendly people and that is close to downtown. I'm a city girl! The suburbs creep me out. ;)
This blog will be about my experiences, good and bad about living in an inner city neighborhood that is going through gentrification. I hope to post often, but we shall see! Our home will close November 10th in Eastwood. I'm not sure yet if we will move in right away or wait until the kids finish school in Urbana for the semester. If it were just up to me.... I would move November 10th!
Hi Kris, just wanted to say great job on the Blog! It will go a long way in attracting potential new residents to the neighborhood. An honest presentation of the community and the schools we have here is the perfect way to publicize what we have here in Eastwood.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am so excited to be a part of Eastwood and I want to pass along all the information I get about the schools especially. I believe people with kids really want to know true impressions of the schools from parents. As my kids go through the Eastwood schools, I will keep up the blog and present their experiences as honestly as I can. I also want to talk about day to day things, like grocery shopping, getting around the neighborhood and recreation... what we do for fun.... etc. :)
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