Houston Hope: Neighborhoods: Trinity Houston Garderns

According to a description written by the City of Houston Planning Department “Trinity/Houston Gardens, takes its name from two communities: Trinity Gardens and Houston Gardens. Originally developed as communities just outside the city, each had oversized single-family home sites, allowing residents to have their own gardens. Now, home types vary widely, although most are single family and, generally, affordable. Density remains low. Railroad tracks trisect the neighborhood and are a dominant feature. Some of the inexpensive land has been converted to industrial uses, especially on the community's eastern edge. There are no major concentrations of retail development within the area.”

Designated as City of Houston Super Neighborhood number 48, Trinity/Houston Gardens is located in northeast Houston just north of Loop 610 North and east of U.S. 59 North. Located in the bounds of the Houston Independent School District, 46.2% of the children in this predominately African American community (81.35%) live below the poverty level. High School age students attend HISD's Kashmere High School at which was recently announced a $1 million gift from ChevronTexaco to HISD and the Urban League to address the dropout problem at Kashmere and other predominately African American schools in low-income neighborhoods. The second largest population group in the neighborhood is Hispanic with 15.99%. Average median per-capita income is $10,151. Over 35% of adults in the neighborhood do not have a high school diploma. Approximately 515 properties in the proposed targeted subsection of Trinity/Houston Gardens are undeveloped or have tax liens. Over 200 of these have long-term tax liens. Almost 35 percent (34.84%) of the 6844 housing units in Trinity/Houston Gardens are renter occupied. For a City of Houston land use map of Trinity and Houston Gardens go to http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/suprnbhds/landuse/sn48lu.html.