Flood Mitigation in Sharpstown, TX

Sharp donated a 300-foot-wide strip of land through the development to the state of Texas for construction of the Southwest Freeway (Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59). This routing ensured easy access from Downtown Houston to homes in the neighborhood, as well as to PlazAmericas (formerly Sharpstown Mall and Sharpstown Center) (1961), Houston’s first air-conditioned, enclosed shopping mall.

From the 1980 U.S. Census to the 1990 Census, many African-Americans left traditional African-American neighborhoods and entered parts of Southwest Houston such as Sharpstown. The Hispanic population increased by an amount between 1,000 and 3,500 per square mile. Many Asian-Americans also moved into the Sharpstown area, creating one of the largest concentrations of Asian-Americans in Houston. Glenda Kay Joe, an Asian community leader, said in a 1991 Houston Chronicle article that the Sharpstown Civic Association and the Southwest Advocate newspaper opposed Asian-American settlement in Sharpstown. According to Joe, once Sharpstown residents became accustomed with Asian immigrants, the opposition disappeared.

Sharpstown was affected by the Sharpstown scandal. The scandal combined with a set of apartment complexes that became run-down ensured that Sharpstown became a neighborhood surrounded by crime by the mid-to-late 1990s. Crime increased in the 1990s with the deterioration of area apartment complexes.