Documentary Photos By Peter Beste

Houston, Texas occupies a peculiar spot on the global stage, in the spotlight because of its importance to the global economy but rarely seen as anything other than a center of business. The perception of this southern metropolis is hardly any different within the United States. When it comes to the question of what Houston has to offer culturally, misperceptions invariably abound.
To some degree, there is merit to that. Master-planned communities blanket huge swaths of land, strip centers and office parks line the freeways and newly built condominiums swallow up some of Houston’s oldest and poorest neighborhoods in a block-by-block process of gentrification that eschews interest in the city’s history. To the eyes of visitors, Houston does not present well.
But Houston’s non-centralized and non-zoned geography present drawbacks that extend far beyond real estate value or cultural visibility. Poor civic services and one of the nation’s weakest public transportation systems, combined with its non-pedestrian friendly streets, long summers and unforgiving urban sprawl, have put many of Houston’s poorest neighborhoods on the fringe of an already polarized cultural dichotomy. Parts of Houston have, for decades, remained estranged from Houston.