Gunspoint or Gangspoint (Greenspoint District, Houston nickname)
The Greenspoint District (known as “the downtown of Houston’s north side”) experienced a crime wave in the late 1980s-early 1990s. The nicknames “Gunspoint” and, to a lesser extent, “Gangspoint” were applied to Greenspoint and the Greenspoint Mall. Crime has decreased in Greenspoint, but the nicknames are still remembered by many.
Wikipedia: Greenspoint, Houston, Texas
The Greater Greenspoint District—known as the downtown of Houston’s north side—is a 12-square-mile area bordered by the Hardy Toll Road to the east, Airtex to the north, Veterans Memorial to the west, and West Road to the south.
Formed in 1991 by the Texas Legislature, the district is now home to more than 3,000 businesses, 55,000 employees, and nearly 900,000 residents.
Police service
The Houston Police Department’s North Patrol Division serves the neighborhood. In the late 1980s the area was known for its high crime rate prompting locals to give it the unappealing nickname of “Gunspoint”. Since 1991, serious crime in Greenspoint decreased by 42 percent, while the area’s population increased by 45 percent.
Greenspoint Mall
This 1.7 million square foot mall is conveniently located on I -45 North at Beltway 8 and Sam Houston Tollway. It is centered between downtown and the Woodlands, as well as 10 minutes from Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Just twenty minutes from the Museum, Theater, and Medical Districts, Greenspoint Mall offers anchors such as Dillard’s, Macy’s, Palais Royal, Sears, and over 140 specialty and food court merchants. NOW OPEN - Fitness Connection - a fully equipped athletic club.
The mall, which is located within minutes of several hotels offering some 8,500 rooms, is positioned at the center of the Greater Greenspoint Business District.
Houston (TX) Chronicle
Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: SUN 07/10/1994
Section: C
Page: 1
Edition: 2 STAR
Greenspoint area crime dips sharply
By ERIC HANSON
Staff
Several years ago the police officers who patrolled the streets of the Greenspoint area jokingly referred to the north Houston region as Gunspoint.
“The Greenspoint area suffered a reputation that was worse than the reality in terms of crime and its neighborhoods,” says Jack Drake, president and general manager of the Greater Greenspoint Management District.
Not anymore. Crime has been dropping for the past three years, new businesses are moving in and shoppers say they feel as safe there as they would anywhere in a big city.
2 January 1996, Boston (MA) Globe:
Days later, driving past the Greenspoint Mall, previously dubbed Gunspoint for its rampant crime, Sgt. John Zitmann said, ‘‘Right now, the safest place to ...
12 March 1996, Milwaukee (WI) Journal Sentinel:
Vidaurri works in north Houston, where the Greenspoint area had been so overrun that a local mall was dubbed “Gunspoint.”
Houston (TX) Chronicle
Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: TUE 06/18/1996
Section: A
Page: 12
Edition: 3 STAR
Highway near Tomball gets dose of “zero tolerance”
By CHAD BINETTE
Staff
(...)
Because of several shootings, car thefts and other crimes in the late 1980s and early 1990s, patrol officers jokingly called the area ““Gunspoint.” The spate of crimes caught authorities’ attention when off-duty Harris County Sheriff’s Cpl. Roxyann Allee was abducted and shot to death on Sept. 30, 1991.
In response to the high level of crime, sheriff’s deputies and police officers combined in 1992 to run several sting operations designed to round up wanted felons. Local businesses and property owners formed a management district that paid for a police substation, officers’ salaries and equipment.
“The Greenspoint community has experienced a radical change,” said Jack Drake, president and general manager of the Greater Greenspoint Management District. “Today Greenspoint is as safe a commercial district, office-rental center and hotel center as you will find in the Houston region.”
Google Groups: comp.sys.laptops
Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Anne K. Ritchie)
Date: 1996/09/15
Subject: Compaq LTE 5000, win95
I know Compaq Works has terrible security problems (they don’t call that neighborhood gunspoint, I mean Greenspoint, for nothing), but it seems kind of strange.
Google Groups: pdx.sports
Newsgroups: pdx.sports
From: “Squid”
Date: 1999/06/08
Subject: Re: Dover Results
The area of Houston I was living in was named Greenspoint, but it’s so bad that everyone calls it Gunspoint or Gangspoint. We’re in a pretty nice neighborhood now. We haven’t heard one gunshot yet!
Google Groups: misc.transport.road
Newsgroups: misc.transport.road
From: “Shawn K. Quinn”
Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2002 20:07:48 -0000
Local: Wed, Jan 9 2002 3:07 pm
Subject: Re: Wal-Mart store closings?
> * Crime. The Mall of Memphis has apparently picked up a new
> nickname in the past year or two: The Mall of Murder.
Much like Greenspoint Mall in Houston acquiring the nickname “Gunspoint” (which IMO it no longer deserves).
Google Books
GIS in Law Enforcement Implementation Issues and Case Studies
by Mark R. Leipnik and Donald Patrick Albert
NetLibrary
2003
Pg. 33:
Take for example, the case of the abduction of a policewoman from the Greenspoint (locally called the “Gunspoint”) Mall parking lot in Houston, Texas.
Free Republic
2 Dead in Shooting at Houston Mall
Posted by Fred Hayek to WhistlingPastTheGraveyard
On News/Activism 11/27/2007 4:49:21 PM PST · 116 of 147
I’ve always heard Greenspoint referred to as “Gangspoint.”