Yellowstone, Houston

Yellowstone, also known as OST/South Union and Southlawn, is a neighborhood located on the South Side Houston. It is one of collection of neighborhoods in south central Houston inside Loop 610.

Housing in the area began post World War II with most of its residents middle class white Americans. In the 1950’s, the local community center (Palm Center) located in Yellowstone was the first shopping mall in Houston. The mall brought growth and wealth in the area. Unfortunately in the early 1970’s, Yellowstone experienced an economic downfall and as a result several stores in the mall closed that led to “White flight.” Lower income African Americans were the majority that settled in this neighborhood after the flight. This shift impacted the community tremendously leaving behind vacant homes and businesses. Since the transition, the neighborhood has remained stagnant and the economy has not recovered, thus the demographic almost remains the same. In the late 1980s the Crips gang of Los Angeles, began to move into the area. After gangs moved in, "crack houses" began to show up. HPD began to crack down on the drug dealers and gang bangers in the late 1990s. Today the neighborhood is still mostly African American but experiencing a fast growth in its Latino population.

The majority of residents in Yellowstone ware Black. Hispanics were the second largest ethnic group, comprising 13% of the population. Three percent of the population were of other races. Of the total population, a majority (78%) were African American 8% were foreign.

The community is zoned to Houston Independent School District (HISD) schools. The schools serving Yellowstone include Foster Elementary School, Cullen Middle School, and Worthing High School. Worthing is located in Sunnyside.

After the 52 Hoover Crips began to move into the area, the neighborhood hit an increase in crime. Drive by shootings and drug activity hit a peak in the area in 1990s. In Violent Crime, 1999-2003 The annual average rate of violent crime in Yellowstone was 25.7 per 1,000 population, more than twice that of Houston. The rate of firearm-related violent crime in the community was 8.8 per 1,000 population, twice the Houston rate. Yellowstone was among those neighborhoods with the highest annual average rates of violent crime in the city.

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