Link Valley, Houston
Link Valley is a community in southwestern Houston, Texas that consists of many apartment complexes. In the late 1980s it was nicknamed "Death Valley" due to high levels of drug-related and violent crime. Since a 1989 raid Link Valley has not had significant criminal activity. History The apartments were developed in the 1960s, when the area was considered to be suburban. Originally athletes, medical students, airline employees, local people, and young professionals lived there. At the time the 610 Loop had been newly constructed. At one time 5,000 people lived in the apartments. Robert Cullick, a member of the Houston Chronicle Austin bureau, said that as the apartments were built, residents of nearby residential subdivisions shunned them because the apartment residents were transient and of a lower socioeconomic status. The residential neighborhoods were deed restricted, preventing rental units from being built within. This caused apartments to be concentrated in the same areas. The apartments did not have recreational facilities. Cullick believed that the isolation caused Link Valley to become a crime-ridden area in the 1980s. In the 1970s through the mid-1980s Link Valley remained middle class. As Greater Houston developed, newer and more luxurious apartment complexes further away from the