The Mahatma Gandhi District (popularly known as Hillcroft or occasionally Little India) is an

ethnic enclave In sociology, an ethnic enclave is a geographic area with high ethnic concentration, characteristic cultural identity, and economic activity. The term is usually used to refer to either a residential area or a workspace with a high concentration ...

in Houston, Texas, United States, named after

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, consisting predominantly of Indian and Pakistani restaurants and shops and having a large South Asian population. The area is commonly referred to by locals as "Hillcroft," after Hillcroft Avenue, a major thoroughfare which houses much of the Mahatma Gandhi district.

History

In 1983 Rupa Vyas, owner of Indian-American grocery store Jay Stores, moved the store from Rice Village to the Hillcroft area. Soon after, in 1985, the Gahunias, an Indian American family, opened Raja Sweets.Shilcut, Katharine. "Little India." ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...

''. Wednesday May 25, 2011
2
Retrieved on May 26, 2011. The founder of the business was Joginder "Yogi" Gahunia (died 2002). Within a three-year period, India Grocers opened a location in the area. As time passed, more and more Indian American and Pakistani American businesses moved to the area. Existing Indian American businesses in the area expanded.Shilcut, Katharine. "Little India." ''

''. Wednesday May 25, 2011
3
Retrieved on May 26, 2011. While being made up of Indian shops and having a large Indian population for a long time, it was not officially named until January 16, 2010 when the City of Houston held a naming ceremony.Moreno, Jenalia.

"

''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

''. January 16, 2010. Retrieved on January 28, 2010. The

Mayor of Houston The following is a list of people who have served as mayor of the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas. Until 2015, the term of the mayor was two years. Beginning with the tenure of Bob Lanier, the city charter imposed term limits on offi ...

Annise Parker Annise Danette Parker (born May 17, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, Texas, from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city controller fro ...

, and the Consul General of India in Houston, Sanjiv Arora, announced the name change. The Indian American community proposed marking the area as a South Asian enclave for a seven-year period until the founding of the Gandhi District. The India Culture Center and several South Asian merchants originally wanted to rename a stretch of Hillcroft Avenue to Mahatma Gandhi Avenue; however that required signatures of 75% of commercial property owners of the given part of the street. Manisha Gandhi Mehta, a spokesperson for the opening event that was held on January 16, 2010, said that the organizers of the district found difficulty in getting non-South Asian merchants to agree to the renaming of the street. In 2009 the head members of the India Culture Center and several South Asian merchants agreed to pay $10,000 for the street signage that designates the area as the district.

Cityscape

The district is along Hillcroft Avenue, bordered by U.S. Highway 59 (Southwest Freeway) to the south and the

Westpark Tollway The Westpark Tollway, also Fort Bend Westpark Tollway, is a limited-access toll road in Texas, serving western Houston and Harris County, and northeastern Fort Bend County. Construction on the facility began in 2001 and portions of the road we ...

to the north. Katharine Shilcut of the ''

'' said that " e three roads combine in such a way as to form a little triangle within the tangle of streets and strip malls, ..Shilcut, Katharine. "Little India." ''

''. Wednesday May 25, 2011
1
Retrieved on May 26, 2011. Aku Patel, the owner of Karat 22, a jewelry store, said that continued development along Hillcroft was going to happen, but that the district would find difficulty in expanding to the other side of U.S. Highway 59 (Southwest Freeway) because a large

Hispanic and Latino American Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify a ...

population is already there. Patel said that instead the district will expand along Harwin Drive in an east-west direction.Shilcut, Katharine. "Little India." ''

''. Wednesday May 25, 2011
4
Retrieved on May 27, 2011. Shilcut said that the Gandhi District's central location within the City of Houston, the district's increased visibility, and the increase in

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

's Indian American and Pakistani American population caused the district to prosper. Yatin Patel, a Zambian-born ethnic Indian who is the owner of India Grocers, said in a 2011 ''

'' article that originally the Gandhi district did not have a significant Indian-American presence and consisted of several Indian stores and restaurants.

Economy

Since the Indian and Pakistani businesses moved to the district, it became a center for the sale of

Indian cuisine Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to India. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, he ...

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

films,

sari A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std ...

s, and gold jewelry. Katharine Shilcutt of the ''

'' said that the high education and income levels of Indian Americans caused businesses in the district to thrive. Shilcut added that "it was clear the rest of the city had taken note" when the district received its formal name. Lynn Ghose Cabrera, the cofounder of "Desi Living," a blog covering

's South Asian diaspora, said that "If you talk to longtime Houston Desi residents, they'll tell you that the establishment of the Hillcroft area as the 'Gandhi District' is a milestone. It's one signifier among many that as a community, we've come of age." Yatin Patel said in a 2011 ''

'' article that as of that year, about 20–25% of his business originates from people who are not ethnic Indians. He attributes the increased business from non-Indians to the increased proliferation and exposure of Indian cuisine in the United States and his store's Caribbean and English products. Sharan Gahunia, a member of the Gahunia family, said that by 2011 Raja Sweets had a lot of

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, Chinese American, and

Latino American Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify as ...

customers even though her restaurant does not

Americanize Americanization or Americanisation (see spelling differences) is the influence of American culture and business on other countries outside the United States of America, including their media, cuisine, business practices, popular culture, tech ...

the food. After the owners of Raja Sweets decided that they needed to designate a day off and the restaurant began closing on Tuesdays,Shilcut, Katharine. "Little India." ''

''. Wednesday May 25, 2011
45
Retrieved on May 27, 2011. other Indian restaurants on Hillcroft began closing on Tuesdays.Shilcut, Katharine. "Little India." ''

''. Wednesday May 25, 2011
5
Retrieved on May 27, 2011. In 2016 Emma Green of ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' wrote that due to high levels of competition, restaurants tended to focus on employing other family members.

Institutions

The India Culture Center is in the district.

Legacy

designated January 16, 2010 as "Mahatma Gandhi District Day".LaRotta, p. 35.

Gallery

File:Stripmall in the Mahatma Gandhi District of Houston2.JPG, A strip-mall in the Mahatma Gandhi District - The Olympic Center with ample Indian and Pakistani retail shops and restaurants. File:The Olympic Center 1.JPG, The Olympic Center 6600 Southwest Freeway Houston, TX 77074 File:The Olympic Center.jpg, The Olympic Center 6600 Southwest Freeway Houston, TX 77074 File:The Plaza @ Hillcroft & Hawrin - (hillcroft st).JPG, The Plaza @ Hillcroft & Hawrin5711 Hillcroft St. Houston, TX 77036 File:Plaza & Hillcroft & Harwin - (harwin st).JPG, The Plaza @ Hillcroft & Hawrin5711 Hillcroft St. Houston, TX 77036 File:The Plaza @ Hillcrof & Hawrin Pylon.jpg, The Plaza @ Hillcroft & Hawrin5711 Hillcroft St. Houston, TX 77036

References

* **

Reference list

External links

South Asia
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Southwest Management District Southwest Management District, formerly Greater Sharpstown Management District, is a district in Houston, Texas, United States. The district is split into 6 neighborhoods: Sharpstown, Chinatown, Mahatma Gandhi District/Little India, Westwood, ...

{{coord, 29.720, -95.501, region:US-TX, display=title Asian-American culture in Houston Ethnic enclaves in Texas Indian-American culture in Texas Little Indias Neighborhoods in Houston Pakistani-American culture in Texas Restaurant districts and streets in the United States