Hillcroft Street may get another name.
Lined with international shops and restaurants, Hillcroft is known for its vast diversity. Now the India Culture Center wants to rename Hillcroft as Mahatma Gandhi Street, to honor the late spiritual leader.
Indian business owner Vimla Patel said, “It is good for Indian people. It is good for our country.”
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Houston city council member MJ Khan said, “I think everybody should be part of being Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy.”
Khan says he will support changing Hillcroft’s name to Mahatma Gandhi Avenue, if that’s what the community wants.
“Our city is a very international city so I think it will help if we start branding that area,” Khan explained.
I think that’s a perfectly rational reason for wanting to change the name, though as others mentioned in the story, there are plenty of other cultures represented in the area as well. Hillcroft, which changes names several times as you go north, starting with Voss just past Westheimer, doesn’t need that many more names. That said, I think KJB434’s comment on Swamplot to make it a dual name, adding a sign on top as they do in areas like Little Saigon and Chinatown, is quite sensible and could also be used to address the matter of the other cultures. We do this in some other places – US59 is subtitled the Senator Lloyd Bentsen Highway, after all – so why not on Hillcroft? If you’re going to make a change, I’d prefer the addition to the substitution. Not making any changes is fine by me, too. Hair Balls has more.