VOICES OF THIRD WARD

Ed Pettitt

What are some of your hobbies and personal interests, and how do those plug into the 3rd Ward’s infrastructure?

“Kind of both work and a hobby, but I really love traveling and staying in hostels and other peoples’ homes. When I’m here in Houston, I kind of play the role of host, and I rent an AirBnB, but I also do disaster response: I hosted families during Hurricane Harvey, I hosted some evacuated Peace Corps volunteers recently who had to quarantine before going back to their families, and so I like home-sharing. It’s a great way for me to meet people from around the world, and also to introduce them to Houston and 3rd Ward, and it helps to benefit the local small business in 3rd Ward that normally get as many tours from visitors . . . I’m very intentional about taking my visitors to patronize local small businesses like Crumbville and Doshi House and Soul Food Vegan and local food trucks.”

What is something that living in the 3rd Ward has taught you?

“Well, I kind of realized this soon after moving here: that there is a strong sense of community and social cohesion. It’s one of the few neighborhoods left where you will still see neighbors getting together to have barbecues, having block parties, neighbors knowing each other, looking after each other’s kids… you still get that sense of community that you don’t see in the suburbs or in more town house-oriented neighborhoods.”