bachanon

i tried palotta's black walnut cafe in the research forest tonight. wow. great decor. cozy, rich dark wood everywhere, great menu, bar, italian ice cream, five seating areas (that i noticed) and fresh tasty food. i will definitely be returning. if it is a chain it certainly doesn't feel like a chain. great place to linger with friends...........and, not one screaming kid, mostly adults or older kids. i will definitely be back.

lake robbins entrance to town green the structure in the background is the pavilion. inside park viewing out the buildings in the background across lake robbins driver are in market street.

i drove by the new walmart at woodlands parkway and 2978 today. i took a couple of pictures. behind these trees are low prices! the walmart will be out of view for anyone offended by it.

2015 i think. i don't remember exactly.

there are homes under contruction and on the boards in east shore that are taking/will take the better part of a year to build. there is a "brownstone" development that people are moving in to and town homes going up. there are street lights in and hundreds of trees. if you go to the woodlands website http://www.thewoodlands.com/#moviestop and click on the east shore link. there is an interactive layout of the current phase of development.

is new urbanism synonymous with upper income? unfortunately, it seems as though it is. a major "attraction" of the town center concept is that it reduces the need to drive. our family, much to my dismay, no longer head inside the loop or to the galleria for birthday or anniversary dinners. with over 40,000 jobs in the area and 80,000 residents (30% kids btw), a large percentage of workers in the woodlands work in the woodlands and do not commute very far. hence, the attraction of less driving is duplicated near a successful town center. the diversity, history and uncontrived nature of the city; however, is indeed unmatched.

i noticed on one of the pdf files that retail will be built around parking garages along lake robbins drive. the first two buildings like this are currently being built around the waterway marriott and convention center parking garage.

i knew on what streets i wanted to buy in advance. i found a realtor i liked, informed her of the specific area, and checked HAR regularly.

the woodlands has unveiled a new commercial website. there's too much information to post here. check it out if you're interested. it includes the following link to a great pdf: critical mass there are renderings on the site of the soon to be constructed 24 and 25 waterway mixed use buildings, current layout of waterway development and ALOT more. go to the "town center" link on the main menu for the renderings. the link to the commercial website is woodlands commercial site home page

which corner? is it under construction?

unfortunately, all the walmarts are constantly packed. the new walmart at 2978 looks better than your average walmart and now walmart has unveiled a new "upscale" prototype in plano. wouldn't it be crazy if the new "better than average looking" walmart at 2978 is formatted after the new prototype?

people are moving in to east shore. the link is an updated description of the new development. all you need is 300K or more. so much for income diversity. east shore update

and............welcome to the forum DMac.

i've long admired 1602 south blvd. it was built in the 40's and appears to have prairie style influences. i've heard that it was designed by a student of FLW. anyone in the know? as i've learned about mckee and kamrath, i've wondered if they were the architects of note.

i will agree that, overall, it is better than it was 10 years ago.

congratulations and welcome to the neighborhood. here are some area links, just in case you haven't come across them already. woodlands online business portal town center website market street website the villager the woodlands resident website even though you're not a resident, there is information on activites, new developments, construction, etc.

Pasadena Crime Statistics It's not as horrible as I thought statistically, but it's still not good. however, from personal experiences and the people I've come across over the last twenty years in Pasadena, Deer Park and La Porte, I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy. There are at least two generations of "good ole boy" networks in these areas which include among others the pasadena police and fire departments. Many crimes go unreported and unsolved. There is a rough neck atmosphere along Spencer, Red Bluff, Pasadena Blvd, etc. These environments bleed over to Fairmont Parkway and the nicer areas. Go get gas on a Friday or Saturday night after 10PM and tell me you feel safe. Pasadena Census Data Also, notice near the end of the list that almost 44% of Pasadena households are renters. That can't be a good thing, especially if the average household income in Pasadena is significantly lower than average. Pasadena Income Breakdown 2000 Census Notice the lower per capita income in the second set of numbers. The average income per capita makes 75% of what similar others make nationally. This far east, IMO, is one of the last places anyone should look for housing. There's more: Education Level of Populace It seems that Pasadena has nearly 50% lower than average number of degreed individuals compared to the rest of Texas or the country. This cannot be good on any level. More desirable/safe/less stinky areas have more educated individuals. Oh, and what's the smell du jour?

thank you. that is exactly the type pointers i had hoped for.

some of the street level views with the cartoon effect would make great postcards or posters. in fact, a large canvas transfer of some of those would be great. thanks for the cool pictures.

i had hoped for more criticism of my attempted career change. you can't hurt my feelings. go ahead, be critical and opinionated. i count on haifers for that. thanks a bunch. k

did i see a "no" to zaha hadid"? her stuff IS fun to look at. i don't know about functionality or practicality though.

ditto the last photo with "you don't know the haif of it". great job everyone.

welcome to the forum! have you been to bender's landing yet? although i sound like a broken record to most of the regular contributors here, the village of grogan's mill along north millbend in the woodlands is beginning to feel the "town center effect". homes within a one mile radius of the increasingly popular woodlands' town center are showing to be 17-21% higher in value than similar homes furthur away. (exact results of the town center effect study are on the town center website.) this trend IMHO will only increase. however, you will not find any new homes in this area. home prices in grogan's mill vary from 100k to over 1 million. now for 500k, you could purchase a new townhome on east shore. i believe the larger lot private residences will be considerably more. so, there's my two cents. good luck.

welcome to the forum!

yes mark's is amazing. great suggestions everyone, thanks.