bachanon

i really enjoyed that article. perhaps it's because i live in the woodlands and would love to be a part of houston's downtown/midtown redevelopment. don't get me wrong, i LOVE the woodlands. however, i DO love all of the activities in and around our wonderful city, houston. hmmmmm, why can't the "city" be as concerned about affordable housing downtown as it is with the expansion of the convention center and having a convention center hotel? certainly architects and developers would step up to the plate if the city showed some sort of interest (read investment opportunity, less than average profitability i'm sure, but something media noteworthy none the less). kudos to all you "urban pioneers" for paving the way.

marshlands and "ox-bow" lakes are important to the buffalo bayou master plan, and flooding issues in general. these features are vital in low lying areas in order to capture and absorb water in the flood plain. development entities have ignored these natural features (instead creating cement rivers). in order to reduce flooding in the houston region we have to be able to contain flood waters and provide for quick absorption into subsurface water bodies/flows. Marshlands and ox-bow lakes allow for quick absorption of excess water. i'm not sure if these features (artificial or natural) would solve our all of our flooding problems; however, the less water draining into the bayous the better off we, as a region, would be. IMHO any additional information on these natural features and there functions would be interesting.

this is why marshlands and "ox-bow" lakes are important to the buffalo bayou master plan, and flooding issues in general. these features are vital in low lying areas in order to capture and absorb water in the flood plain. development entities have ignored these natural features (instead creating cement rivers). in order to reduce flooding in the houston region we have to be able to contain flood waters and provide for quick absorption into subsurface water bodies/flows. Marshlands and ox-bow lakes allow for quick absorption of excess water. i'm not sure if these feautures (artificial or natural) would allow us to have subways that didn't flood; however, the less water draining into the bayous the better off we, as a region, would be.

Jan. 19, 2005, 6:42PM The Woodlands appoints community lobbyists Positions focus on key issues for associations at Legislature By CHARLIE BIER Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle The Woodlands Community Association board of directors last week appointed its president, Bruce Tough, to serve as its representative for issues at the state Legislature. The move follows similar appointments by the two other community association branches

Woodlands offering different housing options Trends shifting to offer more condo-style developments By BETH KUHLES Chronicle Correspondent WHERE IT'S HAPPENING Construction is booming at several sites in The Woodlands seeking to fill a different niche for housing options. Among the sites are the following:

Buildings start taking shape for College Park High School Meetings to help kids, parents decide courses, schedules start Tuesday in The Woodlands By CARISSA D. MIRE Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Meetings for parents and students to discuss course selection for The Woodlands College Park High School are set for Tuesday for juniors, followed by a meeting for sophomores on Jan. 27 and on Feb. 3 for freshmen. However, meetings are just a small part of what makes College Park High School Principal Mark Murrell excited about the new campus, set to open to ninth-, 10th- and 11th-graders in August. Seniors will be added in the 2006-2007 school year. Historical texture "I'm just ready to be here," he said during a recent tour of the 350,000-square-foot building, which is nearing the final stages of construction. Murrell said he's extremely pleased with the three-story building's design, especially the front entrance

my younger sister was born in that maternity building october 18th, 1971. i was sad to lose the building.

Plaza Hotel New owners are planning to redevelop the historic Plaza Hotel, 5020 Montrose Blvd, as a medical office building to be called the Plaza Medical Center. A group of Houston investors has purchased the long-vacant landmark from the French company that has owned the property since the 1990s. According to the Houston Business Journal, total costs for the project could reach $24 million. Plans call for a total exterior restoration with modern interior design. The building formally opened Feb. 21, 1926, as the Plaza Apartment Hotel, Houston's first facility to provide hotel accommodations and suites for permanent residents. The concept was based on the Ritz Carlton in New York and the Biltmore in Atlanta, among others. The architect Joseph Finger decorated the splayed wings of the building with neoclassical and Italian Renaissance motifs. The Plaza operated as a traditional hotel until the 1980s. GHPA has been monitoring the building for many years. Staff members have met with neighborhood representatives and interested investors to discuss the property's potential and address local concerns about any redevelopment proposals. Link i realize this is somewhat redundant. does anyone know the current status of this project?

thanks for the additional info. that helps a little. i love maps and new development. i'm a real geek about it.

Village Map above is a link to the village map of the woodlands. notice the existing carlton woods section. i've not read or heard about anything in creekside called by the same name. i'm wondering if the management company or developer of carlton woods is the same? i don't understand why there would be a second village also called carlton woods inside creekside.

i agree with heightsguy. there are huge cookie cutter $200K houses being built in the burbs with over 3000 square feet, made to order.

we need fifty adams doing the same thing (not wishing for a smaller piece of the pie for him by any means). "mixed-use" thinking on every level of redevelopment is key for the betterment of our city. increased reporting on these issues may, eventually, create a swell of more intelligent land use and planning. (city council? are you listening?) recent reports of a development committee and stories like this are good news.

....and so it begins. this is precisely the direction i had hoped for. let the market determine who builds what, where, but set development guidelines that allow for a walkable, livable environment near each light rail stop. now, let's hope for a school or church near each of these areas before a strip club or porno store moves in. ;)

carlton woods already exists. isn't this the second golf course and, perhaps, a new section for carlton woods?

U.S. grants Lexicon $1.9 million for antiterrorism research By: BURTON SPEAKMAN, Villager staff 01/05/2005 Lexicon Genetics Incorporated (Nasdaq: LEXG) was awarded a $1.9 million grant for the discovery of drug targets that could provide resistance to ricin poisoning from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases for a one-year initial term. "Lexicon's proprietary gene knockout technology, coupled with our comprehensive system for analyzing the physiological effects of genes in mammals, can provide the Army with important information in its effort to combat the harmful effects of bioterrorism and biological warfare agents," said Arthur T. Sands, M.D., Ph.D., company president and chief executive officer. According to the Centers for Disease Control, ricin is a water-soluble poison made from the waste produced during the processing of the castor bean and can be produced in pellet, powder or mist form. The goal of the program is to ultimately identify target agents and to develop protective drugs, Sands said. Lexicon will complete the testing for 250 genes within the term the grant. Genes will be tested to evaluate their potential to block the body's reaction to ricin, he said. This technology does not work in the same manner as current treatments for either diseases or poisons. Current treatments work to eliminate toxins or infections from the body, Sands said. Drugs developed through this gene therapy will keep the toxin or infection from reacting with the agent it uses to damage the body. "Any agent - whether it be a poison or a virus - must use an agent to interact with the body," he said. Currently it is unclear what kind of reaction ricin produces that infects the body. Another advantage to gene treatment is that toxins and diseases can mutate, making current treatments invalid, Sands said. This would not be the case for drugs that affect the target agent. "Genes within the human body don't mutate," he said. "This could be the beginning of a whole new class of therapy." "We believe the methods we will be using to find host factors for ricin resistance could have broader applications for other toxins or infectious agents," Sands said. This is one of the initial steps that could bring the new therapeutic treatments to wider use, he added. The grant from the U.S. Army is the first grant that Lexicon Genetics has ever received, Sands said. Burton Speakman may be reached at bspeakman@mail.hcnonline.net.

An Oak Ridge North-based business is participating in an international art project that uses the latest technology to create a digital documentary of different parts of the world. SiteTraffic, a company that specializes in multimedia presentations ranging from Web site creation to three-dimensional movies to stock photography, has entered a 360-degree digital photograph in the project, which was released on New Year's Day. Mike Price, who owns SiteTraffic with his wife Laurie, became involved in the project through friends of his that live in Berkeley, Calif. "I used to be president of the International Virtual Reality Photography Association," Price said, explaining how he met the project's creators, Don Bain and Landis Bennett, both members of IVRPA. "They had the idea to do this based on the equinoxes and solstices, and we've participated in the last two." The project, in its first year, has taken place four times - once each season. The project is noncommercial - the idea is to create enthusiasm for virtual reality photography. Although virtual reality photography is a fairly new art form, only a decade old, the project has been extremely successful in its first year, Price said. This time around, 193 photographers submitted images to the project from more than 38 countries, including 27 states in the United States. Antarctica is the only continent that is not represented. "It's just grown," Price said. "I can't believe it. I can imagine the next time it comes around it will be twice as huge." SiteTraffic originally started as a photography business operated by Laurie Price. Mike was operating a company that developed software for real estate agents that allowed them to put listings online, and SiteTraffic was meant to supplement his job, so that photos of sale property could be added to the listings. Now the company, which is operated jointly by the couple, does everything from commercial photo shoots to Web design. "My wife is the photographer and I'm the geek of the group," Price said. One of SiteTraffic's projects is the designing of the new Oak Ridge North municipal Web site, which should be up and running by March. That site also features a virtual tour of Oak Ridge North, as well as panoramic images of some of its notable landmarks -- from city hall to the town's first home. Such images are created by taking several shots of an object from several angles. "It's done with a still digital camera and a specialized fisheye lens," Price said. "We take several images, in this case there were five, and those images are digitally 'stitched' together." The result, in three dimensions, would look like a tube. A viewer would be able to stand inside the tube, turn around in a full circle, and see all degrees of the image, as if in real life. That's where the term "virtual reality" applies. Most of the images are viewed with QuickTime, a computer program that is usually used to view movies. Each World Wide Panorama shoot has included its own theme. This quarter the theme was "Sanctuary." The theme is open to artistic interpretation, and some of the submitted shots include a farmhouse kitchen, great cathedrals and roadside shrines, a chapel in a cave, libraries, artist studios, urban parks and wildlife refuges. There are also photos of a child's crib and a miniature Nativity scene. Participants range anywhere from professional photographers and digital artists to hobbyists. "We were having a hard time trying to come up with an idea to submit, because we knew there would be a lot of churches," Price said. The idea came during a commercial shoot on the 15th floor of a luxury high rise in downtown Houston. "One of the people who worked there commented that they like to go out on the roof in the spring and summer before anybody else was awake," Price said. "You can see the whole city." Three months before, when SiteTraffic entered the project for the first time, the theme was "Bridges." They submitted a 360-degree photo of the Lake Robbins Bridge in The Woodlands. All the images taken over the first year of the project -- more than 600 of them -- may be viewed on the project's Web site, www.worldwidepanorama.com. SiteTraffic has also set up a Web site featuring panoramic images of its own, called 360Houston.com. SiteTraffic's business Web site is www.sitetraffic.com. The company is busy developing a new type of technology that Price believes is gaining popularity - Web-based video. So far, World Wide Panorama seems to have reached its goal. The Web site was named by Yahoo United Kingdom as one of its recipients of 2004's People's Choice Award for best travel find. And a recent study released by the Pew Center for research said that the ability to take virtual tours of any destination on earth has been used by more than 45 percent of adult Americans with Internet access. As for World Wide Panorama, Price said the group hopes to continue increasing its photo submissions with each new project. "The number they are shooting for, it's an arbitrary number, but I think it's one that will make everybody happy," he said. "And that is 360." Brittanie Hoofard may be reached via e-mail at bhoofard@mail.hcnonline.net. Villager Link

it looks like a prison. i hope the real thing is more interesting than the rendering.

Chicago, New York, LA, etc.

hmmmmm, COOL......."W" Hotels perhaps? My curiosity is piqued!

you may find some information by posting to the boards on these woodlands websites: http://www.thewoodlands.net/ http://www.woodlandsonline.com/index.cfm in addition, i heard that hewitt just recently acquired another woodlands based company called "exult". hewitt took a big hit after 9/11 when continental airlines downsized, they must be rebounding. good luck.

looking at my keymap and a recent map of the woodlands; "creekside park", the final village to be developed here, will connect with this linear park. creekside park will consist of over 2,500 acres of park land/nature preserve along spring creek. this is great news for northern harris and southern montgomery counties. in fact, it's great news for our region.

The Woodlands Town Center is becoming more "urban" every day. First Non-Retail Business Opens in The Mall Expansion Sales Training International Relocates to The Woodlands Mall by Sales Training International Sales Training International is the first non-retail business to relocate to the new Woodlands Mall expansion space. Since starting the business in The Woodlands in 1988, the owners of Sales Training International have always been at the forefront of

Residents' sound wall hopes still alive Discussions are ongoing about where to build buffer in Woodlands By CHARLIE BIER Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle A potential wall to buffer residents from noise generated by traffic on the newly opened southbound flyover from Woodlands Parkway to Interstate 45 is still a possibility, but Woodlands officials have hurdles to clear. Some residents in the 300-plus home Grogan's Mill neighborhood of Glen Mill have complained noise from the $2.8 million flyover project will lessen their quality of life and lower their property values. The flyover opened to traffic Dec. 18. John Rutledge, Community Associations of The Woodlands general manager, said the issue is still where it was in early November, when he told the Woodlands Community Association board the Texas Department of Transportation had sent an encouraging letter reversing its original stance against a sound wall. "The Community Associations are still in discussion with both (Montgomery County Precinct 3) Commissioner Ed Chance and The Woodlands Operating Co. to resolve the land ownership issue," Rutledge said. Sound issues Several overlapping issues will affect eventual placement and building of a sound wall, which the state highway department originally refused to consider based on findings of a March 2003 TxDOT-commissioned noise study. A subsequent noise study commissioned by the Woodlands Community Association on behalf of Glen Mill residents found a sound wall was needed, prompting a September WCA vote to ask the state agency to reconsider. The Woodlands Operating Co., however, holds the easement on the likely spot where a sound wall would be built. Rutledge is now procuring design standards and specifications from TxDOT to present to the operating company and negotiating with the county to receive ownership of the easement. "Right now, we're basically in the same place," Rutledge said. Discussions continue Alex Sutton, senior vice president of development for The Woodlands Operating Co., said the operating company will provide the land if it can have a say in the aesthetics of the wall and provided an entity can be found who will oversee wall maintenance. Chance said the county won't build a wall, but has "agreed to take control of the wall as long as we have the real estate to put it on," he said. Pat Henry, a director of TxDOT's project development base in Houston, likewise said the project's logistics are still in the discussion phase. Mixed views Some residents of the neighborhood have been vocal about the need for a sound wall. Others don't think the noise is enough to require a wall and the potential benefits of reduction in traffic sounds are blunted by aesthetic considerations. Glen Mill resident Libby Kinder, who owns two homes along North Deerfoot Circle, said she fears her property values will decline without a sound buffering wall. "I'm definitely for it. So much vegetation has been taken out, that the noise has just increased so much," Kinder said. Glen Mill resident Helen Locker, who lives along North Deerfoot Circle near the new flyover, said she hears noise when outside, but it's pretty quiet inside her home. Locker, whose property backs up to Woodlands Parkway as opposed to the flyover, said she empathizes with residents who are disturbed by interstate and flyover noise, but views noise walls as unsightly. "I'm really not for the wall. I feel it would be unattractive. I just don't think it's necessary, but it sure may be on the side where people are living closer to it," Locker said. Locker said she has noticed increased noise when she walks outside. "It's not bad for me inside, but when I walk out in my front yard, I can hear a distinct difference," she said. charlie.bier@chron.com Link to article

the post was my choice over the chronicle. i could watch a speech by ronald reagan and the post would quote him, in context. the chronicle would take excerpts of his words and paint their own picture. you could read an article on the same event in both papers and come out with different perspectives. the chronicle sucks. BTW, i have a copy of the last issue of the houston post.

ok, i submitted my first blog and i have ERRORS! can i edit?