dbigtex56

Gotcha - and I agree. Some buildings never were (and never will be) attractive. With any luck we'll replace that which we tear down with something better.

Cut the woman some slack. It's hard to fit in those itty-bitty chairs when you're nearly seven feet tall.

Shhh! It's part of a catch-and-release program. They will be relocated to Sugar Land and The Woodlands in order to restore the natural balance.

Climate data is available through sources other than those collected by humans. Two examples: tree rings (dendrochronology and polar ice samples.

The fear was that we'd have a baseball team called the Houston Minute Maids

Merged with existing topic. There are several renderings on this tread.

Does the Houston Property Rights Association watch out for the rights of individual homeowners? Or was it created to promote huge profits for mega-investors and developers, to the detriment of everyone else?

I think you answered your own question. #'s was never about being exclusive or trendy. They allow the music and patrons to set the mood. That business about decor, dress codes and doormen will be downtown's downfall.

Thanks for helping clear that up. The concern was less that local stores wouldn't carry every microwavable frozen food on the market, or twenty different types of toilet paper; that has little appeal to me. However, I have lived in neighborhoods where local stores were downright ghetto (if that word is permissible) - overpriced, sour milk, rotten meat, etc. One person's preconceptions is another's bitter experience. So long as there are nearby stores which stock a reasonable variety of edible foods at affordable prices, I'm happy.

For many people, the issue isn't the proximity to Central Market or Starbucks; just an H-E-B, Kroger or Randall's would do. Or a clean Fiesta.

Good questions. I too have my doubts about how sustaiinable the downtown club district will be. That's the nature of nightclubs; a few daring people will find somewhere off the beaten track and create something unique. Then crowds follow them and the very quality that was initially appealling is lost. There's an old saying: "Ever since that place became popular, no one goes there anymore." Oxymoronic but true. It's happened on the Richmond Strip, Shepherd Plaza, lower Westheimer, River Oaks Plaza. In the 60s and early 70s, the same fate befell Allen's Landing. It will be interesting to see how places like Warehouse Live impact the social scene. Will the old Chinatown take over NoDo as 'the' party place?

Aside from matters of sentiment, aesthetics or history (and that's a lot), old buildings are usually better constructed than their modern replacements. Look at the YWCA building near Waugh; it's barely twenty years old and literally falling apart. Many old buildings have endured literally decades of neglect and still remain structurally sound. Old buildings afford materials and workmanship which often cannot be replicated at any cost. I think that these attributes sometimes actually work against appreciation of historic structures; people have become so used to the cheap and fake that genuine good design and craftmanship confuse and annoy them.

(1) They're marking their territory; like Animal Planet, but with housewives. (2) It's a Freudian thing.

We should be grateful that Minute Maid bought naming rights to the park...not the team.

Either way, emergency vehicles are being delayed. When a house is on fire or there's a medical emergency seconds (let alone minutes) count. We haven't yet seen what will happen if there's a major fire in a townhome development. My guess is that it ain't gonna be pretty. Firewalls can do only so much. Rip up sidewalks, trees and landscaping to accomodate townhomes and parking? Where do people fit into this picture? This solution doesn't even allow room for people to walk to or from their cars to their home, let alone to those trendy bars, restaurants and light rail service. It's a vision from hell. Putting up no parking signs will 'hurt' only those who willingly put themselves in that position to begin with. It's easy to blame developers, but someone signed on the dotted line somewhere along the way. Caveat emptor!

You're both close. The young man is from Greece...NY. It's a suburb of Rochester.

Having a place for you to park your car is not worth allowing other people's houses to burn down. Fire and ambulance services are vital to Houston. I hope you never have the need to use them. And if you do, I hope they're not delayed due to the selfishness of others.

Wouldn't blame firefighters for feeling a little Schadenfreude while smashing out his windows. The streets aren't any skinnier than they ever were. The surrounding lots are. People buy townhomes with the expectation that free parking is included in the deal; it's not. When off-street parking is eliminated due to townhomes being built lot line to lot line, and driveways are the minimum depth allowed by law, people end up lining both sides of the street with cars. Bear in mind that this was forseeable. Anyone who complains when the city decides to enact no-parking laws to allow the street to be passible should be told to go jump in the lake. This also applies to people who are ticketed for blocking sidewalks. If you can't afford a place to park your car, you can't afford a car.

thanks, gnu

Timely reminder:Friday • 9 p.m.-1 a.m.: Houston FotoFest opening-night party, featuring Blue Van Band and projections. Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel. (Free) link to article

The Heritage Society should gain some exposure due to their participation in FotoFest 2006 (see listing under Non Profit Spaces). Another example of how cooperation between groups in Houston is mutually beneficial.

Not everyone shares your pessimism. Steps are being taken to prevent future cases of voting fraud.

Interesting map, sevfiv - thanks. Notice how the Magnolia Brewery spans Buffalo Bayou? This must have been prepared just before the '35 flood. A question: why is the area north of Richmond Road marked "Westmoreland"? It's a long way from the subdivision of the same name.

It's a slippery slope. Riding is between one man and one wheel. If you allow bicycles, what next...tricycles?