dbigtex56

Thanks for the rendering, HoustonRetail. In addition to the discreet parking, I also applaud that the design takes cues from the 1920s-30s storefronts in Midtown. Here's hoping that other developers follow this example. Some continuity of architectural style would make Midtown seem more like a 'real' neighborhood, instead of a mish-mash of unrelated development.

I've never been to Phoenix, and know very little about it. Cities require water. Will Phoenix be able to keep up with the demand?

Enjoying something doesn't make it right. Some people enjoy driving with a crack pipe in one hand and a 40oz. in the other. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't condone that, either. "you're (your?) arguement (sic) about safety is false". Gee. If you say so. No need to address questions such as misaligned bumpers, excessive weight, poor handling and a tendency to roll over during hard cornering, let alone a much greater chance of injury in auto-pedestrian accidents. "no one brought up flooding..." Scroll up. MidtownCoog made reference to tropical storms. Flooding is implied. And just because you don't feel like debating issues doesn't mean that they're not worth discussing. If you want to drive your SUV in the privacy of your own home, have at it. If you're going to drive on public highways it affects other people, and we have a right to comment.

I live just around the corner from Executive House. While the views haven't changed, they should be more enjoyable with the new wider balconies - the old narrow ones gave me vertigo. They've been working on this building for nearly a year now - seems like they should be wrapping it up pretty soon. It's in a great location, with Montrose, Midtown, Downtown, the Museum District and the Medical Center all close by, and within walking distance of the Red Line. Also, it backs up to Westmoreland Historic District, is on a bus line, and has a great convenience store directly across the street. Haven't heard what the rents will be - out of my reach, for sure.

Very interesting post, caevans3, and welcome to the forum. I had never heard of Frost Town; from the description, it sounds as if it was a bit upstream from Harrisburg. Wonder of what material the foundations and cisterns were constructed? There is no native stone, so I assume they must have been brick or concrete. If so, was there a kiln there as well? or would they have brought building materials with them?

Forgive me if I get back On Topic These articles appear regularly in local papers. Every year or so they're printed; a list of Why Houston Sucks, then some sort of "So long, Suckers!" statement. This person...what's his name?... his letter is unexceptional. Jeez. I can think of a million better reasons for leaving Houston If you must dis Houston, show some imagination.

This is terrible news. I hold no grudge against Cleveland. From what little I've seen of that city, it holds a great deal of potential. If you're at all a fan of 20th century architecture, Cleveland has some wonderful examples. Their museum is on a par with Houston's. As a 'rust-belter', I take no pleasure in the misfortune of older cities. While we bask in new architecture, they're doggedly holding on to what they have. Cleveland looks with dismay as their children move to other, more hopeful cities (including Houston). What went wrong? What a tragedy that such a fine city has fallen on hard times, despite the efforts of talented, hard-working people. I hope this never happens to Houston. What guarantee do we have that it won't?

If that was true, I'd agree. I don't think it's true, and this is why. SUVs have a reputation of causing damage, without showing protection for their occupants. In other words, if you hit someone with your SUV (or if someone hits you), you have an equal chance of coming out unscathed. However, you have a greater chance of causing harm to someone else. Do you see the difference? Just because someone else is injured doesn't mean you win. No one wants collisions - at least I sure hope they don't. Your SUV isn't protecting you or your family. It can hurt other people and their families. Your big butch SUV isn't protecting you, it merely has the potential to hurt others. You're just as vulnerable as anyone else. I don't hate all SUV drivers. Just most of them. My sister and her husband own SUVs. They live on a steep dirt road in upstate NY. The county has posted signs saying that this road isn't guaranteed to be passible between November and April. In addition, they are members of the local volunteer ambulance and fire departments, and they regularly respond to local emergencies. I admire them. They don't have to make weak excuses for owning SUVs. It's not a sexy advertising campaign; it's reality. Do you think your SUV gives you an advantage over automobiles when Houston floods? hehe! And is that why I see just as many SUVs flooded as automobile drivers when it DOES flood? Face it. If the road is covered with water, you don't know how deep it is, regardless of what you're driving. Everyone can misjudge. I'm glad that you've shared your opinions with me. Maybe you do have a good reason to drive an SUV. If there's something I've missed, please point it out.

Oh! and I meant to mention Chicken & Egg Roll...it's just south of Westheimer, on the west side of Shepherd. Utterly unpretentious (an increasingly valuable asset), 40's greasy spoon kind of place, and you can watch your food being cooked over a terrifying blast of flammable gas. Don't sit on the last stool to the right...it's unstable.

We be's Texas hicks. May I offer you some wasabi with your chicken fried steak?

greystone, what an excellent point! Houston has a problem. Are we a lady or a whore? We have dignified buildings in the theater district. We want to be regarded as the equal of Carnegie Hall. The Alley Theater and Jones Hall are regarded as acceptable architectural manifestations of how earnest we are about The Arts; Wortham Center and Hobby Center a bit less so, but hopeful. The face of the arts is changing. In the 21st century, it turns out that Las Vegas has as much to offer as NYC. Theater thrives on tourism, and Broadway has to share the limelight with understudies. Maybe Houston can cut in on the action. Why not? I'd like to pretend that I'm some sort of theater snob, and could dismiss Houston's efforts as second-class; but it isn't so. Any sane person can gain as much enjoyment from Houston's theater scene as anywhere else. The Theater Experience has as much to do with expectations as reality. We could use a bit more 'glitz'. Well intentioned people want to retroactively give downtown Houston a New Haven or Boston feel. It ain't gonna happen. No. Bring on the neon! This is Space City Texas, and we ought to use Tokyo as more of a guide than Boston. Make it big. Make it gaudy. Big electronic signs! Let's show a bit of cleavage, so to speak.

debmartin, ssulivan, I'm with you. Being childless, I have no idea what people have been taught in high school since about 1975. In my high school English class, we were asked to compare and contrast Brave New World and 1984. In the 30's and 40's people were acutely aware that the future could become a Utopia or a Dystopia. These novels were written during the era of the New Deal, Fascism and Socialism. If you haven't read them, please do. They're great stories. People had legitimate questions about the fallibility of the Capitalism system after the Great Depression. Blood was shed over labor disputes, here and abroad. To put it in current terms, Brave New World showed a society that was too leftist; and 1984, one too right-wing. In both novels, there was a suspicion that society was being manipulated by an omnicient government. Suspicion is a good thing. I don't believe everything Michael Moore says; I believe some of it. I'm worried when an airplane is prevented from landing because Cat Stevens is on board. He was riding with his daughter; do you think the guy who wrote "Peace Train" is a threat? I'm worried that people aren't still questioning what went on at the President's energy summit three years ago. I wonder how come Bush was opposed to the 9/11 hearings, and Ms Rice's testimony, and why he refused to testify under oath. My brow furrows because our government is torturing prisoners and holding people who have no access to legal recourse. This is scary. The connection between mass media and the Republican party is a matter of record. To call radio, television, newspapers 'liberal' is laughable. Good god! They're supported by business interests. Who's going to insult their advertisers? If Mr. Bush was at all forthcoming - if he'd just come out and say "Look, I was rich, screwed up and priviliged", maybe I'd forgive him, and believe him. He doesn't lie, exactly. He also avoids the truth. Such flawed Christianity. Such arrogance. Can we agree that the Electoral College is flawed? I'm going to cast my vote on election day. I always shall. Conventional wisdom says Texas is going to Bush, and I don't care. I want the nation to know that all of Texas doesn't support Bush. I'm insistant on the point that questioning our leadership doesn't make me a liberal (not that there's anything wrong with that), nor that 'liberal' is a bad word, nor does it make me anti-American, nor half-witted, nor a hippie; that I am more a patriot than those who chant "U...S.. A! U...S...A!", and don't know who represents them locally, statewide, nor nationally. Incidentally...can you name your city councilperson? your state representative? your state senator? Your national representative? Our two national senators? Then shut up.

OK. We all know the stereotypes. Trailer trash. Tornado magnets. A movie set for "Cops". Pre-fab housing (also known as trailers, double-wides, White Trash City) isnt' worthy of consideration. No..we're better than that. So what is the point of architecture? I don't have a handy definition, but I think it means built structures, to benefit people. And I'm questioning whether this needs to be accomplished by on-site construction. At what point does a building become a 'real' building? How does a Perry Home differ from a Mobile Home (except that it's less easily moved)? The reason I'm posing this question is because my best friend owns a bit of land on the Maine coast. Her needs are simple. She is also aesthetically astute, and a busy person. She needs something affordable, well-insulated, three bedrooms and a bath and a half or two. She doesn't feel like messing with contractors. Some recreation of a New England saltbox is beyond her means, financially and in terms of overseeing contractors. We don't expect our cars to be custom made, nor do most of us have our clothing tailored. Manufactured housing is the answer for people who always wanted to buy a piece of land, somewhere outside the city. Are there good examples of this sort of construction? It ain't Fallingwater. It addresses the needs and abilities of people who want to be homeowners. If anyone has researched manufactured housing, I'd be grateful for some advice. Pimply youth and snobs need not apply.

What part of 'off-topic' don't you understand? If this is a topic of interest for you, start a thread in the "Way Off Topic" section.

Let's stay on topic, please.

Ricco, did you perhaps mean 9/28? I thought Tuesdays was their wings special night.

I usually prefer to pee in doorways, but I'll give it a try.

FYI: brises-soleil are horizontal elements which serve to shade the building. A local example would be the Exxon building.

Jeez. Why didn't the teacher just unplug the TV? I'm guessing that the student isn't being challenged enough, and this prank was done out of sheer boredom. Shows imagination!

With the exception of Las Vegas, casinos smack of desperation. Thriving cities neither want nor need them.

Excellent question, 20sGirl. How fortunate we are to live in America. Consider how much of the world's population lives with (or dies from) hunger, disease, lack of clean water to drink, and violence. And yet, are we as a people the happiest on Earth? I don't think so. It's a question of values. Every person reading this sentence takes for granted luxuries which the wealthiest people in the world could not have even dreamed of a hundred years ago. At that time, indoor plumbing was rare in rural communities. Air conditioning simply did not exist. Automobiles were toys for the very rich. There was no government inspection of food or drugs. It was common for children to drop out of school by the eighth grade. Medicine and dentistry were barbaric. It was common for people to have large families, partially because it was expected that many of their children would die in childhood. How soon we forget. Both of my parents grew up on farms; they both remembered when electricity first came to their homes. Most of what they ate, they grew themselves. A typical day for my father would begin by feeding the livestock, then walking three miles to school. After walking home, he would spend more time tending the livestock, splitting firewood, hauling water - after which he would do his homework, then go to bed. As he put it, it didn't leave a lot of time for juvenile delinquency. Yet, he graduated from high school at 15, probably with a better education than many college graduates have today - algebra, geometry, triganomitry, two years of Latin and impeccable English skills. He spoke of his childhood with affection. Here was a child for whom the concept of boredom was foreign. He was grateful to have enough to eat. Some of his classmates were not so lucky. I suppose that's why I find children (or adults) who sulk over not having a $150 dollar pair of sneakers bemusing. When did Americans begin to believe that we're all entitled to live like movie stars? Even high school proms are treated like royal weddings. How come we require computer games, cable TV, DVDs and cell phones to keep us amused or status-worthy? We gourge ourselves on fast food and soda, then try to find magic pills that will melt away the flab. We squeeze our fat asses into SUVs to drive a quarter of a mile, then complain about all the traffic and lack of parking. We have more labor saving devices then any people in history, but complain that there's not enough hours in a day. Even our pets are obese and spoiled. It's kind of sickening. The power of mass media and advertising has created a society of false values. Even people on welfare sport 'designer' clothing. We don't know our neighbors, so we watch "Friends" instead. We dismiss each other as 'types' rather than evaluating people as people. Every day we have to make what seems like a million meaningless choices. No wonder we're stressed. Too much stimulation, too much fat and sugar, too little exercise and tranquillity. Evolution did not prepare us for this life. Simplify. Turn off the TV. Get out of your car and walk. Eschew fast food. Learn a musical instrument. Pick up a pencil and draw or write. Visit a shut-in. Start a garden. Define yourself by who you are, not by what you consume.

The article states that the hospitals will be five miles apart. Two would be closer to it.

Found this reference: "The former Tennison Hotel will be converted into lofts. One Bayou Place will have 27 units in the seven-story building." (Real Estate Center website, circa 2001 - link ) also:"Across the street, to the north, is the One Bayou Park building, still under construction. It is an interesting renovation of the Tennison Hotel. The Tennison Hotel, built in the early 1920's, was a 'railroad station hotel' serving business travelers arriving by train at the nearby Grand Central Station. It was one of several hotels designed by architect Joseph Finger, including the William Penn Hotel, the Texas State Hotel, the Auditorium Hotel, and the DeGeorge Hotel. As passenger train business declined, the hotel died. Prior to the conversion to upscale apartments and office space in 2000, the building had been vacant since the 1970's." Link with picture As an aside, I think this was the building which once was featured in Ripley's Believe It Or Not. When it was built, an order was placed for just enough bricks to build the place, and they came up ONE brick short. A few years ago, it was a major eyesore as you entered downtown on 45.

So far as local/regional ads, I like Bluebell (the best ice cream in the country). Sure they're not flashy, but they're sweet and wholesome - like ice cream. The best national ads IMHO are Target, the Gap, iTunes and Geico. Hate ALL Jack In The Box ads. I'd like to smack that smug little smile off his plastic face. (Does anyone here remember the Jack-Onz? a local band whose schtick was mocking JITB. They hoped to get sued for the publicity). Those Sonic ads confuse me. Are those guys supposed to be ironically witty, or are they plain stupid? And are they 'just friends'...?

As an aside, welcome back, texasdago. I hope you can re-post some of the information we lost in Houston Mod - very informative.