dbigtex56

No, dear; no light bulbs for you. It was a standard metal edged real estate sign placed illegally between the sidewalk and street in front of Mr. Berry's home/office. So yes, he was aware of it, and no, it cannot be blamed on someone else. (Unlike Mr. Berry, I will not claim that a sign is responsible for rivers of innocent blood being shed.) Perhaps you can also expand on the reason Lower Westheimer is undeserving of protection under the law. (This should be interesting...) OK, on the count of three: start sputtering "liberal!" "Liberal!" LIBERAL!"

Apparently Mr. Berry believes that only he has the right to shoot off his mouth: By Doug Miller / 11 News Protestors gather every week on bridges over the Southwest Freeway. But now Houston Councilmember Michael Berry wants to shut the demonstrations down. "Well, you don't have a right to yell 'fire' in a crowded theater. And you don't have a right to stand on a freeway and create gridlock. And when somebody gets killed on that freeway, that's going to be well beyond their first amendment rights. We have a public safety right and a responsibility and a duty to stop them from distracting traffic and creating gridlock. And we're not going to let them continue to do it."

Went past the intersection of Smith and McGowen yesterday, and there's activity on the southeast corner of that block. A sign says Lovett Builders is building a mixed-usage center (presumably retail and residential.)

If every bank had a dry cleaner in its lobby (or vice-versa) about a third of the buildings in Midtown would be unneccessary.

Yeah, 4000 years of culture, 1.3 billion people...not a lot to work with there. Should have gone with the Cayman Islands.

New thread for 2007 International Festival - posts previously posted here have been moved.

Generalizing about people on this forum as ineffectual, silly, negative, unappreciative, sad, angry, frustrated whiners is not positive. It's called trolling. Please stop it.

Miss August "Oiled and Shiny"

All the identifiable cars in the parking lot appear to be Fords or Lincolns. Since this seems to be a staging area, it does seem logical that the photo was taken close to a Ford Motor Co. dealership. Front row: ten Lincolns Second row: Lincoln, '61 Ford, Lincoln, Lincoln, T-Bird(?) Behind tree: '59 Ford Station wagon at corner:Ford Falcon

Ichabod Crane Miss July

Is this the new Wachovia bank, just south of Spec's Warehouse? If so, it appears to be nearly completed. When was the permit issued?

Thanks, nativehou - I should have known that... That leaves the other site, south of Richmond and just north of 59 (next to a convenience store/gas station) - anything noteworthy going up there? The land has been freshly cleared.

I notice that the roof of the bay window appears to be copper-colored in the 'before' shot, and quite a lot darker in the 'after'. Are the roof and flashing copper, and has a patina been added? If so, how?

From what I gather, it's only the Half Price Books site. Yes, a 200-400 unit condo building seems unrealistically dense, especially since this project calls for only 12 units. Maybe Tara got a little carried away with the zeros.

Forgive me if this topic is being covered elsewhere - what's going up at the corner of Weslayan and Richmond? Also, on the west side of Weslayan, just north of Hwy59?

You need to get that on a t-shirt, quick!

Miss April

Thanks for reporting back to us.

(swerving abruptly back off topic) No wonder you have an appreciation for architecture! Geneva is such a beautiful little city.

Seems reasonable to me. Apartment complexes are taxed, yet have to pay contractors to remove trash - why do private homes get preferential treatment?

Jeez. Greater Houston Preservation Alliance walking tours are $10, $7 for members. Does the $25 include cocktails?

Enjoying (some of) our current architecture does not change the fact that new buildings are going up, both in Houston and the rest of the world. When it becomes apparent that what is being built in Houston is not as bold and distinctive as what was being built 25 or 30 years ago, people are inclined to comment. To "sit back (and) enjoy it" is known as resting on one's laurels. It would be "silly" to give up on Houston now.

March 21, 2007, 7:57PM Hyde Park condo project includes environmental landscape Construction set to begin this fall along Waugh Drive By TARA WHITE Chronicle Correspondent Harvest Moon Development Co.'s proposal to build a five-story, environmentally-friendly condominium project on Hyde Park Boulevard and Waugh Drive has residents agreeing that green is good. Hyde Park Civic Association President Kathy Schipper said the proposed "green" building is a lot better than a previous proposal by another developer to build a low-income 200-400-unit condominium complex. "We had a lot of concerns with the original proposal including drainage, street parking and damage to trees," Schipper said. "It's a beautiful site and we didn't want something ugly and cheap." Joey Romano, who started Harvest Moon Development Co. less than a year ago with his father, bought the Hyde Park property in January. The proposed building will replace a vacant Half Price Books store. "All of our projects will be 'green,' " Romano said. "We want to bring something new to Houston." Link to full article ********************************* Very encouraging news - the developer is committed to saving the existing trees and integrating 'green' features into the building. I hope other developers are paying attention.

Now I have to backpeddle a bit. To clarify: (from the Neartown Association website): "The Neartown Association was established in 1963 by a group of dedicated individuals seeking to improve the quality of life in Houston's unique and historic inner-city neighborhoods. Undaunted by the time-consuming community-building process, they were not willing to wait for someone else to save and restore their home front, nestled between downtown Houston and the Houston Medical Center. Since its founding, the Neartown Association has supported, and often sponsored, the formation of small civic clubs and neighborhood associations within its borders, generally along original plat lines. These 20-plus smaller groups hold their own meetings and deal with more localized issues such as problem properties, heavily weeded vacant lots and citizen patrols. They call on Neartown for support with neighborhood issues and, in turn, Neartown rallies these civic associations when issues of larger community concerns develop. With a population of over 30,000, Neartown's strong advocacy on positions of interest to the area is well known at both the local and state level." In other words, it's an umbrella organization which facilitates smaller neighborhood associations. From their bylaws: "the Neartown area shall mean the area approximately bounded by just south of Bissonnett to Graustark to Highway 59 to the south, then to Shepherd Drive to the west, then to Allen Parkway to the north and then to Taft to Fairview to Bagby to Highway 59 to Main to the east." I find it interesting that the word 'gay' appears nowhere on their website. Still, sounds like Montrose to me...