IronTiger

AAAAAAAH!!!

I made a topic about Weingarten's (as the older one was buried at the time). Can they merged? http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/24280-weingartens/page__hl__weingarten's

OK, here's a new one: Auchan (both of them) needed a distribution plant, right? Shouldn't the 2003 news articles (that mentioned the hypermarkets closing) talk about a closing of a distribution center, also?

Read on the local news that the Garden Ridge fire was ruled arson. http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/_Investigators_3-alarm_Garden_Ridge_Fire_Ruled_Arson__132207278.html But arson by who?

It seems that the Alabama Theater plan was approved: now, when does it open? Early 2012?

Wow. The Foley's t-shirt link (http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=574220&CategoryId=30423) does make sense, but it's just empty words based on what they did to the chain. Still, not as shameless as Hardee's and the fake "Big Shef" burger. If Macy's really cared, they would bring back the Foley's branding to the stores they took over, and they can be like The Bon-Ton: one company, half a dozen nameplates.

IIRC, the whole super-highway idea was scrapped but 59 would get upgrades and bypasses to be Interstate quality.

Say, if 290 was to become an Interstate, how far would it go? Anything west of Hempstead is at-grade intersections. If (for whatever reason) they wanted to expand the Interstate designation to Brazos County (which is full limited access since 2010), that would mean upgrading between Hempstead and Navasota. Either way, both 290 and 59 are older highways that are super-crowded, which runs kind of counter-intuitive to the original Interstate goals.

Anyone remember Venture, the discount store that made a brief stand in Houston (1993-1997), only reaching 10 stores at its peak, all selling out to Kmart? I was reading somewhere on its odd choices in marketing: pushing clothing over other discount store goods, and trying too hard to push the Texas spin. Quote from "Pleasant Family Shopping" (which is quoted from another publication): I don't know what happened to Venture's 10 stores post-Kmart: the only one I know of is the Burlington Coat Factory off of 290, that was an old Kmart/Venture, and possibly something before that.

Ha ha, no, but you probably could come to the New Republic Brewery tour tonight which is a few miles away from my house (the Houston Examiner called it "Houston area's newest brewery"), though I think it's still a bit hard-pressed to call College Station the "Houston area".

Well, this day five years ago, Macy's officially "reopened" all the old Foley's stores, though the stores had been closed for a week, with Foley's signs only draped over the Macy's signs (and Federated shut down the offices in 2005, does anyone know for sure where the offices were?)

Looks like Old Telephone Road had this done to it in the 1960s or 1970s. Part of it was demolished for a drain ditch expansion in the 1990s, the rest has had pavement removed.

Bumping this thread to reflect the MASSIVE wildfire in Bastrop that's destroyed 1400 homes and is spreading (I think it's 45 square miles?). It's really sad....

I was reading the quote, and I was thinking "sounds like a The Onion article". I love it when I'm right!

Also, Dairy Ashford Road has a cut-off section called Stiles Road near 59. The railroad crossing closed off before '95. And speaking of railroad crossings, there were lots on the railroad paralleling Westpark (now gone). The railroad crossing signals (with gates, too!) remained in areas after the closing of the roads, and even after the abandonment of the railroad.

I like this topic. You can kind of see them on Google Earth (but since there's no street view, and SV is bad resolution anyway). House & Hahl Road out near Cypress was turned into a subdivision mostly. Near Alvin, some abandoned highway sits near the north end of the loop. Although the loop existed since 60s, sometime, circa 2005, the intersection was redone, and now a chunk of disconnected asphalt is now there. The Beltway was realigned some point in the past (1980s?), creating a four-lane (no space for frontage) "Old North Belt Dr." and another road (two way). Near I-45 and Saunders, an entire subdivision was leveled, its roads gone.

I think that as a city in itself, Houston is definitely bigger than Dallas, but Dallas is thrown in with the whole Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area, which makes it seem way bigger than it actually is. Just like how College Station-Bryan or Temple-Killeen are small on their own but make a pretty substantial overall city area.

The "noobies" are being "censored" because the Way Off Topic has always required a certain minimum of posts to be able to post.

When my family goes to Baton Rouge, we always take 105 and prefer over 290/10, even if there is higher potential for wrecks and more stoplights. On Lake Conroe, I'm glad they made 105 six lanes back in the early 1990s...it really qualifies for that now.

That would mean David Dewhurst becomes governor of Texas, which IIRC, is one of Perry's cronies.

There's something kind of unsettling about Perry to me. I mean, he's made a number of bad decisions already, and likely one of the things he and Obama have in common is some overly expensive mass transit plan. I begrudgingly voted for Perry last time around, when it was clear that he was going to be on the Republican ticket, and Bill White was a liberal Democrat similar to Obama and the Democrats in the White House (I mean, I was really looking into White, hoping that he was different) That being said, if it's between Obama and Perry, I'm still going to go with Perry...I want to see Obama get out ASAP.

Ah, so there WAS a radio station on the premises, then? is a link to a photo of the area, but only the parking lot.

I went to Houston yesterday and today, and was surprised at the unique diversity of neighborhoods, thanks to many having unique street signs. Upper Kirby - Neat, but a bit crowded. Kirby @ US-59 was under construction. Rice Village has cool shops, proximity to Museum District has nice-ish homes and shaded streets. (Rice Village is is Upper Kirby, isn't it?) Montrose - Didn't seem too different from Upper Kirby, really. Saw the Montrose Kroger (what a mess), ate at Katz's Deli (cheesecake shake + Cel-Ray!) Downtown - There on the weekends. Nothing there except overpriced restaurants, pigeons, the castrated mess that was once Foley's... (because it was a weekend, so the tunnels were closed ) It was kind of seedy, too, at least the part I saw. Midtown - Neat. Scores points for the old Sears (restore it as art deco before Sears goes away forever!), Fiesta, etc. Saw some mid-rise townhomes, but not really the bars from the "party atmosphere" I've heard about. Uptown - The classy stoplight presentation never gets old to me. Galleria was better than last time, I think, but Borders is closing. Fifth Ward - Interesting! Passed there on the way to the ports. Nice wide avenues, though. Texas Medical Center - The hospitals there were impressive, but it kind of seemed like Midtown (with hospitals!) Port of Houston - Took the boat tour. Lots of railroads, which was neat. Mostly a dry place, and all "restaurants" looked pretty iffy at best. (but is it a neighborhood?) Third Ward - This was another unique look at Houston. Very old houses, and an aggravating gauntlet of stoplights. Not a place to be at night. Memorial - Whoa, the skywalk is built from Memorial City Mall. Nice. Also, getting onto I-10 West from Gessner is difficult, because it traps you into going on the Beltway. Boo! Northwest Houston - This neighborhood (I think its a neighborhood) is the one I see every time, going through 290 en route to Houston. Northwest Mall seems to be getting desperate (even though the Macy's STILL hasn't taken down its sign, even though its all but obvious it's gone for good) Museum District - Didn't go through it this time, but I've noticed the houses seem to be nice and fancy. As the economy has warmed up (sorta), the "Stop Ashby High Rise" signs are back in full force. Maryland Manor is still standing though, so be whether it the economy and the developer's funds, or the neighbor's signs (and more importantly, their money), the tower is still in limbo. It was certainly an interesting tour de force, but now my interest in piqued in learning about the rest of Houston's neighborhoods (not the suburbs and the "inner cities"): they definitely have a sense of character for each one. Wikipedia has a good overview of the neighborhoods (the more comprehensive list may blur the line between "neighborhood" and "subdivision": I know Montrose has a bunch of "sub-neighborhoods"), but I kind of want to know more information about the various neighborhoods that make up Houston the way it is. I mean, I know that Wikipedia has some information on neighborhoods, but come on: I've learned more about Montrose and its character from the HAIF, while in Wikipedia it briefly says a bit about Montrose's history (both in general and its relation with LGBT culture). And of course, there's plenty to read about the Houston Heights, which is where many HAIFers are from. But what neighborhoods (besides the ones listed here, and the Heights) are special and unique in their own way, even if it's just signage?

Oh, okay. Thanks.

I'm going to Houston in the next week or so, and I'm wondering how the construction looks now. I remember driving on I-10 in 2008 when they weren't quite done with the expansion, and man, it was a mess....I'm wondering if there are any construction barrels, closed lanes, etc. Basically, how does it look?