20thStDad

He said miles not minutes. Probably more accurate.

Yeah that might be great with no traffic. But there's a reason most cars resemble fortified boxes: at some point most of us will get distracted and slam into something or be a victim of the same. I can envision a road full of these things - the way it is shaped it looks like a rear-end collision would send the pointy back of one right into the face of the other driver. That, or it would slide under the back of the front car and send it flying. I want to see footage of that. And where do I put my kid, stroller, groceries, camping gear? Does it come with a space-looking trailer? Make one twice as big, with 4 wheels, that only gets half the MPG (115) and I'm in.

Yep, mine are now pending.

For some reason I was searching for when Chili's in Sawyer Heights would be opening (I hate Chili's, was searching on the wife's behalf), ironically that was the least interesting thing I have read here so far. I got hooked on reading about the neighborhood histories, building and improvement projects, and most of all the amusing banter all throughout.

I usually highlight it with a damn good tip, but I like the idea of letting the manager know. I imagine people who work in that industry appreciate it very much.

I've done it both ways. There have been times where we were ignored and eventually I hunt down any waiter I can find and just tell them what we want and where we are sitting. So far that has gotten us quicker service but attitude for the rest of the night. Low/no tips follow accordingly, to me you have to earn a tip, it is specifically for service, and if I get none neither do they. Another time we sat down and no one even got our drinks for 10 minutes. We knew who our waitress was and could see that this huge table of 15 was taking all of her energy, so we just moved to another spot and got immediately served. After that huge party left the waitress came by and apologized because she heard we moved out of her section. I think it all depends on the place and the staff, some handle things much better than others.

I was also surprised when the land held steady and the improvement value went up for the row of houses on my street in the Heights. The previous 2 years the improvements trended downward and land up, it really doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Thankfully it was less than a 10% increase, but I still find it odd. I am guessing there's some strategy to it, for whatever reason.

I wish I had the option of riding to work, but that's not going to happen any time soon. Gas prices blow.

You think there will be a lot of foreclosures even with the low prices down there? I feel sorry for my sister, who built down there 2 years ago and now is moving back to LA. So far it's been very slow on the sales front, I guess people don't see a reason to buy when you can build to your preferences so easily.

That's because they already have my clubs, hard to play carrying 2 bags.

How alike are we all? I'll look for the guy on your bike if you look for the one riding mine (and my wife's). I love this neighborhood.

Why doesn't someone take the tens of millions that the democrats and republicans are raising to fund their campaigns (great use of money, more commercials and PR experts and harassing phone calls and mail for us) and put their money where their mouth is. They could easily fund something to feed all the homeless for the amount wasted on political fundraising.

Is there just a lack of 16-22 year olds in this area? I guess so. The 'burbs are full of high school age kids, I suppose you just don't see near as many in central Houston.

I've enjoyed people's perspectives on the schools, and anything else is very helpful since we just had our first child in January. From what I hear some of these private places for pre-K require getting on a waiting list before your kid pops out. Personally, I spent half my time in public and half in private schools (albeit in Baton Rouge), and I definitely valued and enjoyed the public schools a lot more than the private. I think everyone should have similar experiences in diversity as I got in the public schools growing up, the private school had much less variety in terms of people and even classes. Again, just my opinion. I do want what's best for both my child's education and safety, and we'll take all of that into account when we finally make that decision. I don't think we'll have to move out of the Heights, but I'm not positive of that.

I haven't been here long, but from what I can tell the Heights has been in transition for half a century. I doubt those seriously ugly random apartments on Heights were part of the original planned community, and they weren't built in the last 20 years if I were to guess. People will make financial decisions instead of style ones, whatever is best for themselves. The freedom available in this area to do whatever you want with your property is the same freedom that lets people take a run down property to a mega mansion. The alternative is an HOA where your neighbors decide what's best for you, and we don't move here for that. I really don't get upset when someone builds their dream home on their lot, and even better if they restore a Victorian or a bungalow. Even when one pops up that doesn't match, I think that is part of the Heights' diverse character, at least at this time. Personally I just don't like it when a random self car wash or run down apartment complex breaks the neighborhood feel, but I moved here so obviously it doesn't bother me that much.