brian0123

I appreciate the info! This is just what I was trying to figure out. Family is only wife and I (with baby on the way)... so no crazy passenger requirements right now. You are correct that we were in a 172 (I know I'd need something larger down the road if we ever were to travel by plane). I had no clue that the ground speed was like that though. 45mph is very discouraging.

Yeah, cost is the one thing I wasn't pleased about. They told me it would be about $5100 to get the license, but once you have it you have it. Did she fly a lot over the years... or is it something she just started to pick up again? I figured I'd at least start on the path because I want to do it more and might as well start logging my hours w/ an instructor. Also, does she ever rent it for a weekend (and if so, what does that normally cost if you want to go somewhere like Austin)? I'm trying to figure out if the economics of it and if it makes sense at all. My wife has family in Texarkana and I was thinking a pilot's license might make the trip a lot better than the long drive on the highway.

I had the chance to take a flight lesson over the weekend and added a couple pics of the downtown approach to InnerLooped http://innerlooped.com/410/downtown-houston-at-1100ft/ So it you (or your mom) that has the pilots license? I am thinking about going for mine after the experience and was wondering if you (or she) enjoys it. I'm also curious about if you own or rent a plane.

Empty lot.

Finally found one of the renderings I was talking about w/ more info on the project... http://innerlooped.com/368/pub-fiction-v2-0-coming-soon/

I saw this and thought about going to the meeting. It's awesome news. I'd love to know what properties they are looking at.

Have lived in Midtown 3 years, and in that time my opinions on homelessness have changed. I donate to organizations that help the homeless... but never give to individuals anymore. About a year ago Midtown had a public meeting where they had reps from various orgs talk about how to help the homeless. They also had a former homeless man speak about how to help with the homeless. His rules were: 1. Never give money to an individual. It only enables them. They WILL use it for alcohol or drugs. 2. Never hire homeless to work in your garden/wash the car/etc. (this surprised me). This only enables them further. They believe that this is a way to make a living and thus refuse treatment and job placement help from organizations that are there to help them establish a true path out of homelessness. 3. Only give money to organizations that are setup to help the homeless. When asked for money from a homeless person, politely say "I'm sorry, but there are some wonderful organizations down the street like Search who are there for you." While a dollar given to a church that just provides feeding equals a dollar, a dollar given to an organization like Search is more powerful because they have the power/size/and structure to leverage that dollar and turn it into more than just a dollar. In other words, orgs like Search give you more bang for your buck (and have proven track records for pulling people out of homelessness). While 1stWardDude is pretty callous and incorrect about the homeless impact on Downtown... he is correct about the feedings that take place. We have problems where these feedings are used by criminals to find out who has a VA or a social security check coming... and thus the feedings become places for criminals to find their next victim. The feedings also feed some of the homeless that are there to prey on the others who are receiving help from Search, etc. The orgs also fail to clean up their trash and trespass on private property. The real eye opener for me has been the many times I've had homeless guys approach me and try to sell me their brand new donated jackets, sleeping bags, and pants for money. The homeless will always be around, but just handing food out on the side of the road isn't a solution. Housing First programs (like mentioned earlier), and orgs like Search are the right ways to go.

I already view the area as sustainable. Just wait until the economy rebounds... Midtown is going to explode. Everything that I've read says there will be ground level retail with parking above it. Based on the culture map article and list of prospective tenants... I don't see how they'd all be able to fit in the Boy Scouts building along with Landmark's planned office spaces.

It was rainy and gross, but I added a couple of snapped pics of the work on InnerLooped. This is going to be huge for Midtown and can't wait to see it completed!

I actually love those metal town-homes! I don't worry too much about Midtown btw. Our neighborhood already has a diverse selection of apartments (and it seems each one has to out-do the next in looks and features). Even the older apartment buildings in Midtown are nice and in good shape. My main hope for Midtown is that the middle area (east side of Main by Nouveaux) gets some condos and more retail in the next 10 years.

Glad to hear this. I've been to Barcadia last weekend and last night... each time I wondered why they didn't expand into the adjoining space w/ more games. The place is really cool.

I emailed their site and got a response saying it was a study done about four years ago, but the 2008 downturn killed the project. Stupid 2008

I'm trying to track down some info for my blog on a sign I saw the other day on La Branch. The sign said "La Branch Street Flats coming soon" and it is on the empty lot to the right of the Midtown Art Center. Unfortunately, the number on the sign (when called) says it has been disconnected. This would make me believe that the project is dead, but I've been past this block a lot and never noticed the sign... and it looked pretty new. Does anyone have any other info on this?

Went by Midtown Grove today and added progress pictures to InnerLooped. Here's the rendering of Midtown Grove...

Just got back from the Pavilions and was blown away by how much space NRG now occupies. They are not just in the tower, but are also on the ground floor and a big chunk of the second floor. You can literally walk up to their offices and be creepy by staring at employees working at their desks... or stand in at their board room. Just added pics of it on InnerLooped. The offices are really cool looking btw.

When I lookup 610 Gray on street view it shows me the Starbucks building. I wonder if this is just an old rendering of the Starbucks building that they are trying to lease out?

Thanks!

Finally made it over to the lot and put a pic of the Magnificat rendering on my new blog: Rendering I actually like the look of it a lot. It would be nice if a multi-story had made it to Elgin... but this looks fairly decent at least.

I'm by no means calling Washington suburban... but I'm also not calling it truly urban either. To me, it feels like a place sort of stuck in between. There are parts of Washington I really like... other parts I don't. The pulsing street you are marveling at right now consists of people coming to Washington because it's the "scene" right now. Once the scene moves on, the question is what will Washington look like? In my opinion, there will be a lot more strip malls... but with tenants that don't attract the "bar-hop place to place to pay $ for a drink/meal really worth $ type". The strip malls will have tenants like dentist offices, pet shops, Dominoes, Little Caesars, Taco Cabana, golf shops, frame stores, comic book shops, etc. The north part of the neighborhood will be lined with Walmart, Target, Chili's, etc. People currently putting up with living next to train tracks (for the sake of being close to the party) move to the next party. The street will be lined with lots of establishments that attract a lot of people... but people who drive to the establishments (you don't bar-hop from a dentist office to Little Ceasars). It will be a decent neighborhood in an urban area... but there will be a lot of cars. It will be urban because it's in the city... but with suburban type retailers with lots of cars, very few parks, and will be hard to bike/walk around. It's going to be like a Pearland Town Center (or mini 1960) stretched out along a long road.

I love density (that's why I moved to Midtown). I'm just saying Washington Avenue will only be able to handle so much before it pops like 1960 did and people will be sitting in a long line of cars down the street. I moved to Midtown because I believe Downtown/Midtown are better suited for handling density. Yes, we have major thoroughfares running through the neighborhood... but lights are timed, crosswalks have good signals, we have decent sidewalks, the streets are very wide and one way, streets are also in nicely connected grid instead of dumping onto one main street, and I can hop on the light rail instead of getting in my car. To me, it's night and day from when I lived on Washington.

To be clear, when I say 1960ish I don't mean exactly like 1960... I mean a scaled down version. In fact, I don't view Washington as very "urban". It already has a ton of small strip malls w/ parking lots fronting them. You can't really walk anywhere because everything is so spread out up and down the avenue (hence the reason for the "Wave"). Also, it is one main road (Washington) that everything branches from. When I lived along Washington... I had to drive everywhere, and the only place I could really walk to was the corner drug store. Even then, I was almost run over each time I crossed the road.

I predicted this about a year or two ago on this site and was shouted down by several people (I think Niche and I got into it for awhile ). This Walmart development further proves my point. I moved away from Washington and into Midtown three years ago in order to avoid another FM 1960 setting (I grew up along 1960... so I recognized the signs along Washington). Three years since I moved, traffic is far worse along Washington, more shopping centers have sprung up, a Walmart is moving in (as well as other retailers not yet mentioned), and the entire avenue is stuffed with cars and crowds that the infrastructure will never be able to handle. I think in the next five years, you'll see more shopping centers spring up, some "fancy" restaurants will be replaced by more generic chain restaurants, traffic will get worse, and other retailers will move in while the "scene" moves elsewhere. I wouldn't be surprised if an American Eagle or something like that opened up as well. Some people will love the new look of the street, others will hate that the place is so suburban.

The owner of Pub Fiction brought renderings of the building to a Midtown Planning meeting awhile back. If plans haven't changed since then... the building is going to be awesome w/ a nice entrance on the corner w/ columns. It will be multi story (I think 2 or 3) with a roof bar thing w/ parking in the back. It will be built to the sidewalk (I think he's going to even widen the sidewalk some and add lighting) so it will fit in perfectly with the neighborhood.

My Google alert recently sent me info about a new club opening next to Ruby Tequila's called Bar Munich. I think it's supposed to be more of a sports bar though.

I noticed this too, but I think it will be good for the area. It looks like a nice office/admin building. They've owned the land forever, and considering they own almost every house on the street across from the White House already (used for housing even, not an office/admin), I don't see why it would have any impact on the project. They also own the most incredible old white house mansion one block down as well. Last I heard (when eating at Hearsay) is that the project is just slower because they are figuring out a way to do construction on the White House w/out tearing up the historical insides too much.