Triton Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Transformation of the First Ward I daily drive through the First Ward along Houston Ave to get to work or to the University of Houston main campus. The First Ward has been altered so much just in the last year that there are many areas that are hard to recognize now. Without a doubt, this area is transforming at a faster rate than many areas in the Heights especially because of it's even closer proximity to downtown. It's a much smaller area than the Heights but almost every single block has new construction happening or about to happen. I honestly wish I could do a before-and-after photo album now, but I didn't realize the transformation would be this quick. There is still a clear battle going on between developers and some of the people that still live there. Some of the lots have "Stop Historic Districts" which would appear to be a campaign by the real estate developers since almost every sign is either on a cleared lot or a project under construction. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of any signs saying "We support historic districts" but I certainly can if anyone would like to see it. My route on my bike begins where I left off from the Heights. Compared to the Heights, my route is fairly chaotic since I kept seeing new development after new development that I hadn't seen before. Disclaimers: I'll provide a map of the area I'm covering and I'll even try to mark my route in red, but sometimes I'll veer off course so the red lines won't be 100% accurate of everywhere I went. Parts are in the Sixth Ward. I realize that but it's only a northern sliver that I'm getting. The route: And here comes the battle in the forefront. The following 3 photos are from the same intersection: ...... These look like they're going to be ugly... New office development off of Houston Ave with residential developments in the back. Now on to Crockett Now entering a portion of the Sixth Ward How close to downtown this is None of this was hear a few years ago (Dart St) Dart St Dart St Silver St Now leads head across the other side of Houston Ave, closer to downtown. (older) This neighborhood will definitely not be the same in 5 years. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted February 3, 2014 Author Share Posted February 3, 2014 I know this isn't usually allowed but is there anyway a moderator can allow me to edit the top post for a good amount of time? I want to actually give the location of each project, give a more detailed map, provide more information, etc. but I can't do so since I passed the allotted time to edit that post. The other big thing I want to do is retake pictures of a few projects that I didn't realize were blurry until I posted them to this website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Excellent photos! The first time I ventured to the first ward was back in 2007, looking for the Jeff Davis Lofts. It was late at night, but there were only very few town homes sprinkled in the area. That Blue curved building on Dart was there when I frequented my lawyer's office in the area in 2008, which is when a few of the town homes on that street were constructed. Fast Forward to 2011, when I moved to Sawyer Heights Lofts. I would drive down Crockett every morning to get Houston Ave. (Spring St. has a blind spot with that older building on the south corner). There were a few town houses along the way, but still the older houses with big families living in them. I hardly recognize the area from your photos now. And I only left the area 16 months ago! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Out of all those developments, it looks like two or maybe three of them had a developer that thought, "Let's build a neighborhood that someone would want to take a walk in, and not just drive through on the way to wherever." The rest look like sheer dystopia. It's sad - you look at the State/Allen district in Dallas, another neighborhood that is all new townhome stock, and because they actually thought about the street, it is one of the most exciting districts in town. Shame to see a central part of our city wasted. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Out of all those developments, it looks like two or maybe three of them had a developer that thought, "Let's build a neighborhood that someone would want to take a walk in, and not just drive through on the way to wherever." The rest look like sheer dystopia. It's sad - you look at the State/Allen district in Dallas, another neighborhood that is all new townhome stock, and because they actually thought about the street, it is one of the most exciting districts in town. Shame to see a central part of our city wasted. I agree, Houston has the worst streets of any large city that I have ever seen. I don't think that I have ever seen streets lined with ditches in another large city. And don't get me started on the powerlines. They are all leaning every which way and its just.....BAD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Oh, I just meant the architecture of the townhomes. But yeah, in many places it's bad all around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moore713 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I agree, Houston has the worst streets of any large city that I have ever seen. I don't think that I have ever seen streets lined with ditches in another large city. And don't get me started on the powerlines. They are all leaning every which way and its just.....BAD!Ugh , the ditchs are a most given Houston flood problems, just look at midtown 15- 20 mins of solid rain and the area becomes iaccessable. as for the powerline, I once looked into why we do that and the city did at one point consider burying them, but here were a number of factors 10 it cost more and in a city the size of Houston it is just not feazable . 2) burying lines have both it pros and cons...Burying line are less likey to be struck are damaged but buried lines can cost almost four times as much to repair when they do break(given that the area has to be ripped up and then repaired also it takes longer since a break has to be located along the buried line Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Ugh , the ditchs are a most given Houston flood problems, just look at midtown 15- 20 mins of solid rain and the area becomes iaccessable. as for the powerline, I once looked into why we do that and the city did at one point consider burying them, but here were a number of factors 10 it cost more and in a city the size of Houston it is just not feazable . 2) burying lines have both it pros and cons...Burying line are less likey to be struck are damaged but buried lines can cost almost four times as much to repair when they do break(given that the area has to be ripped up and then repaired also it takes longer since a break has to be located along the buried line I think the pros out weight the cons here. Cost should never be a factor when it comes to quaility of life in your city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 I agree as well. The development in the First Ward is pretty chaotic architecturally. Some look terrible, some look quite good. The residential units that are by far the nicest are along Dart St. and Edwards St., but that's more part of the Old Sixth Ward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I think the pros out weight the cons here. Cost should never be a factor when it comes to quality of life in your city. That is an utterly asinine statement. I would have a great quality of life if the City of Houston would only spend $400 million on my street. Darn, no one wants to pay that much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToryGattis Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Obviously the big reason for not burying the power lines is cost, and I think a big driver of that is *safety* in a city that is *routinely under water* during heavy rains. As you may remember boys and girls, water and electricity do not mix. All you need is one tiny break in the insulation (say, from some oak tree roots getting in among the buried power lines), and then standing water on top, and you have a nice little electrified death trap to anyone splashing through that puddle. Not good. Keeping the power lines 20+ feet in the air seems like the better call - quite a bit harder for standing water to get up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bachanon Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Obviously the big reason for not burying the power lines is cost, and I think a big driver of that is *safety* in a city that is *routinely under water* during heavy rains. As you may remember boys and girls, water and electricity do not mix. All you need is one tiny break in the insulation (say, from some oak tree roots getting in among the buried power lines), and then standing water on top, and you have a nice little electrified death trap to anyone splashing through that puddle. Not good. Keeping the power lines 20+ feet in the air seems like the better call - quite a bit harder for standing water to get up there. .....interesting. we never lose power in the woodlands unless a major line is cut from construction (very rare) or an above-ground line is cut from outside the woodlands. in a perfect world, all of the lines should be buried. i would be unable to make money as a developer as i couldn't stomach building with power lines in front of my new construction. as a buyer, i will never buy a property with exposed electrical wires in front of my home or over my back yard. i'm surprised that people buy those townhomes.....wait, no i'm not, people will buy anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Obviously the big reason for not burying the power lines is cost, and I think a big driver of that is *safety* in a city that is *routinely under water* during heavy rains. As you may remember boys and girls, water and electricity do not mix. All you need is one tiny break in the insulation (say, from some oak tree roots getting in among the buried power lines), and then standing water on top, and you have a nice little electrified death trap to anyone splashing through that puddle. Not good. Keeping the power lines 20+ feet in the air seems like the better call - quite a bit harder for standing water to get up there. Not necessarily, "boys and girls", it isn't. I mentioned this in the power lines topic, but I worked in a utility in a very wet and rainy area for a number of years. In urban areas all of the power lines were buried and it was felt that maintenance was less expensive that way. In rural areas this wasn't always the case. There are far more cases of damage to power lines from above-ground trees, frost, accidents, squirrels etc than to below-ground wires. There are higher up-front costs for burying lines, but our engineers thought the savings on maintenance (again, in built-up areas) made up for the cost in the long run. I had this conversation with them a number of times. Do you ever hear about wet cities like London suffering from blackouts because of their buried power lines? No, unless they somehow have access to engineering magic that is somehow not available to Houston. I understand the argument to save money by hanging power lines from poles along roads, but don't believe for a minute that that decision was driven by reliability concerns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToryGattis Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I understand the argument to save money by hanging power lines from poles along roads, but don't believe for a minute that that decision was driven by reliability concerns. I didn't say reliability, I said safety. Houston gets torrential downpours and street flooding in ways cities like London don't. We also have very shifty clay soils and aggressive root systems (welcome to a subtropical climate). I'm not saying it's impossible - I'm just saying it has to be done very, very carefully, and that's expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little frau Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Another great job! Thanks again. I do wonder though, where all the former residents went. I know this building boom has been gradual but surely there must have been some number of people displaced. And I agree, some of the units are very nice, wonderful in fact, and others are just.........oh my, questionable at best. Still, they will all find buyers I'm sure. I may have to venture out that way one day soon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 Here's what I was talking about: http://swamplot.com/where-a-high-first-ward-historic-district-might-go/2014-02-10/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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