[Gary]

I took a drive through some of Midtown last Sunday and was quite surprised at all of the going's on. Although there's a lot of work yet to be done, Midtown is not doing to bad.

It reminded me how truly quircky this town is.

Here are a few photo's I took.


















































Here's some more.





















And some more






















And yet still more.

[Gary]

Ok ok, here's one more batch.




















And at the end, I decided to cross the bridge for one last shot of a fantastic skyline.

By the way, I apologize for a few of the shots being similar. I didn't realize that had I posted some of these until I looked at this thread.

This post has been edited by Gary: Monday, May 15, 2006 at 1:34 AM

[bachanon]

man............all the great photos and all the sucky electrical/phone lines. why couldn't these have been buried during all this construction? blight, ugly, careless, dangerous. i hate the phone and electric companies.

>

[Houstonian in Iraq]

Thanks Gary, those were some great pictures. Mid town has come a long way since I've checked it out.
As for the phone and power lines I didn't notice them much until it was mentioned, was too busy checking out the buildings. They're not as bad as some parts of town but I agree I would rather see them get burried though

[Gary]

Houstonian in Iraq, on Monday, May 15th, 2006 @ 3:47am, said:

Thanks Gary, those were some great pictures. Mid town has come a long way since I've checked it out.
As for the phone and power lines I didn't notice them much until it was mentioned, was too busy checking out the buildings. They're not as bad as some parts of town but I agree I would rather see them get burried though

Thanks, it was a great day to go shooting (no pun intended).

The power lines are a little bothersome, and many of them are leaning at about 20 to 30 degrees. It's almost as if there temporary.


Stay safe.

[Mr. Chenevert]

Where is the brick laden street? Ive never seen a street like that in Houston

[Montrose1100]

Gary:

Amazing Color and just ecstatic pictures! I love all of them! But thats not all Midtown my friend

[webdude]

wow, really nice photos, except for those ugly powerlines. Seems like there is a lot of those in Houston.

[MidtownCoog]

nice

but that is only 1/2 of Midtown.

everybody forgets the "other side of the tracks"

[Trophy Property]

MidtownCoog, on Monday, May 15th, 2006 @ 7:57pm, said:

nice

but that is only 1/2 of Midtown.

everybody forgets the "other side of the tracks"

Those are some great photos and brings back memories. There was on that you took from a parking lot of a apt complex that was under construction. Behind that building was American General Building. Where was the contruction project???

This post has been edited by Trophy Property: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 11:40 AM

[Gary]

Trophy Property, on Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 @ 11:39am, said:

Those are some great photos and brings back memories. There was on that you took from a parking lot of a apt complex that was under construction. Behind that building was American General Building. Where was the contruction project???

Being the terrible investigator that I am, I didn't get the name of that midrise your asking about. I was on top of a parking garage that's just a few blocks East of Memorial Park. In fact it's (the garage) right across the street from where Orion was supposed to go up.

Sorry to be so vague.

[Trophy Property]

Gary, on Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 @ 11:52am, said:

Being the terrible investigator that I am, I didn't get the name of that midrise your asking about. I was on top of a parking garage that's just a few blocks East of Memorial Park. In fact it's (the garage) right across the street from where Orion was supposed to go up.

Sorry to be so vague.

GOT IT. That must be the new complex going up just West of Sheppard on the South side of Memorial. It makes sense now. Good work.

[RedScare]

Gary, on Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 @ 11:52am, said:

Being the terrible investigator that I am, I didn't get the name of that midrise your asking about. I was on top of a parking garage that's just a few blocks East of Memorial Park. In fact it's (the garage) right across the street from where Orion was supposed to go up.

Sorry to be so vague.

Oh! That would be the midrise that is replacing the Bayou On the Bend Apartments that flooded during Allison. The parking garage you were standing on was next to or part of the Left Bank Apts, correct?

[Gary]

RedScare, on Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 @ 12:05pm, said:

Oh! That would be the midrise that is replacing the Bayou On the Bend Apartments that flooded during Allison. The parking garage you were standing on was next to or part of the Left Bank Apts, correct?

Yup that's the one.

It's a really nice structure, it kind of wraps around Memorial at the curve. Another thing I noticed was the small Mod apartment complex across the street, very cool place. You guys probably know about it, it sits on top of a hill as your approaching Shepherd.

[h-townsfinest]

hey is that church going to be demolished? it sure is a nice building

[TheNiche]

Mr. Chenevert, on Monday, May 15th, 2006 @ 1:30pm, said:

Where is the brick laden street? Ive never seen a street like that in Houston

Andrews Street. Hopefully your car has a good suspension system on it when you go and check it out.

The last time I tried driving down Andrews Street, there were roving bands of what I incorrectly determined to be unemployed folks. But I was wrong...they're not technically part of the labor force and thus cannot be considered unemployed.

[Gary]

h-townsfinest, on Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 @ 8:42pm, said:

hey is that church going to be demolished? it sure is a nice building

I'm not sure but it was a wild structure. It's completely gutted with just a few walls standing. I'm gunna go back down this weekend and do some different angles of the front. It would also be great to find some history on it.

[gnu]

Gary, on Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 @ 11:43pm, said:

I'm not sure but it was a wild structure. It's completely gutted with just a few walls standing. I'm gunna go back down this weekend and do some different angles of the front. It would also be great to find some history on it.

Bethel Baptist Church. A homeless guy set it ablaze about a year and a half ago.
It is/was a significant church, especially in the African-American community.
There is a major effort ongoing to try and save it.

from the chron archives after the fire in jan 2005 http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=2005_3838211

Quote

The church has been at Crosby and Andrews since it was founded in 1896 by the Rev. Jack Yates. After it was leveled by the great hurricane of 1900, parishioners pitched in to rebuild.

Bethel is one of the oldest black churches here; portions of Andrews in front of the building are still laid with handmade bricks put down by emancipated slaves that settled there after the Civil War. Once known as Freedmen's Town, the core part of the Fourth Ward is a federally designated historical place.

[h-townsfinest]

ok that dude needs to get knocked out, id be glad to do it, i remember hearing about that church getting burned down, they need to save it cause that not only was a great church for the African American community but it was also Houston history, man if i saw that guy id go nuts on him

midtown is cool though, narrow streets, lots of street parking, neighborhood appeal for families, street retail, bery cool neighborhood

[nmainguy]

TheNiche, on Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 @ 9:22pm, said:

Andrews Street. Hopefully your car has a good suspension system on it when you go and check it out.

The last time I tried driving down Andrews Street, there were roving bands of what I incorrectly determined to be unemployed folks. But I was wrong...they're not technically part of the labor force and thus cannot be considered unemployed.

[WesternGulf]

Gary, these were beautiful. Some nice weather we have had this week.

[4thWardBoy]

Nice, glad you didn't forget my hood, 4th Ward. As far as the church goes, that place was abandoned for several years before it burned and was was a haven for the homeless. The community activists went all up in arms when they were going to tear it down, but they obviously do not have the money or will to bring it back to life. They are so concerned about preserving history, but history has to be maintained before it can be preserved. It's going on 2 years now since that unfortunate incident. They need to get moving and restore it or tear it down, soon.

[RedScare]

Gary, on Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 @ 1:35pm, said:

Yup that's the one.

It's a really nice structure, it kind of wraps around Memorial at the curve. Another thing I noticed was the small Mod apartment complex across the street, very cool place. You guys probably know about it, it sits on top of a hill as your approaching Shepherd.

I used to live in the beige and brown condos next door to the Mod condos. Hillside Condos is the name of the mods. My unit was on the last row facing the mods. It is a very interesting complex.

[Talbot]

Those are some great photos.

[Trophy Property]

Talbot, on Thursday, May 18th, 2006 @ 10:43pm, said:

Those are some great photos.

Gary, I agree. You did a great job on a truly beautiful day. I lived in Midtown for 5 years total (3 years from 1998-2001 and again from 2003-2005). In your pictures I see an apartment complex I used to live in (AMLI) and a townhouse I almost bought. I was all ready to purchase a perry townhouse that looked out on the empty lot before I found another townhouse on Drew that I fell in more love with. I have only been gone from the neighborhood for 8 months, but your pictures make me wonder why I made the move out west. THANKS. And send more if you got them. The whole midotwn transformation is amazing in my eyes and is something Houstonians should be proud of.

This post has been edited by Trophy Property: Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 10:48 PM

[Beltway]

Great pics. Too bad this weather wont stick around.

[Gary]

RedScare, on Thursday, May 18th, 2006 @ 9:12pm, said:

I used to live in the beige and brown condos next door to the Mod condos. Hillside Condos is the name of the mods. My unit was on the last row facing the mods. It is a very interesting complex.

What a great experience it must have been to live in that area. As I said I find it very quircky and off center. I can't really think of any city I've spent time in that would come close to mimicking this area. Oh well that's Houston.

Trophy Property, on Thursday, May 18th, 2006 @ 10:47pm, said:

Gary, I agree. You did a great job on a truly beautiful day. I lived in Midtown for 5 years total (3 years from 1998-2001 and again from 2003-2005). In your pictures I see an apartment complex I used to live in (AMLI) and a townhouse I almost bought. I was all ready to purchase a perry townhouse that looked out on the empty lot before I found another townhouse on Drew that I fell in more love with. I have only been gone from the neighborhood for 8 months, but your pictures make me wonder why I made the move out west. THANKS. And send more if you got them. The whole midotwn transformation is amazing in my eyes and is something Houstonians should be proud of.

Thanks for the compliment TP. Thanks to everyone else with the kind words, it was a beautiful day.

TP, Shame on you for leaving.

[Trophy Property]

Gary, on Friday, May 19th, 2006 @ 10:39am, said:

What a great experience it must have been to live in that area. As I said I find it very quircky and off center. I can't really think of any city I've spent time in that would come close to mimicking this area. Oh well that's Houston.



Thanks for the compliment TP. Thanks to everyone else with the kind words, it was a beautiful day.

TP, Shame on you for leaving.

I know !!! My wife and I decided we wanted a tradition house with a yard and all that stuff. WE love the house we bought in Walnut Bend. The commute was the same for me since I work in the Galleria, but my wife went from a 5 minute commute to a 45 minute commute (downtown worker).

We probably jumped the gun a bit. The idea was to make the move and get settled before kids came. Well 8-9 months later and still no kid in site. WE could have lived in Midtown another year or two. It was a tough call. But no real regrets.

[Gary]

Trophy Property, on Friday, May 19th, 2006 @ 12:26pm, said:

I know !!! My wife and I decided we wanted a tradition house with a yard and all that stuff. WE love the house we bought in Walnut Bend. The commute was the same for me since I work in the Galleria, but my wife went from a 5 minute commute to a 45 minute commute (downtown worker).

We probably jumped the gun a bit. The idea was to make the move and get settled before kids came. Well 8-9 months later and still no kid in site. WE could have lived in Midtown another year or two. It was a tough call. But no real regrets.

Yeah I understand. I had a great townhome on Memorial a couple of years ago but had to give it up because the kids kept coming. Now I'm living in BFE (Cinco Ranch) and hate every minute of it. My commute to go anywhere is rediculous.