TGM

No one is going to argue against a water hose being a weapon of assault. (1960's Alabama anyone?)A light sprinkle from a motion activated sprinkler is just going to make someone get out of the way. No one is suggesting that you respond like some jug head who has been told their schools will be integrated.

So much for wet t-shirt night....

Water torture, I take it? Good heavens somebody get Amnesty International on the phone! Sigh..

I'm not sure if you can consider water to be hostile. Is it assault-water? 10-gallon limit? The only thing hostile would be the amount the city would charge you for it.

GINIMBY (Glad it's....) Another way of looking at it; Are the beer bottles half full, or half empty? Midtown has always been a crossroad for all sorts of visitors. Before it was 3rd ward drug dealers, prostitutes, paroles, and panhandlers. Now it's relocated Washington Ave douchbags. All of the former go quietly into the night. The Washington dude-bro's like to scream out how drunk they are while relieving themselves on your property at 3am. Lots of luck...

I'd say a little Perestroika is in order for the HAHC Apparatchiks.

According to the Leader newspaper we may see no change or possibly an "improvement" in our flood risks. I have been unable to locate these proposed map updates. Could someone point me in the right direction so that I can view the proposed maps? Also, if you do live in the 100 year flood plain, are the rates based on the total property or improved value? My neighbor down the street in the same zone indicated that his flood insurance was approx $1000 less than mine. (Based on a home with near identical hcad numbers) WTH?

Is it too soon for the waterbed to stage a comeback? I think a Superior Waterbeds store would be a great addition to Midtown.

Last time I drove by that location there was nothing but empty space.

That shopping center on Tuam between Fannin and San Jacinto would be an ideal and convenient location if the folks that own it would actually make an effort to attract desired neighborhood business ventures. (Dry cleaners, coffee shops, overly pampered dog supply stores, etc)

I agree streets are for pedestrians and the handicapped. Bicycles are also vehicles. Anything with wheels or shoes should be required to register, receive plates and tags, and undergo inspection. These added fees will go to support the historic district and restaurant diversification programs oversceen by Paunchous Parker.

The grassy areas, they need a saving not a paving. Without them that spot becomes a concrete heat island devoid of green space. History lost inch by inch, foot by foot at the hands of nazi-uniformed, hipster concrete workers. Save the square if you care.

No, I'm saying you don't walk fast enough.

My hats off to you. Given the condition of the city streets and my age-related center of gravity shift I would end up being a member of the "Broken" Bones Brigade.

Any city CDB where you can walk from one end to the other in less than 20 minutes does not need the hipster abbreviations.

If you're pounding back drinks outdoors in the summer heat, then you probably should walk home. I guess when your riding a tandem after drinking it does not matter who the designated pedaler is.

It is, which is why I choose my bike, rather than my car to exercise in the evening. If I want to actually go *somewhere* with more dining options (recall the title of this thread) I fire up the internal-combustion engine so I spend the least amount of time commuting to and from the restaurant. I know that this modern world is painful for those that only use bikes, or envy NYC or DC's metro system, but I value my time and prefer not to bring a change of cloths with me when dining out. Now, if we're talking drinks only, then skinny jeans, an ironic t-shirt, and vintage 80's Kaepa's are the perfect way of saying eff-you to the man while you ride your fixie to Antidote and then follow it with a growler at the place you've never heard of. When it comes to weaving on the way home, I'm cool with the double standard/benefit cyclists have. Despite Historic efforts to price the "riff-raff" out the Heights still has hipsters. Hipsters. Hipsters on your front lawns, blocking the alleys, buying up all the cheap beer, having 11pm band practice in the garage apartment they rent from your neighbor, changing their '83 Renault Alliance CV joints on the street. Hipsters.

More power to businesses who can reduce their required parking space requirements. However reality is going to dictate that the majority of spaces that will be used by actual bike riders will be at hipster bars, coffee shops, yoga studios. (Or staff) You're not going to see a couple taking their tandem to a $$$+ restaurant in July. This just means more cars in neighborhoods.

Houston is only a pedestrian hell if you belong to the romantised NYC pedestrian mindset that thinks you should be able to walk everywhere. If that is what you desire then you're going to grow old waiting for it to happen here. Move to NYC while you are still young and don't mind the cramped apartment shared by two other room mates. Most folks here enjoy the autonomy a car gives them, even if that means being stuck in traffic. It's their choice, and they relish having choices.

Just get one of these: http://for-sale.yakaz.com/real-fire-hydrants-for-sale#lo=4&docid=0002hbdeah6u19vq

A sidewalk bar in Midtown, awesome! Just remember :

Back in the late 1980's the Chevron station that was at Richmond @ Sage offered CNG. I think it was a matter of "too soon" as it was eventually removed from that station.

Another reason to like Wal-Mart. Sláinte!

Point taken on the Nazi references. It's old hat and over the top. I will apologize in advance to anyone of Turkish background for my substitute phrase to describe the members of HAHC. I'm offering up the term "Byzantine" as I think it fits rather well. Byzantine definition jargon, architecture A term describing any system that has so many labyrinthine internal interconnections that it would be impossible to simplify by separation into loosely coupled or linked components. The city of Byzantium, later renamed Constantinople and then Istanbul, and the Byzantine Empire were vitiated by a bureaucratic overelaboration bordering on lunacy: quadruple banked agencies, dozens or even scores of superfluous levels and officials with high flown titles unrelated to their actual function, if any. Access to the Emperor and his council was controlled by powerful and inscrutable eunuchs and by rival sports factions. [Edward Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire"]. (1999-01-15)

Have no fear the jack-boot architecture facists of the HAHC have plenty of experience stuffing people into small confines, boxcars, etc.