bachanon

I apologize if I'm being unusually imbecilic, but the pond was 2 acres, the trees a couple more, out of a 21-acre site, no? I am thus confused by the instant equation of "preserving the landscaping" with "not redeveloping the site." Was it such a math puzzle, on the order of sphere packing?

The neighbors must have appreciated the buffer of the maturing trees. Many (most?) nice things are insignificant. Their cumulative effect is not.

There are some places, with a vestigial sense of correctness, where the trees and pond would have been preserved as a matter of course, pretty much reflexively.

There are places where the pending destruction would have prompted a hue and cry, perhaps taken up by municipal officials, and the developer would have grudgingly yielded to local sentiment

There are places, like Austin, where trees and pond would have been a useful point of negotiation for both sides, in a zoning battle, say.

Then there are places like Houston - I claim no exceptionalism for it - where the idea of saving the landscaping was not even entertained, except by a few hapless people; and certainly not by Skanska.

I could see where this might prompt a heretical thought: that maybe Houston - thriving, unstoppable juggernaut - could afford to consider toning down the "We're open for business! Come ---- us six ways to Sunday!" rhetoric.

Interestingly enough, flood mitigation requirements by the Environmental Protection Agency often make it cheaper to bulldoze everything and start over. The culprit may be excessive regulations or even basic infrastructure requirements.

Why would you care if the RO theater gets torn down? It's not a significant building, any more so than any of the other early strip malls on Gray are.

The parking garage is for the Riverway complex and fronts Riverway street on the N. 807 S. Post Oak is across the street on the S. side of Riverway street. Right?

My biggest guilty pleasure? I still go to numbers on Friday nights. But it's not so surprising actually, I used to stay up every Saturday night listening to the live club feed from 6400 on 93q.

I had 104 on in the car the other day, one of my friends was in the car and I started singing along to some ke$ha his words "I can't believe that anyone who likes nitzer ebb can actually listen to this crap" his wife laughed at me :-(

I can't help but watch the movie hackers whenever it is on.

I wonder how many HAIFers have numbers as a guilty pleasure? I've been once in the last year.

The only time I've ever been inside a department store at the galleria is when passing through it to get to the interior shopping area.

Not sure I've ever bought anything at the Galleria either. I've only been there a hand full of times in my adult life. Then again I am a man.

......uhhhh, no comment.

The view from Neimans to the new Saks would need to be the same should the renovations provide a continuous open corridor. The new configuration may have a more significant WOW factor when one enters the central mall corridor if bookended by Neimans/new Saks.

i like the last one (sans the stupid lyrics).  her voice has an interesting quality.  i'd like to hear her sing grown up songs.

i'd forgotten i had a thing for kylie minogue and olivia newton john until i listed to your video posts.  i usually do not share that either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHGaW8lBlSk

my "cassette" walkman had newton john's album "physical" playing for hours on end as our family traveled across the country on family trips.....that and amy grant.  now that i think of it, i listened almost exclusively to female singers until my late teens....figures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZFO3WiBQDM

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/city_life/09-05-13-colbert-to-the-rescue-local-organization-reaches-out-to-comedy-giant-to-help-save-a-rare-piece-of-houston-prairie/?utm_source=sf_twitter

http://www.bayoulandconservancy.org/

The Bayou Land Conservancy is short of the funds needed to preserve pristine Deer Park Prairie from development.  How Colbert got into the mix, I do not know.  It will be interesting to see if they reach their goal.

brian0123....hahaha, I was thinking the same thing. It's at the point you give up on your sim city and start with a clean slate.

Have to check those out. Miike Snow and The Good Natured are fun synthpop too. It's like ear candy.

just between us.........i watched "the craft" over and over for ten years.  i bought the soundtrack.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoM4OXQVCcE  i watched it when i drank, which was often, and marveled at how similar the methods of the craft were to southern fundamentalist magical thinking.  plus, i was really into cool black clothing.

oh, but i don't hide that one.  i do hide my gregg araki movies from certain friends and family.  every now and then, i have to bring out "the living end", "doom generation", "nowhere", "totally f****ed up", "splendor", and more recently "kaboom".  araki used music and settings in his movies that i thought were unique to me and my circle of friends here in houston.  i was amazed to see the same type of subculture parameters in a movie (in and about) LA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL7okbGR5Uw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agRzpnS_FGw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ohqd6kSj4c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by_4IDH5h1U

i still have a few hundred christian cds from my youth and twenties.  some of it is so bad.  every now and then i just need a little amy grant or resurrection band.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUDt04sKEOo

lower westheimer sidewalks are due for a major overhaul.  all of this montrose activity would be enhanced by better sidewalks

This is near the edge of Hermann Park right? Oh wait, not exactly on the border.

stay on topic please.   

My "expectation" is to delve into a thread that hasn't gone full retard.

 

Consider me "disappointed" this time around...

removed unnecessary off topic comments............

stay on topic please.

Passed this intersection today. The reno on this building will be a huge improvement. I wish the plan to improve Montrose blvd from Allen Pkwy to Binz were going forward.

Passed this intersection today. The reno on this building will be a huge improvement. I wish the plan to improve Montrose blvd from Allen Pkwy to Binz were going forward.

Excellent! There are days when HAIFers rock my socks. Great fun seeing all the views!

........title updated

der wienershnitzel

from the east side of i-45 this afternoon.

the crane is up.  snapped this from the east side of the freeway this afternoon.

Opening the 29th !!

 

Check out the interior pics - kinda wild!!

 

http://houston.eater.com/archives/2013/07/22/a-look-inside-mr-peeples-not-a-traditional-steakhouse.php

damn that's horrendous.  looks dated from the get-go. 

@ livincinco:

 

My point is that the 'damage' that a really ugly attention grabbing decorative crown on a very tall downtown building could make the downtown Houston skyline less beautiful and also that not all crowns are beautiful. Some are beautiful. If downtown Houston gets lucky enough to get a another beautiful one I will be very happy. But don't assume that just any building with a decorative crown is automatically going to be better than a boring flat roofed box. A bad over the top design is way worse than a little too simple boring design -IMO. At least people don't notice boring buildings as much and its boringness is usually just confined to itself. But something that commands undesirable attention is way worse. It hurts everything around it because it draws the eye to it.

 

I never said or suggested that an ugly crown would hurt business or new construction. This is simply about aesthetics and of course it is personal taste. BTW, just about every post on this thread is about personal taste - and making sure that everyone is thoroughly aware of his or her opinion. Remember all those posts from the same people about how boring the new Chevron tower is going to be? There are a lot.

 

I don't care about the Memorial area, they can build as many hideous, pointy crowns as they want out there. I was only using it as an example to make my point. They don't have a world class skyline to protect, like downtown Houston does. 

agreed......and it took awhile, but i just got your name.  i was thinking, i agree with this "stone" guy.  i had a neighbor named hugh once.....and then ohhhhhhhh.  i'm a little slow.

That memorial city plaza plan is so pie-in-the-sky it's absurd. That will never happen under MetroNational's watch.... Not while we're alive at least.

darn you, realists!

kidding aside, i do wonder if the area will become a "downtown" unto itself, not memorial city specifically.  the retail in the area is very fragmented though.....my mind must be wondering in the sky pie.