Sheila

Allow me to explain some things... The Houston Heights Association is NOT a homeowners assoc. Many members are businesses with ties to new construction. The Heights does not have a homeowners association. Prevailing lot size- will keep out townhomes but will not keep out giant lot covering homes. And Sunset Heights tried to get PVLS and the Planning Commission denied them. Check the Chroniocle archives for a good report. Deed Restrictions- To enact new ones takes going door to door and getting 75% signatures. We estimate it e takes 60-90 minutes to aquire ONE signature (distribute liturature, call agains, discuss topic, etc. ) That makes it a very difficult for any volunteer group. Why should there have to be a supermajority? We can legally elect a Governor this year with 20.00001 percent of the vote but it takes 75% and going door to door to get some changes in deed restrictions???? Has the deck been stacked against the citizen? Yes. The Houston Planning Commission is a group of unpaid people appointed by the Mayor, usually in the develpment and construction business. Their decisions CANNOT be appealed. How can that be fair? How can that be democratic? Save the Bungalows believes that the people who created and reside in a neighborhood should have some say over its future. We believe that planning should happen. What we have is whoever has the most money and gets there first does whatever they want - Planning by profiteers. What we have, in urban areas, is weak or non-existant deed restrictions, a deck stacked against us, no right to appeal. Meanwhile the developers get "one stop shopping"- Check Bill White's web site- he likes to brag on that as an accomplishment. We think it not at all unreasonable to restrict a house as a proportion of its lot size. That is what we want. STB has no desire to be the taste police or enforce faux Victoriana. We think that restricting house size means that developers won't see the huge profits they get from starter castles and thus there will be an economic incentive to remodel and renovate. This is good in so many ways - it creates a stable neighborhood, when people think they know where prices are headed. It preserves mature tress, which are usually bulldozed to build the Hummer homes. And NO ONE at city hall will even talk about how flooding will be effected when all the green space is covered. To pretend that the government does not engage in social engineering through economic incentives is naive. What the hell do you think tax breaks are?

The barrel shped place is Lucky Burger and it is still there at Mandell and Alabama. The food is excellent and their veggie burger is fresh grilled vegetables- superb. The place I remember was just a block or two west of Montrose.

I miss the Wine Press on West Gray and almost across the street Captian Johnny's- now the Pier one location. But does anyone remember a burger place on Richmond or Alabama just west of Montrose that had a drive through window and a very psychedelic in style. Maybe mushroom was in the name? If you know the name, please post.