trymahjong

Not to promote estate sale but rather the chance ( other chances like this are unlikely) to see inside construction of this old house. Another sale will open house in November

Well that Blighted old house is located at 323 Westheimer didn’t get demolished after all. Some fancy footwork ( legal wise) prolonged its existence till owner passed. The daughter is having estate sale inside today and tomorrow (9/13/2020) Amazing how much original construction cane be viewed— no plaster on walls- all stain glass as boarded up- perfect wooden floor with inlay-very interesting to see inside.......

I was wondering if Kirk Baxter ever convinced the Developers+of 1212 Westheimer to preserve a small space for a memorial......

There was plenty of talk about this notion when I First moved to Houston in 1977. Mostly I remember the plan to connect both airports with $$$ set aside. By the time I moved back to Houston in 1979; guess the plans had changed because those earmarked funds were used for something else.

Perhaps a more accurate appraisal of the situation: Prior to Hurricane Harvey the renovations to lower Westheimer were completely funded. After Harvey lower Westheimer was attached to proposed renovations of Upper Westheimer, which had no funding. The “ready to go money” was most probably used in connection with Harvey repairs leaving the lower and Upper Westheimer renovations as “ partially” funded on paper but “ actually” no money to proceed.

Even with all the hubbub of Hurricane Laura.... there is quite a bit of back and forth conversation about the resurrection of the MMD. Not surprisingly NONE of it is positive. Lots of questions on why the appointments to the board seemingly were done in secret. [ wasn’t non transparency what got them in trouble before?]. Speaking of trouble.......the same team that “administered” MMD into trouble will be the administrators again. Also as an aside.......just how many of the MMD board members actually live within Montrose.....business ownership aside...I mean how many deal with day to day life within Montrose? Big resentments when “outsiders” tell you they know what is best for the area you reside in and they don’t Lastly, Councilwoman Kamin was asked to name the chairman of MMD and deflected the question twice. Maybe MMD wasn’t on Councilwoman Kamins radar when all All the &#$% was flying around and sticking on them—— She should really put a laser focus on MMD now. Sigh......so having a good guy as Vice Chairman is a nice start but remaking MMD into A clone of what is was with the Doo-doo smell still lingering.....not so nice.

Did I include the correct email Houstonadoptadrain.org 🎼The Last drain to Clarksville 🎸🎶🎵🎵🎵 Seems to make me smile.

I was one of 40 or so at the zoom meeting of Neartown/Montrose. Last night. Abbie Kamin and Sallie Alcorn spoke. Sallie Alcorn ( atlarge5@houstontx.gov) developed a intriguing idea of citizens adopting and naming storm drains - the anticipated result of keeping debris from clogging storm drains is less street flooding. I like the idea and hope it is well received!

I am no means an expert.....just one of the residents that contributed to getting the East Montrose management district established. But I did show up at every meeting for a year or two. Montrose Management District doesn’t have as much over sight as Montrose TIRZ. The State enacted laws to set up TiRZs and COH has oversight. MMD gets an “Assessment” of $100 per appraisal value of $100,000.00of businesses within the management district. TIRZ receives the portion of tax “over” the cap. At the beginning, Montrose TIRHz and MMD worked together on projects,, That walkability study for instance. ,,,,but after the “Big No-No that got them into trouble MMD was dissolved. NowI guess MMD wants back in. I suppose that is a good idea, but I would rethink using the same ole road map as last time- a new road map is needed, Everything and Everybody should be new IMO.

This group made a presentation at Montrose TIRZ Zoom last night. The Vice chair is Steve Madden but I didn’t catch the Chairman's name. I’ve posted plenty on MMD in the past and considered my self a non business owner supporter. As an aside.....I never thought the MMD should be completely made up of business owners- there is a lot to be said for opinions and prospective of non business owners- not the least of which is helping prevent tunnel vision. Now I’m more than a little skeptical at the new lineup ( all appointed without any public input as far as I know) with their new goals. A lack of transparency is always a red flag for me.......and I fear those red flags are everywhere.

This was the concept for Westheimer and Mont4ose in 2009.......it 2ill be interesting to see what the developers actually come up with.

I visited this place oftenin my 15 years here.I admit I liked it a bit better pre renovation. I always wondered if that renovation somehow was connected to the stickers that were placed over the women’s face In all those large PR framed pictures that hung on the wall. what ever was up with that, it reminded me of going through family photo albums and seeing that the offensive husband of my great aunt was torn out or cigarette burned out of any photo he was in after he had divorced that Aunt. Wondering if maybe that’s just a southern reaction to a former loved ones betrayal.

Maybe it’s the original owner.....but a middle age women works around the yard, now and then. The meth lab guy seemed to spend a lot of time at home, so I’m not sure he was gainfully employed, haven’t seen him in a while. That pinged on a trend I’ve noticed with on site homeowners, after retirement Quite a few sell the old houses, upkeep too expensive to deal with on retirement income.......IMO

Thisouse is within a Historic District----everyone was up front and vocal about that--but still everyone thinks they can flip these houses fast. This house had a leaking roof that went unrepaired for 2 years until present owner bought it. That owner bailed because the money ran out. I guess house repairs were more expensive than the present buyer anticip[ated---- Plus ol d houses have lots of unpredictable stuff that has to be dealt with. You really have to have deep pockets to do a decent job, where a house has been left to rot. A few residents were being "breezed" by the notion that this house was too far gone and needed a variance to demolish, as the repairs would cost almost as much as the property. There was no sympathy from the other residents. Historical Designation isn't easy to obtain. and this particular house has to get it twice! It's hard Thankless work. No one wants the variance for tear down. A few residents reached out with resources to help out-------nada Supposedly present owner has been contacted to sell "as is" but won't return those phone calls. Waiting to see what happenis to this old house has been a very character building experience.

again from the Avondale Historic Home tour- BTW Keep checking the Avondale Association membership updates as these tours are arranged every few years as a thank you for joining and supporting the civic association. 407 AVONDALE Tan frame Built by Fred Marett in 1912 for John and Malinda Sieber. This couple married in the Dakota Territories. Both are buried in Forest Park Cemetery here in Houston. This house cost $7,400 to complete. Mr. Sieber was president of Bay Lumber Company.