Jump to content

jookyhc

Full Member
  • Posts

    24
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by jookyhc

  1. Needing more home space, I am reluctantly leaving the Heights. My wife teaches in Spring Branch ISD, and my son is already in school there, so we have selected Spring Branch as our new neighborhood. We're taking baby steps in our exodus to the 'burbs. So. I'm meeting up with a real estate agent in the morning, and we're going to look at houses, and I'd like to know where we can expect street flooding in Spring Branch. We're actually looking pretty far west - generally speaking Gessner and Kempwood area. Does anyone know which roads we'll need to be wary of when the rain starts coming down? We're not looking at anything in any floodplane, so we're generally not worried about property damage, we're just thinking about how easy it'll be to get home if we get one of those storms like we had in Oct. '03. Any tips on what to look out for, and advice for higher ground alt. routes would be greatly appreciated.
  2. I read Clutch's mail every time he posts it. I've sent him a few things, and "he" always replies, but it's never anything that's worth posting. It's usually more along the lines of "Did David Stern know you were going to take his shoe last night, or was that an impromptu thing?"
  3. Anyone heard anything new about this Target? I'm going to be priced out of the neighborhood by the time the ribbon gets cut.
  4. I don't drive through Midtown near as much as I drive through the Near East End, but didn't City Council already NIMBY the homeless out of Midtown, by extending the camping ban south, thus forcing the homeless to the East End and the Museum District? Ultimately it doesn't really matter what park the homeless move into, no one is going to want them there. In any case, I can't blame the Rockets or the Astros, or Chevron-Texaco, or even a McDonald's franchisee for not wanting a large vagrant presence around their place of business. The city should get to work on some real alternatives, rather than extending the camping ban zip by zip. Just since the ban was extended to Midtown a few months ago I've already started to see the occasional sleeper in some of our Heights area parks. I even had one person break into my garage to sleep one night when it was raining really bad. Literally - in my back yard.
  5. I really enjoy this building. Honestly I enjoy all 3 of the sports venues. However, the thing I love about Toyota Center is that you go down to the cheap seats, instead of climbing up. Since you go further away, and then come down to your seats, the perception -- and obviously the reality-- is that you are moving in closer to the action. That, and my wife and I are big fans of Clutch the Rockets Bear.
  6. I'm not real clear on what your gripe is here, Midtown. First of all, the land doesn't belong to the Rockets, they've just made a series of donations to the city, to reinvest in the park. If any entity has taken too long to get to work on the park, it's the City. For that matter, it's the city that let the park get run down in the first place, even though it's maybe than two miles from City Hall. Does it benefit the team? Maybe, it'll make a few dozen suburbanites more comfortable about coming to a game, but it's not going to be a major revenue boost. In fact, the Rockets could well have simply ignored the park altogether as the city's responsibility - which it is - and not bothered to give back to the city a public space, in return for the city's investment in their private space. Also while I don't necessarily think it's fair to shuttle the homeless population from park to park, I don't think it's appropriate city management to simply "give" certain parks to the homeless, as opposed to actually dealing with the homelessness issue. Last year the Rockets were going to donate the proceeds fom their "Tux N Tennies" gala to the Root Square fund. Instead they donated the gala dollars to a program that helps very low income people with job re-training and placement, and then Alexander went into his pocket to make the Root Square gift. Frankly, I think the Rockets are one of the best corporate citizens in Houston - as well they should be since their operation is government subsidized. Nonetheless, it's my opinion that criticism of them on this point misses the mark.
  7. Supposedly they're installing basketball courts. I don't think I've seen any renderings, but the Rockets were a major donor to the revitalization.
  8. yes... perhaps... Yaknow, and when I was posting this I thought "I'm not sure if it's Aztec or Mayan, so I'll just pick one." Aaaand I guess I picked wrong. Thank you for your ever so constructive criticism. Now I know and I won't make that mistake again.
  9. Obviously, it's been a while since anyone posted on this thread, but since I'm new, I hope you'll forgive me. I'm a big fan of the Heritage Plaza building, and I'm amazed at how many people don't realize that the top of the building is modeled on the concept of an Aztec temple. I've spent some time on the 50th floor of 1100 Louisiana in an office that lines up perfectly to look at that detail, and it's just terrific. It might be a little gimmicky for some tastes, but that is, far and away, my favorite skyscraper in town.
  10. I have a friend who's a civil engineer from the MidWest, who now lives in Austin. Last year I showed around downtown Houston for the first time, and without seeing any signs, and before I could point them out myself, he told me which buildings were the federal courthouse, and what building was the post office. He said he can always find the federal buildings. He also said that an engineer will design a building that will last forever, but everyone will want for it to be torn down, while an architect will design a building that people will want to last forever, but it will fall down. His words, not mine.
  11. I posted this on an astros fan board that I'm no longer very active in, but I clipped it, and I'm gonna share it: I'm not exactly sure what should be done with the Astrodome. I do have a few ideas, and there are a few things that I think would be cool, but won't work, and a few ideas about things that I think would be terrible an wouldn't work. First off, no matter what, even if the county mothballs it, I think it should be power washed. Everything else in Reliant park is new and sparkling, but the centerpiece (literally, of course) looks like crap. A powerwasher will do wonders, and I bet that some company would be willing to do it for a reduced rate, in exchange for the privlege of hanging an enormous sign on the front of the dome, facing 610 for about 4 months - either during the Rodeo or during Texans season. Nothing permanent, nothing gaudy, just some good ad space in exchange for a good deal. Secondly I think the current working plan of a large scale convention hotel complex would be kind of cool, but I don't think it would work in the next 10 years. For those who don't know this plan is to have a hotel with 200+ rooms, and a gigantic atrium - with clear glass roof panels - with a single roller coaster and a few other attractions. There is a similar complex in the Metroplex, with a Texas theme - including a replica of the Alamo - and it is expected to do quite well in the long run. Essentially, the development can best be likened to a Las Vegas style hotel resort, with no casino. The bad idea was the last working plan which would be a space themed amusement park with a few hotel rooms thrown in. I don't see how this could ever be economically viable, and for that matter, I don't see it bringing people to the building over a protracted period of time. The idea that I have most liked, and that I would love to see implemented still is to rennovate the building for another sports related purpose. Back when Houston had an outside shot at hosting the 2012 olympics, the idea was floated to turn the Astrodome into the world's premier exclusive track and field facility. The international authorities approved the idea of indoor competition, and the track world was enthusiastic about the idea of having a facility in the US that would bring competitions here. Apparently track events don't just take place every 4 years, they have seasons and everything. It's just that Americans don't usually pay attention because it takes place everywhere else in the world but here. This facility could be used by NCAA, for professional competition, and its successful use would give Houston regular international attention. Alas, the USOC decided to go with New York, who has a sub par plan and will ensure that the US don't get the games again until 2020 at the earliest. (the USOC has already said that it's 2012 bid city will be the same as the 2016 bid city if it's unsuccessful) Nonetheless I still think this plan could work. Alternatively, and equally unlikely is the possibility of rennovating the building for soccer, cleaning off the roof panels to make them clear and reducing the seating to somewhere around 35,000 - lower deck only - and installing a smaller higher-end hotel - capable of hosting visiting NFL and MLS teams and staffs - and maybe some sort of sports hall of fame around the upper rings. Of course, it all starts with a good power washing.
  12. Fair enough. I would say, however, that what they ended up with is far better than what they had to begin with. Maybe the project's goals were too much of a reach, but the condition that the area was in last time I was over there is far better than it was immediately before CityView. I'm not in the industry, so I can't and wouldn't try to argue or even disagree with your points about repositioning. It's my sense, however, that the area will get its turnaround when (if, really) the lightrail to IAH passes through.
  13. Hi. I'm new. I don't think that the CityView project flopped because it was too far out. I don't think there was any follow-through with the project to develop retail, entertainment or any other fill. In fact I don't know if I would really call it a flop at all. It has succeeded in a comprehensive rennovation of 15 properties, all of which were in need of major help. I haven't seen the financials, but I would think that central administration of these properties has proven to be a pretty efficient model. The problem with developing a pedestrian community in that area is that the existing retail market nearby is so saturated that it isn't cost effective to build new retail among the existing residential. I think a major repurposing of Greenspoint Mall would make great synergy with the properties at CityView (none of which, by the way, have a city view), but it's not going to happen for another decade or two, until the train gets there.
×
×
  • Create New...