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Downtowner

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Everything posted by Downtowner

  1. Hi, I just wanted to give you a bit on an insight to my experience. I bought in midtown end of 2005 near West Grey and Taft (townhome on the southern side of Grey). I looked at both condos and townhomes at the time and decided on a townhome (since my purchase, new condos have been constructed such as vistas and Rise). My place is three levels (2 bedroom/ 2 bathroom) with a third open loft which i use as a study. I paid $135 per ft2. There are similiar sized townhomes around the corner for me by the same builder and same age now selling for $150 per ft2. This is significant cheaper than a condo. My yearly fees for garden maintenance etc are roughly $800. Living in a condo can be good because you have the added benefit of other amentities such as a pool. However, I know a lot of people who move into a condo never realise the full benefit these facilities. So don't discount a midtown townhome. It can be a much cheaper alternative (if it is one or two people, you don't need a massive townhome. You end up spending a lot of time cleaning and maintaining it with higher energy costs in summer cooling it), has land value associated with it and the monthly fees can be significantly lower. I have views of downtown from my master bedroom and a front patio as well plus my garage is contained in my townhome so that carrying groceries etc isn't an issue. You might laugh at this but try making 2 or 3 visits to your car and up an elevator to your condo to drop off your groceries. It can be a hassle. I also only have one common wall with my neighbour with no one above or below me which may not be the case in a condo. This may or may not be an issue. Some of the town homes in midtown can be cookie cutter. I have done some small upgrades to the kitchen, floors etc to make it more contemporary and individual. I am also only 1 mile from my work place at downtown so I often walk. So the idea of riding a bike or walking isn't just an idea for condos in the center of midtown. Anyway, I just wanted to dicuss my living perspective to help you in your decision on where to live and condos vs houses/townhomes. For the record, I think Rice Military is very over priced. Some areas are close to the train line and in a flood zone. Why would you spend that amount of money to be close to a loud freight train or have water collection issues???
  2. I'm always willing to try new places. Where is TROPIOCA? M
  3. Corporate Coffee in the form of Starbucks sucks. I prefer to support local businesses. THERE are local midtown alternatives. Taft street coffee house (near Taft and Welch) makes excellent coffee, has WIFI, Vegan desserts and an organic farmers market on Saturday mornings. They have a "buy 7 get one free" coffee promotion as well. There is a new cafe called COCO's opening on W Grey opposite Fish serving coffee and crepes. I read in Houston press of another cafe opening on W Grey closer to Barnabys. Deco was serving coffee for a while, but I stopped going there because of their irregular opening hours on the weekend. You can't expect to build up a support base of local patrons if you keep on chopping and changing your hours. Instead of Starbucks, we need a Wholefoods or somehting to give Randalls a run for it's money
  4. I went to Deco on Friday night with friends and had a good time. We sat outside on the porch. On Saturday, i went and tried out their coffee. During the day they are a coffee bar. The coffee was suprisingly good. I agree that there are lots of bars around the area - but a good coffeehouse? It's severely lacking. Im spoke to the owners and they were ironing out all the teething problems before marketing. I probably won't go there much at night. But I will definitely be going there to gat a cup of joe on the weekends! Plus they have free wifi internet unlike other places...
  5. Hi kjb434, where did you hear about this? Downtowner
  6. yeah I agree that the other Whole Foods is about 5 miles away. But with the new development happening on the other side of downtown, the expansion of midtown, lofts in downtown... etc, I think there is a good business case argument for building one in the area. The demographics in the area would be good business news for them as I'm sure that a lot of people living downtown/midtown probably earn reasonable/good incomes, and are more aware of their lifestyles and environment. As for taking away Kirby business, River Oaks and the Galleria crowd would not becoming downtown to go shopping! Plus you are moving closer to people in the Heights etc...So even though their business might see a drop at their Kirby store, I think that the potential base in new customers would be worth a lot more. With regards to the other postings,yes it is more pricey than normal supermarkets, but i find the food better quality than Randalls and my philosophy is that the air pollution is crap in Houston, so you need to give your body a break in other areas. Sure I pay more for my groceries, I just feel organic/natural food is better. AT THE END OF THE DAY THOUGH, IF YOU DON'T HAVE A GO AND WRITE AWAY, NOTHING WILL EVER GET DONE. IT'S ALWAYS WORTH AN EFFORT!
  7. Hey guys, I am appalled at the lack of grocery choices in the Midtown/Downtown area. I want to try and get some momentum happening for Whole Foods to consider building a new supermarket in the area. I think that there would be a large enough customer base in the area to make it work. Many of the people living int the area are professionals who are health and environmentally conscious and want an alternative to the standard supermarket chains like Randalls. I am getting all my friends in the area to email the Management of Whole Foods so they know there is a demand for a supermarket. I am considering setting up a petition as well. For the time being, here is how to tell Whole Foods you want them to consider a new supermarket in the midtown/downtown area; Go to http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/ and select
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