jasons

Hi ProHouston - judging by your picture you must work in the same building as me. I'm in 1980 Post Oak.

Thanks Houston19514

I wouldn't say "ALL" but many are...and I think a lot of it has to do with tracts and tracts of low-quality ranch houses that were built and surrounded by apartments (that have since become run-down). Great examples of this are places like Mesquite, Garland, and Irving near Dallas and to some extent areas of W/NW Houston. Those are the subdivisions built in the 70's and 1980's that are your typical Fox and Jacobs ranch house with two Arizona Ash trees in the front yard and the low-pitched 20-year brown shingle roof. Regardless of location - who wants to buy a piece of that? Contrast that to most of North Dallas (which at one time was the suburbs) where the homes are nicer, custom homes on larger lots. Those areas have not suffered the same fate and urban blight. As for where we live, they just finished widening part 1 of Rayford and Riley Fuzzel all the way to the Hardy. Part 2 of Rayford should start soon and they are indeed building a new strip center (anchord by a Kroger Signature) just outside the neighborhood. Call me crazy but we're very much looking forward to the new shopping center as it will be much more convenient than the HEB on I-45. I'm sure there will be more traffic too (hence the widening of Rayford) but nothing like the overdeveloped condo-land where I work on Post Oak.

I have to disagree on the "nothing good" about suburban hoods. I live in one (Imperial Oaks) in Montgomery County. We love it. We moved there FROM Houston (near I-10 and Chimney Rock). Wouldn't trade it for anything. Besides the commute (which on the Hardy isn't bad at all), there are several things we like: - lots of trees, green spaces, and conservation areas in our neighborhood - a new community center with several swimming pools, recreation facilities, etc. Oh, and we don't have to rely on "the city" to maintain them - as if that'd ever happen - maintained sports courts and walking trails - a HOA that beautifully maintains the community landscaping - our stores are new and therefore more open, spacious, and IMO more enjoyable to shop in - our roads are all new and therefore not full of potholes (like most of Houston) - we have our own elementary school which has a community feel - I have a 4 bedroom house, 2 car garage house with a pool for less than $200K. Try getting that in "The Heights" or "Uptown" - NOT - most importantly, I can go the gas station after dark and not have to constantly look over my shoulder for fear of getting carjacked. As far as grids, I don't think cost is a huge factor. Pavement is pavement. It is usually a function of either geographic limitations or the fact that some developers steer away from grids so the neighborhood doesn't have a cookie-cutter feel. If you look at the 'burbs of Dallas (Plano, Frisco, etc.) it is almost ALL grids because developers can easily acquire cheap farmland in blocks and convert it to neighborhoods. Also, the 'burbs in DFW are incorporated cities with regional planning, so the interconnected grid system is much more palnned-out by the North Texas Regional Council of Governments. Cities work together to fuse their road systems. (The more upscale neighborhoods tend to be "less gridded" so they don't look so "tract"). Here in Houston, the outlying area is all MUDS and unincorporated areas, so there isn't the same level of regional planning, hence no grid (unless you are in Katy/Sugar Land). It mostly has to do with how the area has grown-up over the years and how much available space there is. Compare a map of an older city in the northeast or Atlanta to a map of Phoenix - big difference - and it is largely geographic. Everyone has their own personal preferences. You couldn't give me a free house to entice me to move back into the city. But I understand why some people may prefer it (close to museums, short commute, more cultural, etc. etc.). But as a new Dad, different things are important to me now - and to say there is "nothing good" about new neighborhoods is completely false. Like I said earlier, if they are so bad, then why are Collin, Denton, Rockwall, Williamson, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties the fastest growing in the state? I agree with you on one thing. I wouldn't move to Katy (or anywhere west) in a million years. It's just like Dallas IMO (no trees).

And all this dense development is making traffic so much worse as well. Not all "redevelopment" is a good thing. BTW I picked up a copy of Suburban Nation. It's nothing more than a liberal socialist sales pitch IMO. Any book that cites "examples" of the authors' work (read: hire us) isn't unbiased. If the 'burbs were so bad, The Woodlands wouldn't be the #1 selling development in the state, now would it?

Is Del Frisco's still coming to the Galleria? The new map lists "The Oceanaire" as "Coming Soon" but there is no mention of Del Frisco's...