Growth In Fulshear/Simonton

[ChannelTwoNews]

Take a look at this report...

Growing up, I remember the vast expanse of nothingness between Rosenberg and Fulshear up FM 762. Visiting the Gordon Campsite for school trips and stuff... drives along some of the backroads up there too. Kinda weird to see the growth occuring up there these days.

[editor]

KHOU seems to have a keen interest in Houston development stories lately. I'm not sure why. One of their reporters called me earlier this week asking for information about new "master planned" developments going up around the city.

Glad to see Nancy Holland still churning out stories. She's one of the few credible members of that newsroom.

[lockmat]

KHOU seems to have a keen interest in Houston development stories lately. I'm not sure why. One of their reporters called me earlier this week asking for information about new "master planned" developments going up around the city.

Glad to see Nancy Holland still churning out stories. She's one of the few credible members of that newsroom.

I've noticed that too. But I didn't know it was just a recent thing.

May I ask what significance you have as to why a reporter called you? All I know is that you're editor of this place.

[musicman]

KHOU seems to have a keen interest in Houston development stories lately. I'm not sure why. One of their reporters called me earlier this week asking for information about new "master planned" developments going up around the city.

Doug Miller perhaps? he's always at downing street trying to be a politico

[Guest Marty]

Maybe because this forum is like The Drudge Report of Houston you know first to break the news on Houston and it's progress. lockmat

Edited April 7, 2007 by Marty

[mrfootball]

Unless I'm mistaken, this forum is the pre-eminent forum for goings on in Houston.

[editor]

I've noticed that too. But I didn't know it was just a recent thing.

May I ask what significance you have as to why a reporter called you? All I know is that you're editor of this place.

That was it. They wanted to talk to someone with HAIF. I have no ties to the real estate industry. Heck, I'm only a renter!

Doug Miller perhaps? he's always at downing street trying to be a politico

No, it was a woman. Doug's a great guy even if he is a bit of an odd bird. Here's your Houston trivia for the day: Doug Miller was a Jeopardy champion years ago, back before they made the questions easier. Go figure.

Unless I'm mistaken, this forum is the pre-eminent forum for goings on in Houston.

That's what I hear.

[Trae]

I think Fulshear is more west than southwest. Katy growth is thumping that way, though.

Also, I remember last year, this forum was on the news. I think it was for the River Oaks theater. It was on KHOU, too. I wouldn't be surprised if a few reporters are actually members here.

Edited April 7, 2007 by Trae

[Trae]

Saw that video. They expect Fulshear to have 20,000 people in a few years (with its 2000 population at 716). They they say 50,000 a few years after that. Meet the new Katy!

[TJones]

Saw that video. They expect Fulshear to have 20,000 people in a few years (with its 2000 population at 716). They they say 50,000 a few years after that. Meet the new Katy!

Trae, it has also been predicted that within 10-12 years, that katy will be the "center" of Houston.

[editor]

I think Fulshear is more west than southwest. Katy growth is thumping that way, though.

Also, I remember last year, this forum was on the news. I think it was for the River Oaks theater. It was on KHOU, too. I wouldn't be surprised if a few reporters are actually members here.

At least three that I know of. Probably a lot more.

I remember HAIF was on 39's news last year for something, but I forget what.

[Trae]

Trae, it has also been predicted that within 10-12 years, that katy will be the "center" of Houston.

Well it is already Beltway @ I-10 now.

[lockmat]

At least three that I know of. Probably a lot more.

I remember HAIF was on 39's news last year for something, but I forget what.

Wow, I didn't know all that. Very cool.

[PureAuteur]

Trae, it has also been predicted that within 10-12 years, that katy will be the "center" of Houston.

Katy the center of Houston? This city just keeps getting stranger and stranger.

[hbcu]

Fulshear was a nice, slow drive on FM 359 as I rode with my father to Navasota since 359 ends at 290 in Hempstead....Dozier's BBQ was always a stop I wanted to make...now, it's hard as hell to find that place because it's hard to tell when 1093 (Westheimer) and 359 intersects

[Jeebus]

it's hard as hell to find that place because it's hard to tell when 1093 (Westheimer) and 359 intersects

What do you mean?

[Pumapayam]

KHOU seems to have a keen interest in Houston development stories lately. I'm not sure why. One of their reporters called me earlier this week asking for information about new "master planned" developments going up around the city.

Glad to see Nancy Holland still churning out stories. She's one of the few credible members of that newsroom.

No kidding, they contacting you based on this website, or was it something else?

That is pretty sweet they are using you are a reliable refernce, and to think you are based in Chicago!

Edited April 8, 2007 by Pumapayam

[Pumapayam]

Take a look at this report...

In a way it is kinda of sad, because it is destroying the small town feel. I can sense that in the woman's voice.

Is it really necessary that we invade another small town.

We have so much ghetto in Houston that needs to be redeveloped.

I am tired of land developers buying cheap land and ruining the landscape for future sububarn decay.

[ricco67]

In a way it is kinda of sad, because it is destroying the small town feel. I can sense that in the woman's voice.

Is it really necessary that we invade another small town.

We have so much ghetto in Houston that needs to be redeveloped.

I am tired of land developers buying cheap land and ruining the landscape for future sububarn decay.

I agree, I'm not fond of the developers doing this either and it makes me wonder how far people will live from the Houston center.

Even more crucial is the ranch and farm land that is being gobbled up for housing. I just hope that chicken doesn't come home to roost on a townhome.

[Trae]

It will turn into Los Angeles. People will move farther and farther away from the center of Houston, but they wouldn't work there in the first place. Regional "downtowns" will start to spring up.

[TheNiche]

Trae, it has also been predicted that within 10-12 years, that katy will be the "center" of Houston.

I don't know where you heard that, but it is complete and utter b***s***.

[TheNiche]

Is it really necessary that we invade another small town.

We have so much ghetto in Houston that needs to be redeveloped.

The existence of ghettos is only a symptom of the root problem, which is poor people. Displace them from one ghetto and they'll create another, and in so doing create a new exodus of middle class folks that fuels the suburban periphery.

[westguy]

I agree, I'm not fond of the developers doing this either and it makes me wonder how far people will live from the Houston center.

Even more crucial is the ranch and farm land that is being gobbled up for housing. I just hope that chicken doesn't come home to roost on a townhome.

It's too easy to buy all that land, divide it into smaller pieces and sucker someone into paying more for their postage stamp that lacks adequate roads and emergency services. Developers must be the richest people in the state, which is why this cycle will continue.

[Guest danax]

I agree, I'm not fond of the developers doing this either and it makes me wonder how far people will live from the Houston center.

Even more crucial is the ranch and farm land that is being gobbled up for housing. I just hope that chicken doesn't come home to roost on a townhome.

It's just the same thing that's been going on here since the beginning.

I was talking to a guy today who grew up in my nabe in the 40s, and the house he just sold and has owned for many years (lives in Pearland now) was owned by a guy who owned most of the land out here, and had a farm (milk barn concrete pad still exists). This man told me a story of how the City asked ihim f he would let them pave his dirt road on his land since it was a shortcut to Downtown (6 miles away) instead of having to all the way up to Harrisburg Road. He agreed, but then regretted it, complaining about all of the traffic (early 1900s) and so went and closed off both ends. When he died the family sold his pecan tree-filled land and it became Pecan Park. If he hadn't already died, it sounds like seeing what happened to his land probably would've killed him.

Figure with the edge cities developing and job decentralization, Fulshear might be considered a suburb of Katy in the future, not Houston, and so the suburban stretch will keeping stretching.

[VicMan]

It's too easy to buy all that land, divide it into smaller pieces and sucker someone into paying more for their postage stamp that lacks adequate roads and emergency services. Developers must be the richest people in the state, which is why this cycle will continue.

Fulshear is an incorporated town, so it has SOME municipal services... unlike Fresno, TX.

[hbcu]

There was a Chronicle article two years back that focused on exburbs....the trend like most are saying is developing smaller areas outside of larger metropolitan areas...Willis is on the drawing board for a neighborhood and the rationale is that the Woodlands workers want to live close but not in a congested area....lake Conroe is not a resort neighborhood anymore also...

as for 359...I remember Weston Lakes being the turnoff for 359 and 1093...when I went out there 2 years ago it was harder to spot familiar sites

[TheNiche]

It's too easy to buy all that land, divide it into smaller pieces and sucker someone into paying more for their postage stamp that lacks adequate roads and emergency services. Developers must be the richest people in the state, which is why this cycle will continue.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

[Pumapayam]

It's too easy to buy all that land, divide it into smaller pieces and sucker someone into paying more for their postage stamp that lacks adequate roads and emergency services. Developers must be the richest people in the state, which is why this cycle will continue.

I whole heartedly agree.

Fulshear does not need generic brick and hardi plank homes. The lady in the cafe wants to drive to Fulshear to experience small town life. Not have it be ruined by traffic and crowds.

The existence of ghettos is only a symptom of the root problem, which is poor people. Displace them from one ghetto and they'll create another, and in so doing create a new exodus of middle class folks that fuels the suburban periphery.

Poor people are attracted to those cheap homes selling "FROM the LOWER 110's"

The look nice for about a year, and look like @ss thereafter.

Edited April 9, 2007 by Pumapayam

[TheNiche]

I whole heartedly agree.

Fulshear does not need generic brick and hardi plank homes. The lady in the cafe wants to drive to Fulshear to experience small town life. Not have it be ruined by traffic and crowds.

Well the issue then is that a whole lot of people are similar to the lady. Say it were possible to put a quota on new the number of new residents to that area. How do you decide who gets the priviledge? Money. So basically, the only solution to that which you gripe about is to enforce by governmental action that Fulshear becomes a playground for the rich. Is that fair?

Poor people are attracted to those cheap homes selling "FROM the LOWER 110's"

The look nice for about a year, and look like @ss thereafter.

Yep, that is typical of affordable housing. If they were built with a great deal of quality and craftsmanship, they wouldn't be affordable. Does that mean that they shouldn't be built? Should new construction be something that is reserved for the affluent? Should poor people be relegated to crappy apartment complexes and tiny bungalows and cottages (except that they're being displaced from those even as we speak)? Should they be made to cluster, all in the crappy school districts, all reinforcing the culture of poverty?

[Pumapayam]

Well the issue then is that a whole lot of people are similar to the lady. Say it were possible to put a quota on new the number of new residents to that area. How do you decide who gets the priviledge? Money. So basically, the only solution to that which you gripe about is to enforce by governmental action that Fulshear becomes a playground for the rich. Is that fair?

I think enforcement should be from the local government residence who want to preserve their way of living before the new neighborhood developers. Small towns have gotten rid of Wal-Marts before, why not this too.

Yep, that is typical of affordable housing. If they were built with a great deal of quality and craftsmanship, they wouldn't be affordable. Does that mean that they shouldn't be built? Should new construction be something that is reserved for the affluent? Should poor people be relegated to crappy apartment complexes and tiny bungalows and cottages (except that they're being displaced from those even as we speak)? Should they be made to cluster, all in the crappy school districts, all reinforcing the culture of poverty?

Poor people should live in duplexes and other types of moderate to high density buildings.

Cheap home that destroy arable land and waster material resources is a bad investment, with only the developer coming out on top.

Edited April 9, 2007 by Pumapayam

[TAK]

I don't know where you heard that, but it is complete and utter b***s***.

IIRCE, the estimate is that i-10 and Fry will be the county seat by 2012, so not center of Houston, but center of Harris County.

who has a population density map!?

[westguy]

I don't believe it. I think it's still at Chimney Rock. Check the back issues of Cite because I saw population density maps in there. There was a huge burgundy blob at Chimney Rock & Bellaire. The rest of the colors were paler as they got further.

[TheNiche]

I think enforcement should be from the local government residence who want to preserve their way of living before the new neighborhood developers. Small towns have gotten rid of Wal-Marts before, why not this too.

If the residents of Fulshear wanted to quash some of the new development, they'd have at least some recourse, given that they are an incorporated municipality. But they haven't exactly been raising a huge stink...which is strange in the same way that it is strange that Houston doesn't have zoning. After all, it is always in the existing owners' interests to have zoning because they and special interests can become oligopolists on land, which raises prices and keeps out the poor (and sometimes even middle class) people and creates anti-competitive pressures for commercial development. In every way conceivable, it is good for owners, bad for renters, and hurtful to society because there gets to be an effective quota on how many people can utilize finite resources.

Btw, Wal-Mart is one of the best things that ever happened to po' folks.

Poor people should live in duplexes and other types of moderate to high density buildings.

Cheap home that destroy arable land and waster material resources is a bad investment, with only the developer coming out on top.

We've got an enormous amount of arable land, but this tiny sliver of it has a higher and better use. Material resources aren't wasted when someone is willing to work hard, earn the right to those resources among others, and that person deems the use of those resources as their highest and best outlay given their finite claims. It is called revealed preference. The developer, builder, financier, and every single stakeholder (from stockholders to labor) all benefit from fulfilling the wants of that individual, and because they benefit, so do all the stakeholders that fulfill their preferences.

It is my belief that poor people should live where they can afford and want to live, and that their lifestyle should reflect their needs and preferences. It is also my belief that you cannot accurately predict or dictate their needs and preferences because they vary among individuals within populations. Stalin failed at it, and he had the might of a nation, the protection of the KGB, and a horde of central planners; what makes you so qualified, Puma?

IIRCE, the estimate is that i-10 and Fry will be the county seat by 2012, so not center of Houston, but center of Harris County.

who has a population density map!?

The center of Harris County is irrelevant.

What is IIRCE?

[lockmat]

We've got an enormous amount of arable land, but this tiny sliver of it has a higher and better use. Material resources aren't wasted when someone is willing to work hard, earn the right to those resources among others, and that person deems the use of those resources as their highest and best outlay given their finite claims. It is called revealed preference. The developer, builder, financier, and every single stakeholder (from stockholders to labor) all benefit from fulfilling the wants of that individual, and because they benefit, so do all the stakeholders that fulfill their preferences.

It is my belief that poor people should live where they can afford and want to live, and that their lifestyle should reflect their needs and preferences. It is also my belief that you cannot accurately predict or dictate their needs and preferences because they vary among individuals within populations.

I agree.

[Pumapayam]

I agree.

So you agree with this?

Glorious Wikipedia.

[lockmat]

So you agree with this?

Glorious Wikipedia.

Not that I disagree with it, but I mainly meant that last paragraph. We shouldn't be telling people where and what type of place they can live in. Although finances basically do that already.

[Pumapayam]

Not that I disagree with it, but I mainly meant that last paragraph. We shouldn't be telling people where and what type of place they can live in. Although finances basically do that already.

Topic Tangent coming below.

Fast Food (in general sans salads okay!) is bad for people, but it is cheap and convenient and people with eat it for the short term and enjoy it, but the long term effects are disasterous.

Just because it is offered doesn't mean you should flock to it.

Switch the words around for cheap housing.

Edited April 9, 2007 by Pumapayam

[lockmat]

Topic Tangent coming below.

Fast Food (in general sans salads okay!) is bad for people, but it is cheap and convenient and people with eat it for the short term and enjoy it, but the long term effects are disasterous.

Just because it is offered doesn't mean you should flock to it.

Switch the words around for cheap housing.

It's cheap and convenient for some people, but not all. For some, there is no option. They have to live where the cheap houses/apts are. It seems that your analogy would be a better fit for someone of middle class, not lower class.

[TheNiche]

So you agree with this?

Glorious Wikipedia.

The beautiful thing about the United States, dear Puma, is that you and I are each free to believe as we will and live as we will. Where is it your right or mine to dictate what another can or cannot do, without recourse, based upon our own self-proclaimed sense of moral superiority?

Edited April 9, 2007 by TheNiche

[Pumapayam]

It seems that your analogy would be a better fit for someone of middle class, not lower class.

Lower class people (people of low income) should living in rentals in the city in my opinion, they should not be owning a home if there can't afford to maintain it.

Buying is one thing, maintenance is key too.

People in Fulshear, who have low income, can live on farms houses, ranch houses, and cottages blend with the landscape.

Others can use small trailer homes and pre-fab homes. Those belong in rural areas do not create a permanent scars on the landscape and offer a reasonable home at a better value, and similar to a car, they can be upgraded or replaced easily.

So-Called "Master Planned Communities" do not belong in the rural areas.

Bring those back into the city.

Edited April 9, 2007 by Pumapayam

[TheNiche]

Fast Food (in general sans salads okay!) is bad for people, but it is cheap and convenient and people with eat it for the short term and enjoy it, but the long term effects are disasterous.

Just because it is offered doesn't mean you should flock to it.

Of course people should not flock to something simply because it is offered!

But if you enjoy it and yet understand that it may have harmful consequences if consumed in excess (not a difficult concept to grasp), then isn't that your perrogrative? ...just as I will consume an enormous quantity of crawfish this evening as a belated response to Trae's temptation? You may think it imprudent, but I find them scrumptious, and so I eat them because it makes me happy. If I die a hedonist in 20 years, it shall have been a better life than a miserable 80-year-long series of chores. Life = Quantity x Quality. The trick to it is balance.

[TheNiche]

Lower class people (people of low income) should living in rentals in the city in my opinion, they should not be owning a home if there can't afford to maintain it.

Buying is one thing, maintenance is key too.

If they can't afford to maintain the home, then how does the landlord that is collecting rent manage to maintain the rental unit and still make a profit?

People in Fulshear, who have low income, can live on farms houses, ranch houses, and cottages blend with the landscape.

Uh, Puma??? Have you looked at any acreage listings lately? People who can afford to live on farms and ranches in that area are on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. And given that the nubmer of cottages out there is in rather short supply, the prices of those things would skyrocket without any new construction acting as a release valve.

Others can use small trailer homes and pre-fab homes. Those belong in rural areas do not create a permanent scars on the landscape and offer a reasonable home at a better value, and similar to a car, they can be upgraded or replaced easily.

When was the last time you visited a trailer park or community of manufactured housing? 1) There is most certainly a scar on the landscape and it looks far worse than a MPC, and 2) why would you think that anyone would perfer to live in one over a community of single-family homes?

So-Called "Master Planned Communities" do not belong in the rural areas.

Bring those back into the city.

There is no room in the city for any new MPCs. They require thousands of acres of contiguous land.

Edited April 9, 2007 by TheNiche

[Pumapayam]

If they can't afford to maintain the home, then how does the landlord that is collecting rent manage to maintain the rental unit and still make a profit?

Uh, Puma??? Have you looked at any acreage listings lately? People who can afford to live on farms and ranches in that area are on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. And given that the nubmer of cottages out there is in rather short supply, the prices of those things would skyrocket without any new construction acting as a release valve.

When was the last time you visited a trailer park or community of manufactured housing? 1) There is most certainly a scar on the landscape and it looks far worse than a MPC, and 2) why would you think that anyone would perfer to live in one over a community of single-family homes?

There is no room in the city for any new MPCs. They require thousands of acres of contiguous land.

That is where you go into neighborhoods that are depressed, like the 4th Ward, the East end etc. and redo the whole place. Master Planned Communities does not mean everyone has to have a huge backyard or an exotic water fountain gate entrance and not everyone needs a garage.

[lockmat]

Lower class people (people of low income) should living in rentals in the city in my opinion, they should not be owning a home if there can't afford to maintain it.

Buying is one thing, maintenance is key too.

People who live in those poorly maintained homes out in the burbs can afford to maintain their homes for the most part, they're just lazy.

Edited April 9, 2007 by lockmat

[Trae]

Lower class people (people of low income) should living in rentals in the city in my opinion, they should not be owning a home if there can't afford to maintain it.

Buying is one thing, maintenance is key too.

People in Fulshear, who have low income, can live on farms houses, ranch houses, and cottages blend with the landscape.

Others can use small trailer homes and pre-fab homes. Those belong in rural areas do not create a permanent scars on the landscape and offer a reasonable home at a better value, and similar to a car, they can be upgraded or replaced easily.

So-Called "Master Planned Communities" do not belong in the rural areas.

Bring those back into the city.

So where do master-planned communities belong? Almost every neighborhood in Houston was rural at one time or another. In ten-twenty years, Fulshear will not be rural anymore.

[TheNiche]

That is where you go into neighborhoods that are depressed, like the 4th Ward, the East end etc. and redo the whole place. Master Planned Communities does not mean everyone has to have a huge backyard or an exotic water fountain gate entrance and not everyone needs a garage.

Ownership in older parts of town is so divided that there cannot possibly be anything approaching a MPC.

While you are correct that MPCs do not require strict uniformity of housing stock, one of the key attributes is that there is a semblance of order, consistency, scale, and restrictions as cannot be provided (and perhaps we should not want to provide) in an older urban area.

[eduag]

Think of all the traffic....

[N Judah]

Fulshear should invent some really drastic zoning laws and turn it into a really upscale area. It will work for people who want to commute along Westpark to the Galleria but don't necessarily want to live in so close to town.

[Trae]

When is Fulshear expected to hit 20,000?

I agree about the Fulshear zoning. It would be nice to see it turn into a Katy (farther) wst than a Rosenberg.

Edited April 17, 2007 by Trae

[N Judah]

When is Fulshear expected to hit 20,000?

I agree about the Fulshear zoning. It would be nice to see it turn into a Katy (farther) west than a Rosenberg.

Forget Katy, I was thinking something REALLY upscale. Like our own Houston version of, say, the nicest parts of Long Island...except it would be built from the ground up. We can support another high-end neighborhood -- look at the thread about how crazy things are getting in Memorial...

Edited April 17, 2007 by N Judah