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15 More Comments About Houston


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So, I did, in the last past week or so, drive to Houston twice for different reasons, and I like my trip around September, I have made notes and comments about the large city down Highway 6 from the smaller city up Highway 6. They are in chronological order, with 13-15 on the Tuesday trip (which was for a job interview in Houston).

1. There's something about Brittany Court Apartments that makes me sad or upset somehow. Maybe because they look neglected, maybe because they look ugly, or maybe because the fact that they're stretched along 18th made them seem far larger than they actually were--I was thinking the superblock of apartments like found in Gulfton.

2. The H-E-B Pantry there was disappointing. Not that I was expecting much, but a Pantry similar to the H-E-B Pantry of my youth would've been nicer. There's a plaque that says it opened in August 1997. I wonder what it used to be.

3. There's never a shortage of stoplights in Houston, but there isn't one at East T.C. Jester and 18th. There's a dangerous four way stop there instead. There was a time when both Kmart and Albertsons were open at this intersection, and there weren't problems then? It was still busy after rush hour, with the stores were replaced with a wholesale restaurant supply company and a self-storage facility, respectively.

4. Approaching 19th Street to the Heights reveals a business-lined street not unlike smaller Texas towns. While real small Texas towns don't have random townhomes and a Torchy's there at the corner, I mean that comparison in the best way possible. Houston is full of surprises, isn't it?

5. I know this is Texas, but why were the Riders of the Old Spanish Trail up on Durham instead of, you know, OST? Why did they cross into my lane right in front of me? (That's right, a HORSE cut me off) And why did they turn into a random shopping center? I don't know.

6. Of all the vehicles I could be behind in a road reduced to a two-way road during construction, why a dump truck? First horses, now this? I knew I should've taken the bridge over Memorial and Allen Parkways, I could've avoided two stoplights and this sad fate.

7. The sunken part of 59 is already starting to show age and deterioration, which is sad, because I think it's one of the nicer designed freeways in the area.

8. Now, I've got nothing against sidewalks on roads that go over highways, but the chain link fences that adorn every single overpass over 288 sure are ugly. I wonder if there's a more attractive option.

9. Is it wrong that I wasn't entirely sure I was on 288 South to Pearland until I saw those weird metal structures on the right?

10. I can understand roads that aren't smooth, but if the road (eastbound Bellaire just west of Beltway 8) has deteriorated badly enough to expose rebar, why are you putting a barricade in the middle of the road, causing people to change lanes, instead of patching it?

11. In retrospect, I think it was a mistake to attempt to crawl up Beltway 8's frontage lanes from Bellaire to US-290 in rush hour. I wish I knew the "free exits" of the Beltway 8, which could've saved a bit of grief. (I didn't have an EZ Tag. Or quarters.)

12. Any food or drink item WILL mitigate stress due to congestion, provided you have time to eat or drink it. That was why getting a milk tea from Hong Kong City Mall (with real honeydew) was a good move.

13. On Blalock, there's a 1970s-era apartment complex advertising one "Blalock Grocery", which I'm at a loss for. It hadn't occurred to me that MAYBE they have a convenience store on the premises (a1970s-era apartment complex in town had a upscale restaurant and later nightclubs above the leasing office, so clearly it's an option). It sure beats the options I had in my mind at the time: advertising a grimy little convenience store down the road (sketchy), or someone operating a grimy little convenience store from out of their apartment (really sketchy!)

14. There's another part of Blalock that goes through more residential areas, and there's a narrow, useless bike lane running along the side. Because it is narrow and goes on bad pavement, why not just get rid of it, widen the two other lanes, and put one of those "bicyclists may travel on main lanes" images on the road? Because that's probably what they'll do anyway, and I can't blame them.

15. The Jones Road extension between FM 529 and US-290: in case you ever thought it was useless, it isn't (and you obviously haven't been on it). Based on the traffic backed up there, others don't think so either.

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6 is quite common.

7 I agree, it defiantly needs some TLC. Some of the freeway lights that hang over don't work, and the string of LED's that don't work over the arched bridges are hanging on for dear life.

9 yes I drive to Freeport every once in a while for work, it seems like the city falls off a cliff until you get to the smaller office buildings & retail close to Pearland

Edit: Best of luck for your interview!

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#2: The HEB at S. Braeswood and Chimney Rock is an older Pantry style store that first opened in 1992. Maybe that one would be more to your liking.

#7: Did you see the cracking part of the retaining wall being held together by vertically mounted pieces of guardrail? I guess that's TxDOT duct tape.

#8: There are chainlink fences on the arch overpasses over US59 between Shepherd and Montrose, but they are painted black and seem to blend in moreso with the bridges than the 288 chainlinks. Maybe when they start construction on 288 soon, it'll include a new coat of paint for the overpasses and black paint for the current chainlink fences.

#10: Maybe I'm giving Public Works too much credit, but maybe, just maybe, they'd just discovered the damage shortly before you happened to come upon it and the barrier was newly erected. But, I have been PW not do much to streets that are going to be torn up and rebuilt soon, and I think that stretch of Bellaire is going to be widened and reconstructed. N. Main in front of the UHD Business Building was horrible when I was there from 05-09, but PW didn't do much to fix it since it was going to be completely rebuilt in a few years for the light rail extension.

#13: Bayou Park Apartment Homes on Memorial next to St. Thomas has a convenience store, though it looks to be easily accessible by the public.

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