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The New Blight


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Not always true. I believe the neighborhoods on both sides of Durham and Shepherd are moving forward (Heights and Shady Acres) but you would never know it from the state of retail on these streets.

The intersection of Shepherd and 11th has either new or rehabbed retail on all four corners. Obviously, not all of Shepherd has improved, but there is a clear trend in that direction.

A better example is Shepherd/Durham between I-10 and Memorial. They are wiping out the whole street and putting up new.

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You're right; it is a cop out.

Amazing that it came from me, I get worked up over all sorts of other things. HA!

Big, gigantic things, that other people think I'm totally nuts for even trying to change, like the Grand Parkway! So, thinking of a way to dress up mini-storage lots which are a form of visual pollution, but not air pollution or noise pollution, I would say, why not leave a perimeter of trees or create one if one's not there, to shield the unsightly buidlings from any surrounding neighbors?

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If we could only have basements(at a reasonable cost) in Houston, then, we'd have waaay less of these places...

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If we could only have basements(at a reasonable cost) in Houston, then, we'd have waaay less of these places...

Excellent point. I love living in Houston but I really miss having a basement. Another 900 sf, or so, of space would be nice and having the water heater in the attic just creeps me out. I think it annoys grandma too. :D

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most recently developed mini-storage/warehouse facilities are built so an owner can collect positive cash-flow as the land's value increases. its just warehousing the land (pun not intended). except for the fancy ones, they are inexpensive to build and maintain. when the land's value justifies a redevelopment, it will be replaced with something more pleasing to the eyes. as long as the site does not have land restrictions, its something we just have to deal with in houston, for better or for worse.

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The intersection of Shepherd and 11th has either new or rehabbed retail on all four corners. Obviously, not all of Shepherd has improved, but there is a clear trend in that direction.

A better example is Shepherd/Durham between I-10 and Memorial. They are wiping out the whole street and putting up new.

I'm praying with all my might that the deco building that housed the Wallgreens at Washington/Shepherd will be spared. The for lease sign out front does show an original appearance to the facade at least.

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And so are historic buildlings.

Try to come up with another one.

Because every storage unit and car wash were built where historic buildings used to be.

Try to come up with another one.

Besides, a vacant lot does not as produce much tax revenue for the city as a storage unit or car wash would. At least there is active in the interim.

I know, I'll just go build some historic buildings instead of storage units and car washes.

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Any increase is an increase. If a storage unit or car wash is built (which I prefer were never built), it can be better than a vacant lot.

:huh:

uh, okay... say the improvement is assessed at $100k. at 3%, thats an increase of $3,000 / year in the city's coffers.

$3k may seem like a lot of money to some but from the city's perspective, its pocket change and not even worth the paper work.

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Oh, you're right. $3000 is nothing. Just use it as toilet paper. Come on. $3000 can pay for a lot of things like office supplies, gas for city vehicles for a week, six weeks of a file clerk's salary, etc. Just because it's a little increase doesn't mean it's not worth it. Little increases here added to more little increases there add up to lots of money for the city every year. Large portions of the city's money comes from small sources that added together make big money.

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Think about folks relocating. They get a rental near downtown and spent 6 mos to a year figuring out where to buy. A houseload of stuff won't fit into an apartment. Not all of their tenants come from that, but I have some stuff in storage for that reason, at least.

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car washes and mini-storages are two different things. water, soap, insurance (slippery when wet), plumming, etc can become a huge expense. in regards to taxation, the improvements are minimal, so the city doesnt see that much of an increase.

Unlike any strip malls or apartment complexes, the city receives about $60,000 per carwash before it is built as part of the permitting process. That's a fairly large chunk of change, as property taxes go, and they get it up front, rather than over the course of many years of taxation, so that's an added benefit to the city.

And with both car washes and self-storage, it is not uncommon for individuals or small locally-based and locally-owned companies to operate them. Although the city does not tax business or personal income, the locally-based owners have to spend their income somewhere, and eventually, some fraction of that money will be spent on housing, which is taxed. Its sort of a trickle-down effect.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The only time my family has ever used a storage place was after Allison.

Allison flooded our Braeswood home, so we had to put many of the things that we have in storage before moving into an apartment for four months. We got stuff out of storage when we moved back into the house.

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  • 1 month later...
Take a look at the new mini storage on west dallas and valentine, just west of 45. as storage facilities go, this is an exception to the typical model. this example seems to respond to its urban environment

I still don't fully understand what is meant by "climate controlled". Does it mean that the storage areas are air-conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter?

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