editor

I just got back from a trip out to the Big Bend and would have to say you really need to get west of I-35 and out into West Texas for truly GREAT star gazing.

Around Houston though, try Brazos Bend State Park. I've heard decent reviews of the stars out there. Gotta go in a couple weeks though when it's a new moon. Moon is very full right now.

Agreed. The best stargazing I ever did was out past San Antonio. Just drive west on I-10. I just pulled off at a rest stop and saw more stars than I'd ever seen before in my life. Stars all the way down to the horizon. It was incredible.

In the immediate Houston area, I wonder what it's like to look at the stars from a boat off of Galveston. The rock-and-sway would preclude any telescopes, but to just sit there and watch nature's majesty, a boat might be ideal.

Seems a little boring and sterile to me. And where are those people walking to? I don't see any indication of street level retail or restaurants.

I'd like to see the renderings again without the cars all ghosted out, and with some realistic traffic drawn in.

Wow - I wonder what her situation is to be living on a third floor in the first place. If it were really extreme (assuming she is financially independent and/or has a say where she lives) I'd think she would plan her life around making sure she lived on a ground floor..

I got the impression that she didn't have a choice about where she lived, like she either lived with a son/daughter because of her age, or if she's still working that she has to live in that place because of her job.

The only answer that I'm somewhat satisfied with is LA.

You asked a question and a number of people answered. What makes you think other people are concerned with your satisfaction?

I've lived in buildings of all sizes, usually on higher floors, and never thought much about it. So today I was very surprised to meet a woman who has an acute fear of elevators!

She lives on the third floor of a building, and is on the elderly side, so she has to take the elevator to and from home. But she dreads it. So much so that she plans her life so that she only has to use the elevator twice a day -- once when leaving in the morning, and again when returning in the evening.

I don't know her employment status -- she's old enough that she could easily be retired, and therefore able to stay in for days at a time. But she did tell me this -- She spends hundreds of dollars a month on parking tickets because she won't park in her assigned space deep in her building's underground garage. She parks on the top floor so that it cuts down on the time she spends in the elevator. That's actually how all this came up -- I saw the parking ticket in her hand and asked her about it.

I know there are lots of people with lots of phobias, but I'd never heard of a fear of elevators before. I wonder if it's somehow related to claustrophobia.

http://www.rickgevers.com/news-director-updates/

KEITH CONNORS, the ND for Belo’s KHOU-TV (CBS) in Houston, will leave the station in late November after five years as ND.

...

Keith’s departure comes shortly after the station won two National Edward R. Murrow awards (including overall excellence) and the Lonestar Emmy award for Station Excellence.

The regional Emmy is worthless, but the Murrow award means something.

If there are users, there are dealers in close proximity. The squeaky wheel gets the grease; ask for increased patrolling. If your neighbors get involved too, there's a chance that the activity can be moved to some other neighborhood.

Good point. I think it's rare to find a junkie that can hold off walking more than 50 feet from his dealer to get his fix. Unless they're rolling up in a car and buying. But as described earlier, this appears to be a pedestrian operation.

Wasn't it Joel Olsteen who said "You long to see the Great Pyramids"?

Wow! How did he know?

In most circumstances you can just renew your DL online these days, well that's what I did this time.

You can avoid the line that way for sure ... and those common folks.

Until my mother moved just a couple of years ago, she had a paper license with no photo. She lived in New Jersey where she'd been renewing her license by mail for decades. When she had to fly (usually out of Newark), she used her company's photo ID, and the TSA would have to accept it, since it happened all the time in that area.

Are there any of them as large as ours?

Yes. But I'm not sure what that had to do with anything.

Did anyone lose a glass pipe at one of the park benches on Anita?

Just kidding. But seriously I found a broken glass pipe that my dogs nearly stepped on yesterday evening.

I work sales so I am in and out of my town home during the day and have noticed (and smelled) a great deal more people "smoking" on the park benches in the past few months. It's rather obvious in the 10 months that I have lived here that these benches are used more as a bed or living room for people. I have yet to see any of my neighbors use them. If I am mistaken please let me know so I can return your pipe to you. ;-)

From the design of the benches it appears that the city sought to avoid this activity as it looks difficult to sleep on them, but I guess people find a way. Who should I talk to about having these benches removed?

Steve

After you've smoked a crack pipe, a pile of rocks looks comfortable. No amount of bench lumpiness will prevent its use by the criminally stoned.

We are unique in our lack of downtown gimmickry.

You must be working with a definition of "unique" that I'm unaware of. There are hundreds of American cities with unremarkable downtowns.

What's up with that big hole? I've always wondered...

Isn't this the location that was cleared in anticipation of a new very high-end hotel back around 2002? A Ritz-Carlton, or something?

Works for Oprah quotes, too.

For those of you who have access to Town & Country magazine, there's an interesting article about the two new books that were recently published about Dominique de Menil.

They paint a picture of a woman who is singlehandedly responsible for bringing serious art to Houston.

"I would never have started collecting so much art if I had not moved to Houston," Dominique is quoted as saying in Art and Activism: Projects of John and Dominique de Menil (edited by Josef Helfenstein and Laureen Schipsi; Menil Collection/Yale; $65). "Houston was a provincial, dormant place, much like Strasbourg, Basel, Alsace. There were no galleries to speak of, no dealers worth the name, and the museums! That is why I developed the physical need to acquire."

De Menil was from Paris, and got her money from the family business. A little company you might have heard of called Schlumberger.

They strongly supported the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and founded the art-history department at the local University of St. Thomas and an arts-and-media center at Rice University. Eventually, their discriminating acquisitions of modern and tribal art led them to start the Menil Collection.

Great video. I'm really impressed with the amount of work they got done in just the first few hours.

I'd always heard the skyscraper situation in Dubai was a mess -- even worse than Bangkok with "ghost towers" that are entirely vacant. Bloomberg has an article about it now:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-13/dubai-s-least-attractive-office-buildings-will-be-empty-forever-cbre-says.html

“Some buildings will be permanently vacant and will never be let because they are wrongly located, they are of poor quality or have the wrong legal structure in place,” Nicholas Maclean, Middle East managing director for the U.S. property broker, said in an interview.

ARA Announces New BARC Website Launch

As part of our commitment to create the highest quality animal care and rescue facility, Houston BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions is pleased to announce the launch of our new website:

www.houstonbarc.com

We encourage you to visit our site today to learn more about exciting developments at BARC. Site visitors can browse our adoptable pets, and view recent reports and news releases. You can also learn more about responsible pet ownership with our educational articles, training tips and pointers, and seasonal advisory pages. Bookmark our site to stay up to date with BARC events and find out ways that you can help BARC.

The simplest, but most powerful thing you can do to help the shelter, and pets throughout our community, is to talk to your friends, neighbors, and family about caring for pets responsibly. We encourage everyone to visit the new www.houstonbarc.com.

This just in...

___________

HINES' MAINPLACE IS PRE-CERTIFIED AT LEED PLATINUM

Set to Be Only LEED Platinum Skyscraper in Texas

(HOUSTON) - The Houston office of Hines, the international real estate firm, announced today that MainPlace in downtown Houston, the firm's newest green skyscraper, has been pre-certified at the Platinum level under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED® for Core & Shell rating system.  MainPlace was initially conservatively pre-certified at the Silver level, but Hines anticipates a higher level of certification due to certain high-performance features performing even better than anticipated.

Sustainable features and programs include: a fully vegetated green roof; a "skygarden" terrace; highly efficient heating and ventilation systems; glass with sunshades that results in up to 40 percent of the building façade being protected from the sun; and a condensate recovery system, among many other features.

Hines Senior Vice President and Project Officer John Mooz said, "Sustainability has moved closer to the top of every company's agenda.  Going beyond the academic research and case studies, the business thesis for sustainability is plainly visible in areas like recruiting and retention, which is the beginning of the value chain for our tenants."

City of Houston Mayor Annise Parker said, "Companies like Hines have independently demonstrated the viability of green buildings solutions, allowing the government to play a more supportive role.  We need more firms like Hines to help move the market forward to a more sustainable future."

Developed by Hines for Hines CalPERS Green fund, MainPlace is a dramatic 46-story, 972,000-square-foot office tower located at "main and main" in downtown Houston.  The elegant glass and steel building, which features a dramatic cutaway notch on the 39th floor, was designed by Pickard Chilton and will be ready for occupancy in early 2011.

The project was designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR®, acknowledging the building's superior design intent.  With a design rating of 96, if the building performs as designed, it will be 53 percent more energy efficient than the national average office building.

The top four floors are leased to KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm.  Hines oversees leasing and management of the property.

Hines is one of the most sustainable real estate companies in the world.  In 2010 Hines was recognized by the EPA, for the third time, with the ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award; Hines manages 153 labelled buildings, representing more than 77 million square feet, in the ENERGY STAR program.  Twelve Hines development or redevelopment projects, representing more than six million square feet, have been designated as Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR.

Hines is also a leader in the U.S. Green Building Council's programs, with 202 projects, representing more than 107 million square feet that have been certified, pre-certified or registered under the various LEED® rating systems.  Hines was a founding member of the German Sustainable Building Council and the Russian Green Building Council, and is active in the Green Building Council Brasil, the Green Building Council España, the Green Building Council Italia, the Indian Green Building Council, the BRE Environmental Assessment Method program in the United Kingdom and the Haute Qualité Environnementale program in France.

Hines is a privately owned real estate firm involved in real estate investment, development and property management worldwide. The firm's historical and current portfolio of projects that are underway, completed, acquired and managed for third parties includes 1,119 properties representing more than 457 million square feet of office, residential, mixed-use, industrial, hotel, medical and sports facilities, as well as large, master-planned communities and land developments.  With offices in 100 cities in 17 countries, and controlled assets valued at approximately $23 billion, Hines is one of the largest real estate organizations in the world.  Visit www.hines.com for more information.  To learn more about sustainability at Hines, visit www.hines.com/sustainability

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/industries/commrealestate/stories/DN-maple_16bus.ART0.State.Edition1.248c35c.html

"Dallas' historic Maple Terrace apartment building has finally changed hands.

The 85-year-old Uptown landmark was bought Friday by Exxir Corp., a real estate company with offices in Dallas and California that is headed by investor Farrokh Nazerian."

Are we nothing but moths to a bulb?

I'd argue that people are in Times Square because of the following;

1) BROADWAY. Over TWELVE MILLION folks go to the shows every year. Those folks often like to eat/drink before and after so it makes sense for there to be tons of restaurants and bars next to the THIRTY NINE VENUES.

2) HOTELS. Times Square is a convenient spot for a biz traveler. It's pretty much in central Manhattan making trips to Wall St, Midtown, Downtown, UWS, UES, etc... a breeze. It's also a place in which tourists feel uber comfortable because they "know it" and once they get there they see the TGI Fridays, Bubba Gumps, etc... and feel at ease. That's why there are 16,000 hotel rooms in Times Square! Times Square hotels annually acount for 25% of all hotel stays per year in NYC.

I am telling you, if Houston had 39 theaters that drew in over 12 million a year with the auxiliary restaurants and bars that catered to that crowd in downtown and over 16,000 hotel rooms to go with those figures, downtown would be buzzing even if it were candle lit.

It would be nice if downtown Houston had something unique to set it apart from other cities.

As you mentioned, New York has Times Square. Saint Louis has its arch. San Francisco has its trolleys and bridge. It would be nice if Houston had some kind of globally-known icon, whether a building or place or something. It could have been NASA, except that we don't launch rockets from Houston, and NASA's getting out of the manned spaceflight business anyway.

It does matter, because a fee and a tax can have slightly different purposes. A vehicle registration fee falls on those who cause wear and tear to the road. This proposed fee falls on those who cause flooding, at least in part, by having impermeable surfaces.

I don't know if this particular proposal is a good idea or not. It seems overzealous, but I wanted to dispute editor's framing it as a tax.

Property tax is still a tax, even though only those who own property pay it.

Is a car rental tax at IAH not a tax because the person renting the car will never use the hotel/stadium/other facility that it pays for?

The gas tax is used to build roads, benefiting only those who use them. Does that mean it's not a tax?

Restricting a tax's source or beneficiaries doesn't make it suddenly not a tax.

Is a registration fee on an automobile a tax?

Yes. In some countries it's called a "road tax."

I think a good security code addition would be to have a scratch-n-sniff "Yellow Rose of Texas" feature.

On a more practical level, how come we have to go to far-flung neighborhoods to interact with Texas Department of Safety?

A small downtown or Midtown location would benefit many people.

There might be one. But it might not be publicized.

Every state has rich people, celebrities, billionaires, former presidents, etc... These people need to go to the DMV and get their drivers license just like everyone else, but need to do it without interacting with the common people. I can't speak about Texas specifically, but I know that a couple of states I've lived in have had "secret" DMV offices for uncommon people.

The two I'm thinking of, however, were both in the very center of the largest cities in their state in the basements of generic government office building. By "secret" I mean that they're not signed as DMV offices, and are not included on public lists of DMV offices. But if you happen to stumble across one, any member of the public is allowed to use them.

I got my previous driver's license at one of these places. It was great -- no waiting.

I'm not sure it's flawed in their eyes. I think that's exactly what they want to do. They claim it will pay off the deficit in 7 years, which this is the only way they could do that AND pay for all their new social programs.

So what happens after the deficit is paid off? Does it go away, get reduced, or does the government just keep slurping up money?