barracuda

I received an email from a city council member stating that a motion to address plastic bags (potentially banning them) passed by a vote of 14-3 and will move on for vetting and public input.

Does this make HEB evil for opening a new store across from Fiests in order to make it shut down? I've been told that the only reason Walmart is opening on Yale is to make Target on Sawyer close, and that therefore, Walmart is evil. Surely, HEB is also evil.

I meant I was posting it to this thread since it is across the street from the topic at hand. Not everyone needs a conspiracy theory to explain a business transaction.

That said, I imagine the HEB store managers are happy with this news and looking forward to hundreds more prospective customers moving in next door in place of a competitor. Maybe sales will increase as a result, and perhaps the managers will receive bonuses based on the increased sales. And maybe this makes them greedy...does that make them evil?

Since it is across the street...the Montrose Fiesta is reportedly closing on July 15th to make room for the Finger Cos. 390-unit apartment complex.

http://blog.chron.co...ontrose-fiesta/

That may be true, but the wide streets are nonetheless counter-intuitive to creating a pedestrian-friendly environment. Many of the North-South streets in Midtown are wider than necessary considering the traffic flow. Having lived in Midtown for a number of years, I can tell you that streets like Bagby, Crawford, Caroline, and San Jacinto do not get a lot of traffic for their size.

I was under the impression that the original intention of the street widening was to encourage the expansion of downtown south of the Pierce elevated. Maybe the gradual densification of Midtown will eventually justify the extra-wide streets.

Yeah, it looks all neat and orderly there because that is the open area. Behind me in that photograph are the AC duct runs, which, although hung from the rafters, will still make it hard to simply roll the insulation out as I did in the photo. Today was noticeably warmer. I had to quit before noon, whereas yesterday I laid insulation until 1:00 pm.

It is good to hear that you got such good results from your retrofit. I toyed with putting insulation in my walls, but since the HAHC is refusing to allow replacement of siding...and I refuse to do it from the inside, or use foam...that is not looking very likely. I hope to get enough results from the attic insulation that it suffices.

There is one other option that I found last night that I had never thought of before. A guy added a false wall inside his house adjacent to his existing wall, and insulated that. In his case, he ended up with double insulated walls at R-30. In my case, it would be R-15, as the exterior wall would still be uninsulated. But, that is better than nothing. In my house, it would reduce square footage by only 38 square feet...hardly noticeable...and I would end up with some nice deep window ledges. Something to think about, and not terribly expensive.

Interesting idea with the false walls, that would provide some heavy-duty insulating.

I had cellulose foam sprayed from the inside walls for mine. It required drilling two quarter-sized holes between every set of studs, and the process is very messy and fills every speck of the house with loads of dust. It's also a pleasant-weather job since you need the windows open to clear the air afterwards. Of course, it required patching, retexturing, and repainting all the affected walls...not a lot of fun. But it was relatively cheap, and like begin in the attic in a hot day, you really appreciate it when it's all done.

Your attic insulation looks very neat and geometric. I added a bunch of insulation to my attic a year ago last winter (on a cold day ), and it looks pretty haphazard, but then again I have to crawl through much tighter spaces to reach mine thanks to a split attic. Prior to adding more insulation, my house would reach 82-83 on a average hot summer afternoon with the AC running continuously, or 85-87 on a really hot day. Now I can easily keep it at 77-78 (even 75-76 if I want) on a 99-degree day like today, and even then it occasionally cycles. Part of this is due to adding wall insulation, which I had professionally done. I suspect last summer would have been unbearable or would've required adding window AC units if not for the added insulation -- so it paid itself off pretty quickly. It's also noticeably quieter in the house. Good luck and stay cool.

That would be Lorraine from Mad TV.

This sounds like another example of putting commuters ahead of residents inside the loop, just like the proposed flyover for Hermann Park.

I'm fine with this. You will still be able to buy cheap plastic bags if you must have them. I prefer cloth bags for groceries since they can hold more stuff and they don't tear and fall apart.

Also, I've frequently noticed a flotilla of garbage in the inlet to Buffalo Bayou in Eleanor Tinsley Park and on the surrounding trees following a flood. I support minimal efforts like this if they will help reduce the problem.

I'm kind of surprised, as I've never found traffic getting to the Medical Center to be a problem; it's only after reaching the MC that traffic becomes glacially slow, due to out-of-towners and others trying to navigate around.

I wonder if they would consider placing the ramp at Holcombe instead of MacGregor? The route would be south of the park instead of going through it, and Holcombe plows straight through the TMC anyhow.

I agree with this...I'm wondering if TxDOT could limit access from side streets, widen, or build passthrough ramps at major intersections (e.g. - Almeda and Cambridge). Any elevation changes to MacGregor would certainly affect the Brays Bayou trail.

The original photos I just looked at had some pine forrested areas but equal amounts of bayou and willows and other small trees. The strip along the boulevard did seem quite wooded, but those were a bunch a pine trees, and as someone who has a large pine tree in their front yard, I can promise you we aren't missing those. Nearly all the beautiful Live Oaks and other aesthetically pleasing trees you see were planted by residents. Nothing historic or original about them...

That being said... the new walmart will have a gardening center right?

I'm not arguing about the fact that these relatively young live oaks were obviously planted, nor am I all that concerned about their removal. But you agree the area wasn't treeless before development.

I must say, I think live oaks are kind of ugly until they mature and really spread out, so I kind of hope they plant something else.

^ Actually, much of the Heights was forested before it was developed. Just look at any old photos of the land being cleared.

Much to my surprise: some good news! Here is an actual relevant fact - My neighbor across the street just sold his 2-1 bungalow for $270 per square foot. This is in the Heights East district.

My biggest concern about the HD's was that people would not want to buy 2-1 bungalows because they will be forever stuck with a tiny house. This one was only listed for 3 days before it was under contract.

Give it's just one house - but a relevant data point.

Cheers

James

They aren't forever stuck with a tiny house. But they are limited in how they can expand the house (e.g. - awkward HAHC-approved camelbacks and rear additions). Also, some folks do actually prefer updating smaller homes and keeping a yard rather than building lot-hugging monster homes.

I wonder how much is due to them hunting for ideal locations. Being a large retailer, they are going to study and seek out areas where population, consumer demand, and purchasing power are expected to increase. And based on population trends and predictions, it's almost a given that average home prices in the areas surrounding this Walmart are going to increase, with or without this development. But the good news is this disproves the myth that a Walmart causes nearby home prices to tank dramatically.

I can't wait for the entire Grand Parkway to be completed. It's not like that patch of weeds is something of beauty. If you walk about a mile west of where the Grand Parkway is you can still meander in that flat, ugly wasteland if you want to for a few more years. This is Greater Houston - not the everglades. Build up and sprawl only makes that side of town look better.

As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder -- check out the link in post 117 for some examples. As you can imagine, the area is important to the watershed, both for water quality and for absorbing rainwater that may otherwise flood developed areas. It also helps provide habitat for native plants and for pollinators that are important to our food supply. It's even one of the most important areas on the continent for migrating birds. I understand the need to absorb population growth, but it could be done with less impact to important habitat vs. building a massive parkway through the middle of it.

The townhomes in your first pic are going to be dumps in a short amount of time. Cheap materials. Cheap windows. Bad placement of windows. And, what in the world were they thinking by spacing them that way? Those side windows must offer some great views...

I was thinking the same thing about the spacing. I would hate having to do any maintenance within the 3 feet of clearance between neighboring walls.

Must be the 99%, they're probably BMW haters.

Doubt it, since the majority of BMWs are leased (according to this article from 2007, 85.3% of 7 Series were leased). Which tells me that most of the folks driving BMWs are the 99% but want to appear to be in the 1%.

This expansion should help alleviate the serious lack of sprawl in the region.

Something is going on at McGowan at Jackson. I presume new townhomes -- the current batch on the back side of this block at Bremond sat half-complete for a couple years before someone bought the project and finished it off. Now they have fenced in the remainder of the lot and started pouring foundations.

Actually, there are several new townhome sections going up. I'll ride around collecting some more photos to post this afternoon. Looks like East Midtown is finally coming back with some new construction. See also: Milhaus Development.

I wonder if the builder disclosed the fact that those homes sat partially complete for several years with uncovered window and door openings. I would not be surprised if the owners eventually uncover mold damage, unless the builder replaced the materials in heavily exposed areas.

I would appeal if it's an issue of hardiplank siding. It's unreasonable to expect homeowners to install and maintain wood siding in this climate. I've replaced asbestos shingles with hardiplank and have even installed energy-efficient low-e vinyl windows with HCAD approval. However, the siding was in the rear of the house and on the garage (street-facing side), so that may have helped with the approval.

Maybe it's because a lot of the executives live in Houston, what with the city having the second-highest number of Fortune 500 companies in the country. Perhaps some of them don't feel comfortable flirting with booth babes and making drunken strip club visits so close to home and family. I don't see Vegas on that list...

I shopped at Aldi's with my roommates a few times back in college. Like Fringe, I was never that impressed. They predominately carried random store-brand versions of canned and dry goods, along with a really limited assortment of produce (think 3-lb plastic bags of super-green bananas). It's not a place you shop if you are making something from a recipe, as chances are good they won't have what you need. But if you like cheap pre-packaged foodstuffs and enjoy being surprised by a changing selection each visit, they are your place.

I'm a little disappointed that they will charge an admission fee, unlike the east coast boardwalks or the Santa Monica pier. After all, this seems like the kind of place that would be nice to take a quick stroll and play a few games or grab a drink, but I'm not sure that would be worthwhile with an entry fee, and I doubt I would want to spend an entire day there. Even so, I'm glad to see this project happen.

The most recent HAHC meeting notes available online (from Jan 12) show they approved all agenda items, although one project did require stipulations around materials to be used. I do not think they had any authority over home interiors...I need to go back and look at the ordinance to remind myself.

Justice for one person is injustice for another. Just becuase you believe it's justice for gays to marry or for people to commit abortion doesn't mean it's the right way.

The only people who seem to think that are religious fundamentalists and closeted right-wingers.