ProHouston

aslong as they do something to the outside I really like what they did at Kona & Borders if only they would do that to the whole mall, & Galleria 3 is crap they should renovate it from top to bottom other than Fox Sports & Bice those stores suck Macys looks like a department store at sharpstown its really a wast of space

I like what they did with Kona but they really missed an opportunity with Borders. It looks so inviting from Westheimer but then there is NO public entrance on the sidewalk to the store! You can walk by and want to go in, but then most people won't be able to figure out how to get in.

Post your suggestions here. That's one thing we miss about living in the city - the plethora of great breakfast spots!

Try the weekend breakfast buffet at Skeeters. It's about $9/person and is all you can eat, great food!

I am looking to buy a new home at Sugarland, staying as close as possible to highway 59. I read about Telfair from this forum and had a look for myself. This new development looked good but what absolutely confounds me are the prices - does anyone have an idea, what is it that Telfair has, that the prices are marked so much higher compared to new homes by the same builders in other nearby places - there are hardly any homes selling for anything less than 300,000.

Also can anyone suggest me some good areas in Sugarland very close to hwy 59, where I can go looking for homes not older than 2/3 years ?

Any help, advice is very well appreciated.

Telfair is being built on the last, best parcel in Sugar Land. Just like in every real estate transaction, you're paying for location. There are no other locations left in Sugar Land like Telfair, hence the prices.

Reliant Astrodome Receives Viable Redevelopment Plan

The landlord of the Reliant Astrodome says it has received a viable financing plan to redevelop the "Eighth Wonder of the World" and turn it into a hotel and convention complex.

Mike Surface, chairman of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation, told FOX 26 Sports on Friday that the financing plan is from the Astrodome Redevelopment Corporation.

Surface said it is approximately a $450 million project, that if approved, could become reality in 3 1/2 to 4 years. Surface emphasizes the plan does not include any public money.

See remainder of story...

I completed a graduate degree at A&M. I will certainly confirm the degree of ideological and ethnic homogeny is greater amongst the undergraduate student body at A&M than any other university I have taught at or been on. But granted my perspective is probably skewed and less credible, for I went to UH.

And I am far from being an Aggie.

Any school that cherishes "the hanging tree" deserves the prejorative and provincial assocations it gets. And they wonder why minorities don't want to attend the school.

I spent 4 years there and I don't even know what the "hanging tree" is. Never heard of it, I know the wedding tree, is this the one you are referring too? The tree under which everyone gets engaged?

It's pretty pedestrian, actually. Aggie is just a term for a TAMU graduate.

Actually, an Aggie is any person who has ever attended a class at Texas A&M, it doesn't have anything to do with graduation.

It's also somewhat of a military society, very rigid and focused on power structures. In some ways you can imagine an "Aggie Ideology," somewhat like neoconservatism.

This statement show what little you know about Texas A&M. You're taking 10% of what Texas A&M is and generalizing it to include all Aggies. There is actually very little difference in the students that attend Texas A&M, Texas, OU, <insert any other big school here>...

Of course I'm referring to Michael Finley who plays for the Spurs but has $17,265,625 of his $20,154,625 salary still being paid by the Mavericks! Therefore, he is officially the first "Maverick" to win an NBA title, he's on their books as their highest paid player. Dirk is second with $15,101,626. See the stats here.

And people think Cuban is brilliant, well he'll be spending another $18,593,750 next year for Finley to try for his second title.

The properties on Westheimer and Post Oak are simply too valuable to devote to surface parking. IMO, the Post Oak elevation would be better if they matched the San Felipe elevation. They could take a cue from the Galleria. Imagine a strip center parking lot in front of Neimans on Post Oak. While the Galleria did build some surface parking on Westheimer, they did so keeping in mind that eventually there would be future developement supplanted with parking structures.

But that's the prevailing attitude of many developers and posters here on HAIF. Build just what you can get away with and leave the aggie designed crap for someone else to clean up. I love your description "Don't almost do it"...it seems the mantra of the provincial Houston real estate/developer mind-set...and I propose we make "uglify" a legitamate descriptor for those that truely don't give a damn.

Absolutly. But it doesn't have to be pedestrian friendly on the outside to be aestheticly appealling on the inside. Houston for the most part has nailed down the environmetally controlled pedestrian interior shopping spaces. It's the expediant Aggie designed strip centers that will never beat the visitorship and long-term profitability of places like the Galleria.

BTW, have you seen the Aggie-style designed Jiffe Lube firehouse downtown? I know I'm off topic but I've yet to see a more embarrasing civic structure since the Hobby Center.

Aggie envy...

Excuse please, you are correct, Cavs need to win 2, I still think Spurs want to do it at home.

Are you suggesting that they'll tank the next 2 games so that they can go home to win?

It is gonna go 5, Spurs want to win at home. Cleveland will one one at home.

Games 3, 4, and 5 are all in Cleveland. In the Finals it's a 2-3-2 format, therefore I don't think there is any way the Spurs win at home. They'd have to lose the next 2 games.

The restaurant was a Steak n Ale, wasn't it?

It was a Mason Jar most recently.

Just come out and say it, you're looking for something on the cheap!

What do you consider "inexpensive"? $1 a foot?

You should be able to get tile layed on the floor for ~$2 a foot including mortar and grout.

flipper

Do you have any specific recommendations on where to get the tile or who you would use to install? Feel free to PM me the info if you are able to.

Thanks

Where can I find an inexpensive tile store in Southwest Houston? Also, what is a fair price for installation in a kitchen and bath?

Thanks!

Free Agent WR Keenan McCardell (Chargers) will visit the Houston Texans today!

This doesn't excite me, he's been in the league about 16 years. We tried the "Eric Moulds" thing last year and it didn't work.

Houston Weekend Escape Plan from New York Magzine:

http://nymag.com/travel/weekends/houston/

I found it linked from www.houstonist.com/

That's pretty cool. I did find one error though:

It might seem counterintuitive to rent bikes in oil-mad Houston, but it

We have not seen Sugarland yet either. I was initially turned off by the whole place due to the whole Tom DeLay thing, thinking that I'd never want to live someplace that would keep putting him back in office. Assuming it was just the land of mega-churches, strip malls, and crooked pols. But the more I read, the more interesting it sounds. The schools sound steller and it sounds like a far more diverse and interesting place than its reputation suggests.

I think it just must be your feelings of Tom Delay that have affected your view of Sugar Land. Most people in Texas would tell you that it has a great reputation. In fact, CNN/Money Magazine ranked it the 3rd best place to live in America just last year and it has also been rated as one of the best places to raise a family in America. It's the most affluent, culturally diverse suburban area in the nation. But take that with a grain of salt, I live there. Like I said earlier, I'd stick to Sugar Land, the Cinco Ranch area, Champions, and The Woodlands.

There are actually several suburbs around Houston that would fit your criteria. To name a few, Sugar Land, Katy (the Cinco Ranch area or south to the Westpark Tollway), The Woodlands, Champions (FM 249) area. Each of these have small suburban hospitals, great schools, and are family friendly. You'll hear other members tout their area at the expense of another, but you really can't go wrong with any of these.

I hate that they got a new coach just because we did not get out the 1ST round. Losing in the 1st 2nd and 3rd round are all the same thing, the team comes away with not a damn thing! Last year was not good but T-MAC and Yao were not in it for the better part of the season. This year Yao was hurt for half and was still not at full strength to play with Carlos Bozer in the 1st round. This is not a reason to have lost a heartbreaker in game seven at HOME! I think I cried and then the Mavs lost that made me feel much much better. But it was the beanch faults we lost that game. JVG did a great job with this team because of the health issues with his two star players and then he had the rockets play some D(not very much in playoffs though). If they wanted a new coach they should brought bach some one the whle city would love, the man who created CLUTCH CITY, Rudy T the Heart of a Champion himself, or the one and only Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon. He would teach Yao how to be one of the best big men off all time and how to use his shooters more just like he did with Horry,Cassell, and Drexler

=

Wow! That's an awesome video. Someone really put some time into that one. I agree with the Rudy T statement, though Les is too damn stubborn to pick up the phone and call Rudy T back to the sideline. I do think we needed a new coach though, among other changes. I just didn't see JVG taking us to the Finals.

No, they plan to place the 8 teams in non NFL cities. Cuban plans to have one in Las Vegas.

Here are some cities I think could work, but they'd have to play in small venues. I don't see all of these cities selling out a 70k seat stadium for 8-10 games a year.

Las Vegas

San Antonio

Portland, OR

Sacramento, CA

Orlando, FL

San Jose, CA

Colombus, OH

Louisville, KY

Oklahoma City, OH

Ug, I was hoping you had already done it already with that link.

Battier is nothing more than a glorified role player. Head is inconsistent and at best can come off the bench. Alston, he's really a bench guy; shoots way too much with bad shot selection.

Caron and Lamar are focal points on playoff caliber teams. Plus they are very versatile and can do everything our guys can't.

Which is way LA would never take 3 scrubs like Alston, Howard, and Battier for Kobe Bryant. I mean come on! Lockmat is right that Kobe is the best player in the league, he's not getting traded for crap, especially when LA knows they screwed up the Shaq deal. Furthermore, there is no way we can acquire Rashard Lewis if we're trading for Kobe, Rashard would have to be a sign and trade, we have no cap space to get him off the free agent market.

Lastly, I still believe that Kobe can't lead a team. Being the best player is one thing, being a leader is different. Just ask T-Mac and Dirk. I don't think Kobe leads us to a championship. I think we need more parts and a better offense not a different #1 guy.

I'll give up Tracy for Kobe any day. Let's do it!

Kobe can't lead in LA with Phil at the helm, what makes you think he can lead here? Sure, he may be the best all around player in the league, but without being a leader or team player, what do you have? Evidently a first round exit. We've done that already, I want a Finals appearance.

Oh puh-leeze.

When Rosie pointed out how Bush thought reading "The Pet Goat" for seven minutes after he was informed of the WTC plane attack, Elisabeth's justification was (I paraphrase): "Oh! So you think he should have terrified the children, right? That's what he should have done, just thrown them into a panic!"

Gee, Elisabeth - is that how you were raised, that adults couldn't excuse themselves without generating panic among children? That would explain a lot...

IF you had watched the show, the bruhaha began because Elisabeth wouldn't answer a simple question - which is, does she think that Rosie believes our troups are terrorists. Yes or no would have done it.

Please name one - just one - intelligent opinion Elisabeth has expressed. As of yet, I haven't heard any.

Actually the "bruhaha" was over the fact that Rosie wouldn't explain why she compared our troops to terrorists. She had NO leg to stand on, you can't make that kind of statement without pissing people off. Rosie's whole argument was based on her opinion that Elisabeth isn't a good friend. WTF does that have to do with defending the statements she made about our troops?!? Elisabeth got up there and made Rosie look silly. Elisabeth argued well and made very strong points that Rosie would not, or could not counter.

My wife and I are considering a move to the Riverstone development. Does anyone have any thoughts on the development? It appears that only a small part of it is finished. We are considering waiting until the development within the Sugar Land section begins. We want to be zoned to the good SL schools such as Clements etc.

The area around Riverstone seems nice to us, and it is close to all the amenities of SL. The price of the homes is a little steep, but this would be our long term permanent home.

Any info about the development and quality of life there would be appreciated.

We are also considering Sweetwater, which is close to Riverstone, but to me seems like an older development.

Thanks.

I don't know that Riverstone will ever be zoned to Clements. It resides mostly in Missouri City and therefore zoned to Elkins. It is developing much more slowly than expected but it is very nice. It has a great location and the homes they're building are very nice. I think it would be a great place to live, I just wouldn't bank on getting zoned to Clements, and even it that happens one day it will be many, many years.

I disagree. I think Battier is a great all-around player, and has a great outside-shooting presense. He's probably the 2nd most consistant player on the Rockets other than Yao Ming.

I say we keep the big three, and see if we could pick up another big-name signing. The Rockets need depth, especially on the bench. Some of their occasional starters (Alston, Head, Howard, Mutombo when Yao was injured) would be great players to come off the bench. Let's see what they do, and I hope Battier stays because I don't see any reason why he should leave.

Can U imagine if we had Yao Ming, Battier, Rashad Lewis, McGrady, and either Head or Alston starting? That'd be a lethal high-scoring bunch. They already have the defense down; high scoring was pretty rare for the Rockets this season, and Adelman's known to be a score-driven coach

I guess we see things differently. I don't think the Rockets have a "big three." We have a big TWO. Battier contributes about 6-9 points a game and can't create his own shot. Speaking of Luther Head, he fell on his face in the playoffs. I say the only guys we MUST keep for next season are T-Mac, Yao, and Deke. Chuck Hayes can stay though it'd be nice if he'd come off the bench, he's not a starter on most playoff caliber teams. I say trade the rest for the Big Third option that we're lacking.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2883178

There's no current 2007 thread, and I thought it's too early to start one since the playoffs are still going on, but still, Alief's own Rashad Lewis is gonna be a free-agent. What are the odds of him possibly coming back to his hometown H-Town without losing any of our main three? (Yao, McGrady, Battier)

Also, guess who else may be opting for free-agency...McGrady's 3rd cousin Vince Carter

The odds are slim to none unless Seattle wants to work a sign and trade and take on some of our expiring contracts. We could never get him as a free agent, he'll make top money and we only have a mid-level exception to work with. We'd have to do a sign and trade with Seattle and most likely we'd have to trade at least Battier in order to make it worthwhile for them. Sure we could put Juwon or Rafer in a deal, but why would Seattle want them?

I say trade Battier for a scorer. Sure he's good on defense, one of the best, but he's an offensive liability. He reminds me of Adam Everett for the Astros and look what's finally happening to his playing time.