Jeebus

You're so vague.

I once saw Jesus slap Santa Claus. My point? Please be more specific.

Hmmm ... sounds a little bit like New Territory, don'tcha think?

It does, but I don't think FM1464 has plans to get bigger than what it is. Still, a major intersection is a major intersection: not safe for kids to cross - especially rambunctious kids excited to go swimming.

As for the home prices, I used the word "cheaper" because its relative, and not literal - although with todays building practices I suppose it could be the latter.

By the way, the new alignment for FM 1464 is now open through Aliana. Drove it tonight, and even though they have only one lane open in each direction, it's a vast improvement over the old 1464. It also carries you past Aliana's new rec center (under construction), which looks quite impressive.

This was my only concern, as it seems like FM1464 cutting the neighborhood in half now, with the "cheaper" homes east of the new road with easier access to the rec center. It seems more dangerous for kids riding their bikes to the pool to have to cross a 4 lane FM1464.

I noticed while headed southbound on 99 yesterday a bunch of new stadium lights up on the back of the development. I guess that's the new polo field.

I think its the opposite. I would bet Cali-Girl works for Aliana and is just using reverse-psychology on us.

I took an involved tour of it years ago when I was in college and needed a job, so I applied to be its "night watchman." It's absolutely huge, much larger than it looks. I remember seeing the old raquetball courts filled with junk, mostly in the dark. Slightly strange to see. As I recall there are large portions that aren't even used at all. I also wish somebody would find a use for it rather than tear it down. But in Houston, the thinking is that if it's not new, it sucks. It's in the water in this town, and it's very frustrating.

I'm late to this conversation so this might have been covered..

But perhaps its cheaper to tear it down and sell off the lot versus trying to deal with things like asbestos abatement and other type remedial obstacles? I'm asking because I don't know and I'm trying to find logic like everyone else as to why it would be torn down. To me, it defeats the purpose of building a new building on an old parking lot if you're just going to turn around and tear down another building and create a parking lot.

Probably a crime of some sort. It is Beechnut and the Belt..

I finally got a chance to walk through the park late one night last week and was VERY impressed. There was a great police presence and NO bums. I spoke with one of the HPD officers there and he said they are assigned there on a rotating shift, so that there are always officers there.

My wife got sexually harassed by a bum a few days ago, for the first time.

Yay.

I drove through here a few days ago for the first time. What surprised me most was that the newly constructed, four lane with esplanade, FM1464 runs right through the middle of the development.

Other than that, it did seem quiet, but no more so than any other development in the early stages of build-out.

Having a web site up and running means nothing. What is on a web site, doesn't make it true. What is really going on with Aliana is what matters? Are there any street lights? No! Are houses being built and sold? Not many! Are there fences falling down and in need of repair or not completed? Yes!

Aliana looks like a community which is falling apart, not a beautiful place to live and enjoy your new home.

Let me guess, you live in Aliana, or near it?

Yes.

What a waste of a thread. Your overtly biased viewpoint is blinded by the reality that this intersection has been a car dealership for over 20 years. If you're so offended at the irony of a car dealership being across from a LRT station... blame Metro for coming in 2nd. Tear it down... The station.

Also.. I think we have the right to expect a little more out of our moderators.

Someone that should be a little more fair and nonpartisan. Not someone ranting with such a biased view.

I agree with the first part, disagree with the second part. That's why we have multiple moderators.

My time machine batteries are dead too. I can't go to 1957 and snap a photo of it.

Screenshot man! Screenshot!

Oh, lol.. the other way. Either way, Bellaire is not too shabby at any point really. Its pretty suburban-ugly once you get to Kirkwood, but for the most part its a solid thoroughfare. Its the streets that run parallel to Bellaire and the streets that intersect and join the two that cause the problems.

Heading west? I agree. The redevelopment of the Fondren/Bellaire intersection was well done, and from there out you roll into new Chinatown, which I love spending time on.

Yes, you don't even have to go a mile East/SE before it gets very nice. But "surrounded" ? Have you ever been north of Interstate 10?

Maybe just immediately north you have a pocket of sub-prime apartment and commercial, but just north of that you have Spring Shadows and Royal Oaks, along with all of Memorial and the reservoir to the west, and Spring Valley to the east.

Its surrounded with more middle/upper-middle class single family homes than sub-prime apartment rentals. That's the key that Sharpstown is missing as the ratio is exactly the opposite.

There is a minimally larger presence at night to make people feel safe because of the trash down Fondren at Bissonett (King's Gate).

or the apartments on Fon-Villa, Bimini Condos on Larkwood, That mega complex at Beechnut & Bissonnet (Beechnut Gardens?), or St Charles & St James on Fondren at Wanda, etc etc etc...

They do include, but are not exclusive to SFHs in the area. There is more crime IN the apartments, but even then, it isn't as much as the area is made out to be. The high crime areas are down Fondren in the W. Belfort and Fondren SW areas, Alief, Forum Park and others. These areas border Sharpstown and are primarily responsible for the image of crime in Sharpstown.

My point was that people don't consider just the SFHs in the area as "Sharpstown Proper". All they know is Sharpstown, which includes all the bad elements that bring down the statistically low-crime residential area of Sharpstown-Proper. If anything, Sharpstown-Proper would BEST be benefited from a simple name change to reflect just the single family home residential portion of area. That way there would be a distinct separation between the two, and give the residential area a better chance of autonomy much like Braeburn Valley and Maplewood West/South enjoy.

This part still gets me. Sharpstown is simply NOT unsafe. Thinking it is is nothing more than buying in to the rhetoric. The crime stats prove any claims of Sharpstown being unsafe patently false. Between the stats and anecdotal evidence, you simply cannot call Sharpstown unsafe from a logical point of view.

All your stats most likely point to the single family residential dwelling component of Sharpstown. Sharpstown is more than just the actual deed restricted neighborhoods. It also includes all those apartment complexes & strip center store-fronts.

1. Demolish the apt and townhomes along Gessner, Beechnut, Ranchester, Town Park, and along Bellaire Blvd and the area around Jane Long and the old Sharpstown General Hospital. Replace them with single family homes. If you look at areas like Meyerland and Maplewood that have single family homes along major streets you will not see the crime and "ghetto" influence. What do you do with the folks who live in the demolished properties. Create apartment communities where you have zoned building and building codes. Heck put them on the site of Sharpstown Mall. If you create an apartment enclave and provide services such as transportation and shopping within walking distance you will have a more urban like setting similar to Chicago or NYC. You haven't kicked the apt dwellers out of Sharpstown, you've simply managed housing in a more efficient manner. I cannot think of any city in North America or Europe that has successfully integrated apartments into single family home neighborhoods as we keep trying to do here in Houston.

2. Demolish all of the old run down retail like Target on 59 and K-Mart on 59 and Sam White Olds (no long Sam White) and create some green space along the freeway. We don't need all the land paved over. Make Sharpstown a green community.

This is a great idea I'd love to see all over the city. I don't live inside the city so I have no say in the matter, but if I were a resident, I would gladly pay a higher tax to have the Mayor's Office run an "Office of Urban Renewal". This office would seek out dilapidated properties that with tax money would be demolished and converted into green-space, or purchased and re-sold to re-development firms to create new development from the existing parcels.

3. Create a zone similar to the Heights where you have mandatory deed restrictions and homeowners covenants.

4. Run light rail down Bellaire Blvd or Beechnut run it N-S on Hillcroft and Gessner. Reclaim some of the green space that once was esplanades. Again make Sharpstown greener.

5. Get the churchs involved in the rebirth. I went to Sharpstown Baptist and they just celebrated their 50th anniversary. I didn't even find out about it until after the fact. Churchs in Sharpstown site on huge chunks of land and can be a pillar to the community. They were when I was growing up. Now most of them are barely hanging on financially and have to host multiple congregations just to maintain a physical plant.

I have yet to see anyone address the chunk being lost directly across the street from the mall....what happens with the Circuit City building? Let's hope a dubz shop or another carnecaria move in.

As I've said on numerous posts about Sharpstown. I refuse to visit my folks after dark. The area is simply too unsafe for me to be driving around. And I don't say this lightly. I will walk or drive around Chicago, NYC, Miami, DC, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Berlin, Tokyo, Sydney at any time of the day or night and I never feel unsafe. And I will drive around Houston at all hours of the day EXCEPT Sharpstown. Fondren Southwest is safer than Sharpstown. I get gas at W. Airport and Fondren at all hours of the day, never feel unsafe. I shop at Fiesta and Walgreens on Fondren. Never feel unsafe. But I do not feel safe at CVS at Gessner/Beechnut except in full daylight.

No so, unlike Sharpstown Mall, West Oaks had a complete renovation similar to Memorial City. Looks wise, Sharpstown looks dated and the collection of stores within is questionable.

Actually, I'm going to have to disagree with you. In spite of a great West-Texas themed renovation, stores are still pulling out. Linens-N-Things, as well as Steve and Barry's are the latest two, both which were considered anchors to the mall.

Too many other "upscale" developments like First Colony Mall, Town & Country/Memorial City, La Centerra, the Galleria, and even the two big outlet malls to the west/northwest, have made retailers withdraw from West Oaks Mall.

I do foresee West Oaks Mall seeking out more independent "urban" retailers to replace the nation franchises that keep pulling out for greener pastures - similar to that of Sharpstown. I do not see it closing though, as its all alone where it sits and will always have customers.

This article eludes to its troubles.

There was just another shooting at the Sharpstown Mall.

It raises the question: should the Sharpstown Mall be torn down?

I'm of the view that surrounding areas will come back if the Sharpstown Mall can be addressed. I would let those work themselves out.

OK, I'll end my pipe dream here. Reality is that I guess the Sharpstown Mall should be torn down - but as an architect I am a dreamer.

First off, the shooting was at an apartment complex on Bellerive.

Second, if you tear down the Sharpstown mall, you're just going to get all that traffic to go to a different mall more often than they do now (think First Colony, Memorial City, or the Galleria) and drag it down.

Third, there is nothing you can do to any of the commercial space in Sharpstown until you address the low-rent apartment living surrounding it.

Fourth, even if you did do something about all those low rent apartment, i.e. evict the tenants and demolish them, they will just find a new neighborhood to destroy.

Its Sharpstown's destiny to accept the poor, the criminal, and the illegal. If it doesn't harbor them, then that means yet another marginal, on the edge neighborhood, will have to suffer.

Good lord. I do hope dinner will at least make up for it. Britney pre-life falling apart I could probably go watch. Current Britney that dances around like a confused, slightly intoxicated, and poorly trained circus bear I'm not looking forward to.

I hope I can find some of those $1.25 cheeseburgers!

Indeed that is a cool looking design, but I swear I've seen it somewhere before..

Oh yeah.. McDonald's Apple Pie:

(Just turn it upright and open the flaps..)

Well, I hope HP has gathered some steam by March 30th. My wife bought 2 tickets to Britney Spears , and is expecting me to go with her to HP first for dinner, before walking to Toyota Center for the concert!