mollusk

23 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

I'm confused.  Where is the Fiesta on Cavalcade?  (I was thinking of the one at Fulton and Patton, and according to this thread, that Fiesta was formerly a Rice grocery)

I stand corrected regarding the location.  I'm not so great at reading street signs when I know where I'm going.

3 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

So it was always a Kroger?  I couldn't remember if it was one of those that had once been an AppleTree/Safeway or something else.

Nope, always a Kroger.  Its partially exposed aggregate tilt wall and cube street sign are dead giveaways - check out the resemblance to the Fiesta on Cavalcade for instance.  OTOH, Cougar Kroger on West Gray was a Safegarten's.

On 11/11/2020 at 1:50 PM, BeerNut said:

The weak lighting on 609 Main crown still irks me.  

22 minutes ago, Triton said:

It's barely even noticeable.

Between how dim it is and only going part way across for no apparent reason, it looks like the controller is broken or something - kinda like the way 700 Louisiana looks when the roof lights are burnt out or pointing the wrong way (both of which occur). 🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️

3 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

I was wondering about that...  I hadn't done the math yet, but upon reading that 17 years bit, I immediately thought that couldn't be right.  How do our "journalists" manage to get so many simple facts wrong?  I wonder where they came up with that 17 years?

They're young, and need to get off our lawns.

On 10/29/2020 at 8:31 PM, mkultra25 said:

Still seems odd to me whenever someone refers to the "old El Tiempo", when most right-thinking Montrosians knew it as La Jaliscience.  

I miss Jolly Science... and Freaky Foods, and...

2 hours ago, H-Town said:

This was announced this morning:  https://abc13.com/business/kroger-to-close-montrose-location/7860073/

 

I imagine Kroger had a plan in place for the property prior to this announcement, it’s a great piece of property. Has anybody heard anything?

Looks like someone pointed out to Channel 13 that Disco Kroger had been there for a lot longer than the 17 years mentioned in the original quote... they updated their story.  I feel sorry for whoever came up with that original time line - they missed out on so much of the discolicious fabulosity that preceded the remodeling.

53 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

This sounds like great news. Is the original facade still exposed?

It was last week.

2 hours ago, mkultra25 said:

Those who've been around the Heights long enough to remember the old 11th St. Cafe (cater-corner from this location, where Bellagreen is now) will probably understand. 

Those who've been around the Heights long enough to remember the old 11th St. Cafe's ummm... "natural fauna" issues wouldn't use that name on a newly built out space.

23 hours ago, X.R. said:

I'm torn. I agree with you in part since a row of mixed use down the Parkway, with the Whole Foods just right there, would make it a pedestrian paradise. But a part of me says that because it is such a prominent location it makes even more sense to have such a public cultural/spiritual place go into the space. The Menil/Rothko Chapel helps give Montrose a sense of permanency, and provides a v positive space for gathering and reflection for the neighborhood and Houston, that I love the thought of having that replicated.

Having a grocery store within walking distance is dandy, but not necessarily something to be "enjoyed" on a daily basis as a park like environment would be.

1 hour ago, Purdueenginerd said:

This is going to be a maintenance issue for the owner

But the view...

Seriously, it never ceases to amaze me how owners will often agressively cheese out on things during the design and VE stages (like the fabulous views from the parking garage here) but not give a flying flip at a rolling doughnut about long term maintenance costs.

32 minutes ago, Texasota said:

Sidewalk repairs cost money. My guess is that the City, knowing this project was coming, has held off on allocating/finding money to spend on this connection. My hope is that they've been working with the property owner to make sure there's a wide, consistent concrete sidewalk/trail for both pedestrians and cyclists along Montrose as part of the project. The owners will be required to rebuild the sidewalk regardless, but a 5' sidewalk is not adequate here. 

Our fair city doesn't really build sidewalks or even maintain them; instead, that job gets handed to the developers and property owners to accomplish.  Yes, it's public right of way, but even when the city did it way back when they would come back and impose a paving lien on the adjacent property owners.

Also, construction on this scale would really trash the sidewalks.

(***cue Sarah McLaughlin***) And what will become of those poor surface parking lots?  No one seems to want them...

8 hours ago, trymahjong said:

Did you notice the electronic board at the back by dog park part?

What could possibly go wrong??

4 hours ago, cougarpad said:

Does anybody have access to the top pool deck at the Market Square tower? I'm curious how this new building will block the view of the skyline from that pool deck especially the glass infinity pool. That is such a unique feature of the building and it would suck if the view was completely blocked by this new tower. I am sure that pool deck is also a selling point as well and tenants in that building probably will be dissapointed if the pool deck view is gone.

Not to mention no more skinny dippin' in the "oh hell naw" pool...

I guess they figured out how to sanitize the little ziggurats enough to keep in a food establishment.  Historical note:  The original Carrabba's building on Kirby was previously an adult bookstore in all the glory came with being adjacent to Montrose in the late 70s.  It was years before I could bring myself to eat there. 

3 hours ago, gene said:

and now get ready for 120 goats to mow the arboretum 🐐 

seriously! (Oct 3-10th)

https://www.houstoniamag.com/travel-and-outdoors/2020/09/houston-arboretum-goats-fall-2020

 

Glad I read the linked story, since my initial reaction was to envision massive goat carnage on Memorial Drive.    Guess I'm just too accustomed to things being poorly thought out (if thought out at all).

And Rent-A-Ruminant is a great name.

18 hours ago, gmac said:

That would be a Moscow specialty 😉

Perhaps we really do have commies under the bed

21 hours ago, Highrise Tower said:

West Loop shootings again?

 

Today's vocabulary word:  Defenestration.

1 hour ago, gmac said:

Not great quality at all, but this is from the January 28, 1955 Chronicle story about the opening of the dealership.

Other than different signs and different cars in the lot it looked pretty much the same 25 years later. 

I haven't found any pictures either.  This could be explained by it being a totally undistinguished building that I came to know all too well by having to take my first new car - a real POS - in for warranty work quite frequently.  Ahh, 1978 GM design, material, and build quality... haven't bought a GM product since.

On 8/30/2020 at 6:49 PM, Texasota said:

 Strip malls are a poor use of land, especially a piece of land as large and centrally located as this one.

Before this it was a Chevy dealership.

As with many of the State of Texas responses to the pandemic, the actual effects of the orders and proclamations are less than clear, less helpful than they sound, and contain a bit of a Catch-22. 

While the registration requirement is abated for the time being, it does not appear that the inspection requirement was likewise abated.  Registration stations have been open throughout this whole ordeal.  Once your vehicle is inspected, you can renew registration online.  With the paranoia ingrained from growing up adjacent to the Villages (and the VoPos) followed by the Ps moving to Jersey Village, and coming of driving age as a long haired hippie type freak during the Herman Short / Harry Caldwell / prisoners in the bayou / throw down guns era, and knowing that the status of your registration, insurance, and inspection are all now tidily stored in a DPS database that any beat cop can access at any time the mood strikes them, IMHO the prudent thing is to go ahead with the renewals if you're going anywhere that the cops are often looking for a reason to pull people over.  Same thing applies if you have personal characteristics and / or a vehicle that make you more vulnerable to being stopped for "investigation" of the possibility of suspicion of suspicious activity (i.e., a pretext stop).

Sainted MayorBob (Lanier), suburban developer and previously a highway department commissioner, successfully used the "toy" argument when running for his first term.  The claim was that monorail is Disneyland technology.  Somehow, the counter argument that Disney's business model includes efficiently moving large numbers of people around in order to make a buck was never really raised.

On 8/19/2020 at 6:37 PM, EaDo Lou said:

If your destination is downtown, there is a quicker detour to the trail along White Oak Bayou via Stude Park.  This does require a short amount of on-street riding, but it is not too bad.

Rather than crossing myself, kissing St. Chris, taking a deep breath, and diving into the Studewood Death Race, my recommendation is to continue down White Oak and pick up the trail to downtown either from Michaux or directly off of White Oak a couple more blocks further on down.

2 hours ago, cspwal said:

Roundabout that destroys the Exxon and the bank on the corner

 

Wouldn't solve anything, but would be quite interesting

Particularly considering that half the drivers around here have absolutely no clue about what to do on a roundabout, and the other half consider the idjits to be good targets to play chicken with.