washave-2007-2015

I am at a total loss why so many are finding the Carter gorgeous, beautiful, etc. No one using such words states why

they think it is so. So tell me... To me just another tall souless building, with lots of balcones, some extending out, and others

tucked in. No external details on bottom two floors and none at the top. Nothing that speaks to this area of the U.S.

and/or Texas.

Take a look at apartment houses, north of midtown, along the lake front in Chicago. Look at the apartment houses that were

built along the Grand Concourse in NYC's Bronx. Both utilize Art Deco to create corner windows, incredible mosaics, and

friezes in stone with a fine use of metal. Take a way the grand entrance, and the white at bottom and top... and you have a

tall public low income project of the type built in NYC, Chicago (where many have been imploded), St Louis (where the two

largest were imploded decades ago). This type building destroys communities and neigborhoods. If those who move into

this building or the others built in Montrose, are being built, and will be, walk in the area I will eat my car. The Montrose

was once and still is somewhat of a neighborhood, but throwing up these building in a radom way will, as Texasota said

on 01.03.2014, will wipe out perfect good 2 story buildings. So much talk about skylines. People live in buildings in (hopefully),

neigborhoods, not in/on skylines. And...what is there to see from the 20th floor of residence in Houston? Hills, valleys,

mountains, fields of green filled with wildflowers? Hell no...just flat ground and the tops of roofs...and for the lucky few...

Interstate overpasses. Brings to mind Jane Jocob's battle with Robert Moses which stopped him from building the expressway across

lower Manhattan, which would have destoryed a good part of Greenwich Village and other parts of Manhattan which had

buildings over 200 years old. They now are historic landmarks, which bring many tourists and $$$, to NYC. Rare that anything

is not torn down in Houston after 20 years.

Been in Houston 20 years, and always hear, "We are not some other large city like NYC, we are Houston, and damn proud of

its NO ZONING. Yet in many above comments individuals are awaiting the Manhattaning of Houston. At this point more individuals

live in non-Houston Harris County, than within Houston city limits, and the number is growing rapidly, as the middle class family

is being forced out of areas where they have lived for over a 100 years. Houston is already in financial trouble, and will have to

cut back on vital services: health, education, police and fire assistance, or grab more land to get the taxes it needs/will need.

Yes, density is important, but so is the ability to get somewhere like school, work, church, and this indiscriminate plopping of

buildings will make driving in Houston only worst. The Carter and others such projects is just greed on the part of developers.

They all scream it is so expensive to buildin Mid-Town or Downtown, and are getting Houstonian's tax money as rebates to build.

Sick greed. Cannot afford to build in these areas, well then build where you can afford to. No one is giving me money for projects

I would like to do, but cannot afford to.

Yea... beautifu, gorgeous!  Cannot wait to see it. LOL.

From articles in the Chronicle to the report on Swamplot, there is no

information of any type of retail at street level. What the Washington

Avenue Corridor does not need is another reason to drive rather

than walk. Houston has too many drivers already, and is not a Walkable

City. Polls by the Urban Houston Framework, the Chronicle & Better

Houston, have Houstonites ranking "traffic" as the #1 problem in the

city.

Jeff Speck, in "Walkable City," writes of the general Theory of Walkability:

useful, safe, comfortable & interesting; each essential and none alone

is sufficient. Get out of your cars, walk along this area of Washington

Avenue and see if CVS, the bars and wall of town houses fulfill any.

For those who believe Pearl Washington is super, cool, interesting, etc.,

read Charles Montgomery's, "Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through

Uban Design. Is Houston a Happy City? What does it highest DWI rate for

Texas tell us? Most of the "douche bag" bars, clubs & lounges are gone or

leaving Washington Avenue, but on a Friday or Staurday night at closing

time, you will still find a good number of individuals who wish to blacken

your eye. These establisments still racially profile, as they have less than

50 employees. "A brilliant, entertaining, and vital book. Charles Montgomery

deftly leads us from our misplaced focus on money, cars and stuff to consider

what makes us truly happy. Then everything changes--the way we live, work,

and play in humanity's major habitat, the city." David Suzuke, host of CBC's

The Nature of Things and cofounder of the David Suzuki Foundation.

Have spent 1,500+ hous walking, photographing and doing oral interviews on

Washington Avenue and the Corridor since 02.17.2007.