woolie

I am totally jealous of this photographer. Anyone want to loan me a helicopter?

It's ok, Metro, it's not like I expected anything great to ever happen in this shitty cow town anyway.

Adventures in owning houses. Always expect the worst to happen. I'll share the details at a later date.

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But yeah. Step 1 is get rid of the PIerce Elevated

They can't move or alter the train tracks that bisect the property. So they sacrifice the north side of the tracks into a green space / retention pond / fairgrounds, with a footbridge over the tracks. I do like moving the Amtrak ticket office down to this location, though. Ideally it'd be even a little closer to UHD for an "intermodal" effect.

Screen Shot 2012-05-06 at 11.16.45 AM by wools, on Flickr The current view of the site. Also, why not a highrise somewhere on this parcel? It's in the final phase of the plan; it wouldn't be plopped down first in the wasteland and pray for tenants. Ashby proves you can build them anywhere Oh, I just noticed their fantastical element. Every architecture student proposal has to have something totally imaginary. Look closely and you'll notice they've buried Smith and Louisiana streets, into a tunnel under the bayou. I wonder if the review panel noticed this? They create two half mile long tunnels of major downtown streets with barely a mark on the map to mention it, then spell out and claim credit for "utilizing existing traffic signal." Wouldn't a simpler solution just be to move the HOV onramp and I10 exit ramp over to Travis and Milam? Also, the weird triangular bridge at Travis St. is blowed up. And Franklin (which is currently more or less a bridge along this property) is also reconfigured north into a regular, narrower surface street (remove median).

Well, I know that soccer is a new sport in the world, but I think it might work out. Personally, what this new sport needs is some kind of global competition, like a World Series. They could have it every couple of years in a different city each time, like the Olympics. I've heard that soccer is popular in some other countries, maybe even Spanish speaking ones. If only Houston had more of an international flavor... I think I read somewhere that this team won their "MLS Championship" twice. I'm not sure what that means, though.

Beyond the usual architecture student fetishisation of subsidized housing and alternative energy, looks like a really solid plan. Id love to see it exist. I like how they integrate back into the street grid and also the pedestrian bridges. My main concerns would be noise from the freeways and trains.

Here's the set. http://www.flickr.com/photos/irees/sets/72157629974731513 Some excerpts. Untitled by wools, on Flickr Untitled by wools, on Flickr Untitled by wools, on Flickr Untitled by wools, on Flickr Untitled by wools, on Flickr Untitled by wools, on Flickr View from my friend's seats. Untitled by wools, on Flickr Untitled by wools, on Flickr Skyline view from the highest level. Untitled by wools, on Flickr Untitled by wools, on Flickr Untitled by wools, on Flickr I like how the stadium is relatively "in" the neighborhood, and not separated by massive setbacks or acres of parking. You walk up to it like any other building. Untitled by wools, on Flickr

Beautiful

The East side has very good skyline views.

My friends and I took a bunch of pics from all over the stadium. I'm busy for a while but I'll post later this evening.

It's not a URI. It's based on the user agent header. It will show you the "mobile view" if your browser says that it's an iPhone.

Haha, while the idea of being a real estate tycoon (read: slumlord) has alot of excitement and appeal... not sure I have the brass to have someone forcibly evicted. Maybe in another life

Automatic on my iphone. iPad uses the regular view. Also, the mobile theme desperately needs a "last page of thread" button.

I do about half my HAIFing from my iPhone. Mostly using the mobile view -- although I wish there was the "Woolie's Content" view available in the mobile theme.

No, it's not in a prime neighborhood, or close enough to downtown to experience gentrification anytime soon. If it was in the East End I would probably already be loading my furniture into a U-Haul. It's about 3 miles outside 610, near the border with Pasadena; most of the nearby listings are 50-70k. On HCAD, the lot value is 20k.

Yeah, [insert long discussion about that particular family member.] I could buy her out, but then my passive investment would become somewhat more active. It just gives me a sad to have to sell it at a very low point in the market. Although in the end it might take 10k in improvements and 2-3 years of waiting just to make another 10-20k at sale. One of the neighbors has expressed an interest before; they have a large extended family and naturally want them all nearby. Maybe that will work out, and avoid the cost of selling it on the MLS.

Did the guy from Architectural Record draw the map, or is it lifted directly from the (probably $$) report? I'd like to presume the actual data in the report is correct and just the infographic is wrong, but....

We bought in early 2008. The house had been on the market for many months, and been reduced 20k. Currently, we'd probably get about what we paid for it, maybe a little more, maybe a little less. Although, 2010 and 2011 were awful -- lots of inventory of nearly identical houses, some foreclosures, and shitty sale prices -- but it's gotten a little better since then. You used to see TV shows and realtors constantly talking about how your home is your #1 investment that will always appreciate. You don't see that anymore.

Well, my wife has just inherited a small house in SE Houston (50%, with another family member the remaining 50%.) Time to decide what to do... It does need significant work. The flooring is mostly old carpet that will need to be replaced. Almost all the walls have 80s wallpaper that needs to come down. The rear deck needs to be torn out. It has central A/C, but no one is really sure the current state of the system. It probably needs some roof repair, and I am just going to pretend that it does not need foundation repairs. Neither of us really has the time available to sink alot of DIY effort into these projects. A realistic sales price would be in the low 50s; HCAD has it at about 68k (down from 83k in 2008 ). However, the rental market for houses in this area seems to be OK... similar houses are asking 900-1000/mo. So, I need to start working through the situation. On one hand, it might be wise to sell the house and not have to worry about crappy tenants trashing it, not paying rent, the inevitable large repairs that will be necessary, etc. But if I lease it, we'd make a little each month and might be able to sell it for more in the future when the market is stronger. My parents have had rental properties before, so I've heard some real horror stories. It will certainly take a high tolerance for BS and an appetite for risk. Anyway, I'll keep this thread open for my "thinking out loud." Alternatively I could sell my current house in midtown, move out here, and save $$$ every month

You're arguing over an infographic that is marketing material for an industry report. Clearly they just selected a handful of cities to show on the map.

I might be going to the May 5th practice game. I will post lots of pics.

I always assumed that was an artists non-profit; it's in the museum district and the name is "collective." I didn't know until now they also leased out desks. It'll be interesting to see if they can lease out enough desks to cover the mortgage, utilities, taxes, insurance, and management on a $330k residential property in a warehouse district. Especially considering that the previous business based there offloaded the property -- I imagine in part b/c it didn't work out as a leased event space. When the property comes up again I will pursue it. I just hope they don't cut the interior up into tiny little spaces. At the very least, I'm on the lookout for similar properties or doing a conversion myself. Of course, assuming I don't move to another city in the meantime.