heights_yankee

Jenni's Noodle House reporting today that the guy who smashed in their front door is the same guy who tried to rob Antidote (I saw tried because he didn't get anything. They, on the other hand, had to pay for a new front door). Apparently he is in police custody. and his accomplice is still on the loose as far as we know.

If he was even smart enough to have an attorney at this point. After all, he keeps proving how not smart he is.

Speaking of stupid, apparently the kid who jacked Jenni's Noodle House had some friends see him on TV and tell his parents or something like that. While he waits for HPD to pick him up, he's been calling the Heights location and asking to speak with Jenni and apologize. He has apparently claimed it was a "bad night full of bad decisions." Gawd!

I totally believe this. I was just a little like "huh" that they actually said this to her, especially with the Fiesta story making the news, Antidote getting hit the same night and her (Jenni) having such good photos both inside and out. It does and I am going to pass this idea about an identifier along to both HKG and FB. I think the good thing is that most of the people who have been robbed recently have not just been sitting around waiting. They have been networking information a ton. After all, many folks who might have had pics as good as the people with the doggie door might have just given them to police as "evidence" and waited (and yes, probably hounded the detectives daily). I know recently several people have been pounding the pavement and hitting the pawn shops looking for their bikes or yard equipment, not even for the actual monetary value, but just in hopes of getting a lead that will get someone picked up. People are fed up, which is usually when they actually start to do something. On that note, to the gun lovers who think they're going to prevent a robbery by owning a gun, one of the houses in Timbergrove had 2 guns stolen because they were robbed when they weren't home. Gun did nothing and now is in the hands of criminals. Not to start the debate again but just to say guns aren't necessarily the *best* deterrent. I've done this, too. Smething about an equation of: 2 preschool aged boys + whatever crap of theirs I'm forced to carry + 5 years of serious lack of sleep = keys in the door or on the front porch overnight is all too common.

Ha ha ha! In some cases, it is.

If you say so.

THe reason I said "apparently" is because this is what the police told the victim. In any case, had the photos not been all over the news, no one would have known to report him. It's funny because I said to Phil Archer "I hope this helps catch the guy." And Phil said "In cases like this, there's a $500 reward and his own mother will drop a dime on him." I found that amusing. IN other news, apparently the guy who robbed Jenni's has been positively identified but HPD told her they can't pick him up because they don't have the man power right now. ???

You assume none of the houses on the wrong side of the tracks are renovated. A friend of mine who moved out to Memorial sold her FIVE bedroom North Norhill home in 4 days. Mine is only a 3/2, though. Of course my good friend in Woodland Heights also has a 3/2 but hers is 3k sq ft to my 1700 sq ft. Still, in a couple years this is going to be a great starter home for another young couple who wants to start a family, just like I was. Hope they don't mind living next to an architect, a lawyer, a, o&g engineer, a gay accountant, another lawyer, an art gallery owner and the other seedy folks who have chosen to live here even though our neighborhood deed restrictions, in place for more than a decade, are more stringent than the City's historic ordinance.

Also, just got an email that the Doggie Door burglar was caught. The public outcry apparently put the pressure on HPD to make him a priority and they found him! Just as an aside, he was caught with a $100 motion detected camera. While his victims have apparently upgraded their equipment, it's nice to know you can catch a guy like this on a budget. Antidote was hit the same night. People are wondering if it was the same guys.

However, KNox-Henderson (which is where I lived the year before I moved to Houston) and especially McKinney Ave/uptown in Dallas haven't been around *that much longer** Knox-Henderson is very different from what it was even 10 years ago. Most of the development/re-development has happened in the last 8 years, which puts it only 3-5 years behind Washington. I hope the crowd's in Houston bars never become more like the crowds in Dallas bars. Their bars, even in the laid back or more developed parts of town, are generally filled with more jerks than I think live in the whole city of Houston. Disclaimer: This is not to say all Dallas people are bad. I lived there for 6 years and made some of my closest friends there. We had an amazing time together and go back every year from all across the country, just to hold on to a little of those glory days. But the city has a douchebag reputation for a reason...

From HKG today. At least 4 houses in Timbergrove were robbed by the guys in the black car last week.

Except it's happening all over the city. I have a friend who lives out by city center and the house next to hers, almost the same as her own, is listed on the market at $45k less than she paid for her. My friends in Jersey Village are going to take a huge hit on their house in a decent, middle class subdivision but need to move because the wife now works from home and baby #2 is on the way. I intentionally bought in a historic district. I believe in their long term value. I always look at the home prices in my neighborhood and around the Heights. As we slowly fix up the bad remuddle the previous owners do, we have to weigh out the cost vs the long term resale value. This is not our "forever" home so I am thinking about this with every new ceiling fan or installed light fixture. Perhaps we each only see what we want to see and we are both a little bit right and a little bit wrong? However, I did read the study (maybe from Purdue?) that was quoted a lot during the process and it said that the first 2-4 years may see depreciation, but after that transitional time, historic districts saw greater appreciation than their surrounding non-historic communities. So, maybe you should wait until the economy perks up a little and the historic district gets it sea legs? If those things happen and you're house still lost value, we can reconvene on the subject.

I've lived in a historic district for almost 8 years. It has been historic for over 15 with deed restrictions behind the designation. My property appreciated ever year until this one, as evidenced by our 1st time ever lower property taxes. This is not just in the Heights, but also happening to my friends in their suburban subdivisions (most can't even sell their homes at what they paid for them years ago). It's called a down economy. But this was about McDougals. The lot at Yale & 10th was a small car shop with a large, dirty lot of fixed or needing-to-be-fixed vehicles in it.

As a 6 year resident of Dallas who visits at least annually and a 11 year resident of Houston, I completely agree.

No. These suggestions came after RUDH (which was then still just STHWM) held their very 1st public meeting. And a lot of the suggestions by professionals in urban planning were how WM could make the center better. RUDH's mission was to stop the Walmart but that was not the end-all for many of the contributors. They cited issues that are the very reasons most Walmarts are dangerous, like no exterior windows, and proposed that this WM could be more palatable if they went outside their normal building plan and did X,Y,Z.

Actually, I went to the site and it's not up there. It was assembled after the 1st couple meetings at the rehab place. At that time, they also solicited ideas and opinions from the public and, as absurd or unrealistic as some were, even included those.

This isn't actually true. There was a large packet of materials with everythign from architectural renderings to landscaping recs made by professionals on how the building could be safer, more livable, greener. These plans were drawn up by professionals in these industries and people from organizations like Houston Tomorrow. Some of these folks even went through the trouble of demonstrating how better eco-friendly landscaping, for example, could save WM/Ainbinder money. RUDH folks asked that some of these be implemented via the 380. I believe that they actually put them in order of importance, as if to say "if you only do 3, we prefer these 1st 3." The City did not request any of these things of the developer. Parker sold the 380 to Council as a way to have more "control" over the development but in the end asked them for pretty much nothing.

Oh yeah. I mean it's only maybe 30 feet from the road? Parking on that side of the store is only 2 rows of 1 car on each side. And Studewood is rarely that dead. Some of the comments on the chron article suggest an inside job and, for once, their arguments for that scenario seem somewhat logical. All I could think of was the guy who was picked up, mistakenly as the doggie door guy, was meeting 2 vans in the Fiesta parking lot when he was arrested. I doubt it's related but that was the 1st thing that came to my mind.

I hadn't heard about this today but did see a big hole in the Fiesta on the Studewood side. Crazy!

Yeah, because people from the Heights never leave the Heights so there is no way they would ever be in a neighborhood only 2 miles away and possibly see this guy. Yawn.

the whole foods on waugh is pretty close to the heights. close enough that people from the heights could see him if they, say, ever go to that whole foods. or any of the parks around there. or go to watch the bats. or jog the trial along the bayou. or have other friends in that neighborhood.

New criminal watch from Heights Kids: posted: HPD calls him "the ghost", bc he disappears quickly and cannot be found. He walks around a neighborhood, scopes out targets. He will hit a house even if it has an alarm. For break-ins on our street (near whole foods) he used (secured, but no sensor) doggie doors. He steals items that can fit in his bag - - laptops, iPads, cameras, jewelry. He strikes during the day - 9:30am, 3pm, 4pm... He might have an accomplice. He's been seen calling someone on his cell as he left the scene of a break-in. IF YOU SEE HIM CALL HPD ASAP. He was spotted here Monday and they sent out a helicopter to try and find him. Unfortunately they were unsuccessful, and he returned this morning for another break-in. there was a suspicious white ford on the street around the time of the break-in

Growing up in a part of the country where the older and more ethnic it looked, the better the food, i am ready and willing to eat here. thanks for the info!

Maybe, except this change and exchange of names/ownership has really had the neighborhood talking. I think people are probably slightly more informed about this restaurant than they are most others in the area. Plus, by the time it opens this summer, people who didn't follow the "saga" will not remember to care and will just go anyway and realize it's a different place.

Does anyone know about this supposedly awesome Thai place on Cavalcade? Someone I know had take out (brought by someone else who I don't know) from there and said it was incredible but knows nothing about it. I know most people don't consider Cavalcade "The Heights" but close enough to count it's restaurants if they're awesome. ETA: I appreciate the spirit of this post but I did like the continuation of the old one because it served as a "see how far we have come" time line. The fact is, people looove to delicate flower about/debate restaurants (especially Liberty Kitchen, it seems) so it won't be long before you'll see disappointment expressed here as well. Still, I'm happy to participate in either thread.