heights_yankee

I dont disagree with most of what you have said here, except that Walmart will take market share from the small mom and pop stores, even from the people who despise the store. There are too many instances, where you need something cheap, fast, and now. Mom & Pop stores often are not open when you need those things....WalMart fills that void, even for people who despise it.

I despise Walmart - I hate going in them...but if you need a fishing license at 3am, and a few snacks, and some gas, and you want to do that fast and in all in one stop....well your SOL anywhere but Walmart.

Walmart is about cheap convenience....nothing more. They treat their employees the way they do, because if they did not, their products would cost more. I am a huge fan of shopping local, and avoiding large chain stores that dont care or support our community, but there are instances when you have to break your own rules because you actually need something they have.

I guess my argument is more that there is nothing you can get at 99% of the stores in the Heights that you otherwise need in a cheap, fast and instant manner. If you look at the retailers in the Heights, they are all specialty retailers, not general "needs" retailers.

As far as a "they can build it and then no one shop there and let it close" mentality, well a) we know a Walmart would probably stay open anywhere inside the loop but if it did fail then you are left with a big, ugly hulking shell of a big box store visible from space. It will take years to find someone willing to occupy or subdivide or tear down. This is a problem cities are seeing all across the country (mostly with empty, old Kmarts). In the time it takes to redevelop an old big box store, the vacant space can also have a hugely detrimental effect on a neighborhood. IMO, we are already at risk of Rice Military becoming a ghetto if development isn't done in a wise and careful manner. All business owners around that area should be invested in what goes up around them and for the long term health of the area, they should not want it to be a Walmart.

As an over-educated white male that held a full-time job and developed a career during his college years which was rendered a liability by the financial crisis...and that responded by investing my life's savings in an ill-conceived partnership that has ultimately voided those savings...and having found myself being the lowest earner of my two college student roommates... with no employment prospects other than the Army...I find that I'm positioned well below the working class Mexican households that I've been Censusing in terms of buying power (and earning power).

Consider yourself lucky, as I would if I had easier access to a Wal-Mart.

Oh, so it's a chip on your shoulder that makes you act like this. Makes more sense now.

As for your hometown...clearly it wasn't a big city. Houston is not a small town. Attempting to compare the two is a fallacy of composition. Since you have embraced the name "Yankee", I'm gathering that you're probably from the northeast or the rust belt. And yeah, with or without Wal-Mart, those places are withering. High taxes and a strict regulatory environment there are how you make a living here.

Whether or not it was inevitable doesn't invalidate my feelings about it.

And I don't believe it was inevitable as the only other Walmart in Western Ma is in Pittesfield, population roughly 100,000, and many of the other clusters of small towns around there which have kept Walmart out continue to thrive. Even now that they have opened the largest contemporary art museum in the country in an old factory, the town can't recover and many locals will point to Walmarts destruction of the local economy as part of it.

And, again, I also dislike Walmart as a company due to their employment policies which keep thousands of people on their "payroll" below the poverty line. They use sweatshop labor. They discriminate against women in their power structure. They even dictate the size of home their corp staff can purchase (i.e. regardless of the size of his family, an inhouse lawyer for Walmart was told that he could not buy anything larger than a 3/2- in Arkansas, mind you- because they didn't want it too look like they pay their lawyers too much). I don't like them as a company and I don't have to support or be happy about them moving so close to me (maybe, this is all just rumor at this point no matter how much HeyHatch hears it's a done deal). And I don't have to change my mind just because you are excited about the prospect of having cheap, Chinese made products made so much more accessible to you...

I have an academic background in economics and professional backgrounds in market research, economic development, and commercial real estate development. Who better to provide input on the matter? Really.

See, you miss the point. This is, for many people, an emotional issue. We like or dislike Walmart for our own personal reasons, e.g. corp policies, sweatshop labor, discrimination, aesthetics, parking lot safety, etc. So no one really cares that you have anointed yourself the supreme expert on what we should all want. Your education and hodge podge of professional backgrounds isn't going to make HeyHatch feel safe in a Walmart parking lot at night and it's not going to make me go back and say "yeah, I'm sure glad there's a Walmart scarring the face of my quaint New England hometown." Frankly, we don't have to want it and, like you said, this is Houston. It's not like Walmart is the only option and we'd be silly for turning it away. If not Walmart, there are a lot of other ways that land could be developed that would benefit the area as much, if not more, than a Walmart. I'm sure you're aware that there are more options but you pull so hard for this one because it benefits you. Fine. That is your emotional reaction as well, but don't play it off as if everyone else is stupid for having a differing opinion.

I said earlier in the conversation that I don't believe Walmart will close the locally owned businesses in the Heights and surrounding neighborhoods. C&D survives with Home Depot and Lowe's a 5 minute drive away. People who are buying baby gifts at Tulips & Tutus aren't going to switch to Walmart. People who want handcrafted items aren't going to stop going to The Artful COrner and 18 Hands Gallery b/c Wallyworld moved below I10.

And here is a great tip for you: there are also 2 Fiestas, the nice one on Studewood and the giant Fiesta on Shepherd, where you can get all the inexpensive food you want, probably cheaper than Walmart will be anyway.

A Wal-Mart should be brought into the community when people will shop there. And they will! I will. And I'll shop at Wal-Mart with much greater frequency when it isn't a 30-minute round trip.

What would you rather see there, an HEB with strip centers? Sooner or later, that land will be developed by something that will generate traffic...and that's too much land for merely another apartment project.

I drank Lone Star before it was popular. And when it was adopted for the sake of irony and the price increased by $0.50 per six pack to reflect something more tasty than horse piss, I switched to 40oz King Cobras. And I openly admit it. You can call me lots of things that are derogatory (i.e. unsophisticated, redneck, cheapskate, asshole, et al.); I'm not thinking that "pretentious" or "douche" would be among them.

The fact is that you call any opinions outside of your own "pretentious" or "douchey" or "brainwashed" or "classist." People are only entitled to their own opinions if those opinions mirror yours. God forbid anyone be born white and worked their tail off against great odds to educate themselves. Me and my stupid, educated husband. I never should have defied all the statistics of being the child of a single mother on welfare. If we don't like WalMart, we're apparently anti-working class. I saw Walmart decimate the economy of my very poor hometown and ruin what working class there was left. For years after, it was just abject poverty. As a company, they actually keep the people who work for them below the poverty line. Even their "American made" items are actually made made in sweatshops in Saipan, a U.S. territory not subject to labor laws. I don't like them and it's not because I am afriad of brown or black or poor people.

I mean, what do you want from people? To acknowledge that you are the be all, end all? You honestly think you are the authority on what everyone is thinking and feeling about every issue? That you know people's motivations better than they themselves? Get over yourself.

Perfect! A central wal-mart not in my neighborhood is exactly what I've been hoping for....j/k. Well, sort of

But seriously, it does seem like a pretty good place for one, and it's not like it's smack dab in the middle of the Heights. I also don't see how this would kill the mom-and-pops when Target hasn't

I do think this is a pretty good point. I mean people who are going to shop our local stores are going to shop them regardless of what big box discounter opens near by. Walmart did ruin/close most small businesses in my hometown but that is because it's a small, low income community that doesn't realize more money filters in to your own economy when you buy local.

I don't dislike the idea of Walmart simply for it's potential effects on small business. I dislike them because they pay poorly, are well known for discriminatory (gender and race) practices, send money and manufacturing jobs to China, don't pay their employees enough to pay for their corporate health care plan and often refuse to hire people above 30 hours a week so they can't even qualify for that plan, plus other business practices that I feel harm American workers and companies trying to stay competitive while keeping as much work as they can made in the US.

Was Wal-Mart approached by the owner of the property on Yale between I-10 and Washington to buy the land? This is the same property H-E-B was looking at to build a new store along the lines of the one on Bunker Hill. Is the deal done with Wal-Mart? I've heard yes. What does this mean to the likes of our Heights Mom and Pops? What will that do to the traffic patterns on Yale and Washington? Google "Wal Mart parking lot crime" and let us know our thoughts!

That made me throw up in my mouth a little

Fine, I'll show my hand.

What I'm trying to do is box her into admitting that the ordinance as proposed is flawed and that we want the same thing, which is for it to affect only the intended neighborhoods. Rather than agree that the current proposal should be opposed in favor of a modified proposal, she keeps claiming that modification is unlikely and is using that as a baseline assumption to conclude that the current proposal should be supported. But that kind of reasoning and rhetoric is disingenuous. What it means to me is that she's so concerned over the fate of her own neighborhood's aesthetic that she would leave every other neighborhood with historic buildings open to being doubly screwed over, first by neglect and then by regulation that encourages further neglect.

Her disregard for historical buildings beyond those that she sees on a regular basis indicates to me that she's not a preservationist; it's not about the history, it's about the Heights. Its abrasively self-serving at best, but it also reeks of classism on account of that potential adverse effects would occur disproportionately in working-class neighborhoods.

If you go back and read all my comments in this thread I think you'll get an idea of the full scope of my opinion. Trying to box me in? How neighborly.

The fundamental issue here is that you and I believe that there would be two completely different outcomes if the ordinance passes as is. I am not selfish or classist. In fact, you were the one railing about your neighborhood, showing that you care only how this will effect you with no apparent concern for my neighborhood or other historic districts in the city that are desperate for more teeth. I do not believe that houses will be left to rot because this ordinance passes. I feel that residents in historic districts will see long term benefits from the proposal. Yes, I agree it's flawed but it's better than nothing and I would rather see it pass than stick with the status quo. I'm sorry that is impossible for you to believe. However, I stated earlier on that I think it would be great to modify it to give more say to each individual area according to their needs. Again, though, if this can't happen in a constructive manner, I say go for it. I believe that Houston will benefit greatly from these controls. Not just the Heights, not just Norhill, but the whole city. I believe that for Houston. I come from somewhere that history is revered and preserved and I think it would be a wonderful thing to have that same feeling here. I just do. I am done arguing about this and having you try to catch me with some other agenda or claim I am being disingenuous. Clearly this post should show you that I am always honest and upfront about my opinions, even if I lose the popularity contest because of it.

And now, lest you think I am scared off, I am going to get in bed and watch a movie with my husband. Tomorrow morning I will be up by 6 am with my kids. I will feed them and dress them, pack a lunch for the older one and walk them both from Norhill across the Heights to his school. I will take the baby to Antidote and then come home, where I will leave him with a sitter, go to the gym, the grocery store and meet a friend for a late lunch. I will come home, pack the little guy up, pick up his brother and meet a friend and her son for a play date and probably invite them over for some dinner, which she will accept b/c her husband is traveling for work. After they leave, I will bathe my kids while my husband cleans the kitchen, read them books, put one to bed while my husband deals with the other. After that, I will probably enjoy another glass of wine with him and then I will will get on line and check the couple of message boards that I read before we go to sleep. So, I apologize in advance if I won't have the time to read what additional niceties you have for me until late tomorrow or even Tuesday. Just want you to know I won't be at your beckon call to give whatever additional one word answer you demand of me on your very strict ask-respond schedule.

You prefaced your earlier response with an unrealistic assumption, that the proposal could not be modified within a week's time. Now you've made a fifty-six-word excuse instead of providing a simple one-word response; clearly the availability of time is not an issue. So yes, I think you're dodging the question.

What would be the purpose of dodging? I just don't get it... I said if it was all or nothing, meaning if I had to take what was on the table or have nothing at all, I would take what is currently proposed. I don't understand what is not clear about that?

It doesn't appear to be all-or-nothing. The City Council can still debate and modify the policy before adopting it. They modify ordinances before passing them all the time.

Yes or no, do you oppose the current proposal?

Seriously? Dodging? I have 2 small kids at home, a husband and a busy life outside of HAIF. I went ahead and answered your question with a pretty clear answer even though I had already stated I was removing myself from the conversation. After that, I **gasp** got up and walked away from the computer. Imagine!

If you acknowledge that the proposal in its current form is inadequate then you oppose it, correct?

If it was absolutely going to be an all or nothing, I would support it as it is currently written. I believe that this is the lesser of two evils when compared to the current "no means just wait a while" system. However, I think there is still room for debate on how it's implemented. I would start where it is and see where people can find a middle ground. To me, it seems as though the conversation is scrap it, don't consider it at all, just walk away and stick with the status quo.

I really wish you would provide some proof of this. My admittedly small investigation found the opposite to be true. I am not ready to declare that historic district designations depress home values based on my limited research, but I definitely would disagree with Sue Lovell, the HHA, and now your characterization that the designation makes your home values rise faster than mine. I have seen this claim made VERY often, and have specifically looked for the source, but have never found one. I can only conclude that someone made the claim once and others took it at face value. I doubt there is even a Houston specific study of the issue.

I spent a lot of time trying to research it, actually, and what I found was that in some cities preservation has been a great success and it did increase values, etc etc... In other cities, not so much. The studies I read (granted, on the internet but several were published by Universities so I gave them merit) pretty much concluded it just depends and results varied by city. One study (Kansas, maybe) showed that historic protection tended to veer - but was not absolute- in cities where other development opportunities still existed. That is definitely Houston and definitely the Heights. Hell, there is acreage of empty land on the west side.

As far as the proof, you're totally right. A realtor did a presentation on it to our neighborhood association a couple years ago. She claimed to have crunched the numbers and I believed her. I do continue to believe her only b/c I have seen how fast homes have been selling by me while others languish on the market in other parts of the Heights. I am not saying that my house is worth more than yours but it seems that people are paying more per sq ft for smaller homes in my area than for larger homes in the Historic Heights. You have a smaller home and that might be able to be said of yours as well- that someone will want your home at more per sq ft than a huge, new house. The new house would cost more overall but less per sq ft. I actually interviewed a realtor/renovator/builder who works almost exclusively in the Heights this week. She said,over all, her current client base want smaller homes and will even pay the same as a larger one (this is for renos and new) if the smaller one has higher quality fixtures, more attention to detail, etc... I think this is a trend you will see more of as more empty nesters leave the 'burbs and move back in to town after their kids are grown.

Listen, we all have our opinions here and I'm not saying no one should fight for what they think is best for their property. I am just trying to express why some people are for preservation and why people may be supporting this move by the City. I am feeling pretty personally attacked here and that no one finds any merit in how I feel about this issue so I am going to bow out. In the end, it's all feelings and I think I have tried to respect how you all feel about it and how you *think* it may effect you, but remember that we don't really know what will happen so we can't say anyone is wrong or right. People also claimed the smoking ban was going to be the end of bars and restaurants all over Houston but I have yet to see that happen. And now I digress...

You're apparently oblivious to the fate of my neighborhood, my historical building, or my investment. Stop advancing a policy that has potentially far-reaching consequences for neighborhoods beyond your own. No means no!

No, this is where we agree. I think that there needs to be further discussion on the issue and the City and the HCAC need to figure out something that is going to work for the whole city. BUT we all only have our own perspectives and you want what you believe is right for where you live and I want what I believe is right for where I live. It just seems that the discussion is so "all or nothing" here. Changing some areas to protected districts will be good for them. Possibly not for others but that doesn't mean we should throw the baby out with the bath water.

By your very own statements, at best, this new ordinance would have prevented 3 homes being built during the most prolific decade of home building in Houston's history. The new ordinance would have virtually no effect on your district whatsoever. This is what I find so offensive, that a minuscule problem of 3 new homes per decade must be combated by restricting the rights of everyone else. And the secretive and heavy handed manner in which the supporters attempted to ram this new ordinance through, and the outright refusal to let the affected parties ratify the new ordinance does not bode well for even-handed application of the new rules. Safe to say, anyone who wants the ability to remodel their own home without being told what they may do by heavy handed neighbors should steer clear of the historic districts. Nothing we've seen suggest anything less than a nightmare.

But you see, this neighborhood is already heavily deed restricted on top of the Historic designation. People can't just do whatever they want here regardless of what the HCAC does with this ordinance. The only way to get around the restrictions for remodel are demo. If you demo in this neighborhood, the deed restrictions provide for even greater control by the board on the plans for your new home. This is what was established over 20 years ago and every person in the last 20 years who has bought a house over here knows that. Yet, houses often sell faster and for more per sq ft in this part of the Heights than the flashier areas (and b/c our houses are smaller, even at more per sq ft they are affordable relative to other parts of the neighborhood). People *want* to live within the restrictions because they don't want a giant house looming over their yard or 4 townhouses causing flooding/drainage issues on the lot next to them.

I completely agree that if you do not want any restrictions on what you can do with your home, do not live in a Historic District. That is true for Houston and every other major city in the country. It is also true for most of the subdivisions in most of the suburbs of Houston. THe PPNA Board has a lawyer who specializes in deed restrictions who has said that our deed restrictions in Norhill/Proctor Plaza are nothing compared to the 'burbs.

But they will deny a CoA if non-conforming repairs and renovations are the only economically feasible repairs or renovations...meaning that the structure in question sits and rots up to and including the point where demolition becomes inevitable.

And again, I don't think that this would be all that problematic in the Heights. Fortunes will be made and lost in short order, no doubt, but then the hardcore preservationists don't really care about that, so I'm not going to bother arguing it to them. The fact is, there's plenty of demand and money for whatever kind of housing happens to be in the Heights, old or new. What would be problematic is if these rules ended up getting applied to cash-poor neighborhoods like mine (and such as the Heights used to be). Buildings such as mine would be lost, not saved.

In our neighborhood, where $million homes do not exist, our neighborhood association has a very good relationship with the city. In the end, the Board has greater say even than the HCAC. What we consistently see is people working together to make it happen. No, it's not the cheapest but it has worked even when this was a poorer neighborhood. After all, due to the closeness to 45 and the deed restrictions, this area has gentrified more slowly than other parts of the Heights- which is why a nice house is affordable, relatively, over here. It's also why we still have more of the eclectic nature of the "old Heights", the loss of which people are lamenting in another thread on this board.

3. It seems to me that the main focus should be preservation of structures. Don't demolish usable houses, especially if they have significant architectural elements. I don't see why that _wouldn't_ be a good thing all over Houston.

I seem to be the lone person here in favor of stricter historic controls in Houston. From where I sit, what this is supposed to accomplish is not far outside of what HCAC already does. If you live in a Historic District, you already answer to the HCAC anyway. What it does is eliminate the 90 day wait period, which renders the HCAC moot. It needs to have some teeth. I work with the HCAC regularly and I can tell you that they are not in favor of letting dangerous buildings sit and rot. They will not deny demo permits when the building does, indeed, need to be demoed but a lot of good houses have been lost. Neighborhoods like mine, which is more than 70% contributing with only 3 homes built in the last decade, can really benefit from "no means no."

I agree with others that it shouldn't be a one-size-fits-all solution since different areas have different needs. Still, there is currently no way to save structures with architectural or sociological meaning. In the Heights homes on the Historic Register have been torn down and Disney like structures built in their place. Something needs to happen.

Leaving aside whether or not it's a good thing for a sec (I have mixed feelings), is this what the people who signed the petitions were sold?

Many neighborhoods with historic designations have been lobbying for this. It was not something that was provided for in the past at all, i.e. not an option thru CoH. again, this is all just what i've heard from a couple people so take it as total hearsay and not as absolute. this is why there would be an opt out provision, so if residents don't want it, they can keep their "historic" designation rather than be protected. i think the majority of people in historic districts (like the 1st ward) will be happy to take it though.

I just had a friend call me SCREAMING about something the city is doing wrt historic districts. He said there's going to be a moratorium on permitting until Dec 31 put into place and the mayor is going to bring a vote to change them to protected districts. Anybody know anything?

I don't know anything about the moratorium but i have been hearing a lot of rumors about this for the last few months. the last i heard was that historic districts would be made in to protected districts, thus giving them the No Means No authority and getting rid of the 90 day wait. what i also heard, and i have no idea how true this is, is that districts will be able to vote to opt out if they do not want to be protected.

personally, i think this is great and hope it really does happen.

Correction, then: "I heard from a neighbor this weekend that the former MILAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is indeed going to be a private school, and they are renovating most of the school right now, but will rent out the un-reonvated part of the building to HISD offices during the renovations."

sorry. no need to get defensive. that's not what i meant. it's actually not changing to a private school from a public one. it's actually becoming a daycare, not technically a real "school" anymore.

I heard from a neighbor this weekend that it is indeed going to be a private school, and they are renovating most of the school right now, but will rent out the un-reonvated part of the building to HISD offices during the renovations.

it's not a private school, per se. it's a daycare. my son goes there. they stop at pre-K4 for the school year, altho they do have programs for older kids in the summer.

esperanza owns several properties on the blvd, including their main house next to Pappas which is on the historic register. all of these houses will be on the market as soon as their move to the roy street location is complete. their plan is to have the whole school moved by early fall, except their "discovery center" which is a commercial building on the south side.

i am curious to see what happens to the buildings, esp the main house. the house has been carved up to meet the needs of a daycare but it also has a lot of the original details like the fireplaces, doors and many of the original windows.

Our list:

Delivery:

Star Pizza

Chatter's Cafe

To go or eat in:

Onion Creek

Pie in the Sky (new but I think we've already been there at least 3 times)

Mission Burrito

Teotihuacan

JAX Grill

oh yeah! we get chatter's delivery 2x a month easy. their hummus is the best!

Berryhill: when the weather is nice- or even veering toward hot- we eat there every Friday night

Lola: every weekend involves at least one meal at Lola, typically lunch after a bike ride

Pie In The Sky: it's new but based on atmosphere and pricing, we'll be there often

Empire Seafood: we don't go but get delivery from them a couple times a month

Dry Creek: again, nice weather means many trips to DC. it's ok for the service to be horrible when the weather is patio perfect.

Antidote: it's not a restaurant but we "eat" breakfast there often and stop by for a drink to go several times a week. it's also late morning snack place when we head out for a day on the bikes.

Chilosos: we would eat here a lot more if my husband had his way. breakfast tacos ONLY

These places I wouldn't say we eat at 12x a year but we go regularly, probably 7-9x annually.

Glasswall: this is our go-to for a nice date night or a quick meal at the bar before a show

Stella Sola: where we want to take all our friends at least once, plus they've added brunch!

Shade: nice family meals. out of town guests.

I really don't consider the Washington strip restaurants part of the Heights. We've had this discussion on this forum but I consider an interstate highway a pretty clear line of demarkation and that area now even has it's own nickname: the corridor. so i do frequent some places down there (El Rey, Max's Wine Dive, Zoe's Kitchen- and Les Girvals once it opens) but I really in good conscience can't add them to my Heights list

My hope was for restaurant tenants like Cafe Express, La Madeline, Amazon, and that ilk. But the demographics obviously did not bear it out. All in all though, it's pretty handy.

Speaking of El Rey, anyone here ventured out to their new location at Bunker Hill and I-10. Pretty nice...

i think this was discussed before but the big issue with the demographics is they are a decade old. the area has changed considerably in the last 10 years. apparently, target didn't make the store a super target b/c of these outdated demographics and now they are stuffing produce on any shelf they can because their food sales are through the roof. they made their decision based on the heights/washington corridor of 10 years ago. too bad for them.

the problem is the location is so good that even the bad places do well. this shopping center services a pretty underserved population- like downtown, the heights, rice military, etc... even the snobbiest yuppie will grab a panda express or taco bell on a night when they worked until 8 and they don't have to get out of their car...

This Target complex and associated properties had so much potential but it is becoming a corporate franchises mecca. Sadly, my prediction is this Target is enroute to becoming the next ghetto Target.

I have never eaten at all the strip mall chain restuarants in this Target area because why would you want to when we are blessed with so many local places in this area.

i agree with Red's assessment. sure, i think there are local chains that could have done better (southwell's is one, after all) but it is what it is. i support local businesses as much, if not more, than a lot of people but somedays my kids just need marble slab.

as far as ghetto target, i hardly think so. it's one of the highest earning Targets in metro Houston and they carry a lot more of the "designer" clothes and jewelry than even the san felipe store. any given day every luxury car maker is well represented in the parking lot. i just can't see that prediction coming true...

there is a huge oak tree next to southwell's that the developers were smart/kind enough to keep. they have the area sectioned off with a fence and a couple picnic tables. we ate under that tree on sunday and it was so nice. i really like southwell's but agree it will never be Someburger

Any comments or opinions on Dessert Shoppe on 19th street ? What about Whats up Cupcake ? located corner of 14th street and Sheperd street empty lot ?

It would be nice if the Heights had a great selection of ice cream,pies,cakes ,or homemade sweet desserts.

dessert shoppe is on my list of To-Dos for the week. heights kids group moms have had good things to say.

the heights does have a nice selection of sweets: MAMs (opening again in March), gelato at Crickets; Antidote has great sweets, many made by Jennifer Diaz of Porchswing Desserts, DaCapos, El Bollio... There is a Marble Slab accessible by the bike trail down by Target. Then you have all the new stuff: Dessert Shoppe, Pie In The Sky Pie Company (opening soon), Melange Creperie (mobile until- often sets up in front of Hello, Lucky), What's Up Cupcake, and rumored Happy Fatz to open on White Oak. That's a lot of treats in a couple square miles