Dustin

You know, the thought keeps coming to me. It's not so much that I want to learn how to code so I can make a website though. I just want to know more about the technical side of the internet, and how much more technical can you get besides coding? (Don't answer that )

I'm sure it's just like anything else to a point. It can seem overbearing at first, but once you get into it more it gets easier.

Do you think this is still as important of a selling point as it once was? I mean, I don't think a yard and the exterior of a house is representative to the house itself.

I'm doing some research into what kind of foliage to plant around a 1/4 acre lot and I have some ideas. I have a concrete wall around 3 sides of the property and a chain link fence in the front. I'm thinking about ground cover on the outside of the fence, ground shrubs of some sort, and fruit trees on the inside of the brick walls. Are fruit trees high maintenance though? This is the main thing that has me concerned about going through with the idea. Everything I read about planting them does not follow through with how to maintain them.

All of the above posts in succession like that told a really good tale, you guys know that? The past being torn down and the future being built, all in a well worded and well photographed telling. This is one of the better examples of what makes this place so good to browse through and learn from.

So, enough of the glad-handling. It's a damn shame that all the demolition and inconvenience for the past year only yielded a self storage facility. I guess that's progress huh?

As deep as we can be online, right? Speaking of deep, I wish I could come up with a deep answer for mine but I just can't do it. It has no special meaning or underlying reason........kind of like the user it represents I guess. I like big machines and this one is lit up to where it looks like it is making its own sunset in the forefront of a real one. I just thought it looked really cool, so I used it. 

They can't work in the rain? What.....are they union? 

Very impressive stuff I'm seeing here. I was just over in the DFW section of the site(and IRL life too) and sometimes I get the feeling that we are competing with each other to see who can grow the most and the quickest. 

Can't a person just look up public land tax records to see who the current owner is? From there go to social media, find them and ask whatever questions you want asked. If the exchange is polite enough and the topic of the question is interesting enough to the owner.......maybe you'll get invited over.

I love old homes like this and the history behind them. They need to stay put and possibly be put to modern use......like one poster here said....a museum. That would be great in this case.

Thank you for reviving this post Amaterasu.....I didn't know about this house until now.

I don't know exactly what his problem is, but what he wants is pretty disturbing. He obviously favors the rich over the poor, that's a no-brainer based on that article, but he is actually publicizing this bias and wants to make public policy out of it.

My opinion is that his is the exact opposite of what growth and freedom is.

In his mind they do.

I like the real estate and transportation sections of this site as those topics, while focusing on Houston, can apply to anywhere else. 

I think it's sad that discussions like this take place.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go find a way to un-follow this topic so I quit getting notifications about it.

Does anyone here in the Houston area actually do this? If so, can you actually make a living this way in this area? It seems like a very "nickel and dime" way to make money.

On 6/18/2008 at 9:21 AM, SunKing said:

It is a VERY interesting place. Continental Airlines is currently using it as a disaster recovery site. If downtown Houston is wiped out, Continental can continue operations from Weslin. This place is amazing - the security is SUPER tight - it was built as a fallout shelter - and intended to support 100's of people for many months. It had sleeping quarters, doctors offices, and as someone else mentioned - even a jail. Another thing I found interesting were are all the gun turrets located throughout the complex - in those pagodas. Continental has 'reconfigured' the site to support our business recovery operations (installed servers, work stations, ect.). ...but no guns.

I have a ton of pictures - here's a few....

I think fallout shelters like this are more realistic as a natural disaster shelter. Housing people in something like in the event of a nuclear incident seems like an exercise in futility.

40 minutes ago, Sisyphys said:

  HMB came down in 2012 at a cost of $6M due to the nature of the bomb proof structural integrity.  

 

There was a mural in the lobby painted by Peter Hurd worth $3M that was left in the building due to the expense of removing it.

Those 2 sentences.........they don't add up. (Excuse the play on words)

They spend 6 million on demolition but save a 3 million dollar piece of art? 

Why doesn't that sit right with me?

I think it's a crying shame. They could have saved and renovated it if they wanted to. They just didn't want to and didn't have the nerve to be honest about it.

Dart-tex sounds like darted bricks wirh a more marketable moniker.

From what I can tell, they are used more for asthetic purposes than anything else.

On this note: http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/31147-can-the-boom-continue/?page=15#comment-543946

What do you guys think is the most realistic option(s) for getting people working again that are not but want to be? Especially those who cannot find work in their fields of expertise?

Then please explain. Is it something along these lines perhaps? http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm

It's a simple equation really, and my point was that there are many more.......MANY more.......people who are employed than not. A side to that point that many people don't see is that no one is going to lower the unemployment rate by focusing on that rate. If that were going to happen, it would have already. Focus on the people who are working......those sectors.....those industries.......and use all that as a template for success for the people who are not working and want to. If we have to re-train or cross train people to fill those voids, that's a viable option.

We come to conclusions like this by focusing on what can be done, not so much on what hasn't been done. Like getting those people back in the workforce. I've been alive for over 50 years,and during that time there has never been a 0% unemployment rate. Ever. And there never will be. Why do you think that is? 

As I always tell everyone.....if the unemployment rate is 5%, then the employment rate is 95%. Numbers don't lie and my glass is half full.

That's the way I see it.

Do any of you think this is a good city to retire in? Better than somewhere in Arizona or Florida? I don't hear much about retirement issues in Houston.

I heard the owner retired.

That's a good point though, that is a prime business area.

Funny how when the old businesses leave you don't notice it at the time, but after the fact it surprises you.

in a way it's kind of smart. Who wants to hang out in a graveyard? Although, I did know a girl growing up who lived in an underground home with the family/generational graveyard in their backyard.

But that's another conversation.

Kind of generic if you want an honest opinion. 

Put the AIA logo on it somewhere to represents the growth of Houston from a business perspective.

So they kicked out the homeless camps from under the overpass. The police say it was because of the rising use of synthetic marijuana. Other people say it's part of the "clean-up" before the big game. What do you think? And if it's the latter of the two, is there anything wrong with that?

On 11/12/2016 at 8:18 AM, mollusk said:

Coffees, tablets, opinions... so many choices!  What to do, what to do??

If you're an old timer, stick to the point of the site...architecture....otherwise you're a bot.

With so much going on in Houston right now (The Texans notwithstanding) this is a silly conversation.

On 11/8/2016 at 5:31 PM, mkultra25 said:

 

Guess we need the Texans to win a Super Bowl to level the playing field again. They might be able to do that in less time than it took the Cubs to win the Series, but I'm not holding my breath. 

Neither am I.....not with Watts out at least. Boom, boom.....out went the lights.

But a "Cubbies boom"? I'm sure someone will revive this topic in August with Chicago hospital stats.

On 11/8/2016 at 5:51 PM, msteele6 said:

I went to Milby High School just down the street from the RB Department Store on Broadway. If I'm not mistaken it was demolished when the ill-fated 225 extension was constructed.

So it just goes to figure that a gas station replaced it. Location, location location.

At least it was replaced by a business that was relevant and applicable to the location.