westguy76

Perhaps someone could start a thread about where you live (no specifics) and where you work (no specifics) and what your commute time is and what route it primarily uses. I would be intested in an informal poll of this nature that would give us a glimpse.

That is another reason why people abandon their inner city homes. There is no solution because too many people want what's best, and they want it immediately. Your reasoning is VERY valid, but the future results will repeat themselves for the next generation to deal with, and less arable land will still be the end result.

Sharpstown again, is a good example, in the 60's it was nice, new, and family friendly. Now that the kids are raised and out of the house, the first round of families are gone, and decay sets in and the reputation of Sharpstown is not anywhere near the acclaim as it once was. And it is not just because it is a neighborhood built far away, it's because it was a master planned community that was poorly developed AND poorly maintained. Once the developers are done building, they move on to the next best thing and the neigborhood is at the mercy of the owners and the HOA.

What's to say Bridgeland is not the next Sharpstown. Same pattern in my eyes, just farther away from Houston.

You seem to be ignoring the demographic shift for the decline of Sharpstown. People didn't just move out because there was something newer down the road.

Also Sharpstown was always affordable housing compared to the housing that is being built in the nicer communities.

But what you fail to see is that they (the developer) are offering something to the home buyer, just something you don't want and can't appreciate.

It's about 12 miles if I take only the freeway, or 9 miles if I take Chimney Rock if you were curious; but you are a rare case when it relates to the article. The article addresses (generalized) the majority that have a huge drive. This could relate to many of the people coming from the far west I-10 and 290 between the hours of 6:30 and 8:00 into downtown.

Well, I did replace all of my major appliance in 2004 with front load washer and full Energy Star kitchen appliance set, installed a pair of 14 SEER A/C units 2005 and a roofin 2006.

Again, it was a dump of a house, still is in some areas, but I am thinking ahead and making the best of existing homes and reinvesting in Houston, and not buying a cheaply made home on former farmland in the middle of nowhere.

I've been to the middle of nowhere, friend, and it is nowhere near here.

Huh?!?

I've spent a good bit of time exploring the west side of Pearland and I have yet to see any indication of slumminess. I must be among the blind you cite. Can you back that up with a "for example"?

I didn't really mean all areas in West Pearland, nor did I want to call you blind, forgive me.

There are areas in Silverlake (formerly Southwyck) that are in decline. I am glad that you do not see the area as an investment area as far as real estate.

There are also some nice communities going into the area. What I meant to highlight about the west side of Pearland is that there is a large demographic shift going on there that will in the future and is currently affecting the real estate, in my opinion.

WHAT? the grocery store and 24 hr fitness aren't IN your building? we just can't sustain that.

They may be! He didn't define what radius a 1/2 is???

Definition of a community, in my eyes is what brought me here to HAIF to begin with. The Surburban Nation really shows what is sustainable and what isn't.

Cinco Ranch is just homes, maybe with elementary schools within it. But outside the gates beyond the mess of cul-de-sacs, are churches, high schools, and Walmarts. Everything else in Katy requires a trip on the freeway into Houston.

read my previous post for enlightenment

North of I-10 and maybe 99 on the west and Peek Rd on the east.

Can't figure out the north end, maybe just shy of 290.

All those homes were built on cheap land. Developers saw an opportunity and churned out cookie cutter homes in cul-de-sac infested hoods.

It's practically a mini road trip to get out of your neighborhood to begin with just to get basic errands done like grocery shopping or going to the gym.

I live very near the corner of Westheimer Parkway and Mason in the heart of Cinco Ranch.

At this Intersection is a Krogers Grocery store. Within 2 to 3 miles there is a YMCA and a Lifetime fitness

Your ideas are misconceptions.

Not every thing can be generalized as it is in a book.

Sugar Land, and more so the Woodlands have REAL master planned neighborhoods and actually is attempting to establish a funtioning CBD, not just a strip malls and Walmarts, but something that is attractive and sustainable for a real live, work, play environment.

I can't think of a real towncenter that is not a strip mall in Katy, Pearland, or anywhere else. The rest are just residential neighborhoods with Walmart and HEB strip centers mixed in them, nothing else. Cheaply built homes too that only look good for about 5 years.

As mentioned above, Maybe the Clear Lake area can be included, but I don't see it yet.

I am just glad I bought my depressed run-down home on the cheap in Uptown back in 2003 instead of opting to live in the burbs.

This is the same tired rhetoric, drivel, that doesn't deserve a response. You can do better than generalizations. Just Try it.

If you really don't realize that the energy corrdior and the burgeoning medical industry on the west side is not equivilent to a CBD than you should.

And since I am responding, I'll go on, What is a "real" master planned community. And how does Cinco Ranch not typify one?

Get ready Katy, FairField, Cypress, Pearland, Friendswood, this is you!

Sugar Land and the Woodland might be immune to this.

Care to explain why you have handpicked the Woodlands and Sugar Land to be above the others?

IMO some of these areas you have mentioned are too large and diverese to generalize.

For instance, alot of once affluent, "nice" areas in West Pearland are slummy or becoming that way and the people moving there are ignoring the signs in front of them.

Also Katy (as it is often considered) is not immune in some areas. But I see no reason to believe South Katy will slum up, With Seven Meadows, Cinco Ranch, Grand Lakes, Kelliwood, etc.

You have too realize that in a good bit of all these communities people are not commuting to an urban core.

And also not everyone in the burbs or the exburbs lives in a mcmansion, even in a nice nieghborhood. I, for instance live in a modest 1 story home of around 2,200 SF in cinco ranch(south Katy). It is not costing me an arm and a leg to cool my house, just an arm. damn de-regulation!

Way to much generalizations and assumptions are made everytime this discussion arises.

We went to Berryhill this weekend.........what a huge disappointment!!!!!!!

We went Sunday at 1:30 PM We had 6 adults and 2 kids. We had never been before but I have read good things.........

The place was pretty empty. I did not realize that you ordered yourself.......I told the lady behind the counter that it was our first time there.....thus giving her an opportunity to tell us about the place....no such luck.....just handed us menus......

So we placed our orders.......put together a couple tables.

I saw the chips in little bags under a heat lamp.....very cold chips.....got some salsa.....not bad salsa....

First, all our food was barely warm when we got it..........

We ordered a variet of items and I tried them all:

tamales (beef, pork, chicken) dry and tasteless

fried fish tacos ok but kinda dry

Tortilla soup very spicy, not a lot in the soup and not a great taste

Chicken dish big piece of chicken but cold on the inside

beef tacos meat was dry and the tortillas were not very fresh.

For the prices they charge, we will never go back again..................

Sorry you didn't like it. I love this place.

First I am a big fan of places where I place my order and pick it up from the counter, get my own drink whenever I want to refill it, and best of all get my own chips and salsa all without having to wait on someone. And the best of all this I don't have to tip anyone.

I really like the fish tacos, or the shrimp, they have grilled you might like them better than fried.

They spinach enchiladas and chimichangas are my favorites. I hear the burritos are good too.

I hope this location makes it because I live right around the corner. the one in Westchase (where I worked closed a couple of months ago)

I gotta go with the Back to the Future movies for.

The Power of Love- Huey Lewis

Doubleback- ZZ Top

And Top Gun for.

Danger Zone- Kenny Loggins

I went to the gas pumps yesterday with a shiny new 22' bay boat. It has a 90 gallon tank. We put in $150. $100 in the truck to haul it to the bay.

We were out 3 hours on the water and the guage didn't hardly move though. It was a beautiful day of consumerism. I waved at all the people blowing money at the Kemah boardwalk as we coasted under the bridge.

there are other websites for bashing or reviewing websites in the houston area like www.b4ueat.com. This just does not seem like an appropriate use of this website.

This is another strange circle in the middle of Cinco Ranch which was at one time a working cattle ranch (or 5) So this seems to agree with the cattle ranching equipment theory. This is in no way a logical conclusion. Or it could be an alien landing pad.

roadkill is coming to HAIF?

Yeah I lived just off of West Gray and I've been to the one on West Gray and the one on Shepard. I remember enjoying the food but not a little annoyed at the atmosphere. But I'm about as straight as they come and pretty intolerant too, yoohoo!

I would love a Rudy's Barbecue.

I love the new Berryhills and glad to see a Buffalo Wild Wings coming.

Also, how about a proper diner that does full service. Like 59 Diner or Mama's cafe?

The only restaraunts I would like to see added to Katy area would be some "local" chains. Some of the places inside the loop that would probably kick off closer to the West side. Barnaby's, Chuy's, etc. Or mom and pop places like Rocco's on Fry. There's tons of people close to my age (mid 20-early 30s) out on the West side because of the Energy Corridor that would support these places. Plus, it's depressing having to fight a date to go inside the loop for a good dinner at an interesting spot because they want to go to Chili's for some bland burger.

Isn't Barnaby's the really queer place with the dog theme?

Were you homeschooled in junior high and high school? You were obviously not a member of a fraternity in college. For you to blithly suggest that there aren't people out there who do things to fit in demonstrates a fundamental ignorance of human nature.

Notice I did not say I do not laugh at jokes "regarding ethnicity, sex, etc.", I specifically said I do not laugh at racist or sexist jokes. There is a difference. An example, I recently went fishing with a guide who all day long made jokes about Hillary Clinton being a d*ke. I find calling Hillary Clinton a lesbian to be offensive to lesbians. Oh, and I think d*ke is an ulgy word, too. He also used a choice word in jokes about Obama that starts with N. I explicitly said "racist or sexist". You deliberately changed my wording to a softer "regarding ethnicity, sex, etc.", - it was dishonest and proves that you couldn't actually come up with a decent retort to what I actually said, so you had to misrepresent what I had to say and attack that misrepresentation.

Also, note that I did not pass any judgement on people who tell racist or sexist jokes, I only said I don't laugh at them. so your sanctimonious accusation of me being judgmental is off the mark as well.

I laugh at racist and sexist jokes. When they are funny. I don't have the ability to hold back if it' funny. If we can't laugh at our stupidity than we are missing out because there is a lot of it. There is a heritage of it. And sometimes it's funny. Why should I worry if it is going to offend someone who is not standing there next to me with the chance to be offended.

Let me add that I went to the Better Business Bureu website to see if I could find a register for Broadloans Mortgage. What did come up under that name was Alethes LLC. The thing that I am worrying about now is that they have about 500 address's listed in the central Texas area, and lot's of alias's (about 50 including Broadloans Mortgages, Texas Capitol Mortgage, Texas Star Mortgage, ETC. They appeared to have a satisfacory record but were not afilliated this the BBB.

Should this be a red flag, or should I just go through with the pre-approval process and not worry about it? I mean if they have lower closing cost's and a better rate than other places I've looked. What is the actual risk to me.

Has anyone heard of or have experiance with broadloans mortgage?

I got a letter in the mail from them about refinancing my home. It's typical for these it says I'm preapproved and has a pre-qualified code to go to their website and put in. The thing is I am trying to refinance my mortgages right now, so number one this is timely, and two the seem to be beating the heck out of the closing costs and rates I am being quoted from some big names, ie. Wells Fargo. My first reaction was I've never heard of them so I am a little weary before I go any further in the process. Any opinions? Experiances? Thanks

I'll just add to this that I got a letter in the mail from O'Conner & Associates that had my tax record for the last 2 years on it then in blue ink written "Your taxes are too high" I also noticed the deadline for protesting listed on the letter was may 31st. I opened the letter on June 2nd.

Believe it or not, someone actually is trying to talk me into putting up money for a strip mall near the Crockett Middle school (or whatever the name of it is its a new one) and run throw in a pizza joint(or something). With all the development going on it seems like its a sure money maker, my only concern is that how in the future, the population might collapse closer to the various town centers (Sugarland/Katy/Houston/Gessner/Energy Corridor). Another (larger) thing to consider for me is that I don't want to live out there and the employment pool wouldn't want to do the same either, especially when you consider that the gas prices are higher and that is going to make wages (and therefore the product) more expensive.

Now that I think about it, I need to hit up some of my clients that have restaurants and do an informal survey on how business IS doing. If they're raising prices/have they raised prices, etc.

Edit: My general stupidity again.

ReEdit: Woohoo! I started page Two!

I wouldn't worry about population collapsing in this area, there is no validity to that, at all.

And If you wouldn't want to live in the area don't, I don't understand why you think there is not an employment pool in the area, and or why they wouldn't want to live there.

You do realize that It is not more expensive to live and work in the Katy area. It is not a requirement to commute to live in the area, most people don't.

By the way no one gets excited about a pizza joint/ or something in a strip center. We already have the CiCi's and Double Dave's and Fuzzy's crap.

What group is that?

Redheads! We've been held down for years!

Let's lose the stereotypes and the hatespeech!

South Union to Westchase - 17 miles in approx 15-20 minutes, regardless of what time I leave (anytime between 7 am and 9 am). Same for the ride home...unless I leave work early for some reason (before 7pm), at which time inbound traffic on 59 sucks. The reverse commute is a good thing.

Worst part of the ride in the morning is the 5-7 minute drive up 288 to 59.

Worst part of the ride in the evening is having to drive through 3 traffic lights.

Do you have a helicopter or a hovercraft? You are saying from the 288 and 59 interchange you at your workplace in 9 to 14 minutes in the morning in the Westchase District. And anytime between 7 and 9 AM.