Howard

Recommend to your out of town guests who can't find anything to do:

Water ski Lake Houston, Lake Conroe, numerous venues

Sail out of Clear Lake into Galveston Bay

Jet ski on Clear Lake

Windsurf on Galveston Island

Go deep sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico

.... I haven't even begun.

Thanks.

I have lived here a year. Most of my clients and co-workers are upper 20's to upper 30's. I take them the Kemah a lot because its kinda cool but too many kids. No one liked Galveston. I dont have access to a boat to ski Lake Houston. Lake Conroe is too far. I did charter a boat once out on Galveston Bay on a Kemah trip. I take them to a club or two. Downtown was uneventful. They seemed to like Montrose for the retro shops. They like the Bayou. They liked Memorial Park a lot. Too bad there isnt more of them also... I would love a list when you have time. They have to be easy access... Not like having a boat or a windsurfer.

But of course we are on about the skatepark! So email: coulducare@yahoo.com

The Houston skatepark is a must have for way too many reasons than I have time to sit behind this computer and type. I am from Florida and we have a park in every big city and a lot of small ones. Houston needs a real skatepark and I am for it 100%. The pre-fab garbage around here is just that... Garbage. A city this size is handicaped without one. Kona Skatepark in Jacksonville has been in operation since 1977 and is the WORLD'S oldest continually operating skateboard park. I have lots of business meetings with people from all over the world. I wine them and dine them and they come here quite often. I ask them how they like it and one of the biggest gripes I hear is all there is to do is shop and eat. I laughed and then I thought about it...

I noticed a post here about a $189,000 townhome on Bonner that most people said didnt look like a good buy. I was looking at those too when I came accross these. Whats your opinion on these townhomes and the price. I have been in the both. While the one for $185,000 suits my style it may not appreciate well. This one for $295,000 just seems expensive but is very well appointed and near twice the size with a great layout. I like the modern feel of these homes.

What do you think? MLS#6987487 and 8936843

$189,000 http://search.har.com/engine/indexdetail.c...mp;backButton=Y

$295,000 http://search.har.com/engine/indexdetail.c...s=2&sTYPE=0

I like the design a lot. Its imaginative and unique, plus it fits the site in a well-thought out way. Perhaps there's a niche market out there, and I hope it does get built, but that price is not going to make it easy.

As much as I like it, I'm sure the developer paid a 'view premium' for the land, and that building won't come cheap. I can't imagine their margins being significant at all at the end of the day, and that's even after taking a big risk with the uniqueness factor. Not a good financial deal, but I'll sure appreciate the building.

One of the lots was for sale for $200,000. If you are facing the construction it was the perfect lot closer to

I-45. It had a house on it when I looked at it. This is quite pricey. I just put money down on a new townhouse on Washington instead.

Metropolitantexan: Where are you working? I am Kabul with a company from Hong Kong. I have an Internet cafe outside the overseas processing center in Houston.

Yes the hype is real, I was there for 3 days last month, but I am not so sure of the survival of Dubai. They are building so much so fast that I wonder honestly where are all of these people going to come from and what would be the attraction. OK the shopping was good, I'll give it that. But for me the only other interest was Ski Dubai but I would really go to the mountains to snowboard and not fly from the U.S. to Dubai for that! The scenery is amazing. The heat is crazy but I hear it gets much nicer in the winter. I didnt go see the nightlife so I cant comment. I'll have more money next time in December. The food was really good. Nice hotels. Traffic and crazy drivers. I saw a Mclaren F1!!! Crazy malls. Crazy diversity as most of the people you meet arent even from Dubia. But... what else? We will have to look at it 20 or 30 years from now. I personally think they might have went too big on this. Maybe the whole idea is to be a business center? Who wrote the business plan? lol

My friend you must be living under a tree to think that Texas isn't full of beautiful women. As I'm known to have said a million times, I'm a traveling musician and I see women from all over the country, and I'm here to tell ya that Texas women are among the best in the country, if not the best. I'm in Southern Florida about twice a year and there are certainly quite a few hot women, however I wouldn't trade what they have for what Texas hasn NO WAY.

No big deal. I have no idea what you are attracted to but the only place I see athletic in shape women is at Memorial park. In Miami there is a flood of beautiful women. Even though most of them are crazy and unapproachable.

Houston is the suck.

LOL!

Get in a car and check out Austin. Thats where I go for fun... 6th street among other places.

to add a little bit more info

i graduate from college next yr, and im looking to get out of florida.

i am SICK of hurricanes.

looking for a nice big city, not TOO conservative(meaning lots of hot freaky babes), where i can go to law school and then stay in afterwards.

I like the thought of city living, but dont know if any of these cities would really qualify. I know atlanta does in some areas, not sure about the rest....

You may want to come stay for a while before you move. I too am from Florida. Houston is quite concervative and void of "hot freaky babes". I lived in Miami and Orlando and I have never seen so many out of shape people in my life. Check out Memorial Park for the chance of seeing in shape women.

Dont panic people its just my opinion...

Can someone give me more information on the tax benefits to downtown retail and the downtown boundaries for those tax breaks???

Houston needs something like Kemah all outdoor but for the over 21 crowd. Build some lakes, fountains, ect... Some clubs, shopping boutiques, movies, bars, food, outdoor activities, outdoor concerts with local bands and a FREE big act every month venders, street performers, events, plenty of seating. Boat rides bike and walking trails ect... HELLO HOUSTON!!!

If I may add my little two cents, TheNiche I still think you have missed his point. Every person on this site knows Houstons history in terms of why we look the way we do and why many cities of the northeast look the way they do. I think what you and many other Houstonians must realize is no one is trying to turn Houston into a place like Boston. But there should at least be "Boston" type options in the city. If a Houstonian want to walk out of their door and be in walking distance of 30 restaurants, bars, stores, etc., within blocks, they should be able to if they so choose. That type of choice is EXTREMELY limited in this large city (The Post Midtown Development). That is one of the biggest things Houston has to tackle, the lack of choices it offers in everything from transportation to housing to entertainment.

I think Houston has to open it's mind and ears and HEAR what people are saying. There are so many great things in this city but it lacks in so many ways and when the areas where it lacks is mentioned, the messenger is attacked ( When the Essence Fest attendees complained about the city's mobility issues, people started to attack the attendees, though what they were saying was clearly the truth). Or when something is suggested to add to the city's character, many Houstonians seem to TRY to find every reason in the world why we shouldn't do it, including the every popular "Houston should just focus on being itself". For years one of the most popular things I would hear why Houston shouldn't have any type of rail system, besides cost, was Houston is not the northeast and it should not try to be the northeast, completely blocking out the benefits of rail. Like it was stated earlier Houston could use a jolt in culture to change the stronghold mentalities that I think keep us behind.

Again, I will break out with my slogan. "Great Cities Have Everything". At the core of that statement is OPTIONS. Houston should not be content with being just a business town. Houston should not be content mostly offering suburban styled living. Houston should not be content with being the largest city in Texas, yet being the least tourist friendly. Houston should not be content with having almost NO pedestrian areas or places to "people watch" all in the name of "Houston should just be itself". Don't forget, we became content with being JUST a oil town and got burned. We became content with not investing in rail like most other cities of the world, and it has come back to haunt us more than once. Houston can learn and grow. We just have to learn to be proactive instead of reactive, add a little pep in our step, and try to understand WHY it is important for a city our size to offer options.

Well put VelvetJ I wish I could has said it so well...

Howard:

Check these out and welcome. http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/SkateParks.html

Thanks!

Those are prefab parks. A skateboarder knows thats the worst stuff on earth.

These guys build REAL skateparks... The proposed park is on the list but this has been years in the making and still hasnt broken ground yet.

http://grindline.com/cgi-bin/view.pl

I have to agree especially if you are from somewhere else or travel you know it all too well. I am from Florida and have been here a year. I know of no hotspot where you can people watch catch an event go to a few clubs and live in that vicinty. The only place I have been that was remotely like what I enjoy was Kemah and its far from me as well as catering to kids mostly. There needs to be an adult Kemah thats what Houston needs among other things. I have a business here so thats why I moved but its not a hot bed of activity here. My son skateboards and as big as this city is there is no decent public skatepark. They have been given the land but no funding to build. Were I lived we had three and the town was much smaller. Memorial Park is the only place I have seen people enjoying themselves on a regular basis with any type activity. There is still something missing there as well like a cool place to socialize after or before those activites. To me Houston is quite invisible and disconnected from the rest of the city.