Subdude

Way overpriced, huh?

Enough creeps cheat on the HOV lanes. It has to be even worse on diamond lanes where they can do that. Another argument for HOVs.

It's not terribly convenient, but there is a good box store on Hemstead immediately inside the loop that I have used for moving etc.

Good god man! If my pet were poisoned you can sure as hell bet that I would want to sue! What, is it supposed to be OK to sell contaminated products and get away with it? We have laws so people have more protection than "Ooh, sorry, stuff happens."

It might have been on the old HAIF, but there was a rendering of plan for the Marquis II building in its original incarnation as a donut shop. On the roof there was a gigantic rubber donut. Seriously. I don't know if the donut was ever actually added however. Last I was at the Marquis II the decor was scary 1970s furniture and dark gray walls.

Hmm. I thought they were just different names for the same thing. Would that even work if the circulating traffic yields to entering traffic? I have seen "mini-roundabouts" which are basically a dot painted in the street at an intersection. In these it seems strange having to yield to turning traffic when you are going straight.

I have heard that the Marquis II was indeed the child of Marquis I. Marquis at 1957 West Gray I think I have a picture of the Magnolia Brewery complex that I will post when I can get access to it.

I dont' think that Broken Obelisk was was rededicated to MLK. It was made specifically as a memorial to him - far from disrespectful.

Welcome to HAIF! Here is a link to a recent topic on magic shops in Houston: Howard's Fun Shop

I don't think the L-C sign would still be there, since the building has been demolished. In the late 1980s it was a Chinese buffet place.

I don't know how many times we have to repeat this. Apparently the warning banner at the top of the page isn't clear enough. We do not want to host Houston-vs-Dallas flame wars on this board. They don't belong on HAIF. If that is your main interest, then you are in the wrong place.

I'm impressed by your research. I know today we associate ice houses with open air beer joints, but was that always the case? It seems reasonable that they were just grocers that at some point got a liquor license. Did you happen to look at Kipling Pub?

In the UK most roundabouts at major intersections have traffic signals to control the flow of traffic into the circle. There are occasional backups, but overall it seems to work fairly well. The confusing thing is being in the circle and having to maneuver to the correct lane to exit where you want, but at least traffic slows naturally as it enters the circle.

There was some additional discussion about the Poly-Asian and its pool with the gas jet here.

Do you remember a Marvin's Food Market at 5202 Canal? It has retained most of the ambiance (such as it were) of that period.

"Regent Square" sounds like they just pulled it out of the Handbook of Pompous Generic Development Names. Is Phase One the blocks adjacent to Allen Parkway or the blocks south of West Dallas?

There was another topic about ugly freeway intersections, but I got to wondering, what are Houston's ugliest streets? My nomination is Dunlavy in the Montrose, with power lines on both sides. No matter what the quality of the buildings, all the wires give it a bit of a third world look.

That's really stupid. Aren't they in the middle of a large Italian neighborhood? Most businesses try to cater to their customers, not expect the opposite.

A potential benefit of Houston Pavillions is that something like this, just a couple blocks from the GRB, could really help them bring in more conventions. Until now downtown hasn't had anything comparable for people to do in the evenings. I wonder if the Harris County folks see this as putting competitive pressure on their plans to make Reliant Park a large convention center.

"Regent Square"? Where do they come up with these dumb development names?

Midtown has come a long way, but it seems to have sub-neighborhoods that have developed differently. I think the best long-term potential for Midtown to be Bellaire-like is on the east side, closer to 288, where a huge number of townhomes have been (over?) built. I don't know how it will do over time, but at least there is a strong owned-residential base. I think the part of Midtown west of the Main Street dead zone will be less stable over time. Although it has had higher-profile develpment, the combination of large concentrations of rental apartments, nightclubs, and block after block of wide streets with fast traffic limits limits its long-term attractiveness. Midtown will never become like a Bellaire without the equivalent of planning or zoning authority that Bellaire has. Otherwise property values are too much at risk.

I loved Creepy Crawlers. You poured plastic goo into a mold with shapes of bugs, and then cooked in on a hot plate.