Ross

The [problem with that in Houston, and other parts of Texas, is avoiding drilling through the thousands of abandoned oil wells that have mostly been forgotten. The Railroad Commission has a few maps, but they are approximate for historical wells.

I drove by this yesterday after dropping off the kid for a robotics competition at the Energy Institute on Sampson. This looks good. I also drove by the site for the new Energy Institute HS building on Southmore at Tierwester. It's moving along as well, but I didn't get a picture.

Not that it's relevant, but I am a financial systems analyst with an accounting degree. My views have nothing to do with being against developing retail or promoting density, and everything to do with not forcing property owners to build something they consider non-economic. If a property owner thinks GFR/offices/etc is a good idea, that's great, and he should build it. There's no retail in my subdivision, which is inside the loop, nor is there retail in any of the residential areas in any of the suburbs. The retail is concentrated on certain streets, with enough retail density to make it easy to get all your shopping done without going to too many different places.

That decision was made under duress - "which one of these awful options is the least bad for me"

Retail isn't required on every block - perhaps one out of 16 or 20 would suffice. After all, how many convenience stores and small restaurant, etc are necessary for an area the size of Midtown? Post was successful because there wasn't any competition. If there had been other GFR, Post likely would not have built as much as they did. I trust the developers to determine whether GFR is economic, but the density is not there now, or likely ever, to support GFR in every development. Especially with the amount of stand alone establishments in Midtown.

Is the Planning Commission going to pay the developer if the retail doesn't get any occupants? Or does the owner just have to eat the cost of the ugly empty space.

I didn't see any structures on that lot in Google Earth going through all the years available. It's too large to be an exhaust structure, unless there are thousands of square feet of buried space

On Google Earth, there's no evidence that there was sign on it, but the shadows lead me to believe it was once taller. There are no houses on any of the historic aerials on GE. The strip center across 1960 to the West has been there since at least 1978.

Looks more like the base for a sign to me, but the pictures are not super clear

The space telescope is the coolest thing there. Really amazing piece of work. And, kudos to the scientists that are taking the time to hang out and talk to us regular folks.

The law does not allow for different rates based on use. Presumably, a property used for parking is valued higher than an unused property.

What!? Make them spend more money? That's so, so, so, un-Houston I actually like that idea, assuming it doesn't create issues with subsidence, etc.

Some more info at https://www.flickr.com/photos/rkimberly/4995896189 Reference to Mackie Dee Oil and Investment (may get more info from Texas Secretary of State records) https://books.google.com/books?id=H39DAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=mackie+dee+houston&source=bl&ots=jsAE1v_Tu1&sig=RUH95c8q1T5Ga8Ly2Cn5oQ5qQbI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiKw7a-vubRAhXBRiYKHXKqC6IQ6AEINzAF#v=onepage&q=mackie dee houston&f=false There's a mention of a Mackie Dee Barnett in the July 17, 1904 Galveston Daily News society news for Brenham. In 1906, there's a marriage license where Mackie Dee Barnett married a William Mayfield in Ft Bend County. In the 1910 census, they live at 415 Emerson Street in Houston (one street North of Westmoreland), the husband is a newspaper editor. That's all I could find right now. The items with no link came from ancestry.com

Street closures are full time through Feb 5. Here's the map http://www.housuperbowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/road-closures-sm.pdf I prepaid for parking at the Post Office, which I probably didn't need to do, but it was the cheapest option, and guaranteed me a space. We walked over to Louisiana and Franklin and caught the Orange circulator, which is free. We didn't do the NFL Experience, it costs actual money($35). We stood in line for about 2 hours so the kids could ride the Future Flight. They enjoyed that. The rest of the stuff was semi-interesting. The best thing to me was the full size display of the Webb Space Telescope, which is definitely worth seeing. The music stage is impressive, and sounds good with the recorded music they were playing. Food was really expensive, with any sort of entree costing $10+ - that's for hot dogs too. A bottle of water is $4.

I was told I will be taking the kid and a friend to the NFL Experience at Discovery Green on Saturday. Oh joy. A day with a couple of 14 year old boys that hear less than my nearly deaf great-grandmother. It's made somewhat easier by the fact that I was able to prepay to park for 8 hours at the old post office site for $14, which is close to the special circulator buses they've laid on for the event. Let's see how well that works.

John C. Calhoun, a VP of the United States, a South Carolina Senator, and the Secretary of State who supported Texas' admission to the US, was an ardent pro-slavery figure, which makes him controversial.

The owners of that building are here in Houston...

290 required far more work than 288 just to get ready. There were right of way issues and acquisitions, and the need to keep the freeway open while building the new lanes, which requires massive amounts of extra work. It's a good thing you weren't here when I-10 East was being rebuilt in the 70's and 80's, because it made 290 look like a cakewalk. HCTRA would have had the same issues as TxDOT did on 290 with a contractor going bankrupt and being removed from the project. That set that particular stretch of road back by about a year, as the issues were resolved with the bonding company and the search for a new contractor.

Why build a single 100+ story building when you can build several 50 story buildings for less money. Going higher costs more per floor. And, Houston hasn't hit the density that makes su per tall buildings economic

You don't sue the City, you sue the appraisal district that sets the values. The City is just along for the ride.

Every time I see Critical Mass, my immediate thought is they should all be arrested for traffic offenses, and their bikes impounded. Recently, HPD has been pretty good about stopping them every so often to allow cross traffic to go through. Critical Mass does nothing to further understanding and tolerance for bikes.

What property taxes are being diverted to roads? Harris County always spends money on roads, that's one of the functions of a County in Texas. The HCTRA financials will spell out any loans made - that's stuff is a required disclosure in a footnote somewhere. Reading footnotes is mandatory for financial statement understanding. If you live in Grimes County, I don't want to hear complaints about commute times. You did that to yourself. I live inside the loop. My house, and the houses around me are all valued pretty close to market value. Some people are willing to exert more effort taking the appraisal district to court. I'm not, since it would not make any difference.

Those aren't crack houses, they are old, poorly maintained houses where poor people live. There are very few crack houses. Those houses are probably going to disappear soon, as they are all owned by the same company. The location is just a few blocks from UH. For the 5 lots along Tuam with the small houses, about $10,000 last year http://www.hctax.net/Property/TaxStatement?Account=0171580000002 The appraisal district doesn't collect taxes, so your statement about them being diverted is meaningless. Tax rates hven't really gone up, but property values have, which has increased taxes Exactly, and the feds don't fund a lot of roads that are needed. That neighborhood isn't as dangerous as you think it is. The site you linked to is aimed at corporations, which have more ways to state their financials than a government organization. My 30 years of accounting experience tells me that the HCTRA financials are not manipulated. Government accounting rules do not allow as much leeway as corporate standards. Besides, there's little incentive for HCTRA to lie.

It's actually pretty hard to play with numbers on financial statements that are audited. Especially with the various laws we now have that make that sort of thing a serious felony. How much experience do you have with reading financials?

According to the State Comptroller, fuel tax revenue is essentially flat (rose by 13.5% between 2003 and 2013) while road costs are going up far faster (83% in the same 10 year period). Fuel consumption is essentially flat. More information here http://www.comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/2016/february/fuels.php