njvisitor

Evidently, little or no thought was put into drainage before the mansion(s) were constructed. A somewhat perplexing and noteworthy fact, considering the amount of money put into these builds.

Little or no thought was put into the whole damn thing!

Though in other news, the beige property a few houses down (right behind the new fountain / stream) is coming along nicely.

City Council had a special meeting this evening. One of the agenda items was:

SECTION 551.071 - CONSULTATION WITH CITY ATTORNEY

So I did a "driving tour" of the PTC yesterday evening... Wow, I must say, they did a fantastic job!

I was expecting some run of the mill strip with a few trees and whatnot, but instead found a well organized, nicely decorated, classy, shopping locale. In a world of endless chain retailers, this is as good as it gets. It'll definitely put Pearland on the map!

With regard to traffic, it seems getting out the PTC, across 288, is the only real problem. They need to add an extra lane that way...

Wonder how much tax revenue this will pull in...

Anyways, wheresoever there is growth, there is traffic.

Just got this email: Stella At Shadow Creek Ranch: Multifamily At 11900 Shadow Creek Pkwy.

Quote

Congressman Nick Lampson hosts

I'm sorry to report that the letter from the HOA about parking along Southern Trails Drive in front of the rec center has had little effect in curbing the problem. The last two weekends there have been many cars parked there, for various picnic and birthday functions. At one point last Saturday I counted 10 cars parked there. Some were even parked on both sides of the street, causing an extra danger for people trying to drive past on the street. I emailed PCMI to report the problem; no reply yet.

If the parking lot is full, I don't have a problem with people parking along the road. I imagine the lot gets full quickly during large gatherings.

It looks like they're reallying trying to get rid of all the empty lots in the Western half.

At least four empty lots began construction this past week. Good!

Activepearland has a very valid point, the more involved we become in our community, the better it'll become. Paying taxes is not even worth mentioning, as not paying taxes is illegal.

Of course, putting down people (i.e., "none of you volutneer! shame on you!") is a poor way to get people involved.

Oven cleaner usually does the job. Bleach works too. Try lacing things ants eat with that stuff.

I just received a letter from the HOA on the issue of recreation center parking.

Looks like twgreen delivered, nice job!

That's really ridiculous. I would have backed away too.

Also, why is putting up a single camera so difficult? They used to have one in the AW section, but now it's gone. Surely they can't cost that much.

Chipotle is an excellent choice as well as Outback and the Kolache Factory. I'd pass on Applebees and Red Lobster. Their food is horrific.

Chipotle WOULD be an excellent addition.

There are far too few healthy, vegetarian-friendly, eateries in Pearland.

Wow, fantastic post!

While I'm disappointed in their decision to build a toll road, at least it'll get some people off the free highway. Also, I imagine buses will use the toll as some sort of psuedo-HOV lane...

Councilman Kevin Cole explained it like this:

We've got six lanes of Broadway that's been constructed all the way from 288 to Kirby to help with the traffic volume. It's brand-new.

The rest of the roadway will be under construction shortly - four lanes divided all the way to FM 521 heading west.

- From the Chron's Inside Pearland blog.

Also, they've strung wires onto the poles and have moved Southern Trail's flagpoles back a few feet.

again...MLK, Cullen and Scott will all flow freely into 518.....if you fear the natural growth, you may as well start looking past Angleton for the next getaway community......

Hmm, I wonder why residents on MLK, Cullen, and Scott haven't moved to Bellaire or West University. After all, MLK, Cullen, and Scott pretty much flow freely into those neighborhoods. And why haven't the lower income neighborhoods bordering I45N expanded westward into the Heights? And why hasn't the Galleria become an extension of the Third Ward - isn't it just minutes away?

Please stop with the "OH NO, PEOPLE WILL BE ATTRACTED TO PEARLAND" nonsense. Every successful area / city in Houston is surrounded by lower income neighborhoods, that's just how it is in a metropolis.

Say what? $150,000 house subdivisions are slums??

No! I simply said that because people here usually discount the long-term worth of subdivisions in that price-range. Of course, that's not always the case.

But yea, I suppose "re-urbanization" of areas near the city (in the loop) would be a good thing for Houston...

Anyone else really worried about the empty Ashton Woods lots?

They really need to pick up the pace with their sales...

The Atlantic published a piece last month on the rising number of subdivision-slums. Read it here.

This isn't about the third-ward. It's not even about those $150,000 subdivisions. Major master-planned communities are going kaput across the nation.

In the Franklin Reserve neighborhood of Elk Grove, California, south of Sacramento, the houses are nicer than those at Windy Ridge

I reread the form the PCMI sent me and I think I was a bit mistaken, the charge is $10 for the first key fob, others sent to your family are 'free'. But there is a hefty $30 replacement fee, if any are lost or stolen.

The literature says the lifeguards will check to see if you have a key fob when you come to swim. I'm skeptical about that.

You need the key to open the gate to access the pool, so in that sense, it's required.

But yea, the HOA fees can be a bit overwhelming. Hopefully they'll go down as we get more residents.

We closed on our house yesterday.

Congratulations. Welcome to the community...

FYI......

CBL ANNOUNCES RESIDENTIAL COMPONENT FOR PEARLAND TOWN CENTER

IN HOUSTON (PEARLAND), TX

250 Luxury Residential Units to be Developed at Pearland Town Center

http://www.cblproperties.com/cbl.nsf/Recen...+C?opendocument

Er, why?

Who would want to live in the middle of a mall? Looks like they're using the PTC as a test-ground...

UPDATE:

Lampson, a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, has requested $1.5 million for a Pearland Park & Ride facility as part of the House transportation budget.

If Lampson's efforts are successful, the $1.5 million would likely go towards building a permanent Park & Ride facility in the Texas 288 area, according to Pearland City Manager Bill Eisen.

http://blogs.chron.com/pearland/2008/04/pa...n_pearland.html

This is terrific news. Gathering the money was proving to be the most difficult part, so this fund allocation should put the project on the front-burners...

God forbid any chain restaurant be left out of the mess that West Pearland has become.

Exactly! Pesky developers. Why couldn't they just leave the place a barren flood-zone...

Hah! Friendswood must feel bad...

Heh, I didn't mean to offend you. Sorry if I did!

We have an Ashley table too.

My comment was in reference to the style furniture I saw in model homes and the furniture style that's most common to Houston. I figured Pearland was like most other big Houston suburbs when it comes to furniture...