CreekDweller

Below are the results of the 2008 presidential election by voter district with a list of which subdivision(s) are in a given district. (Not very nice looking, I know.)

If you're interested in reviewing the data yourself, go to http://gardow.com/da...ricting2.0.aspx and select Texas from the upper lefthand menu. When it asks if you want to use the dataset, click OK. When you hover over a voting district, it will give you the '08 results and racial demographics (which are from the 2000 census so they're pretty useless).

District ----Subdivision(s) ------------------------------------------------------------ % Obama----- % McCain

201-0466 Bammel Forest, Northgate Forest, Olde Oaks, Waterford Park -- 41--------------- 58

201-0615 Oak Creek Village, Olde Oaks -------------------------------------------- 40--------------- 59

201-0465 Ponderosa------------------------------------------------------------------------ 43----------------57

201-0111 Westador --------------------------------------------------------------------------51----------------48

201-0513 Huntwick ---------------------------------------------------------------------------21 ---------------78

201-0451 Champions-------------------------------------------------------------------------18--------------- 81

201-0614 Fountainhead, Torrey Pines--------------------------------------------------63-----------------36

201-0660 Cranbrook, Laurel Oaks, Northcliffe----------------------------------------90-----------------10

201-0669 Champions Park------------------------------------------------------------------27----------------72

201-0113 Greenwood Forest---------------------------------------------------------------30----------------69

201-0516 Bourgeois Forest, Greenwood Forest ------------------------------------44----------------55

201-0478 Prestonwood Forest-------------------------------------------------------------32----------------67

201-0515 Champion Forest ----------------------------------------------------------------20 ----------------80

201-0648 Champion Forest, Memorial Northwest -----------------------------------31----------------69

201-0601 Memorial Northwest ------------------------------------------------------------25-----------------74

201-0631 Wimbledon Champions, Wimbledon Estates----------------------------28------------------71

201-0514 Spring Creek Oaks, Terranova-----------------------------------------------27-----------------72

201-0464 Cypresswood-----------------------------------------------------------------------31-----------------69

201-0633 Candlelight Hills, Candlelight Park, Louetta Lakes--------------------29------------------71

201-0500 Enchanted Oaks -----------------------------------------------------------------32-----------------67

201-0552 Northampton, Northampton Forest -----------------------------------------17-----------------82

Looks like Ruby Tequila's Mexican Kitchen is opening several locations in the Houston area, beginning with locations on FM 1960 near 249 (across from Willowbrook Mall) and another in Midtown. Ruby Tequila's is a popular chain of Tex-Mex restaurants based out of West Texas.

Ruby Tequilas

I went there last weekend. The service was slow, the menu was overpriced, and the only thing I was impressed with was the guacamole (which, at something like $8 a bowl needed to be pretty damn good anyway). I don't know why chain Tex-Mex places even bother in Houston when we have so many mom-and-pop ones that are cheaper and better. The only one that's worth the money is Pappasitos.

So did the people who wanted out of Spring in Northgate Forest send their kids to private schools? I go to the new Spring Clinic right across on 1960 and noticed Spring school buses exiting from there. I take it some of them couldn't afford the private schools. All their money goes on their homes, I guess.

There's a lot of sketchy people living in Northgate now whom I'm fairly sure can't afford to send their kids to private school. A lot of the houses (mainly in the older section on Cedar Woods and Pinelake) there are leased out or sitting vacant and for sale. Some of the houses are really poorly maintained; my parents looked at one for sale on Cedar Woods out of morbid curiosity and were shocked at the bad shape it was in.

I think most of the people pushing for the "secession" are the ones who live in The Estates and The Village and the other newer sub-subdivisions of Northgate.

I love '70s-'80s custom homes. Just about everything built after the mid-'90s looks and feels like it was made out of sawdust and glue, and I can't stand the schizophrenic "Tuscan villa-slash-French chateau-slash-English manor" look that new homes seem to have nowadays; five different rooflines and three different types of brick and stone on the exterior is not architecture.

Wilding Estates, Doe Run, Fern Lake and Autumnwood are a few of the earlier high-end neighborhoods in VOGM that come to mind. Grogan's Point was built around that time but I'm not a fan of most of the houses there (they have a very McMansion-y feel to them, like they were designed to look as oversized as possible).

Yeah, it basically looks like uninspiring median filler. Unfortunately, a lot of the art installations in The Woodlands are bland "postmodern" hunks from the '80s that have not aged well stylistically. I will always have a soft spot for "The Dreamer" at Woodlands Parkway and South Panther Creek...memories of driving by it every afternoon after my mom picked me up from school.

Most of the sculptures can be viewed here.

How old are your kids?

If they're grade school-age and small classes are really important to you, I'd recommend Abercrombie Academy in Spring (off of Louetta). I only went there until kindergarten but by brother went there up through 5th grade as did one of my younger uncles. The drawback there is they don't have as much to offer in terms of facilities/activities as public schools or larger private schools might.

John Cooper is a great one (I went there for all 12 years and graduated 2 years ago), and though it's expensive it's definitely worth your money (beautiful campus, Ivy League-educated faculty, great academics, good athletic programs, virtually guaranteed to get into any Top 100 college you apply to)

My brother is currently at Northland Christian and I know several people who went there. I've generally heard good things about it and that's another good one and not very expensive.

Providence Classical School is SCARY, that was one my parents looked at for my brother a couple of years ago. Those people are RELIGIOUS FANATIC NUTJOBS and for the love of God (no pun intended) STAY AWAY FROM THERE.

We have some neighbors whose kids attended Northwoods Catholic School and ended up leaving halfway through the year. Apparently if you're not Catholic it's a very unpleasant environment to be in.

If you're willing to make the drive, Episcopal, Strake Jesuit, Kinkaid and St. John's are good ones too.

At least the golf course might actually get mowed. That place looks practically abandoned.

Speaking of Memorial Northwest - why are there so many foreclosures in that neighborhood specifically?

If you've looked on har.com recently, there are so many houses between 4000 and 6500 square feet going for $60 sq ft and less, and several are foreclosures.

I don't really like the neighborhood too much, but man...can you get a McMansion on the cheap there or what!

That neighborhood was hit really badly by the housing market crash in the late '80s (and apparently again with this one?) and I guess their property values never recovered. Also if you've ever been in any of those houses (or looked at some of the listings on HAR), a lot of them were really poorly designed - odd floorplans, undersized lots, etc.

Is there a listing for it on HAR? (No I'm not a stalker, but all this discourse is piquing my curiosity about this house).

Are those the buildings with the mirrored glass that sort of "blend in" to the trees? I've always liked those (unobtrusive architecture at its best) and they're not very old? I had a job interview in one of them once and they looked like they'd been built some time in the '80s.

I was surprised that Corbin van Arsdale lost the primary on Tuesday to a total unknown. What was his district's beef with him? Texas Monthly generally gave him pretty decent marks when they reviewed state lawmakers, and he has that uber-classy name...

#1 College Park HS

#2 The Woodlands HS

#3 McCullough Junior High (formerly TWHS McCullough)

#4 Klein Oak (?)

It's the equivalent of having a giant middle finger at the front of your neighborhood.

I can't tell you how many times I've visited friends who live in gated communities and had to go through the hassle of writing down the code to get in, half the time not getting the gate to open and having to call the person to have them buzz me in. We briefly lived in the Middle East when I was younger because of my dad's job and I remember everyone living in little gated "compounds". At least there they had somewhat legitimate security reasons for having them. But most gated communities around here are out in the lily white sticks where crime rates are already low anyway. And if someone really wants to get into your house, they'll find a way past the gate.

What many people don't know is that electric gates that operate on a hinge and swing open inward (as opposed to the ones that slide open) can be manually overridden. You just very gently nudge the gate with your car (or pushing it with your bare hands) and it will swing open. There is hardly ever actually a "locking" mechanism on those types of gates that keeps them shut.

Also, does anyone know what fire/police/EMS people do when they get a call from someone in a gated community? Would they have to pray the person in need of assistance is able to buzz the gate open for them when they arrive?

It depends on what you define as "illegal". We live in Spring ISD and know a few families who rent apartments or houses in Klein ISD so that they'll have a legal address to reigster their kids under to go to school in that district. I don't think they're doing anything really wrong; the law says anyone can attend a public school in a district where they own or rent some kind of real estate, and that's precisely what those people are doing. There was nothig stopping your family from doing the same if moving was such a hassle for you. What does bother me is the people who use a relative/friend's address in another district to go to school there. Because then they aren't even contributing anything to the district in terms of property taxes, utility district taxes, etc.

I went to school with Pimienta's kids. Also knew a few of the people unfortunate enough to have to live on the same street as that architectural monstrosity. It looks like something a coked out yuppie would have designed in the '80s and the furniture looks like it was stolen from the set of Beetlejuice.

There's a new restaurant opening on Kuykendahl at Woerner Rd just north of 1960 in what used to be a large private home. It's supposed to be called The Lodge at Cypress Creek and according to the sign it's billing itself as a "Texas Bistro". I called the number on the sign and nobody answered. Does anyone know if this is actually open yet and if not when it's going to be open? And what, dare I ask, does a "Texas Bistro" serve?

I came across a website devoted to "dead malls" (which Wikipedia define as malls having a high vacancy rate, low consumer traffic, and/or dated/decaying appearance).

www.deadmalls.com

They have articles about Greenspoint, Mall of the Mainland (quite possibly the most awesomely bad mall I've ever set foot in), and Town & Country. No pictures though, as they have on some of the other malls.

Willowbrook and Deerbrook hardly qualify as "endangered". Willowbrook's clientele may have grown a little more "diverse" (when compared to 15-20 years ago when it was still considered out in the boondocks) but in terms of the types of stores they have it's gotten nicer lately. I consider Deerbrook a slightly more downscale version of Willowbrook, both in terms of the stores they have & the people who shop there. It's also in a bad location surrounded by cheap houses and old strip centers.

Gunspoint is a lost cause. That ship sailed years ago. It's been a certifiably ghetto mall for at least ten years and started being "endangered" probably 15 years ago.

The subdivisions in The Woodlands are more for marketing purposes than for appraisal or logistics. Properties are listed under the village name on the appraisal district website, not subdivision, probably because the subdivisions there are so small (some have less than 20 houses in them). Houses for sale in The Woodlands are generally listed by village rather than subdivision, but a realtor there might have some kind of database of neighborhoods. Here are some that I can name off the top of my head but it's definitely not a full list.

VILLAGE OF INDIAN SPRINGS

Altwood

Cascade Canyon

Chandler Creek

Falconwing Estates

Heritage Hill

Hunter's Crossing

Idlewood

Indigo Sky

Lansdowne

Lennox Hill

Peaceful Canyon

Tealbriar

VILLAGE OF COCHRAN'S CROSSING

Capstone

Capstone Forest

Chancery Place

Copper Sage

Golden Sage

Hayden's Run

Hollymead

Lyric Arbor

Meadowmist

Palmer Woods

Shadowlake

Shadowpoint

Stonecroft

Turnstone

Waterford Bend

Wyndspire

VILLAGE OF PANTHER CREEK

The Cove

Creekside

Dunlin Meadow

Herald Oaks

Lakemist Harbour

Pebble Hollow

The Pointe

The Retreat at Vista Cove

Shadowcreek

Wedgewood Estates

Wedgewood Forest

West Isle

Windward Cove

VILLAGE OF GROGAN'S MILL

Autumnwood

Cokeberry Forest

Fern Lake

Grogan's Point

Sawmill Woods

Wilding Estates

VILLAGE OF STERLING RIDGE

Artist Grove

Ashbury Square

Belcourte

Burberry Park

Chantsong

Frontera

Knightsgate

Nocturne Woods

Player Woods

Scribewood

Star Ridge

Terrace Mill

VILLAGE OF ALDEN BRIDGE

Green Gables

Noble Bend

Plum Crest

New stores:

*Swarovski

*Build a Bear :closedeyes:

*Vans

*Hollister :closedeyes:

Willowbrook is always a couple of years behind The Woodlands Mall in terms of which stores they get. What next, an Apple store? I heard through the grapevine that Willowbrook is supposed to be getting a Neiman Marcus but that seems like a weird place to put one. One thing that has always surprised me about The Woodlands is that it's probably the only "affluent" mall I can think of that doesn't have a Starbucks (not counting the cafe in Barnes & Noble that serves Starbucks).

Eva's - Mexican restaurant on Kuykendahl Rd just north of FM 1960, has been there for 5 or 6 years I think; very good & very cheap

HB Japanese Steakhouse - Japanese hibachi grill on 1960 near Stuebner Airline (they also have another location in Humble also on 1960); we've been eating there for over a decade, service has gone way downhill recently to the point that we hardly ever go but the food's still pretty good

Via Emilia - Italian restaurant on 1960 at Falling Creek; owned by very nice Italian-American family; classic Italian bistro, candles on the table at dinner and a live pianist

Campioni - another nice Italian place on 1960 in the Champions Village shopping center

Hasta La Pasta - Italian restaurant at Cypresswood and Stuebner Airline; just opened fairly recently but they're always crowded and the food is great; I'm hoping they'll last

Sitar - Indian restaurant on I-45 South just past Rayford-Sawdust

That place needs serious help. I had to go to not one but two high school proms at Del Lago. The interior looks like a crumbling relic from the 1980s with a really bad faux-Southwestern motif, and the bathrooms were gross. And the guests looked like they had just walked out of one of Jeff Foxworthy's "You Might Be a Redneck If..." routines.

Most new developments in rural/suburban areas have animal control problems at some point. There was originally a pig farm adjacent to Olde Oaks/Oak Creek and people occasionally found pigs in their back yard and such. Grogan's Point in The Woodlands had a fairly serious feral hog problem a few years ago. Bridgeland will have its own problems but I doubt bears will factor into the equation.

Agreed. Taxidermy gone bad or it could've been somebody's pet. I recall hearing some crazy statistic about how many Tigers there are in Harris County which was shocking.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

If Kinky Friedman were Governor now this argument wouldn't even be taking place because some major corporation would be footing the bill for this whole set-up in exchange for getting their logo plastered all over the place. And they probably would have used their big-business clout to get it built a lot cheaper than $81 million. I say cast the millstones off the necks of the taxpayers and let the private sector handle school sports. It's worked for professional teams for decades.

Someone also told me that the Berryhill Tamales on 1960 was closed down for failure to pay rent? Is that the case?

If they couldn't pay their rent it was probably because nobody goes there because they're the worst "Mexican/Tex-mex/whatever" restaurant known to mankind.

We ate at that location once - the service was terrible and the shrimp in my mom's friend's salad were completely uncooked (they were still that gray color ). We flagged down the waitress, who brought one of the kitchen staff to our table as if she needed third-party verification that the shrimp were raw. The cook was wearing FLIP-FLOPS. That combined with the huge communal self-serve salsa & chips made the place a health department violation in the works.

I tried not to let that incident sour me on the whole Berryhill franchise so a few months later I ate at the one in The Woodlands with a friend. Yet again, slow service and my enchiladas were covered in cheese that was more like yellow cheese-flavored water.

The fact that chain Mexican restaurants can even survive in Houston astonishes me. The mom-and-pop ones are way better and a lot cheaper.