capnmcbarnacle

i live close to these bars and somedays are better than others when it comes to parking hassles --but the "other" days can be horrible--blocking sidewalks. parking up to the stop sign so you can't see oncoming traffic, or bumpers sticking way into your driveway--mainly tho-- it's coming home each day to the hassle of searching for on street parking by your apartment--when you attended a civic meeting and the owner of the bar aknowledged the parking "nightmare situation" and made promises --not to complicate it further

I get irritated when people park in front of my house to walk to commerical businesses near my house. Mostly it's beacause they park in the middle of the curb cut and take up 2 spaces with 1 car. But I don't own the street and anyone can park there. It's an interesting phenomenon that we feel a sense of entitlement to the public parking in front of our homes. That being said, when faced with the option of people parking in front of my house to walk to restaurants and bars that I also walk to, or having no cars on the street to impede my drive to Fudruckers, I'll take the former.

Parking will always be an issue in our neighborhood. Not everyone who wants to go to the places here lives withing walking distance. The way I see it there are the following options:

1. Require the business to adhere to the code, forcing them to acquire and scrape away a few bungalows for surface parking ala The Tavern.

2. Complain about on street parking until the businesses leave, and then moan about how "non-walkable" Houston is.

3. Use eminent domain to increase the width of the right of ways. You know, so you can park on both sides and still get two lanes of traffic down the middle. It'll only take part of you front yard anyway.

4. Accept that part of living in a desirable urban neighborhood is that other people want to drive to your house and walk around where you live.

I have a place in the French Quarter and no parking place. It's not unusual for me to walk a number of blocks from my car to the apartment because other people park on the street. Imagine the quarter if we required every restaurant or hole in the wall bar to have 10 spaces for each 1000 feet. It would cease to exist.

If you want businesses you can walk to, along with some neighborhood character, I think on street parking is the trade off.

Your video update is awesome Random!

I always like seeing what is under the ground. All those piers make me wonder what used to be there. Anyone know? Also, in the pics and video there is a big concrete ball and a red or orange circular structure taht looks like a well or somehting. Anyone that has seen this up close know what it is?

its insane how fast DT has gone up. like jack and the bean stalk fast!

i was over at disco green last weekend and i could feel how amazing its going to be once ES is up and DT is finished. its going to be awesome =D

27th? Isn't all that's left the crown?

Of course it's gay. We stole it from New Orleans.

It is somewhat amusing...and perhaps sad...that we try so hard to ignore the fact that it just might be the people that live here that makes it work. Why couldn't it be that the place is full of freaks and artists, musicians, liberals and libertarians? Why can't it be the fact that not only do my neighbors not care that my dogs bark at everyone that walks by, they actually know their names? Why wouldn't I like a neighborhood that doesn't bat an eye when I paint my house yellow, red and blue? Could it be that, unlike many neighborhoods that design the homes to face inward and the garages facing out, the Heights houses face the sidewalk and the garages face the alley? And doesn't that make for a friendlier existence? These designs are no longer practiced in most new homes. Isn't it possible that it makes one feel a little better living where these designs still exist?

Eh, maybe that's not the reason, but it's close enough for me.

I think you nailed. It's a perfect neighborhood for certain types of people. At the end of the day it's friendly and neighborly because people want it to be friendly and neighborly. I think Heights and Montrose share that quality. In a strange way, my street in Montrose has more Norman Rockwell style neighborliness than most can imagine. Everyone knows each other, knows each others dogs, keeps a wary eye for the kids, etc. It's just that some of the neighbors are Adam and Steve. Architecture helps to facilitate the way people interact and behave -- the existence of the front porch creates a social atmosphere that newer neighborhoods I lived in did not. I'm glad there are places like the Heights where like minded people who want to create or share in lifestyle are able to do it. It's appeal is in the people who live there. And the fact it's 15 minutes from anywhere you want to be in a city where 90 minute commutes are possible. This thread almost makes me want to move back.

As crazy as it sounds now... I moved into the Heights because it was cheap. and my neighbors were freaks and musicians. Oh, and the homes had yards with trees! My how the neighborhood has changed!

This made me laugh because I remember visiting a buddy there around 1994 who moved there because he could get a house well under $100k and Montrose was getting pricey as houses topped $100k. I pulled up next to his new place and promptly drove into a drainage ditch. I always dug the Heights and it has changed a ton in the last 10 years. But Heights people are just Heights people. I can't put my finger on it. I moved there for 6 months in in 1998 when i thought Montrose was losing its soul and then moved back becasuse, well, i just wasn't a Heights person. I don't know what the deal is with the Heights. It has more to do with the people than the aesthetics I think -- everyone there just convinces themselves that they are in a great place and - voila! - everyone else wants to go there. And "White Linen Night" is gayer than anything in Montrose.

That would have been the Westheimer Art Festival when they closed the streets. They killed the funk-factor when they moved it and renamed it the Bayou City Art Festival.

Sure, they still do the Westheimer Street Fest, I suppose, but it's not the same with the streets open to traffic.

Oh, the days of freak watching. Gone.

I miss the art fest. That was insane fun at the time.

I'd hate to see the parade move downtown. The downtown parades are so sterile. I like that the pride parade takes place where people actually live and can walk from their homes to go see. I walk to the parade every year. I can't see driving downtown to stand at the corner of Rusk and Fannin to watch the BP float go by. And I bet the cops wouldn't turn a blind eye to the open container law downtown either....

Ricco makes a good point too. The trade off for wild rambunctious parties seems to be public acceptance. Of course, EVERYTHING was better in the 70's and 80's, depending on who you ask.

I do understand your complaint about the floats. Its a parade, make it festive. Now that there is a surplus of entries, perhaps the parade committee (whoever they are) needs to put some rules out for float criteria.

The Pride Parade made for a great parade by virtue of the fact it was inherently festive. And by that I mean that for a long time the participants were the most over the top of the community -- they were out at a time when most weren't and relveled in that fact. At a time when many were afraid or ashamed to admit they were gay, just saying you were out was taking the plunge to be a social outcast. I think once that line was crossed, there was complete freedom to do what you wanted on the other side. But times have changed.

We sit here lamenting the fact that the parade now seems devoid of dudes in assless chaps leading other dudes around on leashes, etc. It made for great people watching. It is also a stereotype. I live on a block with at least half a dozen gay people and as far as I know, they don't cross dress or wear body glitter or sing in an Abba tribute group. I'm the only one that likes Erasure and I have a wife. They lead normal, dull lives like the rest of us -- or at least I'm pretty sure 4 or 5 of them do. And I'm pretty sure that in 1978 most gay people also lived quiet, dull, closeted lives.

The boring people in JP Morgan Chase t-shirts, calmly walking along the parade route, are indicative of the average in the GLBT community because they are indicative of the average in the community at large. The parade has become a symbol that -- for better or worse -- gay people are just like the rest (heteros) of us.

I wonder sometimes about the future of this parade. What good will it be when it's 75 floats of politicos, local insurance agents, radio stations, and corporations showing that they think it's ok to be gay (and send us your business), and no more sideshow element? Hell if I know. Maybe it goes to show that our differences aren't in the way we are born or the inherent characteristics we come into the world with, but are in the ways we choose to live our lives and show ourselves to the rest of the world. To that end, there will always be people on the fringe of society -- gay and straight. The alternativeness of the s/m dudes no longer lies in the fact they are gay. It rests in the fact that they are s/m dudes. So maybe Montrose needs a new parade of people who are just proclaiming their weirdness. That's the provacativeness that I think we all dug and are starting to miss.

Now that I've overthought it all, let me just say I'm excited for the parade. I love Montrose, love my neighbors, and look forward to another fun night of drinking beer in extreme heat while catching small bottles of personal lubricant from shemales. It still is Montrose after all.

We usually go around the intersection of Montrose and Westheimer and just walk up and down the street watching the parade... usually don't stay in one place.

The floats line up in Winlow Place and walking around there an hour or two before the start of the parade is a good time. The parade starts at Woodhead (insert Beavis and Butthead chuckle) and Westheimer and the Dunlavy intersection is pretty good as it has Poison Girl, Brasil, Agora, and Hollywood for all you needs.

Maybe I'm just getting older, but I swear the parade used to be crazier. And by crazier I mean that the participants refelcted what I'll call the fringe of society -- outcasts. The Rainbow Wranglers, the Strangerettes, etc. But I certainly understand that now that we live in a country where 6 states have legalized gay marriage of some sort and the feds give benefits to partners, GLBT isn't as much on the fringe as it used to be. The old practice of taking a stereotype and going over the top with it in order to mock it -- ala Zulu at Mardi Gras -- doesn't apply as much as it used to. Instead of dudes in gold lamay briefs eating fire, we have groups of 40 everday looking people from banks and churches and oil companies. I suppose that may have been more indicative of the GLBT community all along. It's just open now.

I always felt like the parade was as much of a neighborhood thing -- a montrose thing -- as a broader political statement. Like the old Art Fest and Street Fest it looked like a refelction of the hood -- the people who didn't come out until nighttime. Of course things do change and now I take my kids to the parade. And it's still fun. But I miss the Rainbow Wranglers.

The hood will be rockin' this weekend. There's a festival with closed streets during the day and then the Grand Parade at night. It looks like there are 87 parade entries.

With the dry weather, it looks like mosquitos won't be too bad this year.

http://www.pridehouston.org/events/index.php

Is it me or have entries been dwindling the last several years?

I think you have it exactly right.

Off topic, but I think that from this vantage point Main Place might end up being partially visible in the gap between One Shell and Wells Fargo and behind where the Bank One Center is visible. Especially if you moved a little to the right from where this picture was taken. Could be cool.

I love how "reflective" the glass is.

It is super spiffy. This building and Mainplace look like they'll make quite an impact. The definitely pop the eye compared to some more recent construction like 1000 Main and 5 Houston.

I know. I mean things have to get bigger, I expect that, but what was wrong with the black and white thematic elements throughout the shopping center? I liked that.

Disappointing to say the least. I understand things get replaced, but it's polite to replace them with something that is as interesting as what was there. This fails. It has nail salon/day spa tenant all over it and ought to have one of those terrible names like "Vaguely Tuscan Unincorporated Harris County Style Strip Mall at River Oaks." 3 to 1 says the dry cleaner is on a downstairs corner.

What's up with all those mid-rises from Herreros?

I want to ask why the Menil is expanding that they would need all that room, but I guess I'll go do some reading to find out myself...

(I do know they have lots of stuff in storage, but that much?)

Towers of Traffic dude. Towers of Traffic.

Those are all residential buildings. The cool thing is that one of the drawings shades all the properties that the Menil apparently owns around there. I had no idea their holdings were that vast. It's a good thing. And if the Menil wants to build towers of traffic I'm cool with it.

Interestingly both drawings show large residential components. If they doze Richmont Square, it makes sense to replace it with some income producing properties and be able to design and build those properties as part of a larger vision for the area. Pretty cool if you ask me.

this is one of the reasons Vallone pulled out of the River Oaks Shopping Center deal.

He and his son were going to open that place which is something they had wanted to do for awhile. It's possible that poor timing with the economy combined with the neighborhood hassle -- and maybe even a non-compte thing with Fertitta and Griglia (assuming they had one after Tony sold Griglia, et al to Tillman) -- just submarined the whole deal. And Tony would see the problems opening an upscale restaurant/wine bar right about now. I also wonder if the Mandola's are considering moving Nino's, etc. That place lost a lot of its mojo when the great view of downtown became a great view of 3 story, cookie-cutter, Perry Homes.

Or I could be way off and we'll be getting a Johnny Carino's in Montrose.

monica pope is definitely one of the most famous chefs in town

I didn't hear that it was Monica, although I think she'd be great there. She's been part of that neighborhood (cue the neighborhood borders debate) for so long and she has been a big part of the scene in this town going back to The Quilted Toque. One of the names I heard was Italian. I know that Popes tend to be italian, but I don't think Monica is. A few big names that come to mind. And just to assuage you once again, it wasn't Ferttita.

Wow, I had no idea it was that wild down there. If Id have known Id taken my kayak years ago down there. I always do my kayaking at Anahuac or out in the ship channel cause I love paddling next to those giant oil tankers. I wonder how in the world the bayou managed to escape being cemented in after all these years like the rest of the old rivers did. Glad this one escaped and its crazy to think alligators are swimming through downtown.

I love gators and I love kayaking next to em, its gives a great adrenaline rush! But man, theres got to be some nasty shit on the bottom of that creek. Probably dead people, used needles, feet of trash. Yuck.

I have a picture from the late 1960s where they bayou from Shephered to downtown is clear cut. There was a conservation effort to keep it from being cemented in back then and one of the leaders of the effort to keep it wild was none other than GHW Bush. That stretch is now a real asset to the city.

The run from 610 to Shepherd is really cool. Basically you have Memorial Park on your left and River Oaks on your right. It feels incredibly isolated. And there are some amazing houses back there. Some people have terraced and landscaped their banks, others let it go wild. You would never guess you were in the middle of the city. The run from Shepherd downtown is good too. And one comment I get from people who go with me for the first time is that the Bayou looks cleaner than they thought it would. Don't get me wrong, there is trash (especially plastic shopping bags) but as long as the current is good it's not all that bad. And four years running we've had people fall in the water and not had a single reported case of Hepatitis.

From the rumor mill...

They have apparently had success getting some retail committments and are very excited about having signed up two significant restaurant partners. From what I hear they will be sizable spaces and are well known, local, and respected names that have been in the biz in this town a long time. And no, not Tillman Fertitta, and not chains.

The hope is for groundbreaking this fall, completion of some sort or another in the fall of 2012.

If I had to tell you how good my source was, I'd say she's connected, knows what she is talking about and has no reason to make this up. Of course this doesn't mean these dates and tenants are set in stone. Still, it's encouraging.

I'm not so sure about the design...

What aren't you sure about? I'm not an actual architect (don't tell anyone on the board) so my assessments are usually governed by my initial reaction of whether or not it looks neat. Then I sort of figure if it is functional, and if it is then I probably put it in my acceptable category. I like the way one side of the building fans out at those angles, kind of giveing a sense of motion to contrast with something staid and blocky like the Royalton. It seems like the designer is fully aware of the advantage of being between downtown and uptown and the views, at both sunruse and sunset, that residents will have. I suppose some residents can pick their view and some will be fortunate and wealthy enough to have both. And I just think it looks neat. Maybe not totally original or groundbreaking but something that, as a nearby resident, I'll enjoy looking at each day.

I'm curious to hear from others, pros or not, what you like dislike about the rendering of the tower.

Wow. I really LIKE that tower.

PLEASE BUILD THIS.

I approve of this tower and greenlight the financing and necessary permits.

On another note though, this development is going to throw traffic up and down Dunlavy and Dallas into chaos. This plan calls for a lot more residents than were there before and, more importantly, lots of retail traffic. Keep in mind that Dunlavy between Dallas and Allen Pkwy is two lanes (the only expansion can come from...???...). Forget the dire predictions of Wilshire Village and Tower of Traffic -- this baby is going to have every bit the impact on the area. And I'm not necessarily one of those (even though I live right off Dunlavy) who thinks that's such a bad thing. It comes with living in a densifying city. I just hope that they do it right and from what I've seen of this group, I suspect they have their act together.

After relooking at the rendering and the map, it looks like they would build over Kyle St. where it dead ends into 59 and convert the two lots into one.

Interesting that they'd choose Montrose as the location for the HQ of The Directorate of Interior Security.

Two lanes, bike paths, and you could make left turns.

I don't have a problem with the reversible middle lane, but I absolutely hate the no left turn thing.

What was the alignment before the bike lanes? Wasn't there a middle lane for turns that was not a reversible lane? I remember people moaning about the addition of the bike lane because it took out a lane of traffic. Prior to the "new" reversible lane was it just two auto lanes and a bike lane?

Oh the hell with it.

Is it possible they're only talking about the garage below the office tower portion since the garage entrances is what would affect the LRT, not the office building itself and it's occupants? That's what I'd be thinking/hoping.

From the sound of it they appear to be talking about the use of an entire block, which I can't imagine would be all garage -- especially across the street from the Chase garage.

This tidbit was interesting...

there was never any intention of it returning according to the current mayoral leadership.

Hmmm. I remember going to public meetings on the project where they assured everyone the road would go back to how it was. And everyone at the meetings knowing that was a crock of BS. But the powers that be insisted it would go back. And lo and behold it turned out the public's astonishing premise, that politicians lie, was correct.

I think you might be on to something, but I find it hard to believe that the City would close Dunlavy. Especially since it goes several blocks farther north and has a fancy 59 bridge.

Can't do it with the Fire Station there Dunlavy and Richmond...

seriously?? i really don't understand why any resident in this area would prefer these disgusting projects to remain standing as opposed to an empty lot....anything new that is erected on this plot is an upgrade compared to Wilshire Village so at least an empty lot holds this potential

I can't agree that anything new is an upgrade. I'd rather have WV than a Tuscanized strip center with a Panera Bread and a Landry's. The reason I live in Montrose is to avoid that kind of crap.