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skooljunkie

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Everything posted by skooljunkie

  1. skooljunkie
    The city continues to rebuild traffic signals and intersections throughout the city since Rebuild started--removing wired signals with masts and adding crosswalk signalization while removing pedestrian impediments. These improvements, in my opinion, help create walkable environments. Most of my guests don't notice setbacks or ground floor retail issues; they pick up on the crumbling sidewalks or ditch infrastructure we have. I tend to forget these infrastructure issues exist until I drive down new boulevards in Upper Kirby or visit other places. Its a whole other world in parts of Shady Acres, Washington, or Montrose. I just want curbs. I often find myself walking in the middle of a narrow ditch-lined street without sidewalks negotiating right of passage with Audis, and that's just not walkable. I used to think there was a charm to the lack of infrastructure--it made neighborhoods feel cozy and historical--moo, with all the added density it just makes no sense now. But yeah, I think GFR would be great at this site along Main Street. There are already sidewalks to support it! I can walk a mile in many areas and not notice the lack of retail as long as there are homes or people to observe on the ground level. When I walk a few blocks in Midtown (mostly central or south Midtown), I often notice the lack of retail because there is often nothing to view but vacant lots, garages, or walls of apartment buildings. Even with all the new apartment buildings going up, I think Midtown still needs more residents to fill in the gaps--then it will feel more walkable because you won't be walking by gravel lots and whatnot. Also, building residential structures with multiple entrances instead of entire block sides of wall would help create pedestrian movement and variation around structures. Solid walls facing blocks can be perceived as unsafe not to mention bland. Retail is definitely not the only tool to make neighborhoods more walkable. Residential building design and streetscape go a long way to help as well.
  2. skooljunkie
  3. skooljunkie
    I spotted this sign in Cottage Grove advertising a new office building between Radcliffe and T.C. Jester along I-10. The lot was cleared a while back. I couldn't find a posting on this, but I also didn't look too long. The sign must have gone up recently. It wasn't in the February street view. This seems odd: skybridge and mid-2018 completion? http://i.imgur.com/nDZbHkg.jpg
  4. skooljunkie
    http://imgur.com/a/Z474L I saw this happening on site today.
  5. skooljunkie
    The parking spaces will give the store a more active vibe I suppose--retail likely performs better when the perception is that people actually shop there. On a side note, 22 Waugh, Gordy and Sons Outfitters, looks done for the most part. I'm pleasantly surprised at this redevelopment. Yay, preservation. That crusty old HCC building is finally being put to good use. All these tracts proposed as Buffalo Heights could really transform the area.
  6. skooljunkie
    Getting in and out of these outdoor, mixed-use "malls" always grinds my gears no matter if it's The Domain, City Centre, First Colony, or The Woodlands. I tend to gravitate to developments without so many stores and restaurants packed into one area. I like that Regent Square would surround and directly link to existing communities that are becoming denser. The Domain and City Centre pack in all these shops adjacent to freeways and I tend to avoid going to them because of traffic.
  7. skooljunkie
    Wait. We have street sweepers? (street sweeping is a topic of conversation that makes my blood boil in this city--it's a simple maintenance task that could solve so many more problems) I do know some management districts contract sweeping, and TxDOT sweeps the freeways quite regularly actually even though they become trashy quickly....but as for the rest of the city, I'd bet most roads have never been swept in my lifetime. It is easy to become complacent when there are so many other issues like roadside urban ditches and crumbling infrastructure. However, so many issues could be resolved if we did sweep regularly: inlet clogs could be prevented, more standing water could be eliminated, curb appeal would increase, cyclists would be safer by not having to dodge sandbars and rocks, and our shoes wouldn't get so damn muddy just from crossing the street. I mean, geez, at a minimum it seems we could at least sweep each major road in the city a couple times a year. All the griping aside, I did see more street sweepers out the week prior to the Superbowl than in my whole life here in Houston--but again--it's only on certain roads. I have heard through the grapevine that the City has begun sweeping major roads on the SE and SW sides, but I've yet to hear or see any official documentation on that.
  8. skooljunkie
    The concrete for the new street segment was poured a few weeks ago.
  9. skooljunkie
    Urbs omitted this other permit for 215 apartment units): 16097630 Impact WWater *WINTHER INVESTMENT, INC 2111 AUSTIN ST 77002 CONSTRUCT 215 APT W/ WASHER/DRYERS
  10. skooljunkie
    The rendering with floor counts shows the Brennan's building to the left which would make it the Elgin/Spur 527/Stuart/Smith lot.
  11. skooljunkie
    Crane is up http://imgur.com/rjdXy7N
  12. skooljunkie
    The lot has been cleared.
  13. skooljunkie
    It's the big red cock in front of BRC--it exists unlike the 20 pedestrians.
  14. skooljunkie
    That Wal-Mart though! We all live in our own little worlds and cannot imagine there are different people with different tastes living all around us--even within the same retail trade area. I have to wonder if this project will cause more traffic on I-10, overcrowd Crockett Elementary, and lower property values to boot!
  15. skooljunkie
    I have some proof from Friday that this started... http://imgur.com/lmscNYu
  16. skooljunkie
    The old slabs are being removed as well as trees.
  17. skooljunkie
    It is comical to me when multifamily or condo developments are called out as being the cause of a particular problem when the truth is development in the entire region causes the issue. So, yeah, I'd have to agree with lithium about the NIMBY plays used with traffic and flooding--I'd add schools to that list. The Tower of Traffic will add cars to Bissonnet, but the tens of thousands of added housing units and millions of square feet of medical/office/retail space within a five mile radius is the root of the traffic problems for the two lane road that is basically a transportation funnel between Southwest Freeway and Rice University. Is the density a problem though? If we didn't add people in the city, we'd just be developing more hinterland and causing even worse flooding and a greater need for new roads. Each watershed is different. The truth is the White Oak watershed is nearly 100% built out save for a few larger tracts of land inside Beltway 8. Even the suburban areas outside the Beltway are developed. Yeah, more land should have been saved in the 100- and 500- year flood plain. Unfortunately, time machines and common sense wands haven't been invented yet. The White Oak watershed will need changes at both the lot level and infrastructure rehab level to make a difference. Blaming this particular lot for exacerbating flooding doesn't make sense since it was mostly impervious to begin with, but lot-based regulations can make a difference long-term--the problem is it will take too long on its own in an already built out watershed. The city does require storm water detention in various ways. I do not know city code backwards and forward, but I do know that many new infill developments require storm water detention under driveways if it can't be provided in a basin. Just because you can't see a hole in the ground, doesn't mean water isn't being detained during heavy rains by storm pipes. One could easily argue that new development with storm water detention above or below ground will actually hold back more water in a subtropical downpour than a half-paved lot with a clay soil parking lot that has been compacted for the last 70 years. Flood control in other watersheds that still have undeveloped land should be approached slightly differently. The Addicks Reservoir, Cypress Creek, and Spring Creek watersheds have land that can still be developed smarter or not developed at all. It's obvious we don't have enough historical climate data to know just how intense rainstorms here can be. Actually, maybe we do know that sometimes feet of rain can fall in a matter of hours over very isolated locations, but we just choose not to believe it will happen again until Meyerland floods twice in a year. Instead of pointing fingers it would be more beneficial to get creative and figure out how to solve our problems.
  18. skooljunkie
    This apartment property broke ground recently in The Energy Corridor. Slabs have been constructed. North side of Westheimer a few hundred feet west of Eldridge. http://www.meekspartners.com/parkway-flats?c=T24tVGhlLUJvYXJkcw==
  19. skooljunkie
    The majority of this site already had structures on it prior to this development. While they may have not been fully slabbed, water still drained off the buildings and into our drainage system during heavy rains.
  20. skooljunkie
    Here's a pic of the first visible sign of progress here since the Dickson St. abandonment sign was put up last year. It looks like utilities and trees are being marked. Not in the pic: all the utility boxes in the way of the proposed extension of Leverkuhn St. are marked up and staked off.
  21. skooljunkie
    ...I'm once again curious about this project in my neighborhood. The renovation halted for a while but has started up again. Yesterday crews started clearing the empty part of the parcel.
  22. skooljunkie
    I have limited intelligence on this one, but I figured I would share. I've heard second hand that residents in the NW corner were given ample notice a few months back to find new apartments because their leases will not be renewed. After I heard this, I got to thinking...survey stakes went up around the Heights/Washington corner a few weeks ago. Maybe it's nothing...or maybe it's something?
  23. skooljunkie
    http://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/mixed-use-allen-parkway-eb-5-Houston-8315544.php
  24. skooljunkie
  25. skooljunkie
    I thought those TxDOT signs were only around to inform the masses of nearby gun shows.
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