travelguy_73

A quick link to the voters guide for Harris County:

http://www.lwvhousto...09_LWVH_Eng.pdf

and Fort Bend County:

http://www.lwvhousto...09_LWVH_Eng.pdf

from the League of Women Voters of the Houston Area

http://www.lwvhouston.org/

Thanks for posting the LWV links. I have been looking for nonpartisan material to help me understand Props 2 and 3, and this goes a long way towards that.

We bought our 9-light door from Historic Houston last year, and love it. I think we paid about $350 for the door, and then countless hours refinishing it.

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2009/09/21/daily58.html?ed=2009-09-28&ana=e_du_pub

From the Houston Business Journal:

The Greater East End Management District’s livable centers plan has earned the district $5 million in federal stimulus funds from the Transportation and Policy Council of the Houston-Galveston Area. The plan focuses on pedestrian streetscape and urban design improvements to enhance transit user and pedestrian access to bus and light rail.

The district says it expects to issue its first construction contract by the end of the year

We're going to Franklin, TN. We'll be doing the flipping thing out there also as well as pursuing some other interests. I might poke into HAIF every once in a while. There is no NAIF (nashville architecture) forum as far as I know

flipper

Ohhhh, basements! Lots of potential! You have a great style that I'm sure will attract lots of buyers there. I'm sure it will be interesting to work on homes in a different region. Good luck, you will be missed here!

I'm looking for a residential AC contractor who can pull City of Houston mechanical permits. Preferably, I need a smaller contractor, because I have a sort of strange situation. I do not plan to install the AC unit for several months, but I need the permit pulled now so that I can get approval from the City to allow Centerpoint to move my electric meter. Long Story short, Centerpoint needs a letter of approval from the City, but the City will not send the letter until ALL permits are paid for. Only licensed mechanical contractors can pull AC permits, forcing me to hire an AC contractor months before I need the AC installed.

I used Charles Bauer at Bauer Air Conditioning to move one of my A/C units, redo a lot of ductwork under the house, and relocate a return air. Did a good job, and the price seemed reasonable (though do you ever really know?). He was recommended to me via a colleague who used him to replace a couple of units.

Thanks everyone!

We have no experience at landscaping. Can someone elaborate on what's necessary to properly train this vine? The fence is a series of iron rods, rather than a lattice... will this make it more difficult?

Does it matter what time of year we plant it?

October is prime planting time, as the winters here are better for new plants than the summers (gives them many months to get settled and prepare for the heat).

Jasmine grows just fine on iron fencing, as you can simply train it up the rods, and then from rod-to-rod. Eventually it will fill in and form a pretty solid hedge. We are about to do just that with a 48" iron fence that surrounds our AC units. Will take 2-4 years to completely fill in, depending on sun.

A final word of advice: If you have grass growing up to the fence, you would do well to add a narrow (1') border down the fence line for the Jasmine. As it grows, it will be hard to trim back the grass without hacking the lower part of the jasmine. You can then cover the new bed with mulch and run your weedeater along it without worry of the new plants. BTW, Houston Garden Center on the west loop has nice tall 3 gallon plants for about $9 each. We just bought 4 for our AC project.

My neighbor put it on the chain link fence between our houses. Star jasmine rocks! Smells great, fills in well, has colorful flowers. Can't think of anything bad to say about it. It filled in much better than the honeysuckle that I had suggested.

Ditto. You will be hard-pressed to find a vine that will cover as well as Star Jasmine, yet won't completely want to take over everything else in sight like other vines. The first two years are critical, though: You will really want to stay on top of the new growth, training it evenly/consistently through the fence openings. Many people sort of let it do whatever for a year, and then try and train it, but by then the growth is stiff and much less pliable. I'm currently training mine on wire in an X pattern on a brick wall, and get out there every two weeks to train the new growth. It's strangely therapeutic.

It looks like something was on fire when they took that picture in 1924.

Every old Houston picture seems to have smoke in the background. I used to think the same thing, but now think it was factory exhaust. Can't imagine breathing that in every day...or maybe we do, it's just clear now!

I'm just happy to not have a Tow Truck 500 on the freeway every time a break down occurs

Podocarpus should be on your list. Can be maintained into a nice upright form, and works very well in narrow spaces. I also have a thing for Mexican Weeping Bamboo, ever since seeing it at Buchanan's a few years ago. Horsetail reed is another interesting form, but can be invasive, so plant in controlled areas.

So between dumble and the tracks is considered Eastwood ?

Tried searching Haif for this map of which you speak... no such luck.

Those boundaries seem to correspond to the old map i found... which leaves me with alot of other area I thought was considered Eastwood.

Yeah, I can't find it either (can't find much of anything with the HAIF search function).

I think this might be right . Actually, now that I look at it again, I believe the northern permiter is at Rusk, and doesn't encompass the commercial land on Harrisburg. Another generally good way to tell when you are driving around is setback. I have noticed that Woodleigh and the other surrounding neighborhoods have a shallower home setback (might be dreaming on that one, though). Guess the others were more working class neighborhoods and Eastwood was the nice (Ha!) one in the area.

What are the approximate boundaries of Eastwood anyways?

East End management district website doesnt list the various neighborhoods, nor can i find a map anywhere. Eastwood Association website is equally unhelpful.

Edit.

Nevermind.. found an old map. Eastwood is smaller and more West than i thought.

What neighborhoods make up the area east of Eastwood -

North of Lawndale and Telephone, South of Harrisburg, from Dumble to Wayside ?

Or is this also considered Eastwood in the broader sense ?

There was a cool map website posted on HAIF some time ago that allowed users to contribute data. I contributed the specific boundaries (as I know them) of Eastwood proper, which is boundaried by Cullen, Harby, Dumble, and Harrisburg (mostly--someone correct me if I am wrong). However, I believe the civic club represents a much larger area, and whether that is good or bad is another topic.

Eastwood-related: This book-in-progress by Billie Mercer just came out in the latest Eastwood Newsletter. I haven't "flipped" through it all yet, but it has potential to be something very neat.

Eastwood Today

Filed under Eastwood amenities, Frank Mandola (Mandola Deli) recently purchased the yellow house next door to his deli on Leeland and closed down the day labor service that was there (good news in itself). The house is currently being offered up for anyone who wants to move it off the property. If there are no takers, it will be torn down. The deli will then be expanding. They will have more parking, an outdoor dining area, and a beer/wine license, plus expanded evening hours (I think their model is the Dry Creek/Cedar Creek "chain," though hopefully with better service ). I work with his wife, and she says they are very excited about the expansion, but that it will not happen overnight. So I would expect this time next year we will have another place to get out and meet the neighbors (I'm not a fan of Bohemo's).

So improvements do come, albeit slowly.

It has to do with that elementary schools serve neighborhoods, whereas high schools serve communities. The whole of the area zoned to Lantrip could have the demographics of Bellaire and it wouldn't make much of a dent on Austin HS because Austin HS serves such a large area, including large slummy apartment complexes and many neighborhoods where large households are the norm.

That makes more sense. Austin (and Reagan) pull from much larger and more "diverse" areas than the elementary schools.

IS Lantrip East end or Heights ?

sorry I wasn't clear, Lantrip is Eastwood area, and Oxford is Heights (finally remembered the name).

Does gentrification in the loop really get started by young professionals? I currently am renting in the heights and from my daily walks it looks more to me that the demographics of Heights are mid 30's to mid 40's with the younger crowd being more of the vein of the Montrose artist archetype. I see more yuppies in the Rice Military and Midtown area where they have the 3-story townhomes and high rise living. Developing a taste for classic architecture like queen annes and craftsman bungalows seems akin to developing a pallette for fine wine which I find seems at odds with young professional types who tend to be more pretentious on average (just my personal observation, I'm sure there are some yuppies out there that don't fit that mold). All the townhomes being constructed between downtown and Eastwood bring yuppies down that way but unless that move draws the demographics of the likes of the Heights population then could it put Eastwood in danger of being demolished to make way for more of those poorly built (but with a nice facade) townhomes?

Well, Heights is much further down the path, and so the cost of entry is higher which means residents who can afford to get in and do major renovations are likely older. In Eastwood, Lindale, Riverside Terrace, et al, 20-somethings can afford to get in and do work on their homes (though the availability of credit to do that work is limited right now). However, you are right that most 20-somethings may think they know what they want, but really they don't (at least that was the case with me, whose taste has changed almost 180-degrees in the past 10 years).

For all those that live there, or plan on living in that part of town - Do you have kids? Do you plan on having kids? Austin High, while certainly not at the bottom of HISD, isn't exactly at the top of the city rankings either. It's roughly the 5th ranked HISD school, though its in the middle of the pack as far as all area districts are concerned.

We don't have kids now, but are starting the adoption process in the next two years, so schools are a big sticking point for us, and we will likely determine whether we stay or go based upon how we decide to handle their education (public or private). A good friend of mine taught at Lantrip last year, and now teaches at one in the Heights (the name escapes me), and says it is night and day, especially with regards to parent participation. He said Lantrip is actually a good elementary school, but that the parents aren't nearly as involved as those at the Heights school. He also echoes that the middle- and high schools in our area are terrible. Then again, he says the same about the zoned middle- and high schools for the Heights, so I guess that tells us that change in the school system is slow, starts at the ground (K-5), and moves up.

That makes sense given that it is typically the younger people in the gentrifying areas that are most motivated to improve the area, and want the schools their children are in to reflect that.

My neighbors with kids (there aren't many!) send them to private school. They are quite pleased to have a nice low mortgage that affords them that luxury. Me, I would rather get more out of my property taxes and use the area schools.

Thanks for those great replies Dan and Travelguy.

Travelguy is the house you are referring to the one at 4406 Clay St? Out of all the homes available right now that one seems to have a ton of potential. I checked it out only to find that it is up for sale bc the husband who lived there murdered his wife and then committed suicide! House needs completely new electric service including pulling permits or something plus needs central air and the pier and beam foundation to be leveled.

I am in love with the craftsman style homes but not so fond of the $300,000+ prices for an entry level one in the Heights. Eastwood seems like the only other option for a craftsman bungalow community, no?

I'm on Jefferson (in the forgotten side of Eastwood, LOL), but what an interesting story on the Clay house (which will now come up in search engine searches on that address, so let's hope it is true!). If you don't mind the brick 30's style of home, then that will open up options within Eastwood, Idylwood (my old neighborhood), and perhaps Lindale, though I know next to nothing about that neighborhood. I personally prefer brick for maintenance reasons, though the interiors of the 30's homes in this price range won't typically have the extensive woodwork that the 20's homes will (each decade of homes tends to lose interior style, from what I have seen). They mostly all have extensive hardwoods, though, and tons of windows (we have 29 or so in only 1600 sq ft).

As for retail, it is a problem around here. Other than Mandola's Deli, which is within walking distance, and the auto parts store on Telephone, I can't tell you the last time I shopped locally. It's a shame, really, but I have gained an inderstanding of how important demographic information is to finance retail, and so I know retail will come in time. I do love the proximity to downtown (we can leave the house and be parked at Toyota Center/Discovery Green in 10 minutes), and the Columbia Tap bike trail, which we use all the time to get to Hermann Park and to our friends in Riverside Terrace. Those are huge draws for us.

I have lived in Eastwood for about 2 years now, thankfully in one of the more aesthetically pleasing homes . My street is a mix of single family and duplexes and LOTS of garage apartments. Our house was a mess when we bought it, not dilapidated or anything like that, just really sad. We saw that it had potential, and now it is one of the best homes on the block (from the outside, we haven't finished the interior). I have to say that we were very excited when we moved in, thinking we were going to fix our place up, and that the neighbors would be so excited that they would throw us a party and then immediately start work on their homes--errr, hasn't quite happened yet. I have helped other neighbors with their yards, but ache for them to do more. I'm not very patient, which is a bad trait in a gentrifying area!

IMO, the economy slowed things down considerably, and right now only a couple of homes on my block are undergoing any sort of work. As Dan mentioned, the housing stock for sale is VERY hit and miss. We drove around for weeks every day at lunch looking for for sale by owner signs because we had heard that there were lots of private sales (there are, and that screws up comps as well). There are currently two homes on my block for sale, one renovated, one needing TLC, but not a major reno. Neither of them have sold, , which is depressing. They could both use a price correction, and I wish the owners would just do it so we could get their Days On Market to stop adding up.

But back to your original question: I'm positive on Eastwood, but I don't think that it will see the same wholesale changes than Woodland Heights has seen, at least not for a very long time. I am, hoever, pleased to see the townhomes east of downtown continuing to be built, not because I like them, but because they attract the same type of young professional that Eastwood needs. And as the townhome buyers move east of downtown, they tell their friends, and word spreads.

Sorry if some of you are getting Sonata sick, but I just had to post more.

Like shape and interior looks great, but the wheel/tire package is way undersized.

I understand, and sorta agree, but again I come back to: is the content really worth it? Do you have time to watch enough stuff? Knowing that you (and others) have invested significant dollars in gear kinda makes the question even more pertinent.

Just to be clear, I'm not a tech Luddite, I'm not an old fogey. I'm not anti-TV. I live in a small, cheap house in a suburb. I have one child, a teenager, in public high school. When I am at home, there is cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, yard work, home maintenance, and car maintenance to do. Not all of them every day, but certainly most of them every week. And we're not neat freaks or gourmet cooks, either. Our child has homework every night and extra-curricular activities. I bring up the question because, very occasionally, my wife and I discuss getting cable for certain sports or cultural programming. I don't think our life is unusual, and the price versus value both in terms of content and time available to watch always comes out ridiculous for us. Not just iffy, but not even close to making sense. For the sake of staying on topic, substitute "dish-based premium programming" for "cable." We go weeks at a time without turning the TV on, and no one seems to miss it. The tiny little bits of leisure time which appear in the day from time to time are quickly dealt with by reading, knitting, or a little web surfing. There's not nearly enough to follow a series or watch an entire movie.

And I understand the "you pay for what you care about" argument. I drive a more expensive car than some, because I have a long commute and I really want something nice. (of course I've had it for ten years and I do as much maintenance on it myself as I can.) I spend at least an hour most days in my car, though. I don't really have that kind of time for TV viewing,

We're DINKs, so I guess we have more free time. When we have kids in the next couple of years, I imagine we might be asking the same question about the value of satellite, especially as internet-based TV makes inroads. As it is, our list of recorded shows and Netflix movies in the queue are more than we can watch. If I could pay for channels a la carte, I would for sure!

That golf is looking blander and blander.

VW has designs to become a larger presence in the US (have some very lofty sales goals--the Toyota of Germany?). I sincerely hope that doesn't mean becoming bland and soulless like Toyota, though maybe if they can keep some interest and increase reliability, then it is a fair trade-off.

I don't mean to be rude, but do you really feel that television is worth over a thousand dollars a year? Especially without HBO and Showtime? I mean, seriously, is it really important enough to you to drop that kind of coin? Once in a while I'll hear about something on cable that looks interesting, but the desire quickly passes.

It isn't rude, but people value different forms of entertainment differently.

I cringe at the thought of paying more than $40 or $50 for a concert or stage ticket, but people pay many times that because they enjoy that type of entertainment. Yet I will fly halfway around the world to go to spend 4 hours at an auto show.

If, like many of us, you have invested a few thousand in a home theater, you naturally want to maximize your enjoyment of that purchase, and unless you are a blu-ray junkie, a quality satellite system allows this for relatively little money.

And as for HBO and Showtime, I think that most people will tell you how worthless they are. I watch more movies on FX than I ever did on those repeat-crazy channels.

To answer Mr B .... Dish sends out the clowns who over the course of 1+ years of troubleshooting could not solve the problem. I was even told on one ocassion I must be imagining things as they never have problems. On another ocassion I was told by a Dish serviceman I should change to DirecTV.

Anyway, I had the DirecTV system installed this week and everything is running smoothly so far. I trust it will continue that way. HD reception is perfect, including HD locals.

As long as the install is quality, you are good to go. And if you have a smart phone, don't forget you can program your DVR on the run using their mobile site (there is also an iPhone app).

What are your thoughts on the interior? It looks cheap to me.

I like the center stack, very Swedish and minimal, but the rest of it looks like my 07 XC70, which itself is was a 6-year old design when new.

Yeah, but even with a small target audience people might be dubious about Indian truck construction quality. I wish them luck though.

New Honda Crosstour:

Honda used to be known for relatively clean and elegant designs, but in the past few years with models like this, the current version Accord and the entire Acura line they've transmogrified into a kind of latter day Oldsmobile.

Hondas don't usually photograph well, but that and the Acura ZDX were not hit, they were beat senseless with the ugly stick. I feel bad for the Honda fanboys out there...need to head to VTEC.net to see how they are excusing this one.

Not sure why you would only want to seek Katy residents' opinions, as satellite is the same across the city/country.

DirecTV has a very good service, both in picture quality, choice, and DVR. The HD is fantastic, and I'm very picky about PQ. There is no degredation of signal based on viewership (the satellites broadcast the signal, your dish downloads it). Their OnDemand HD (some in 1080p) is great as well. I have had their service for a couple of years now, moved over from Comcast, and have never been happier. Granted, the service isn't cheap, but I feel like I generally get what I pay for.

As for signal outages, we will have outages a few minutes before a strong thunderstorm, but it comes back on pretty quickly. And our dish, mounted on a pole in the back corner of the yard (trees in the way at the house) survived Ike's winds just fine. Believe me, if the dish required an adjust every time there was a storm or strong wind, DirecTV and Dish would have no subscribers!

The only caveat is that a quality install is a must. There are both good and bad ones out there, and doing a little research ahead of time to understand what makes for a good install is worth your time.