crunchtastic

I'm beginning to get this style/substance divide on HAIF..... Wacky metaphors aside, I get your point, Dallasboi. But I couldn't disagree more. I've already got natural vibrancy to spare, and it didn't come from a shopping mall or a destination restaurant. Those are just as transient in a downtown showcase complex as they are in a strip center off 1-10.

Mac's the first pure retail outlet in town for both Kreiss and Hastens, I think. I suspect he'll do well, if he's eliminating an expensive middleman for aspirational buyers looking for only a piece or two.

I think memebag understands perfectly well. Some glossy building with overpriced t-shirts targeted to a fickle market somehow magically qualifies as urban, and therefore good?

well, it was River Oaks so they probably didn't have weenies. A weenie-free stump.

It drives homes the fact that as the leader of the free world, he could be doing better things with his time than fundraising. On second thought... nah, every minute he stands around eating cocktail weenies and stumping for his pals is another minute he's not ..... oh never mind.

Just curious if anyone knows if HPD has an event or big announcement today.... About an hour ago I was on an errand and the Montrose and Waugh bridges over Allen Pkwy were closed, figured maybe a motorcade was on the way. A while later coming back down Kirby, lots of officers were at a residence on Kirby and Del Monte. Easily a couple dozen motocycles parked in formation and as many cruisers. No sign of media. Looked like a rally, except cops instead of bikers!

I have heard similar complaints in my neighborhood about missed trash, but my experience has been good. 3 very large piles picked up in 3 months. If you can, try and find out through your council person, HPD or civic assoc. who your neighborhood protection officer is. Ours has been very good aobut helping correct missed trash pick-ups. Moving back to town from San Antonio, where heavy trash pick-up only twice a year, I was shocked to have monthly service. A real help when you have an old money pit and lots of trees. I'm grateful not to have ended up in a 'test' neighborhood.

nevermind---duh. figured it out. Guess I should drive around more.

what's the BW?

Define "suburban". And, at what age is it appropriate to start sitting on the porch with one's shotgun? Can girls do it? Inside the city limits?

I could practically smell the family-friendly pumpkin spice candles on that site. ick. Is that neighborhood really that close to DT? 15 minutes? I've wondered this for a while--my family moved from Friendswood to Katy in 1977- after looking at houses in Kingwood and the Woodlands. So why doesn't the way up 59 N get the love?

Actually, banks have already foreseen your default, and have anticipated it by selling certain blocks of debt. This makes many people very, very, rich. It is also quite risky, hence the recent earnings reports of Citi and BofA, and the recent departure of Merill's COO. The way debt markets are collateralized, it is true that banks really are better off if a certain number of low level consumer loans default. Far more profitable on the secondary markets that way. The cost of that default was already built into the system.

we advance---it was point based and we needed a 2-0 or 3-1 win.

he he he. Uh, douse yourself some blood orange and pomegranate soda? Talk about overpriced unnecessary crap.

In reading through some of the latest industry news (disclosure: I work for an AIG company, but not in property/casualty) it occurs to me that many people don't realize when they debate climate change or not, man made or not, 'bad' science, etc, is that the global insurance industry acknowledges straight up that climate change is at least in part man made, is occuring, and that future, more rapid and more devastating weather is on the way. And while we can believe whatever we want, the economic reality of new risk management is going to hit us all (who buy insurance) in the pocketbook as the business finds new ways around new and increased risks. All that modeling costs money, the regulatory environment is tightening, etc. (I'll save my rant on insurance company profits, deceptive trade practice and price gouging for later..) Big industry meeting was held about a week ago on the topic and there were some pretty interesting reports from NASA, various academics, etc. They're bite-size for laymen. PDFs are located at the bottom of the page through this link: http://www.iii.org/media/met/cmf/2007cmf/

It is the modern paradigm of buying. Especially considering most things (save for groceries) are too expensive to pay for cash (homes, cars, electronics, furniture, etc). I think there's a distinction to be made here between consuming and transacting. I don't see anything inherently evil in the tools of transacting (credit). This is why Dave Ramsey makes me crazy with his simplistic sound-biting to the lowest common denominator. Credit bad! Credit-user dumb! The modern way in which we're compelled to consume is not the same thing as the concept of affordability. Affordablility means your ability to cover your obligations, and whether that's in hard currency, borrowed currency, 15 sheep, a ship's cargohold full of salt, your not- yet- first- born, next season's harvest, whatever. I don't own my house but the fact that I have a mortgage is irrelevant to whether I can afford it or not. To your original point, though, the banking lobby is evil. And our politicians continue to roll over for them, particulary for the credit card industry. Repeating something said in another thread, financial education is extremely important, and overlooked. To get overly philosophical about the matter, I do believe that your desire for the Maybach is inherent, in that it's pretty and shiny. It's just that our desires are exploited. On that note, don't forget Buy Nothing Day this year, November 23! http://adbusters.org/metas/eco/bnd//

Ha. My time is only wasted by inefficient colleagues and blowhard execs. I'm not wasting, I'm multi-tasking. No, really. I HAIF when I'm on conference calls not directly related to my projects, and when I'm eating lunch at my desk. So really, it's a value-add: since my time is wasted already on calls I don't need to be on, (but have been directly ordered to do so) I remain more alert, or at least awake, by staying mentally busy reading HAIF.

Yup, unless the sidewalks get so jacked up no one will walk on them and all foot traffic moves back out to the street....since there will be no humps for our street, the next hurdle is getting sidewalks fixed. Interesting thread. I had no idea the humps are so hated.

FWIW, here is a pretty cool link where I got most of my Houston numbers. [url="http://www.houstonhistory.com/decades/history5i.htm"]http://www.houstonhistory.com/decades/history5i.htm[/url] Hey, that is a cool link. Thanks Red. Out of curiosity I clicked on 1965-70 and was happy to see the Astrodome front and center. Not sure where stand on the tear it down/build a hotel debate, but as a kid I thought it was just the coolest place.

While I have not verified this with the city, certain streets are ineligigble for speed humps precisely because they are designated routes for emergency vehicles. A couple of weeks after moving in, and watching the steady stream of 50 mph traffic on my street, (30 posted) I asked neighbors and learned they had looked into it. Precinct 6 and HPD do frequent patrols (we complain freqently). In the last month on my street, I've seen 2 vehicles pulled over (not sure why, though) and one guy getting cuffed after doing a really bad field sobriety test, practically in my driveway. At 10 on a sunday mornning, no less. With a fair number of street parkers, lots of children, bike riders and other pedestrians going to the bus stop a block over, especially before dawn, I worry about a dangerous accident from speeding. A lot more than I worry about the ride inside the ambulance going over the humps. From personal experience in the back of an ambulance on a gurney, the suspension is so damn bad I wouldn't have noticed. I can see how it would be different for the EMTs--but I still wish we could get the speed humps.

That was a good poll. Very tempted to say grocery store but ultimately had to go with sidewalks--like a number of other posters have already said, sidewalks, streetsacaping etc. A little tlc would go a long way. Just getting vacant lots cleared is a start. My personal wish list includes a gym. A nice, medium sized 24-hour fitness sort of place. Something along Harrisburg would be ideal as an anchor in a new shoppping center. Or even next to the Best Buy in Gulfgate. I went to check out Fit, since it's by my office, and eww, no. I'm a little past the club scene. Now that I've veered off topic, are there any gyms downtown other than the big Y? I would say that yes, Idylwood, Broadmoor, Eastwood etc are representative of the East End, and Harrisburg is, equally so. I think of Harrisburg as the main drag, actually. I see great potential for it to be a strong commerical corridor when the rail comes in. There's some progress already. Not a lot, but it's a start.

Awsome! There need to be more of us up there!!! Pending a succesful performance appraisal next month, I should be joining you. In my case moving back to Houston was good.

Well, that's certainly an option! Considering a move?? I think a lot of folks here in Eastwood will be watching this closely, for how much and how quickly it goes.

http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cf...mp;backButton=Y There's been talk of this place going on the market for a while now and speculation as to what the ask price would be. Some rumors it might go for upwards of 800K. In Eastwood, wow. This place is gorgeous. The woodwork is stunning. I'm curious for those of you that know the Heights well--what would this property go for in the Heights? I haven't looked at HAR in a while and the 'east end discount' at least for smaller homes, seems to be shrinking. But why list the area as med center/downtown-- to not scare people away?

Well, maybe except zombies. I don't think you can insure against them. Not with a reputable company, anyway.