Out with the old. In with the new. That's how we do it in Houston and I'm fine with it. What's been going on in Houston's inner loop for the last 15 years is nothing short of amazing and it ain't over yet. We're only 20 years into a 50 year densification cycle. Draw a ring around Downtown, the Med Center, the Galleria and Memorial Park. Come back in 20 years and you'll be amazed. Does anyone hear remember the West U of 30 years ago? The whole place was a bunch of 1,300 SF termite infested cracker boxes. It was always expensive, but now it's only for the richest of the rich who don't bat an eye at their $20,000 to $50,000 annual property tax bill. This is one of finest areas of executive housing in the country. I'll take this over Austin any day where the vast majority of the close-in housing stock is woefully obsolete and will only continue to deteriorate as the decades pass thanks to their current restrictions on development. Not everyone can afford West U, or Southhampton or River Oaks so bring on the townhomes for the rest of us. Clearly that's what the market dictates. More people with more money all living, shopping, drinking, dining and working in close proximity to one another. And thanks to Houston's building requirements that force all commerical develepments to self park on site, I can drive my own car everywhere I want to go, usually in 10 minutes or less. I love it. Show me any place in America besides Houston where I can have a recently constructed, 3-bedroom, 3.5-bath, 2,400 SF townhouse with a 2-car garage in one of the best in-fill locations for $300k. It doesn't exist. Similar location, size and quailty in Chicago would cost $1.5 million. New York? San Francisco? Try $3+ million. San Diego? Denver? Seattle? Boston? Miaimi? Forget about it. Sure. Houston's lax development guidelines have allowed developers to build their share of questionable properties, but that certainly doesn't make us unique. I can go any city in America and find ugly buildings. We have a self correcting system. If developers build stuff that people don't want or can't afford they will soon be out of business. I'd much rather the market deciding what gets built than the government. bpe3