JJVilla

I thought this article provides some good ideas to learn from for a smaller but similar city and their success with mass transit. For those not familiar with the Canadian oil capital: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-Train

Why do people like that place? Not only is it the worst tex-mex food but it's over-priced!

What do you think the rare merger at the low cost end of spectrum will bring (Southwest buying Airtran)? Consolidation to be more specific. Southwest Airlines to Acquire AirTran

TheNiche, what's up with you valuing old building over old people?

You got to give them props for their confidence and approach, at least.

Not sure how familiar you are with that part of town so maybe this is too much? It includes Eastwood and that is where most people I know are/were buying homes. I am actually in one of their picture, even though I was just visiting! According to Eastwood website their (greater) Civic boundaries are Harrisburg, Oldham, Gulf Freeway and Milby but the subdivision is smaller. More information: East End Website, Area Map From Wiki:

From an outsider perspective (grew in NW part of the county and live in Galleria area now) the overall view has changed for the area. It's still considered gay friendly and open-minded but the community has spread out more. It seems that the new residential hot spot is East End (since my straight friend invites me and my wife to their parties) but the clubs have remaimed in this original area. Growing up I remember going to part of town to get help with my parent's immigration process, it was a pain but the non-profit groups were a big help.

ExCeLLeNt!

Water and reduced tax base is going to kill them (or least slow their growth) for sure. My wife went to ASU and works for a consulting firm that deals with water so she agrees with/has told me of the water issue they face and the empty neighborhoods. Whole blocks in some subdivisions are empty due to out of state (CA) speculators or people forced to leave them. I think their misperception of Houston reflects badly on them not us!

Two semi-related aspects to be proud of and worth sharing: Houston leading in the World Cup Bid Leaderboard for most bid signatures http://www.gousabid....august-24-2010/ Justice - Soccer not second class in this city: http://www.chron.com....e/7192487.html

Ghetto bird circling the hood! Any updates?

That was my question exactly, also. Where is it in those pictures?

Agreed with your points. Where do most big name/high profile visitors stay when they visit or tour Houston? Like it or not it's the Galleria/Uptown area because of the hotels and shopping mostly. So back to topic, a smaller theater/film center like this would be welcome here. Maybe BLVD development?

One aspect that won't help some of the far flung homes is the ever increasing energy prices. Until realistic transportation fuels and power sources are found they will go up and hurt large, cheap built homes that are generally less energy efficient or expensive to maintain (i.e. less quality but most importantly larger utility bills). Even if transportation is not the issue you still have to deal with variable utilities cost. As the article I cited previously stated these type of homes will not disappear but the demand will drop. An extreme view on homeownership from Times but with some valid points: Hey, not against anybody that builds large energy guzzling homes and drive similar cars. It actually helps us out here!

It seems like yesterday that I was sitting at mass in St Jerome or at the carnival/Fall Festival with English, Spanish and Vietnamese speaking people. Tri-lingual mass is something else. Yes, they were at/part of St Jerome Parish (in Spring Branch) till about late 1980's. It's amazing and great to see how much this community have grown.

The closest store to me is that one Dunvale and it can be an experience just driving by there.

Some key points mentioned in relevant article about McMansions and housing trends (The Next Slums? - http://www.theatlant...xt-slum/6653/3/):

That way the sea creatures can preserve energy by floating on them. Brilliant!

This is true. You got to wonder why people would defend slimey companies like this and then say thay are for the working class. There are many examples but if your business is decimated by them then you would not be in favor of them, as has occurred in many small towns across the USA. For the record I grew up poor, am a minority and have been unemployed for more than a couple of months, too. Either way the simple solution is not set a foot in their business or buy from them, as is case of any company you don't like.

It's all about the benjamins...or audience at least. Look at where almost all of those cities are located--all non-Southwestern states. Plus the access to XM, internet radio and interest in more Spanish music has shifted the taste of former listeners that had NO choice before. This true for me and many people I know in town. I agree that competition would be great and welcome.

Not sure of some of your points but one of the examples of weird boundaries is that people that lived by Klein Forest went to Ike and vice-versa.

Agreed. Interesting analogy.

Great article about what drives Houston past the old tired "creative" and "hip" cities. This is one of the better ideas/aspects discussed in the article:

Desperate cities (like Chicago) will do whatever it takes to "convince" entities to keep jobs around since they can't naturally add many as supported by the following Forbes article: Houston: Model City