marmer

Great post, Red! If you scroll down to the individual club sites and click their links, many of them sponsor frequent, shorter, local rides. I have been on several with the Houston Bicycle Club and Pearland Cycling Club.

Sev, get thee to your fav bookshop (would that be sevfav?) and buy yourself a copy of _Cinema Houston_. Call it an inauguration present or something. You'll be glad you did.

...and for those who ride to get from point A to point B I suggest they use roads other than main thoroughfares. Like riding up Huldy instead of going up Shepherd. It just makes sense.

Yes. I was greatly surprised to learn how extensive the Houston Bikeways program is. Admittedly, it is not all dedicated lanes and bike paths, in fact it is mostly share-the-road signs and identification of alternatives to heavily traveled streets. I have found most of these routes _far_ more comfortable to ride on than _any_ country road.

Houston Bikeways Map PDF

I've spent quite a bit of time behind the handlebars as well as behind the wheel, and I can say that there are lots of places in this four-county area where there are miles of great biking roads separated by a few miles of scary-as-hell two lane. As suburban development spreads outward, it only gets worse as traffic outpaces road size. I've never been out there, but I'm guessing those guys in Katy are in between much safer places.

You might be interested to know that in the cycling world there is actually controversy over increased/improved bike lanes. Some very vocal people feel that bikes deserve to be on the streets and that supporting bike lanes tacitly endorses the idea that bikes don't belong/aren't safe on regular streets.

And now, if I may, a word in defense of stop-sign runners. Specifically, four-way stop signs in urban or suburban areas. Many bicyclists are out there for exercise. Consistency and momentum are very important. Stopping, unclipping, and starting again from a dead stop is not something that we would prefer to do, especially over and over. It's not effortless, as it is in an automobile. And if you are waiting at a stop sign in your car, and a cyclist or a group of cyclists comes from a crossing direction, what do you think will be safer and less delay FOR YOU? Eye contact and a friendly wave as they proceed through the intersection or waiting for them to stop and start up again, especially with the possible confusion of "who goes first?"

Sorry if this is old news, but from time to time, the question comes up here and on Swamplot if there is a named map of Houston neighborhoods. So that newcomers can tell their Briargrove from their Briar Forest.

Here's a pretty good one on Wikimapia:

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=29.7697418&l...amp;m=m&v=2

Are you trying to flamebait me? The developer is a member of the public. If he is made better off, ceteris paribus, so is the public by that precise amount. Never mind that the building would've provided a venue for new businesses providing services to the neighborhood, that the construction project would've created hundreds of jobs and supported dozens of local construction and supply businesses in what are otherwise very difficult times for them, or that so many more people would have the opportunity to live in such a nice neighborhood as this.

Realistically, I doubt that more than a few dozen households would be adversely impacted. The traffic argument is bogus. And the privacy argument only holds water for a short distance until the tree canopy obscures views of the ground. If anything, what this controversy exemplifies is a special public screwing over the general public.

Niche, I am not trying to flamebait you. If I have not made it clear before now, please let me say that I have great respect for your perspectives, your articulateness, and the knowledge and facts you bring to the table. Your posts are often among the most informative and enjoyable in this community. The fact that we often disagree is one of the reasons I have withdrawn from this particular discussion for several weeks. I know better than to poke a bear with a pointy stick.

But I was responding to a specific post from KA about tall buildings at Rice, the Med Center, and the Museum District and the term "the public good" was just a concise way of saying "longstanding non-profit institutions whose worth to the community is not seriously questioned." I don't think one can equate their tall structures with this proposed tower, nor do I think that you are trying to do that.

I do have my doubts about the viability of any new small retail or restaurant spaces in the area given how many of them have failed in the last decade. (expanding "the area" to include Shepherd up to about Westheimer.) I also have doubts about displacing the Rice students, med students, and young middle-income tenants of Maryland Manor in favor of twice as many wealthier people. (unless the rents would be lower than I think they will be.) And I think it wouldn't take very many cars at all to make Bissonnet, not to mention Sunset and Rice Boulevard, a lot worse. And it seems perfectly reasonable for the few dozen adversely affected households you mention to fight it. And if you, being one of the most passionately pro-development participants here, can see that, then the developer certainly shouldn't have been surprised by it. Especially since, IIRC, they were Rice alums and should have known the area well.

Sorry, but why was this a bad business decision by the developers?

They bought land that was NOT bound by deed restrictions and offered up a very tasteful mixed-use tower in an area of town that is highly desired.

Said tower would have been located inbetween several other hi-rise residential towers (Museum Tower, The Robinhood, The Warwick) as well as adjacent to a major employment center (Texas Med Center), a major university (Rice) and a major cultural center (museum district). All 3 of those centers house tall structures already.

Again, there was nothing legally that could/should have been done to stop this tower and I am afraid that if this gets played out in court, the taxpayers of the City are going to come out on the losing end.

As an aside, I am a former home owner and dues paying member of the Southampton Neighborhood Association. Personally, I am GLAD this is not being built despite what I am writing on this board. My concern has to do with the legality of the battle and the likely overall outcome for all Houstonians.

Additonally, there are several million dollar + neighborhoods in Houston that have towers located either in or directly adjacent to them... River Oaks, Avalon Place, Crestwood, Montrose, Southampton, Tanglewood, Briargrove, Memorial, Old Braeswood, Southgate, Upper Kirby, and more all pop into mind.

Good points, KA. Having lived, or gone to school, or worked in the area for nearly thirty years, I can echo the feelings of everyone I've talked to about it -- regardless of financial concerns or even construction inconvenience, it's just not right for the area. It doesn't fit in at all. _That_ was the developer's mistake. It's a lovely building, judging from the renderings, and I'm sure it would be a nice place to live and shop. But that is such a tremendously suburbanized area that its urbanizing benefits are not the least bit attractive to anyone who lives in the area. And it's not just Southampton -- Broadacres and Shadowlawn don't want it either.

I mean, seriously, I'm no real-estate expert, but if you stopped me on the street before any of this had been planned and said, out of the blue, "Hey, would it be a good business decision to build a high-rise apartment building where Maryland Manor is?" my first response would be "Are you crazy? On Bissonnet? In that neighborhood?"

Sure, there are lots of high rises near desirable neighborhoods. Near, but not as close as this would be. And Bissonnet at Ashby is no Kirby, or Memorial Drive, or Holcombe, or Post Oak, or Westheimer. I mean, look at it, except for the little shopping center where Picnic is, the businesses are in old houses. And, yes, Rice and the Museum District and the Med Center have tall buildings, but all of those institutions have been there a long time and they are not literally right on top of the Southampton houses and they all exist to serve the public good, not to make money for a private developer.

OK, now I'm wondering where I heard about the Shadyside high-rise, specifically. It was recently and from what seemed to be a reputable source. It was not the Stephen Fox book on Rice University nor his new book on John F. Staub. It was also not the Southampton Walking Tour Guide he did for RDA in Spring 2006. It was not on the last two AIA home design tours (there was nothing in Shadyside) I'm guessing it might have been from a docent at the Wray house in Shadyside during the RDA tour of Staub houses associated with the Fox book.

Mrs. Hobby was on the Rice board of trustees during the late 60s and early 70s so it makes sense she might have given the property to Rice. Of course Rice couldn't do anything with it but sell it, since it could only be used for single family houses and was not accessible to the campus.

One, I didn't know Rice ever owned it, and two, do you think she really demolished the home in a fit over the neighborhood not letting her build a high rise on the property?

I didn't know Rice had owned it either, but I'm not surprised. Rice owns a surprisingly large amount of property. _Cinema Houston_ tells the story of how Rice owned the Village Theatre and surrounding area and deliberately refused to cooperate with local groups trying to preserve the theatre. After a moratorium on demolition of historic structures (!) sponsored by Mayor Jim McConn's administration lapsed in early 1990 or '91, the bulldozers were there within a week. I posted a quote about that a year or so ago.

As to why Mrs. Hobby demolished Shadyside, I can only speculate. If she had intended to redevelop the property, demolition would have been part of the process anyway. Or more likely it could have been for tax reasons, or perhaps it needed a lot of work. One thing we see when we look at the history of the downtown and South End upscale neighborhoods is that apparently the wealthy folks of the pre-1950s generations had maybe even fewer qualms about tearing down old-ish houses than do their counterparts of today.

I was there before Christmas and there were lots of shoppers. Maybe not jam-packed, but lots of them. Like all the Town Center stores, though, it is not so very big or as well stocked as some of its Houston brethren.

Sev,

Thanks so much for the citations. I'm trying to remember where I heard that Mrs. Hobby's planned structure was a high-rise hotel. I thought it was in the Rice Architectural Guide by Stephen Fox, but now that I think of it, it might have been in the RDA Southampton tour book by Fox, what, early last spring? I'll look at home and see if I still have it.

Well, if it was just about scale, then why aren't they up in arms about the new Sunset Clinic and garage? While just a midrise of 6-8 floors, it is completely out of scale for that neighborhood. I'd also add that Sunset is a helluva lot less commercial than Bissonnet and has multi million dollar homes dotting it for blocks.

I can't prove it but IIRC the neighborhood was not happy about the Sunset Clinic and garage project. That may have been one of the reasons why there was so much opposition to the Ashby project.

I think that my earlier question was buried on the previous page, but Houston19514 mentioned something about old, run-down apartments on an arterial street (not naming Maryland Manor, but I assume referring to it).

I said that I don't really notice the apartments (maybe because they blend in?) but are they bad off?

And the Sunset garage - ewww!

There were some old, run-down apartments on Bissonnet, but they were replaced by the Rice Graduate apartments. There are also those art-deco-ish apartments on Wroxton and Bolsover. I hope they're not rundown -- I think they're kinda neat. Maryland Manor useta be kinda seedy, but it was heavily remodeled in the mid-90s.

Ya know, I still think that even if the Ashby highrise is the prettiest development in town, that nine months (probably more than a year, actually) of construction traffic and deliveries and lane closures is a lot to ask that neighborhood to endure. Especially when things are starting to get back to normal after the Sunset clinic. The other thing is, I live in a cheap, twenty-year-old tract house in a generic Pearland suburb. I don't have any kind of special view in my back yard. But I wouldn't be too happy about a giant residential tower suddenly looming over my back yard, either.

This wasn't the first controversy about a high-rise structure in the area. Houston grande dame Oveta Culp Hobby wanted to build a high-rise hotel on her Shadyside property back in the sixties but the neighborhood association fought it and won. That's probably why she demolished her home, the eponymous Shadyside built for J. S. Cullinan as the first home in the development, and moved out of the neighborhood in 1971. Shadyside was on the property where those two new stucco and tile "beauties" visible from Main Street are now. I remember seeing the foundation remains of the Shadyside house back when you could walk in the neighborhood.

Thanks for the update. Good to hear it's being rebuilt.

Does anyone know if Moody Gardens was damaged?

I was there for the Festival of Lights on New Year's Eve and it looked pretty good. Most of the attractions are open, though you can see the swamped sailboats right across the bayou. The Rainforest Pyramid got contaminated with flood water, however, and probably won't reopen until this summer.

And, you didn't ask this, but the folks at the Lone Star Flight Museum have been working their tails off and they are hoping to re-open at the end of the month.

Excellent post, Niche. Thank you for all that detail.

I've been twice. The first time was over Thanksgiving and my in-laws wanted to "go see." Being sentimental about Galveston, I really didn't want to go. It was really bad but somehow I expected worse.

The last time was New Year's Eve. We went to Moody Gardens and Mario's Seawall Italian Restaurant. Both had lots of people. There were lots of lights on and some of the damage was obscured. You could almost pretend if you stayed near the Seawall that everything was OK. I was glad to see that most of the residential neighborhoods off 61st Street had power and seemed to be occupied.

But, oh, it's heartbreaking. I'll add my voice to the recommendations of John Nova Lomax's excellent recent article in the Houston Press.

1. The 2009 Astros will make the 2008 Astros look like the 1927 Yankees. They will have a solidly losing record by mid-season.

2. There will be another major hurricane and at least one very bad hurricane scare. People will take these seriously now.

3. Rice will discreetly put off the Baylor Med talks.

4. The 1940 Air Terminal Museum will complete its interior renovation and become a household word in Houston.

5. This one makes me sad, but Galveston won't come back. It's hurt too bad.

Here's a bonus #6: Best Buy, Lowe's, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Borders, Wendy's, Target, RadioShack, CVS, Chili's, and Sonic will all dramatically cut their number of stores or leave Houston altogether. If not them, then their too-similar-market competitors will.

My experience as well, lat-longs should be the same, (location-wise), what's going on there?

I remember a quanset hut somewhere around in that area, does anyone remember exactly where it stood? Behind Shepler's, meaning on Holmes, near the Wildcat Golf Course, or that dirt (landscaping) place, where Kirby ends at Holmes.

I found the remains of a quonset-hut type structure just south of Sheplers on Almeda on the northwest corner of the Holmes Road intersection. You can see it here:

Holmes at Almeda

That curved-roof building and the other nearby buildings are visible in all the historicaerials.com pictures of the area. But I believe nm5k pretty clearly established the location of Linda Sue as south of there in an earlier post.

It makes me wonder just how many different fast food hamburger joints once city can support. I guess we'll see.

Fewer than it has would be my guess. Though the lone Steak n Shake seems to be doing OK at Eldridge and 1960. Still:

McD's

JiTB

BK

Wendy's

Sonic

and the un-burger burger places like Arby's and Chick-Fil-A.

That's good news...Now if only Checkers/Rally's came back

Yeah. What he/she said. I really miss Checkers/Rally's and never understood why they left. They always seemed to have good food and tons of customers.

Well, I just talked to an old gentleman at the 1940 Air Terminal Museum who had been a pilot for Trans-Texas Airways in the late 40s. He remembered Linda Sue airport off of Holmes Road, but he didn't remember anything else about it except that it was very small and closed in the early 50s. Darn. I was hoping I'd hit paydirt because he has a lot of other great stories about the beginnings of commercial aviation in Houston.

And yet somehow they missed the Rothko Chapel.

It's only buildings completed since 2001. I actually suspect, based on other structures featured, that had the Rothko been newer it might have been featured.

It's pretty clear after looking at the Phaidon atlas for a while that they are picking things that are either very dramatic or very minimalistic. It's also clear that Houston, or for that matter any city in the US, is not the modern architectural leader that it (they) might once have been when compared with some of the stuff going on in Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

I've been to both. HEB has more unusual items but its layout is too inefficient. Kroger has nothing except fancy lighting to distinguish it from the Kroger at 518 and Cullen. Living as I do near 35, neither is worth the effort to get to.

Yeah, 1984 or something. Maybe you're familiar with the joke somewhere else on the board?

I got the sense there was a joke I was missing, but I searched for "Phaidon," "atlas," and "Hobby Center," and didn't find it.

Don't forget all the Krakower/Greene stuff, Marty. That's organic as anything, what with Herb Greene being a Goff protege himself.

Heh. Ben, I didn't forget but I didn't want to say anything in case you wanted to post. You are actually more familiar with the houses than I am -- outwardly they are not too obviously unusual, right? Now, if the Long Point Clinic building and the Lyne house were still around...

Oh, and this is just me, but I've always considered the term "organic" to mean site-specific but not particularly showy, and making use of obviously natural materials like stone or wood siding. Non-90-degree angles and emphasis on horizontal lines are also prominent features.

"Expressionist," though throws you strongly into the Goff/Greene/Prince/Bowlby et. al camp, with strong emphasis on dramatic gestures, circular-influenced shapes, and prominent attention to textures and ornamentation. I think where they intersect and where the term "organic expressionist" may come in is in their shared use of natural materials and acute angles. In some ways, anyway. And of course, when you start getting a lot of sharp angles, you start approaching the G-word! (Googie!)

Bruce Goff designed this INCREDIBLE organic home in Dallas.

Organic modern is a topic often overlooked in our city with the majority of our modernism being that of the Miesian type.

I know of some of the obvious, such as the Bruce Goff Durst House here in Houston and the now demolished Mitchell House by Kamrath, but what do we have left that is as big of a statement as the Dallas home?

Darned little. It was never popular for big houses, with the exception of the ones you mentioned. The Carousel House probably would have counted, too. There's an interesting circular-inspired house by Dr. Davey Lieb, an amateur architect, on the bayou in Memorial somewhere. There's one FLW in Memorial, though heavily altered (some would say "made livable") and a FLW-inspired two-story on Mandell, unfortunately painted a dark gray. I don't think anyone ever conclusively ID'd that as a Mackie and Kamrath. And of course, Tiel Way, which is a small Mackie and Kamrath enclave. Goff and his proteges were way more active in Oklahoma.

Perhaps it was self immolation due to its exclusion from Phaidon's 21st century atlas, while it's neighbor down the street got a space?

Yes yes, I still can't stop laughing at that argument/fact.

Wasn't built in the 21st century.