20thStDad

I don't think the laissez faire, bohemian attitudes were meant to attract big box suburban retailers to the area. And the arbitrary geographical distinction is the worst argument I have heard, second only to the elitist/racist one. So what if it isn't in within the plat for the heights as recorded in the Harris County real property records. And if you are so laissez faire, bohemian, you would equally support people's rights to speak out against what they consider to be a nuisance and detriment to their community. But you are not really Mr. Heights laissez faire/bohemain. You are just another right wing conservative who favors the rights of giant corporations to suck money out of a community over the right of the community to have some influence over the quality of life in their area.

I thought the mayor who signed the deal with the devil was a Democrat?

Nice! I'm looking forward to alternating between Hubcap and Christian's to get my burger fix.

And you think the Yale location will be any better?

Yes, because I won't have to get on 610 or I-45 to get there. And we don't do our shopping during weekday rush hour. Do the rest of you? I guess that's one way to stress yourself out. Have fun.

I haven't looked at rental agreement in a while, but I am confident that there is some language that covers change of ownership (since this is Texas I would also imagine it is very favorable to the landlord). I lived across the street from Allen House when it was bought and the people were out of there pretty quick.

As far as the condition of these apartments. I still question that they are in ill repair. I cycle by them daily and they are in better shape than several others on Heights blvd.

I'm not sure it had anything to do with change of ownership, more likely a term in the lease, but at Allen House they did tell people to be out before some of their leases were up. I'm sure there was a minimum notice # of days, but a friend of mine had to be out 3 months before his lease was up.

Question (maybe a dumb one): It's a "pedestrian" bridge, but can I ride my bike across it? Obviously this depends on landings, but those usually have ramps instead of steps. It's just kind of crazy getting down there with the kid trailer sometimes. Might be just as crazy trying to go down a ramp with it.

Nope, don't live in the Heights, sorry. I was doing a college paper that involved Wal-Mart, and one of my sources was a Lisa Falkenberg column about how the Wal-Mart will be good for the area. In it, she points out that although it's controversial, and jokingly(?) mentioned she might get banned from her favorites Heights coffeehouse, but the residents of West End are much poorer than the Heights, don't really go to the same shops as the Heights, and technically isn't even in the Heights.

Doesn't the Heights end at I-10?

These days, yes it pretty much does. There aren't any remnants of the original neighborhood south of I-10, but the original did extend about to Washington. Not all of this development would be within the original boundaries.

For as democrat and free-will as my hood seems to be, there sure is a lot of NIMBY going on. I'm not sure I'm a Heights lifer. People just get too worked up over things that really don't matter.

You are right. You could go on for days, but you would never find an example with a Walmart Supercenter.

Why stop there with the pointless retort, just say he'll never find an example with a Walmart Supercenter in the west end. It doesn't matter whether the example is Walmart or not, do you assume the city should have Walmart-specific policies, or do what they are doing and treat it the same as other developments around town?

I lived a few houses west of that intersection on Welch from 2002-2005, those were good times. Our best anti-prowler security was me sitting on the porch drinking all night, sometimes with a guitar. I miss that porch. Great view of the gigantic rats as they crawled along the power lines at night.

Come on guys, all it needs is some snazzy lighting scheme at night and you know you'll love it.

I forgot to use my super sarcasm font. Ok there it is.

Come on guys, all it needs is some snazzy lighting scheme at night and you know you'll love it.

I used to be FOR this but now I am AGAINST it.

I don't give a flip about the Dynamo but I'm for it. What's your deal?

I read it but it was late and I was dozing off - does it say whether the designation of contributing vs non-contributing is something that is done as a district is getting historical-ized, or does it only get deemed one or the other if a matter is put before the HAHC? My place is clearly non-contributing, but I'm certain that applies to the existing structures only and not if I decide to do a new structure.

Translation, this stuff is over my head, so I will just call you names.

I've stated my opinions on many issues throughout this thread. It's not complex. Thanks to you it can be way more entertaining than it should be, so please keep posting your opinions as facts.

Nope. And isn't it interesting how you have nothing substantive to say after I have posted very troubling information about the 380 agreement.

And another fun fact: 380 agreements must be limited to 10 years per City ordinance. The Ainbinder 380 agreement has no limit!!! The City has to refund ad valorem and sales tax until all amounts have been paid in full. But I guess you care more about whether someone is approving of my posts on a message board than whether the City is being fleeced by the developer and Walmart.

What you post is not interesting. It is slightly amusing in that you put so much angst and effort toward opposing something that is going to happen no matter what you think or do, and will have zero negative effects on you once it is inevitably built. You are trying so hard to live up to this ABO image that is one of the things I hate most about my neighborhood. You are not special, and this isn't some kind of moral outrage that warrants the elite anti-everythings busting aneurysms all over the place.

The city has decided that this project is beneficial to its citizens, so it has put a stake in it. Fine by me.

s3mh, did you start another HAIF login as J008 just so you could put +1 on all of your posts? Or are they a real-life ABO lackey of yours?

It's because they enunciate.

Huh, I always thought it was because they give the token update on some human atrocities taking place in Africa, read by someone with a british accent. Same thing I guess.

I found this interesting "article" on Houston Press regarding Walmart grocery prices:

"Would Walmart Bring Low Grocery Prices to the Heights? Not Really"

http://blogs.houston...cery_prices.php

In a manner that has become the hallmark of the anti-Walmart folks, the article is completely without fact. The author compared grocery prices from a regular Walmart (not a Supercenter). Because that particular Walmart did not carry "Eggland's Best" eggs, it lost the "Egg" price category. Because that Walmart did not carry fresh produce, it also lost the "Gala Apples" and "Roma Tomatoes" categories.

The author also bashed Walmart because she could not locate any information about their "Lone Star Farmer's Market" eggs on the internet. She stated, "The 90 cent eggs offered at Walmart weren't Eggland's Best, but you can certainly purchase them if you have utter faith in buying eggs from a brand that no one has heard of, and for which absolutely no information could be found on the Internet."

Even constraining my Google search with quotations around the whole brand name, I got 570 results.

It is humorous that that anti-Walmart campaign is so outlandishly bloated with misrepresentations and misinformation that it damages their credibility.

I don't even click on those articles/blogs any more, I'm tired of reading the BS. Really those people are just wasting their time. They've already made up their mind, as would any person who reads and agrees with it have already done. In the end it's just a bunch of disseminated bitching, and there is zero point to printing/publishing it.

Next time you talk to your English co-workers, when you're done just say "ta". (as in ta-tas). The snooty Londoners will wonder who you've been talking to behind their backs.

I'll be there all next week. I'll report back on how the ta's are received.

It bothers me when people say "cheers" at the end of a phone call or email. I work with a lot of english people, so I get this a lot. I just don't follow the origin of it. "Cheers"...sounds like you are declaring that there should be cheers all around, as if some great success just happened. No, we just talked about some crap for work.

Angry Bungalow Owner. It's like an AWP, but they try to impose their way on everyone else.

Come on guys, complimentary cooked to order breakfast?? Forget all the rabble about ugly, hook me up with a waffle stuffed with a 9 egg omelet with a pound of bacon in it!

s3mh is not a troll.

I agree. s3mh is just the leader of the ABO when it comes to Walmart and historic districts.

I guess I could have said more, but they are doing work all up and down the part between Waugh and Sabine (that's all we walked today). There were more paths leading up from the trail when it goes on the north side of Memorial for a bit, maybe there is a tie-in to the neighborhood there?? Somewhere close to Sawyer St maybe? I couldn't really tell and we didn't go up the paths since some were incomplete. There was a lot more dirt/silt on parts of the trail than there used to be. And not just a little, but 6 inches of it or more in some spots.

I'm telling you, some urban art or maybe a full-building Rockets ad would do well there. Just put some lipstick on that pig! (and make $ off of it)

I guess the biggest progress from the April photos above are the pilons.

From the Allen/right bank side:

They're paving new pathways all over, this one from the trail up to Montrose where there wasn't one before (Allen side)

A few from the Memorial/left bank side: