SilverJK

I know many people that want (have) condos in Houston.  Most of them travel a lot (one person spends a few months a year out of town researching) so they like the convenience of just locking it up and leaving for weeks/months at time.  With as many oil/gas people that live in the area, this can't be a rare situation.

1.  It is on the best route out of the neighborhood that does not have a rail road crossing at grade.

2.  Many of the anti-Walmart leaders were from the West End, not the Heights.  The guy who started the facebook page lived just behind the Walmart.

3.  Just what the hell are the boundaries for Montrose, anyway?

4.  As noted above, Montrose got a beautiful HEB and is just as close to retail development south of 59.  For the Heights, there is very little retail development in the area by comparison to the areas from Rice Village up to W. Gray.  The Walmart property was our best chance to see some comparable development.

5.  Who said that people in Montrose weren't against Walmart?  I saw lots of posts from people in Montrose on the anti-Walmart facebook page.

So...   You like HEB, you hate walmart, and because of this you wanted to control what went into a parcel of land that is likely over a mile away from you, in another neighborhood, on the other side of I-10, strictly on your personal preferences.   wow. 

I would disagree, the construction looks at least the norm for townhomes, if not slightly more robust.  

A certified arborist from the Houston Arboretum examined the tree and found that it was in good condition and healthy.  It had grown six inches since it was put on the tree registry.  It just needed some trimming and TLC.  The tree is on the corner of the property.  It would have been easy to build around it.  The developer is probably wanting to build another lot line monstrosity as it is outside of the HD.  If you want a clear cut subdivision without any of those deadly killer trees, there are several million acres to choose from in Houston. 

Well a certified arborist and a botanist had a difference of opinion.  I know a good bit about trees... that tree was definitely in bad shape, I don't doubt that it could have stayed up for another 15 years or even longer... but why take that risk? (especially with it being early huricane season). Who said anything about clear cutting a subdivision?  This is one lot.  The Heights is not going to be clear cut, there are too many houses and (gasp!) townhomes that are not going anywhere for a while that have very large established trees.  I have 7 trees in my 6,350 sq. ft. lot that are over 50' tall.  I did have a large tallow that I removed, and I want to get rid of the pine tree, but that would still be 6 very large trees that aren't going anywhere.  If any of my trees ( at least the 4 that pose a threat) looked to be in danger of falling on my house, you better believe I'll have it cut down.  I don't want to destroy my Historic Home! (oh yeah and my family's safety)

According to some charts I'm Gen X, others I'm Gen Y...  I'm from rural Louisiana so we were normally a few years behind with the times... so I'm going to go with X.  I'm young enough to reap the benefits of the Baby Boomers fortune though, as they are all starting to retire and make room for people my age to take over.  I'm sure we will mess things up nice and proper for Gen Z though.

on topic:  Did they find anything out about this lady? 

Maybe you should try to make sure the city pays the loan back in time to prevent the interest penalties...   instead of focusing your efforts on how evil walmart is...

From what I heard, they actually designed those 2 houses around keeping the sycamore, but after having a botanist look at the tree they determined it was too far gone and would be a huge risk to the houses.  It is a shame that its gone, but I understand. 

That being said... I have a rather large pine tree in my front yard (i would guess at least 50ft),  I wonder if any of my neighbors will complain when I cut it down?   I hate that tree as it constantly drops pine needles and branches all over my house and lawn, forcing me to get up on a ladder and sweep the needles off the roof, and rake the needles on a regular bases to keep them from burning my grass with their acidity.  Then there is the pine pollen...  gah I hate that tree.  Maybe I can get the condo developers behind Lucky's pub to remove it for me.

Anyone got an estimate on how much it would cost to remove a large pine tree?  THere are some electrical lines near it, but I would think it would be a rather simple removal for professionals.  (maybe i should just call centerpoint again to complain about it as it is touching some powerlines when the branches are wet)

A grassy field is better than a Walmart if that means that something better will be developed.  If you look around Houston inside the loop, something better is being developed almost everywhere you look.  West Ave, Post Oak at W. Gray, Regent Square, the Mix midtown, Kirby Grove, River Oaks District, Sage Hotel, and 2801 Weslayan.  On every lot, you could put up a strip mall and say that it was better than what was there before (grassy field, run down garden style apartments, etc.).  But if the developers went for the quick money and put in more strip malls and big box stores, development inside the loop would be crap compared to what is actually going in. 

But you don't get to just decide on what is good and what isn't.  Protesting something that is perfectly within its rights isn't going to get you anywhere.  What you want is zoning, which has been shot down everytime it has been brought up.  I know you think it is important to have your idealistic version of development, (which I mostly  agree would be nice), but where you lose me is where you try to stop certain developments after the fact.  If there had been a group for the past 7 years pushing for some sort of mixed use development in the walmart location, and they have assited in sourcing/oraganizing a 380 style agreement for a particular type of business in that location, I could understand being upset with ainbinder for building this out for Walmart.  However nobody said anything really until ainbinder announced it would be a walmart. 

Why not find the next developable parcels of land that you think are at risk of becoming strip centers, and try to create something to make it benificial to the developer to build your idealistic development?  Proactive vs Reactive.  That would be something I bet more people would be supportive of.

Walmart was the one with the scheme to get Parker to fork over the coin to make it happen. 

This comment is hearsay at best, if not an outright lie/fabrication.  

I'm am sorry your offended, I removed the word "lies".  I was more implying your statement was based off a lie/fabrication not that you personally made up the lie.

I know that the City, specifically Parker is responsible for this mess.  Who exactly is your beef with?  You got your precious Walmart, why aren't you happy?

I'm just pointing out that the walmart did in fact improve the area.  My beef is with Revival Market, and I will drop by to pick it up for dinner later.

As far as being happy, I was unaware that I was displaying any notion of unhappiness.  I'm just countering your statements because they are either baseless or unrelated to the previous statement.

(i.e., I call you out for bringing the 380 into whether the walmart improved the area, and you call me unhappy.)

Building the Walmart prevents something better being built there.  A grassy field is better than a Walmart, in my opinion.  I wouldn't buy a house next to a Walmart.  You might. 

 

Regardless of whether or not Walmart is great to live next to or not, the 380 was a waste of $6M of our taxpayer money, since Parker and Ainbinder both say they would have built it with our without the 380. 

yeah, but that has nothing to do with wheter the development improved the area or not.  Also for the billionth time... your beef with the 380 is with the city.  The city is the one that pushed it (aren't you the one that often quotes Ainbinder as saying they would have developed without it?).  A grassy field full of crack heads, homeless, and drug dealers isn't the same as just a grass field either.

So, you are saying that the torrid housing market has nothing to do with it?  Are you saying that Frank Liu has been selling out townhome developments that are going up next to rail yards and steel mills just because of the fine mediteranean architecture and not because the housing market inside the loop is off the charts?  Redevlopment of the West End, including the properties next to Walmart, was in full swing long before Walmart broke ground.  In the current market, the development of that property is just a footnote on the reasons why investors are buying up property and developing over there. 

I think you just found a really bizarre arguementative way to agree with me. 

Like I said.... The development improved the area, it wouldn't have really mattered what it was.  Just because you don't like walmart doesn't mean they weren't the ones that caused the change.  Frank Liu, HEB, whomever could have been the ones to cause it, but Ainbinder/Walmart were the ones.  Just because Walmart isn't your preference doesn't change that.

Are you saying new development wasn't already under way in the West End prior to Walmart?

No.  The West End would emcompass a lot more area.  This specific few blocks had sat vacant (other than homeless and drug dealers) for a  very long time.  It would be safe to assume that the development was a catalyst to the changing of the neighborhoods climate.  What businesses within the development aren't important.  It could have been mixed use HEB/Whole Foods/Sprouts/ Kitty Day Spa / Oil change/ apartment complex and the result for the surrounding area would have been the same/similar.   Walmart was just the one with the coin to make it happen. 

s3mh,  I believe those live oak branches were there by the bayou before this happened.  (I was exploring over there a few months ago and saw a few downed trees and branches).  I'll swing by again today to see if they've cleaned up the pile of debris yet.  I don't understand how it is still there, the city should hire out someone to clear it out and send the developer the bill, the longer it sits there the more likely it is to get pushed into the bayou.

Something else I'm not sure if others realize and s3mh kinda of mentioned.... the bamboo was just clear cut/scraped by the bulldozer.  This is going to make this area somewhat dangerous in the near future as the bamboo shoots start to come back.  I had a friend that had a bamboo grove within their circular driveway and it was a foot stabbing deathtrap after they removed it.  (even after removing 2' of the dirt and rebuilding the beds and adding a gravel base to parts of it, bamboo still would shoot up occasionally)  Those little shoots are sharp!

So, if I make the argument in the historic preservation thread that property values have gone through the roof since the expansion of the HDs and the amendments to the historic ordinance, everyone would be cool with that, right?

If they hadn't been going up already before the HDs, and the neighboring non HD parts of the neighborhood weren't increasing in value at the same or greater rate, then yest you could say that.

Where there goes my faith in youth vandals!    I seriously can't beleive someone would do this out of dislike for the art  (I can see vandalism for the sake of vandalism even though I don't approve of it). 

Is the LSD guy old?  I see Agua and Earl a good bit,  silly graffitti taggers, at least learn to do nice block print.

I'll just stick to my longboard marathons.  Maybe one day I'll even do a sanctioned one on a closed course so I can go for my PR!  lol

So we need to change the entire course so the elite few will have a chance at getting a record.  The 25 competitive runners in a field of over 7,000.    BTW I ran a 5k once... so I'm an expert on this subject.  = P

Is The Heights more important than other Houston neighborhoods? Why is getting the marathon through The Heights such a special necessity? A lot of people live in this city, many of them not in The Heights.

Yes it is more important than other neighborhoods  (eff you Hyde Park).  jk, it has nothing to do with importance.

No the only reason I think she should have tried harder is because it has been going through the heights for a long time now and is sort of a tradition.  The community has embraced that tradition.  Runners enjoy coming through the heights (I have many friends who live in the Heights or have friends in the Heights that run the marathon every year so all their friends/neighbors and etc. come out to cheer them on).   It is the tradition of the marathon going through the heights and the neighbors coming out to support it that I feel would have been a smart move by Mayor Parker to address.  Even if it was an empty attempt.  Make sense?

Or maybe I am the only one here who is not so blind with irrational anti-ordinance rage that I can actually objectively comment on what the City does without having everything circle back to an anti-ordinance rant.  While I have commented extensively on Walmart and the 380 agreement, I do not turn every single thread into a debate over those issues or automatically presume that Mayor Parker is crooked just because I strongly disagree on one issue. 

 

And this marathon conspiracy theory deserves to be shot down as it is 100% baseless.  At least with the historic ordinance, there is a basis for having an opinion on either side of the issue.  With the marathon, there is simply nothing there.

Yeah, your blind with something irrational pro-ordinance rage/entitlement. 

While I don't blame Mayor Parker for the marathone route change... I do think she should have at least put on a show that she was trying to help organize it to go through The Heights.  In the least say that you are working with those involved to determine how to get the route to go through the heights next year.  Just a little action on her side to let the people of the neighborhood know that she cares. (about the people, not the houses)

so I did go look at it... its not quite as bad as it looks in pictures (it appears they didn't take out any mature trees judging from the brush piles and lack of stumps), but holy crap did they do an ugly job.  They also just pushed most of the brush to the bottom, which will inevitably end up in the bayou during the next big rain...  not happy with that.  I think the city should fine the developer enough to plant some mature trees (big enough to block the view of the townhomes) and other landscaping, as well as an amount to maintain the improvements for the next several years to ensure they live/thrive.  In addition to what I would consider replacing the damage they have caused (as punishment) they should have to pay a fine (amount determined by a judge) that would be used to support the park in general in addition to community service. 

Or a bank.

The truth hurts.

Does that make you invincible?   = ]

actually you can if you use sarcasm...

The haif declines continues.  I stopped following this site a while back but thought I'd check back in... same old people with the same old chips on their shoulders, fighting back and forth for no reason, and no one else even cares.  This grew tiresome for the vast majority of people a long time ago, but a couple of really bored people seem to still have nothing better to do that troll around and argue on haif all day.  Sad...

not true...  some people only troll occasionally...  (ex. your post)