SilverJK

I get it. You do not like the historic districts. You don't have to post your opinion in every thread.

Pot meet kettle...

I'm curious to see what happens on this site.  Where could one find information about costs for soil remediation anyway?  (there is an old service station i know of that would make a great coffee shop)

I see this as HAHC self destruction...  "oh you don't like us and have legitimate reasons to be angry... here is even MORE ammo!!!"

dangit!  Who do I order my DG from now?  I also need 3 tons of flagstone...    I loved SJS because it only cost like $25 to get delivered.

Anyone know the last day of SJ Stone's operation?   I need some more decomposed granite delivered...

I seem to remember big mamou taking over a year to open though...???  (with signage indicating Big Mamou was coming)

There was a tea place on 19th for a while... it didn't make it despite having pretty good little sandwiches, good tea, and nice workers.

I think they actually didn't spend any money... since I don't know otherwise, I'm wearing comfortable shoes.

At this point in time, I don't know the total spent or the interest rate.

Mayhaps you should say "up to 6 million" then instead of making it seem they spend the entire amount...

South of 11th street Representin'.

They should add to the historic district signs south of 11th (we still stab people).

At some point you get back to threatening people with a machete and then taking over their bar with legal shenanigans though.

nah, those days are over up there... now they just complain/whine really hard about event organizers up there.

You would have been better served to reference their references, not their assertions supported by their references.

Do you want me to provide a list of the people I know? (i'm not going to) I stated it was a small sample size, I didn't try to distort that, but If the few people I know feel that way, it leads me to think your statement of "overwhelming support" is proabably overstated/exaggerated. The "overwhelming majority" most likely didn't vote, cause they didn't care enough one way or the other to be bothered, don't confuse apathy with support.

Awesome. I've been looking forward to Town In City Brewery opening too. That area is positioned to take off this year.

You are right. I completely made all of this up and did not get my information from the following well sourced scholarly article:

http://www.google.co...8R6aDUv0cPV0_Jg

Although well thought out and sourced for sure... you are still referencing a sided opinion piece...

but they had rocks blocking the grass!!!

Minorities and low income residents were targeted by anti-zoning groups with ad campaigns claiming that zoning would mean a rise in rents. Minorities were also wary of the days when Jim Crow zoning would define a "family" for single family residential neighborhoods as excluding minorities, gays, and so on. Middle class voters were overwhelmingly for the measure as they saw it as a way to preserve their neighborhoods.

I had no clue you were so knowledable about minorities in the early 90s in the neighborhood... The minority gay couple that owned my home (during that time frame up until 06') were not supporters of zoning... nor the gay couple that lives two houses down (also there during that time frame), although they definitely support minimum lot size and setback.

(small sample size for sure, but I actually talk to these people)

Nice fabrication though.

You are still allowed to have Horses in areas of Acres Homes (not just acreage), I doubt the residents there are/were supporters of zoning.

Hearsay rumos appear to be unfounded. Distillery has been painted green, and new signage indicates it will now be a Lucky's Pub. I was hoping for more of a gastro-pub, but a good beer drinking spot that I can stumble home from is still a good thing. Hopefully they can get a better vibe than distillery did (place had tons of potential but really weird vibe).

I thought this walmart was just to hurt target, and wasn't actually needed... but now it draws a huge crowd?

I know that none of us (Aside from MarkSMU, he risks it often) are bothered by the increase of traffic on Yale, because we are too afraid to risk our family's lives on the bridge of death.

While you all may like the fact that the goods you want to buy and the stores you like are now closer, the fact is that Fiesta on 14th is gone (no coincidence--why would Fiesta stick around to try to compete with Walmart).

I think the wal-mart is completely coincedence since I heard rumors that the fiesta wasn't long for this world around 5 years ago... you weren't here so maybe you don't remember when we thought it was happening back then... If you really wanted to blame another store, stick to Kroger. The 11th Street Kroger improvements probably hurt business a lot more than Walmart ever did, not that it matters, the property owners have been looking to cash in on that land for a while now.

I suppose Party Kroger's new gas station is the reason the gas station on white oak and studewood is closing too huh?

S3mh being S3mh.

I would actually agree that Houston has a too Mayor-heavy form of municipal government in that the Mayor sets the agenda for council and CMs frequently have to go along with the mayor if they want to get what they need for their constituents (and this is in no way an exclusive feater of the Parker administration), if that is the point you are trying to make. But, if you are wishing for representatives on council who have the same kind of independence as the judiciary should have, then you are wishing for the kind of council that you believe we have (i.e. ignored alleged overwhelming opposition to the HDs).

The second part doesn't really make any sense... if they were independent then they wouldn't have to just go along with the mayor. Yes they still went up against their own constituents, but out of fear of Parker, not because they were voting their personal beliefs or the collective beliefs of their constituents. But I'm glad we agree that council ignored overwhelming opposition (you say alleged, but thats just to save face)

People acting independtly without worry of the consequences would be beneficial in other areas too, say the City Council... where Ed Gonzales had to go along with "his boss" Mayor Parker...

what does that have to do with elections? Your problem is with the campaigning process. Everyone has an interest in who gets elected... thats why they vote.

That makes no sense at all. It is entirely consistent to want some sort of land use restrictions to keep Walmart and Ainbinder from building suburban strip malls in an urban neighborhood and to also want the City to have a strong historic preservation ordinance. The city of houston is a huge and complex governmental entity. There is a long list of things they do that I like and a long list that I don't like. I am not precluded from having one list because I have another.

You still don't get it. You are saying "government has the right" when something meets your needs, but for the ainbinder deal, where the government was doing what they thought best you said it was an aweful/evil/destructive/devaluing/uneven tire wear causing thing... so which is it, does the government have the right to tell people how to use land or not? You and your cronies faught tooth and nail to stop walmart... that the government supported, but you don't like people fighting to stop a historic ordinance (that was never fairly voted for).

This is why judicial elections are such a farce and need to go away.

Yeah, heaven forbid an actual election takes place... I guess you should just be able to hand pick all the judges? How about if you don't vote, it counts as a vote towards the incumbent...

Real estate in the HDs is gold. It is just a different kind of gold that is not as easy as knocking down and building an Italiante box.

You mean... Less valuable gold?

And your last statement is just classic S3mh. Basically you are saying that it is okay for the government to tell you how to use your property...but from everything you have said in the past on here... it is clear that you only feel this way when it supports your cause. The government (the one you support so strongly on this) is the same one that "gave" walmart all that money that you are so angry about. Its okay for them to tell me how to modify/restore/preserve my house that I OWN... but

it isn't okay for them to allow a walmart to be built on land that you DON'T own? Classic S3mh.

telling people that a majority appreciate architecture/art/etc on a forum with the word architecture in it... where you are consistently the minority view, is humorous.

Also nearly your entire post is your opinion, quit trying to pass off your opinions as facts, at least try to take some of the cold hard facts out there and distort them to make your point. Just because you say "the market has spoken", "burden of the ordinance is negligible" etc, doesn't make it so (others will strongly argue the opposite).

Let me give you an example... I'm just going to make something up to rebuttle your statement about hardie plank...

- although hardie plank weighs more, real wood has a higher absorbtion rate so in humid wet houston the wood will often weigh more than its hardie plank counterpart.

Now I have no clue if this is true or false.. but I want it to be true so I said it with absolutely no support.

You are right about one thing for sure, people definitely have a right to restrict construction for historic preservation. The word that your not really paying attention to in this sentence is "People". The "people" have NOT spoken (I know your going to say there was a fair chance but that is a blatant fabrication). The only way to see if the "People" want to restrict contruction would be to have a fair vote, why is it that the "preservationist" don't want to have a straight vote? Norhill is a great example of people (the majority) who got together and put in Deed Restrictions to restrict contstruction. How can you not see the difference in those two approaches and why one really angers people and the other is okay?