brian0123

He could care less. Abbott just wants to make his name known beyond Texas and figures this political stunt will do it. Just another Repub trying to get his name known by doing something crazy. Other methods like rubbing feet against another dude in a bathroom, flubbing a bunch of debates, talking of secession, etc. have proved to not work so well... this is just another thing to try. I predict it will be just another failure.

From what I remember in Tree of Life... I thought they briefly mentioned he worked in Houston (can't quite remember though). I thought the movie itself was bad, but the shots of Houston in it are amazing. The Downtown shots (and corresponding office scenes) really blew me away. I had no clue those are actual offices people here in town get to work at. I wish my conference room had the view they showed.

Formerly Midtown (Anita and Austin), now Knollwood Village in the Braeswood area.

The Mayor had her birthday party at Hearsay last year. I believe Hotel Zaza gets a lot of celebs also.

Not going to happen. I found this awhile back and I emailed them asking about it. It was more of a "best use of land" type thing but nothing serious about it.

Yes, HCC has mentioned one tower in the past. I went to a community meeting they had (maybe two years ago) and they said they were hoping to one day have a tower across the street with something like a big Barnes and Noble on the bottom.

That's usually what I do and it works great. It only fails when pumping gas and they start knocking on your car.

This was always a fear of mine. Last year a homeless guy approached me at the gas station across from Randalls while I was pumping. He was aggresive, mean, "You got money, I want money, I know you have some, just a dollar " etc... I was polite, told him I only give to organizations like Search and to have a good day. As I got into my car he rounded my vehicle fast and started to get up behind me (almost getting into the car). Despite all sound logic I lost it and went off on him in a tirade of "back the ___ up mother ___ don't try to get in my car etc. etc." as I rushed back at him. He got scared and jumped back, started yelling about praising Jesus, and after I jumped in my car and locked the door he got in my window and started yelling how he'd beat me (I called HPD right away). Needless to say, if the Randall's employee did do something similar... I can totally see where he might have been coming from especially when your adrenaline kicks in. I've dealt with plenty of guys w/out incident and just brush off anything they say... but if someone is overly aggressive and you tell them to back off out of self defense, it's a different story. The guy I dealt with was all big and bad until confronted. He only had confidence once my back was turned or I was in locked in my car. Sounds like this guy at Randall's was similar.

Considering Downtown proper still has tons of empty blocks to be filled, I would imagine it will take another 60 years before anything like that will happen to a lot in Midtown owned by many different owners. I used to own a TH near Baldwin Park as well, but I think they make sense for the area.

1. Renovate Central Square building (condos w/ retail on ground floor facing Gray). 2. 3bed/2bath housing options in either 1 or 2 story configurations (either condo or TH) w/ a little private yard/balcony space. No more three to four story TH's. 3. Realization from a lot of original land owners that their land is not Midtown Manhattan... so sell it at Houston prices or stop sitting on an empty lot or nasty building thinking it will be worth tens of millions a couple years from now. I think this is one of the biggest problems Midtown now has. Empty lots held a long time by original owners who don't want to sell yet (or are but are asking way too much). They are all playing the waiting game for their values to skyrocket, but they are all holding themselves back in the process. 4. The city cracks down on Greyhound for operating a nuissance business so they sue to shut them down (or Greyhound is forced to add a security guard on every corner within a four block radius). 5. A good, locally owned donut shop.

I sold it for more than I bought... but minus fees/closing costs/etc. to sell and what I put into it... I lost a couple k. Not bad considering I would have lost $1700 a month to rent something comparable. I did love my TH so it's really up to your friend as to what lifestyle they live and what they care to deal with. I had awesome neighbors, but the amount of rentals in the TH's started to concern me (along with the other things I mentioned). TH's are nice a shiny at first, but they all age similarily and start to need new paint/roofs/ac/etc. around the same time. Some TH's will do the upgrades... others won't. Your property values will be impacted by those that don't esp if you share a driveway or common area with them.

Former inner loop TH owner here who now lives in single-family single story in loop. I avoided buying another TH because 1. TH's in the loop seem to peak in their popularity after 12 years of life. Afer that, buyers want it updated if it's an older one (mine was, so selling wasn't difficult... but it did not appreciate much). 2. TH's get old after awhile dealing with all the stairs. Your buddy might like it initially, but I grew to loathe having those stairs (and I'm in my 20's in good shape). 3. TH owner's associations. My place was spotless, but the orgs are pretty much powerless to do any real enforcement (other than write nasty letters). If your neighbor doesn't want to fix that whole in the roof, well you're screwed if your unit is attached to theirs. I bought my TH knowing I'd have to sell it eventually when we started a family. I came to my senses and ended up buying a single story from the 50's knowing I can live in it forever and upgrade it the way I want to. After moving to a single story house, I must say it's friggin awesome. It's so easy to maintain, do upgrades, move furniture, hang xmas lights, etc. If your buddy really wants a TH, just make sure he researches the TH org, see how the other TH's nearby are maintained, and realize that buyers eventually will look for the next new, shiny inner loop TH... so he'll have to keep it somewhat updated.

Does anyone have recommendations for cheap junk/trash pickup? Similar to 1800GOTJUNK, but cheaper? I have a load of trash piled in the backyard from my kitchen remodel and need someone to haul it all off for me.

You can argue people are too heavily dependent on anything. Yeah, people should hunt instead of going to grocery stores, grow their own fruits and veggies, live in the middle of nowhere surrounded by barbed wire, have their own solar powered off-the-grid home, communicate over their own private network they manage (and their own cell phone tower they built), and never go anywhere. Maybe even come up with your own currency and internet while you're at it. Face it, we're all dependent on thousands of systems that will (and do) fail us. Using this as an argument against mass transit is crazy.

Agreed. The City is ridiculous in this regard. I tried to look at different permits needed on their site, but some sections require you enter your personal Plumber's or Electrician's License (which I obviously don't have) just to search around. In other words, it's my responsibility to ask my electrician to get a permit for everything, but if they don't pull a permit for something, I have no clue of knowing what they didn't get pulled yet I'm still responsible. I would have no idea when selling later what wasn't unpermitted work. Do you really need a permit for replacing an outlet? Does that mean I need to hire an electrician just to replace a $2 socket I bought at Home Depot?

What do you guys mean by HCAD stopping by? Do they actually send someone out to the house and request access so they can bump up my value? Also, will pulling an electrical permit for the kitchen make the city think other things are going on and they'll become a big pain if they gain access to my house for inspections?

I'm about to tear out old cabinets and flooring to stick a new kitchen in our house. I've tried to determine what (if any) permits I might need but the Houston Permitting site doesn't really give a lot of info. A lot of the sections seem like I have to have licenses just access them. I will be doing demo myself, hiring an electrician (who will pull permits for that), and then a guy to patch up whatever holes I have in ceiling/walls. I might end up picking a water line out of a wall and dropping it down another as well (not a pipe, just the small line for moving the fridge). Any idea what permits (other than electrical) that I might need? Thanks for your help in advance.

That was an awesome scoreboard! Did people in the 60's wear their church attire to everything?

I still don't understand the hatred of people in cars behind cyclists (especially in the city). If you don't like the cyclist in front of you, just go over to a different road. The cyclist slowed you down (by at most) a couple minutes and was obeying the law. You're throwing a hissy-fit and getting worked up over nothing. Chill out, roll down the window, enjoy the drive down Heights Blvd, and respect your fellow man who happens to want to get some exercise and not use a car.

Why not take Yale? Heights Blvd is slow even w/out a biker on it. I would venture to guess he was riding around 22mph, probably had a car 25 yards in front of him, but you probably didn't notice that because you were pissed you couldn't floor it to the next red light.

Thanks for the information. Is he also the guy that owns the Central Bank building... or is that someone else? This lot is huge and in a good location. It seems like it could serve a better use than just a nasty abandoned pool.

Ever since moving to the Braeswood area a couple months ago, I routinely find myself driving past what might possibly be the oldest and nastiest "oasis"/pool area in Houston and was wondering the story behind it. The place is on South Main on an enormous lot with an old sign in front that says "Hospitality Inn" on it. What's crazy about this place is that it has a heavily wooded pool surrounded by nothing but an expansive lot of old slabs and concrete (looks like something out of a nuclear fallout film). http://maps.google.com/maps?q=29.690101,-95.418444&ll=29.689832,-95.418091&spn=0.000489,0.000426&num=1&t=h&z=21&layer=c&cbll=29.689751,-95.418157&panoid=2st1LFesBiXDPSOmnmg8sw&cbp=12,320.6,,1,-1.59 Using Historic Aerials, it looks like the buildings that once stood on it (there in 2002) changed over time but the pool was added between 1957-1962 and was never touched even as the buildings around it changed. The crazy thing about this is that I always see people living behind and around pool (like their "oasis", although I can't imagine what the pool area is actually like and what's inside it). It also seems strange that the land owner would have demo'd the entire lot but left the pool untouched. Anyone know what this place was before it was an inn (or has it always been that) and if there are any plans for it in the future?

Considering that construction hasn't even started, I'd be very surprised they can build a new movie complex, garage, and reno the existing building to be ready by a 2013 move-in date. If so, it would have to be near the very end of the year.

The area is definitely a fun place to live and I do recommend it. We loved living there despite the negatives because it was constant excitement (good and bad). It was awesome having an officer at your door in minutes, and the 2am male prostitutes dancing in the streets to "attract business" always cracked my wife and I up. The neighborhood continues to improve, big projects are in the works, and there is never a dull moment to be had. I loved to ride my bike around and go speeding off to any police lights I'd see down the road. Once I saw an HPD officer do an awesome one-handed choke slam on a guy at the Greyhound station while on a ride. Don't let the negatives keep you away from the fun, though. As the neighborhood improves, all the excitement will go away and you'll end up in the most walkable and developed neighborhood in the city.

I lived there for five years and recently sold my townhouse. My wife and I loved living there, but I believe all the major returns for the townhomes have already been realized (I made a small gain). The townhomes are getting older, and lots of work will be needed in the future on them. Some are already getting run down. One that was across from us was beautiful until the guy couldn't sell it so he turned it rental. It deteriorated in a year and became an eye-sore. I can't imagine how his neighbors (esp the one sharing a common wall) felt. Also, a common concern at HOA annual meetings was the number of rentals in the area. 30 years out... who knows what it will be like. The neighborhood will probably be awesome. The townhomes themselves... I wouldn't hold my breath. The main Baldwin Square HOA only collects enough money for common areas, fencing, etc. They have no reserves to take corrective action on property owners that become neglectful other than sending angry letters. Living there, my wife would walk around by herself (and with our baby daughter) during the day. At night, no way. The crime stats for Midtown are good, and police response times are awesome (I know because I had to call them a lot). You just have to realize that being the most walk-able neighborhood in the city has advantages and disadvantages. There is a lot of bad foot traffic through the neighborhood, and lots of suspicious people. Most of them just move along or are dealing and they leave you alone. Some do steal mail/packages/potted plants/etc. One of my neighbors had a jacket stolen, and a guy returned later at night with it asking if he wanted to buy it back. That said, the only crime committed against me in my five years was someone stole some of my xmas decorations last year. Feel free to ask me whatever else.