brian0123

My street hasn't drained properly after the COH repaved and mosquitoes breed like crazy in the puddles. The city has not been interested in fixing their contractor's mistake so I'm guessing they'll only take care of the easy targets.

Speaking of Nissan, quick update on my 2012 Leaf I bought the other month. So far it's the best car I've ever owned (and it only cost me $10,800 w/ 11k miles). We live in the loop and it takes care of 90% of our driving needs. No oil, gas, transmission to worry about... and it's a full size so there's plenty of legroom in the back row(I'm 6'2" and easily fit in the back).

 

After driving an EV, I've grown accustomed to the car being completely silent and find myself thinking other cars I get in are having engine problems. Charging is simple and fast since I installed a 220v (L2) charger on my garage... but I can also charge at any 110 outlet. As an example, I drove my Leaf out to my parents (30 miles to Cypress), charged using a 110 outlet for 7 hours, and drove back that night w/out range issues. Freeway speeds are what really kill range, so driving faster than 60mph starts to reduce where you can go. If you live in the burbs and expect to commute at slower rush hour speeds, it can go further cruising at 35 mph.

 

The #1 question I'm asked is how much my electric bill went up. I honestly haven't noticed a change since I charge 1-2 times a week, and it's the equivalent of running an electric dryer for 6 hours at a time. I pay about .09 cents per kwh for my wind plan, and average 4.2 miles per kwh... so it costs me a little more than 2 cents per mile that I drive. 

The LEDs are an incredible improvement. I can't wait for the entire city to move over to them.

The electric car chargers are a nice touch that I'm glad they mentioned. There are a decent amount of EV drivers in the TMC with little charging options available.

These guys are going to make a killing on this tower. The demand for housing catering to med school students (and recent grads) in the S Main and TMC area is astronomical. The current housing stock like my neighborhood is too expensive and geared more for physicians and their families. There are tons of nurses and new docs commuting from all over who want to live nearby but can't find anything. I called it on here before and will say it again... the TMC/SW Houston area is going to be the next major economic juggernaut in Houston. Devs have been focused for far too long on Energy Corridor/Woodlands areas and have negelected to build housing and hotels in the TMC (all while TMC was humming along strong and not paying attention to oil).

What are ratings for Deborah Duncan? I can't stomach the show so probably anything will be better than the current format. I wish they'd get out of the studio and film more from around town. Remove the audience, studio, etc. and just make it on site and more "real" instead of scripted talk show format from the 1990s.

The glass facade to cover the front boat look was genius.

Y'all are wasting your time yakking about the decision making process of the bureaucracy involved here. Can we get back to something that matters......like the WHERE of this whole thing?

What's the outlook for a single family home owner about a mile away from this proposed development? Is our sleepy little corner of the loop finally getting it's wakeup call?

Yes. Our property values are going to skyrocket. I live in Knollwood Village, and it's the closest single family neighborhood inside the loop to this. I expect my tax bill to be through the roof once this is built.

Sorry to revive an old thread, but is this area nice? I've driven through it and walk around some during the day, but that's no substitute for the knowledge of people living there. Any current or recent residents?

I posted above (former resident moved out in 2012) but still drive through there and hear from neighbors occasionally. I think it's gotten a little overpriced considering you can spend another 35k and get similar places in NW side of Midtown (or just in 4th ward) closer to restaurants. Good area, but night time gets different and you'll get occasional creepy dudes walking around so depends on your comfort level. Just go down there a couple nights after 8pm and see how you feel and if you are good with it.

Oh and he also has a killer beard on his neck and a penchant for fedoras....

 

Swap that fedora with a cowboy hat and you have your typical open carry proponent. It's really the only distinguishing factor between the love of computers and the love of firearms.

Where did this open carry law come from? Did repubs listen to one looney group and assume all gun owners are for this? Seems most CHL holders think this law is dumb.

Anyone else get a weird vibe from the "Sponsored Posts" on swamplot? I get it, they need the money to operate...but isn't a slight conflict of interest to play up these developers and projects and investors while reporting on the same groups of people?

I'm glad it's returned, so it's not like it's stopping me from reading it.

I ran a blog called InnerLooped for about a year. The $$$ was the biggest pain so I don't blame them at all. Bandwidth and time cost money, and ad clicks bring in hardly anything.

Why do openly carried handguns makes you afraid? I'm not a fan of open carry, but I am not going to let it bother me.

Because tools designed to kill people are not something I like my kids seeing paraded around proudly by morons. I also don't have any guarantee that those morons have done everything correctly with maintaining the firearm, training, etc. Life is too short to let it be ruined by incompetent blowhards.

Now I have a reason to stop shopping at Kroger and go to HEB.

The affordability calculators are not necessarily wrong. It just ends up depending on what your priorities are. If you want to always have a new luxury car, go on frequent expensive vacations, retire when you are 50, etc. your "affordable" house is going to be lower. It also can come down to how well you are able manage your finances. I still have a hard time explaining to reasonably intelligent people why financing a sofa or fridge costs so much more in the end than just paying cash. What can really get you though is if that higher price is for more square feet because that means more cost to furnish and maintain.

I couldn't agree more.

-50 skip cable

-50 cheaper cell plan

-600 no car payment

-700 stop eating out all the time at $$$ places

-40 cancel the gym membership

Right there anyone can have an extra $1440/month of easy money. If you use it towards a mortgage of somewhere in town, savings shoot up even more dramatically.

This looks like every other midrise apartment building built in the city over the past couple of years. This is what I would expect to see for a hotel so I have no problem with it.

Just drove by. They're tearing this entire hotel down. So glad to see this thing gone.

Did you guys not read the state law I posted above? Yes, Coleman hates gentrification in Third Ward. He has every right to feel like that when you have long time residents and people on fixed incomes being pushed out. He loves Midtown and the development there as well. Again, it's a win win for both neighborhoods. Everything he's doing is by the books and legal. I talked with him at a Midtown event once and he's a cool guy really excited about how far Midtown has come.

Personally, I think there are better ways to provide affordable housing... but Coleman is following the law and Midtown is complying with what is required of them.

All that said, it's not like Coleman's plan is stunting growth in Third Ward or hurting Midtown. Both places are hot. The only people I've seen really upset by it typically have crime concerns about Midtown and wonder why more can't be spent on police instead of buying land. Again, 1/3 of revenues HAVE to go to affordable housing.

$296.4 million to $68.9 million.

The first number is what UT received in State support in 2014, the second is what UH was given. So, there are 227 MILLION reasons why anyone who supports UH might be wary of UT's encroachment into the City.

Seems more than generous to UH. UT is a much larger system with thousands of more students. I went to SFA but have no reason to expect it to get the same funding as UT or UH.

Agreed cspwal. It's confusing, but everything they do is by law. People tend to think government is crooked and that Coleman is locking up votes for himself. In reality, they have to follow Texas law and attempt to save as much land as possible for current and future affordable housing. I was glad they were doing it in third ward and not Midtown because it would effectively wipe out potential tax revenues from their growth. In other words, a big Camden development increases tax revenues (so Midtown can fancy up Bagby) vs them buying land and putting a tax exempt property there and Bagby never getting rebuilt (or just a basic street overlay).

Now, newbies to the area look around at all the nice stuff and wonder why Midtown bothers with third ward. They weren't around when Midtown was a desolate wasteland and Baldwin Park had grass over your head with prostitutes and drug dealers living at it. The TIRZ law allowed Midtown to get fixed up, while allowing for affordable housing for those displaced. This avoided what happened in Freedman's Town. Third Ward (neighbor to the district) gets rebuilt as well, which in turn helps reduce crime rates in Midtown, and Midtown grows with inc. tax revenues to fund transition of both areas. Midtown TIRZ will go away in the future by law (can't remember the official date). At that point, we'll have an awesome urban neighborhood with an awesome rebuilt neighboring district that has affordable housing in the city.

"McRaven wants Houstonians to guide the project. He plans to let a panel of them provide him the recommendations on what to do with it."

UT Astroworld!!!

JK, really excited about the possibilities here.

Everyone go to the affordable housing section in their report:http://www.houstonmidtown.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Midtown-Special-Report.pdf

Yes, they've built multifamily (they even have a picture of one in doc above). Yes, they have covenants around the land if sold. They probably don't do this in Midtown since land is so expensive now, they can have a greater impact setting aside land for future housing needs instead of buying a couple Midtown lots. Remember, they buy the land at lot value... They're not Gods who can just take land. Buying land in third ward lets them accomplish more with the same resources.

Chill out everyone. Midtown is required by state law to set aside 1/3 of funds collected for affordable housing since Midtown was allowed to be established under Section 311.005...

"In a zone designated under Section 311.005(a)(4) that is located in a county with a population of 3.3 million or more, the project plan must provide that at least one-third of the tax increment of the zone be used to provide affordable housing during the term of the zone."

.

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/TX/htm/TX.311.htm

No scandal here. Just a clause in state law that allowed Midtown to gentrify with thought given to those who may get displaced in the process. Midtown chose to do the affordable housing outside of their zone (which is allowed under the law).

Yeah, I guess gradutes from Princeton, Harvard, and SMU must be ignorant, right? Right?

Not all grads, but some are. It also means they could use their intelligence for evil means if that is their intent.

1. Will the HOA be professionally managed or will it become a popularity contest for college students trying to build their résumé?

2. How soundproof will the units be? The target demographic scares me away since I'm imagining a college dorm like I lived in, only with much more units and more parties. Will there be clauses around behavior, noise, nuisance, etc?

3. Comment: If this does go well and you're looking for other projects in Houston... I suggest south of the Texas Medical Center along South Main or south of NRG stadium. There is a strong need for housing like Ivy, but geared toward nurses, young doctors saddled with loans, and med students... all who want to bike/ take rail to the TMC.