jerrios

The construction from all their projects look like they generally have the same facade.  I wouldn't consider midtown a lower end market than the energy corridor.  

Personally, I don't really consider the retail at Post to be thriving other than the restaurants and even that is debatable.  The space at One Park Place took a while to fill in and does anyone even know how well that store is doing?  If we're just talking about restaurants to fill in the ground level, it may be more difficult in competing some of the other restaurants that is already in midtown.

Trust me, I am all for retail at the bottom, but I can definitely see where the developer is coming from.  I'm more happy that we can fill it fill it in with an apartment and as the population gets more dense in Midtown, businesses will follow.  

It's easy to tell the construction quality if you watched them go up. And they were abandoned halfway through, with the bare plywood sheathing exposed to the elements for years. Someone then bought them for 70k each, finished them, and flipped them within a year for 300+k.

Observe, before and after:

http://www.har.com/H...4-M16767394.htm

http://www.har.com/H...4-M85903774.htm

I actually feel really bad for the people who bought those homes; they were actually originally built by Waterhill Homes, which had terrible build quilty to begin with. They actually got sued by several homeowners in Hyde Park at one time due to poor construction that did not have proper run off of water and caused mold. I believe they ended up filing bankruptcy which was the same time these homes (above) were going up so they stopped construction of those homes.

A very good replacement for Mai's is Red Pier next to Les Givrals, they have family style meals similar to Mai's. I believe they are an extension of Les Givrals, being owned by the same people, so you won't find very many overlapping items, for instance you won't find pho there.

I've had 2 different experiences with home warranty, I'll start off with the good one. BFS Home Warranty is great, they have all in house repair guys and their deductible is $55 each time. They did some extensive repair work with the A/C and minor stuff with the oven. I've also had Home Warranty of America, they contract out whoever and had the worst experience ever. Guy tried to screw around with my damper system, only to come find out the warranty didn't cover it in the fine print. He quoted me about $2000 to fix it and there was nothing wrong with it.

I know what happened to Blue Label Lounge, it sucks so people stopped going! LOL, jk...just not my crowd.

On a serious note, the comments on that KXAN story mention the comparison between Washington Ave and Richmond Strip several times. As I am a younger pup, can anyone elaborate on the Richmond Strip at all? Supposedly in the '70's (?) this place was hopping and then obviously died down.

In my younger generation, I would be more inclined to compare Washington Ave to 4th St. in Austin.

What are your thoughts on this? Any comparisons between 4th St. and Richmond?

In the late 90's the Richmond strip was the happening place, similar to what is going on with Washington Avenue. There was pretty much a club/bar at every shopping center, after awhile things just got out of hand. You had people just cruising up and down Richmond and it was packed, if you see the no u-turn signs, that was the reason why. After a few shootings, I think the city stepped in and stopped renewing liquor license. The same thing happened with Main street after the superbowl, again the city stepped in and stopped renewing liquor license. These businesses are great on Friday and Saturday nights at first, but after awhile the it becomes uncontrollable and they do not contribute to the neighborhood during the day time.

I plan to be retired by then anyway.

Almost by its very title, the study can be dismissed, or at least Crossley's interpretation of it. No American city currently has a 3 hour commute, and Houston is not projected to grow any larger than any of the top 3 currently, so one must use flawed assumptions to get there. One must also ignore the makeup of the US economy, and assume that suddenly in 26 years everyone will work for a big business with a centrally located office. The fact is that hundreds of thousands of Houstonians will work at the malls, shopping centers, gas stations, hotels, doctor's offices, schools, restaurants and other assorted businesses located in and among the many far=flung neighborhoods along the Parkway. Crossley also ignores the fact that CEOs faced with daunting commutes for themselves or their employees will simply move their offices when the commute becomes unbearable.

If Houston and Harris County want to keep the inner core vibrant an viable, they will work to improve transit to the inner core. If they don't, private business will do what they need to do. There will be no 3 hour average commute. Period.

Though I definitely do not agree with the whole 3 hour commute, but for you to say "CEOs faced with daunting commutes for themselves or their employees will simply move their offices when the commute becomes unbearable." That statement is more ridiculously than anything that is stated in the article. I know people who live in Pearland, Katy, Woodlands, League City and younger generations working now who either live in midtown or in around the heights area all of whom work for the same company. I don't believe any CEO is willing to move a Downtown/Greenway/Galleria office to satisfly one set of employees who happen to live in one geographic area.

In order to continue to keep the inner core vibrant is to continue to develop the inner core to where people would like relocate to the inner core to avoid the "3 hour commute" (long commute). If there is improved transit but what is available out in people's suburbs are the same options available in the city, people will still not make the commute inwards.

I actually drove into the parking lot with the intent of eating there; parked my car in a spot that didnt have a yellow cone, valet guy came out and told me I had to valet. I drove off. There is no reason why I have valet my car when every parking spot was empty, I wasn't going to park across the street.

i felt $650 for an installation is excessive.

i guess i'm seeing if anyone had a better price than $700 or if anyone had a good experience with a certain plumber where paying the extra cost might be worth it.

40 gallon tank.

Does anyone know a good plumber for a water heater installation? my water heater is in the attic above the 3rd floor.

i had neighbor tell me home depot charges around $1000 for the water heater ($350) and installation ($650).

I've also been quoted over the phone for $700 by a private contractor.