jookyhc

Needing more home space, I am reluctantly leaving the Heights. My wife teaches in Spring Branch ISD, and my son is already in school there, so we have selected Spring Branch as our new neighborhood. We're taking baby steps in our exodus to the 'burbs.

So. I'm meeting up with a real estate agent in the morning, and we're going to look at houses, and I'd like to know where we can expect street flooding in Spring Branch. We're actually looking pretty far west - generally speaking Gessner and Kempwood area. Does anyone know which roads we'll need to be wary of when the rain starts coming down?

We're not looking at anything in any floodplane, so we're generally not worried about property damage, we're just thinking about how easy it'll be to get home if we get one of those storms like we had in Oct. '03. Any tips on what to look out for, and advice for higher ground alt. routes would be greatly appreciated.

That 1913 map is fantastic. I think there's a copy of it at "The Limelight" a just-a-shade above-a-dive-bar near the ballpark. However, with it here on my computer, I can stare at it and not look like I've had one too many.

Just a few observations:

What we call Shepherd is called Shepherd Dam Road. In fact, it looks like it said Shepherd Damn road, but someone crossed out the 'N'.

Without thinking, I was looking for Cullen Road to locate what would become UH - right near Scott, Holman, and Chocolate Bayou Road in the South central region - without even thinking that the Cullens were not yet as road-name worthy in 1913.

I suppose this ballpark near San Felipe, on Crosby, just south of Buffalo Bayou is the West End Park. Apparently, this was something of a golden age for the Buffs franchise. who won Texas League titles in 1909, 1912, 1913, and 1914. Only that, according to what I read, they didn't move to West End Park until 1920 or so. Is it possible that this ballpark just serve neighborhood kids from the time it opened, through the time this map was drawn and up to 1920?

That streetcar system was AWESOME!!! Imagine hopping a streetcar on Heights Blvd, and riding down Washington directly into downtown.

I read Clutch's mail every time he posts it. I've sent him a few things, and "he" always replies, but it's never anything that's worth posting. It's usually more along the lines of "Did David Stern know you were going to take his shoe last night, or was that an impromptu thing?"

The CVS at 11th and Yale and the old HEB on 11th that backs up to Allston will both soon be standing empty, with signs outside begging someone to lease (specifically lease, not buy) the property.

Any ideas/ rumors/ information on what could or is coming to these locales.

For that matter, what kind of business could operate in either of these spaces without a major overhaul of the construction? Maybe I'm short on imagination, and I don't know what lease terms are being offered, but I just don't see what else would work with either of those structures, essentially as they are.

From the Woodland Heights Assn. Website www.woodland-heights.org:

Construction is scheduled to commence approximately in March 2005.

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Anyone heard anything new about this Target?

I'm going to be priced out of the neighborhood by the time the ribbon gets cut.

The CVS at 11th and Yale has had HVAC problems for something like 2 months. I asked the girl at the counter if they were just going to ignore that store until the new one opened and she said that the repair techs were in there earlier that day and that they had said that the A/C was very close to combustion, but that they fixed it. It was probably about 80 degrees inside the store at this time - very unpleasant.

So I asked her when they were moving in to the new store and she said late June/ early July - so that's what like 9-11 weeks from now.

I'll miss being able to walk over there and back to the house in 20 minutes, but I'll be relieved when they finally start fully stocking a Heights area store.

I don't drive through Midtown near as much as I drive through the Near East End, but didn't City Council already NIMBY the homeless out of Midtown, by extending the camping ban south, thus forcing the homeless to the East End and the Museum District?

Ultimately it doesn't really matter what park the homeless move into, no one is going to want them there. In any case, I can't blame the Rockets or the Astros, or Chevron-Texaco, or even a McDonald's franchisee for not wanting a large vagrant presence around their place of business.

The city should get to work on some real alternatives, rather than extending the camping ban zip by zip. Just since the ban was extended to Midtown a few months ago I've already started to see the occasional sleeper in some of our Heights area parks. I even had one person break into my garage to sleep one night when it was raining really bad. Literally - in my back yard.

Has anyone heard anything about the former K-Mart West of the Heights at the jumble intersection around E. TC Jester, 18th, and 19th near Ella?

It has looked pretty much the same since I moved back to H-town two years ago, but some fencing has just gone up in the last couple of weeks.

Also I was wondering how the traffic ever worked around there. Most of those roads are in pretty bad shape, and the fork intersection is a recipe for disaster now. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to have tempted fate with Christmas traffic when that store was open.

I really enjoy this building. Honestly I enjoy all 3 of the sports venues.

However, the thing I love about Toyota Center is that you go down to the cheap seats, instead of climbing up. Since you go further away, and then come down to your seats, the perception -- and obviously the reality-- is that you are moving in closer to the action.

That, and my wife and I are big fans of Clutch the Rockets Bear.

I'm not real clear on what your gripe is here, Midtown.

First of all, the land doesn't belong to the Rockets, they've just made a series of donations to the city, to reinvest in the park. If any entity has taken too long to get to work on the park, it's the City. For that matter, it's the city that let the park get run down in the first place, even though it's maybe than two miles from City Hall.

Does it benefit the team? Maybe, it'll make a few dozen suburbanites more comfortable about coming to a game, but it's not going to be a major revenue boost. In fact, the Rockets could well have simply ignored the park altogether as the city's responsibility - which it is - and not bothered to give back to the city a public space, in return for the city's investment in their private space.

Also while I don't necessarily think it's fair to shuttle the homeless population from park to park, I don't think it's appropriate city management to simply "give" certain parks to the homeless, as opposed to actually dealing with the homelessness issue. Last year the Rockets were going to donate the proceeds fom their "Tux N Tennies" gala to the Root Square fund. Instead they donated the gala dollars to a program that helps very low income people with job re-training and placement, and then Alexander went into his pocket to make the Root Square gift.

Frankly, I think the Rockets are one of the best corporate citizens in Houston - as well they should be since their operation is government subsidized. Nonetheless, it's my opinion that criticism of them on this point misses the mark.

Supposedly they're installing basketball courts. I don't think I've seen any renderings, but the Rockets were a major donor to the revitalization.

I'm sure you're deserving of praise for something, but not for finding what I'm looking for.

I believe the hchsa pics are all HOK drawings, and they fairly accurately depict the ballpark as it is today. These pics you've linked to are what I've identified as the phase 2 and 3 renderings. The phase 1 rendering that I'm hoping to find was actually circulated during the referendum campaign, and then never widely seen again.

I was told that there were only three copies of the rendering made, and only in poster form and that they are they are owned byKen Yarborough, Drayton McClane and Bob Lanier. I'm really hoping that this isn't true.

This picture, should I ever find it, will actually go in my collection along side my video, produced by the Oilers sometime around 1993, depicting the downtown dome they wanted the county to build for them. In the very limited capacity computer animation, the Oilers propose a dome, similar to the Alamodome, that they could share with the Rockets, and could also host car shows, conventions and other such events. It's fascinating to watch, and if I had the capability to make it an mpg, I'd be glad to share it, but alas it's on VHS.

Also, here's an early rendering of what we now call the Toyota Center. You can see it's vaguely close to what we now have, but certainly not as much as the later renderings. Very similar comparisson in fact to the Ballpark at Union Station pics I'm looking for.

I would really love to have a digital copy of the earliest renderings of what was then being called "The Ballpark At Union Station" strictly for the purpose of my own enjoyment.

I know of at least 3 stages of renderings. Late in the design/ construction process, there were images created by (or under contract for) HOK that showed the ballpark essentially as it is, with green seats. Prior to that the middle stage showed the ballpark, essentially as it is, with blue and yellow seats (then the Astros colors). What I am looking for are the pictures from before that. I have seen a poster of the ballpark, (I believe) before HOK was even brought on board, that a ballpark that is vaguely familiar, but has crawford box type seats spanning all of left feild. I know that the former State Representative Ken Yarborough has a poster of the ballpark vision in this stage, and I clearly remember this image from the political campaign to create the sports authorty, but I cannot seem to find these pics online.

Thanks to the internet archive I have an image that's pretty early second stage and might have some of the early rendering cues still in it, but it's so small I can't make it out very well.

Anyone who can provide a good pic of this earliest rendering will be showered with praise. I can't offer much more than that, but I would really love to get ahold of these pics, and I'd bet some other folks around here would as well.

I really don't know how well "space" sells. I think for a lot of people in other parts of the country NASA and space exploration seem almost archaic. Like the persuit of knowledge beyond our own world is somehow outdates.

Add to this the fact that even the ambitious goals that the federal government outlines for NASA have been talked about for at least 20 years, and you have a recipe for boredom.

Perhaps once the space shuttle is phased out and the new vessels come on- line, the image will change, but I think right now NASA's image is stuck in the mid 70s.

Then again, maybe it's Houston's role to correct that perception.

What do y'all think about the hiwi campaign??

Oh, I never lived in Seattle. I've lived in Houston my entire life, except for 6 years in Austin. I wasn't even in Seattle a week. I just visited and I realized that the things that were touching people weren't the things that were built for tourists, but for the people who live there.

Our natural assets are the bayou and the fertility of our land. Clearly we'll never have mountains, but we've got water and trees, and we could do a better job of capitalizing on that, and I think that that equates to making the city better for "us", not necessarily thinking about "them."

I think a CN tower, or a "Spirit of Houston" or any grand project like that is destined to fall short if attempted in Houston. With the possible exception of the Astrodome redevelopment and beyond what we already have, by way of public athletic venues, the things that will communicate how special Houston is to the world outside, will be relatively small things.

yes...

perhaps...

Yaknow, and when I was posting this I thought "I'm not sure if it's Aztec or Mayan, so I'll just pick one." Aaaand I guess I picked wrong.

Thank you for your ever so constructive criticism. Now I know and I won't make that mistake again.

Obviously, it's been a while since anyone posted on this thread, but since I'm new, I hope you'll forgive me.

I'm a big fan of the Heritage Plaza building, and I'm amazed at how many people don't realize that the top of the building is modeled on the concept of an Aztec temple. I've spent some time on the 50th floor of 1100 Louisiana in an office that lines up perfectly to look at that detail, and it's just terrific. It might be a little gimmicky for some tastes, but that is, far and away, my favorite skyscraper in town.

I have a friend who's a civil engineer from the MidWest, who now lives in Austin. Last year I showed around downtown Houston for the first time, and without seeing any signs, and before I could point them out myself, he told me which buildings were the federal courthouse, and what building was the post office. He said he can always find the federal buildings.

He also said that an engineer will design a building that will last forever, but everyone will want for it to be torn down, while an architect will design a building that people will want to last forever, but it will fall down. His words, not mine.

Is there a rendering of the Asia House anywhere that is easily accessible?

I posted this on an astros fan board that I'm no longer very active in, but I clipped it, and I'm gonna share it:

I'm not exactly sure what should be done with the Astrodome. I do have a few ideas, and there are a few things that I think would be cool, but won't work, and a few ideas about things that I think would be terrible an wouldn't work.

First off, no matter what, even if the county mothballs it, I think it should be power washed. Everything else in Reliant park is new and sparkling, but the centerpiece (literally, of course) looks like crap. A powerwasher will do wonders, and I bet that some company would be willing to do it for a reduced rate, in exchange for the privlege of hanging an enormous sign on the front of the dome, facing 610 for about 4 months - either during the Rodeo or during Texans season. Nothing permanent, nothing gaudy, just some good ad space in exchange for a good deal.

Secondly I think the current working plan of a large scale convention hotel complex would be kind of cool, but I don't think it would work in the next 10 years. For those who don't know this plan is to have a hotel with 200+ rooms, and a gigantic atrium - with clear glass roof panels - with a single roller coaster and a few other attractions. There is a similar complex in the Metroplex, with a Texas theme - including a replica of the Alamo - and it is expected to do quite well in the long run. Essentially, the development can best be likened to a Las Vegas style hotel resort, with no casino.

The bad idea was the last working plan which would be a space themed amusement park with a few hotel rooms thrown in. I don't see how this could ever be economically viable, and for that matter, I don't see it bringing people to the building over a protracted period of time.

The idea that I have most liked, and that I would love to see implemented still is to rennovate the building for another sports related purpose. Back when Houston had an outside shot at hosting the 2012 olympics, the idea was floated to turn the Astrodome into the world's premier exclusive track and field facility. The international authorities approved the idea of indoor competition, and the track world was enthusiastic about the idea of having a facility in the US that would bring competitions here. Apparently track events don't just take place every 4 years, they have seasons and everything. It's just that Americans don't usually pay attention because it takes place everywhere else in the world but here. This facility could be used by NCAA, for professional competition, and its successful use would give Houston regular international attention. Alas, the USOC decided to go with New York, who has a sub par plan and will ensure that the US don't get the games again until 2020 at the earliest. (the USOC has already said that it's 2012 bid city will be the same as the 2016 bid city if it's unsuccessful) Nonetheless I still think this plan could work.

Alternatively, and equally unlikely is the possibility of rennovating the building for soccer, cleaning off the roof panels to make them clear and reducing the seating to somewhere around 35,000 - lower deck only - and installing a smaller higher-end hotel - capable of hosting visiting NFL and MLS teams and staffs - and maybe some sort of sports hall of fame around the upper rings.

Of course, it all starts with a good power washing.

Fair enough. I would say, however, that what they ended up with is far better than what they had to begin with.

Maybe the project's goals were too much of a reach, but the condition that the area was in last time I was over there is far better than it was immediately before CityView.

I'm not in the industry, so I can't and wouldn't try to argue or even disagree with your points about repositioning. It's my sense, however, that the area will get its turnaround when (if, really) the lightrail to IAH passes through.

It occurred to me when I was in Seattle last year that it's not the fake things that a city does to attract people (ie the Seattle's Space Needle) that makes a city special, it's the legitimate things that a city either has naturally (the Seattle area's Mt. Ranier) or that a city builds for itself (Seattle's public market).

I think the current bayou-as-parkland redevelopment is a big step in the right direction. I also think that the stadia and the Cottswald project are too. I think that community development being pre-planned to accompany the rail line for the East Side will be helpful. Doing something with the Astrodome (I'll post my comments on that thread soon) will be a piece of the puzzle.

It occurred to me on Sunday, though that Washington Avenue has amazing potential to be a very unique destination. I know it sounds crazy, but with the right development, and a good re-surfacing that can be a signature avenue of this city. This is a street that does not deny what the city is, and has a lot of old structures still standing. It is surrounded by high end residence and the development coming up between Wash. and 10 will only serve to bolster this area.

In short I guess my view is really that Houston needs to continue to make itself a nice place to live, and all that stuff about international appeal will follow.

Oh, also, no one cares about the 4th biggest anything. This occurred to me when I heard that Farmington, New Mexico is the 4th biggest city in NM. We need to brand Houston as the biggest city in Texas, and not the 4th biggest in the US. It benefits our image to have an air of indifference to the rest of the US anyway. That's part of our identity that we need to clarify.

Poor old Gunspoint, they tried all that cityview renovation with the apartments behind it.  Unfortunately it flopped here.

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Hi. I'm new.

I don't think that the CityView project flopped because it was too far out. I don't think there was any follow-through with the project to develop retail, entertainment or any other fill.

In fact I don't know if I would really call it a flop at all. It has succeeded in a comprehensive rennovation of 15 properties, all of which were in need of major help. I haven't seen the financials, but I would think that central administration of these properties has proven to be a pretty efficient model.

The problem with developing a pedestrian community in that area is that the existing retail market nearby is so saturated that it isn't cost effective to build new retail among the existing residential.

I think a major repurposing of Greenspoint Mall would make great synergy with the properties at CityView (none of which, by the way, have a city view), but it's not going to happen for another decade or two, until the train gets there.