Casual Observer

I went mountain biking out behind Redstone Golf Club.

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..find any mountains back there?

Westchase was clean(er) & cheap(er) than most areas the same distance away from the city's core. Plus, it sits on Westheimer, the main artery of the city.

I think its funny that you want to find a gym, but you don't want to have to walk too far.

I'm glad I'm from Louisiana where the state pays your tuition if you do good on the ACT and have a high GPA.

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I heard they either did away with TOPS or seriously re-formed it.

I wounder what is making San Antonio just burst in growth?

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..because its closer to Mexico.

I did. However, Smithers has always been the gay one on the Simpson's.  This episode was not ground breaking.

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Well, technically Smithers has never come out.. Maybe thats why he didn't get married in the episode.

I love the Webster Fry's way better done and imaginative than the one on 59, which is generic as it comes. I guess they ran out of ideas.

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I heard somewhere (maybe here) that the one on US59 was not supposed to have a theme, as opposed to its two sister stores here in Houston.

No fudge here folks. I drive a 2005 Acura Integra TSX. Its a 200hp, 4 cylinder that gets about 26 miles to the gallon city. I drive about 40 miles a day, 4 days a week, which means I only fill up about once every two weeks, sometimes more if I travel on the weekend.

But just talking commute gas - I spend about 25 bucks every other week to top the tank. So I'm actually being generous when I say 80 buck a month, when I'm usually lower. I might be at 80 bucks once I count weekend activities.

Here's something else to look at, I watched a guy put $65.00 in his escalade one day. I asked him, and he told me that he fills up twice a week most weeks.

My point is that trains aren't the solution as mentioned earlier. Better fuel conservation is. Europeans have been paying 5-6 dollars a gallon for years, and thus you don't see Hummers & Escalades over there, but instead you see smart cars & mini's. Our dummies will eventually learn their lessons themselves. Until then, wasting my tax dollars on building more meaningless rail (e.g.:METRO Light-rail) is not in my best interest.

Do you live in the "Chimney"? Only a West U resident would know what I'm talking about.

10, 45, 290, etc., may not be new, but do they really need to be expanded to look like oceans of concrete? Mass transit down these corridors is the answer.

..Clearly, all of the suburban families can't pack up and move inside the loop.

Today was my first morning commute and even though I was stunned at the amount of vehicles at 5:30 in the morning, with stopping for gas and again for coffee I was at my work at 6:10 pm.

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I know its a typo - but it sounds accurate if you're coming into the city on US290!

1. Dallas has hot gay boys

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I bet you loved last night's episode of the Simpsons..

...There is also a mexican/latino restraunt supposedly openting by the Pottery Barn Kids.

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Is it an Escalantes? I can't remember..

I stand corrected, its the neighborhood just east of Lakemont.

Some go retardedly high..

:fishing for idiots: What idiot would pay 400k for a home in Lakemont?

Well, in all technicality, Westbury is outside the loop.

What you have to do is draw a line right down the middle of the inner-loop. Use I-45 north & US-288south as a guide. Now, everything to the west inside the loop is going to be over 200k starting out, and everything to the east is going to be 200K going down.

I'm sorry to say that the east side only works for some people, and unfortunately, I'm not one of them. I don't work on that side of town, I'd be a minority in 9 out of 10 neighborhoods. I don't speak Spanish, which is an unspoken must in some areas & neighborhoods, and I don't have any friends or family over there.

So I'm stuck looking on the north or west side. I don't care for the north side because it feels seperated from the city. I feel that way about the east side too coincidentally. I happen to spend alot of time somewhere between I-10 and US-59 here on the southwest side. So starting from downtown and working my way out here's what I've found:

Downtown - 300k Lofts

Midtown - 300k townhomes

Museum District - 400k brickups

Rice Village - 400k brick bungalows

West U - 300k wooden ranch style

Southside Place 300k wooden ranch style

Bellaire - 300k wooden ranch style

Braes Heights - 300k townhomes / brick ranch

okay...so lets head back up to Westheimer:

Afton Oaks - 300k woodframes

River Oaks - no comment

Montrose - 250k bungalows / 300k brick ranch / 350k brick ups

West Gray - 250k nothing but townhomes & bungalows

Rice Military - 200k townhomes / 250k brick ranch

Hell, I'll cross I-10..

Timbergrove - 250k bungalows

Lazybrook - 200k brick ranch

West Heights - 200k victorians

East Heights - 300k victorians

Okay, so there you have it. I've just toured the western hemisphere of the inner-loop and found nothing for 150k. Even if one of you short-sighted inner-loopers could find me something for 150k, do you really think it could compare to what I'm closing on out in the suburbs?

Not all of us work inside the loop - I work outside the loop.

Not all of us have friends & family inside the loop - I have neither.

Not all of us have ethnic ties inside the loop - My ethnic ties lie on Bellaire blvd.

..and last of all:

Not all of us can fit inside the inner-loop.

Besides, theres more urban density outside the loop on the southwest side. So, I'll see you there.

I love how you all keep referencing neighborhoods like River Oaks. Can any of you actually afford River Oaks? How about anything along the Westheimer corridor. I'm sorry, but I only get about 150k to spend on a house? I just don't make enough money to spend anymore.

Ideally, I would be content to just live inside the belt (in reference to the southwest side). I refuse however, to purchase somewhere like Sharpstown and pray that it will convert like Westbury & Myerland has.

So I guess when I'm 40, when myself and my wife are both finally upper management, then maybe I can finally move over to Briargrove Park, or even better - Briargrove. I still won't be inside the loop, but at least I'll be close.

For all you that wonder why what little land that isn't developed inside the loop hasn't been developed - I can tell you that it sure isn't lack of knowing that its there. Its because the owners want three to four times what its worth. How is a developer supposed to build homes for 150k to 250k when the land sells at a price that supports only a 400k to 600k home?

Until you can answer that, I'll be in Sugar Land.

Ins't that where the boa or whatever got lose(allegedly)?

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I beleive that was the Cypress-Fairbanks location off US290.

What about the Rodeway Inn at 7905 South Main Street?

I've been to the one in Vegas - very swank.

To the question you asked of me: no.

The problem is, that by the time I'm able to spend 300-400k on a house, I'll be retiring, and thus future property value will have no influence on my decision.

The Cinemark in Westchase is a dump - they simply do not manage it well.

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We've started avoiding Tinseltown in Westchase for the same reasons.

Let's see if I've got this straight.