OutfieldDan

Is there a special phone number to call, short of 911? I don't want to call 911 all the time to report suspicious activity and apparent drug dealing that I am not sure of. I figure I'll call pretty often. Last night I'm almost positive there was a drug deal that happened about 8:30PM between two parked cars near the basketball court. Two men were in one of the cars. One got out, seemed to stumble to his car, and then both cars left. Besides that, the park needs to be improved. Maybe put an iron fence around the park and improve the grounds. There is a playground for kids, but it's getting run down. There is old PVC plumbing from some building that was torn down that's exposed. Someone suggested a dog park. We can do a lot to bring more honest local neighbors to the park.

It seems to me that Halbert Park is being avoided by most nearby residents recently. In place of families with children and dogs, we have more thugs and gang members. It doesn't help that there is a basketball court there. It seems to attract tough guys from outside the area. Rarely do I see an HPD cruiser drive around. I think I have only seen one in the past 3 months late at night. There is a recurring graffiti problem, and I often observe suspicious activity involving supposed "basketball players." I believe that gangs are congregating there and mask their meetings with the appearance of playing basketball. Usually later at night (about 9-11pm) I see groups of young men on the basketball court and only one or two of them are shooting baskets. The rest sometimes smoke something, or huddle closely together. Cars come and go. Such was the case last night and more gang graffiti was at the back of the park this morning. I have been trying to go there as much as I can late at night to walk my dog, and I try to stay close to the basketball court. I think we need others to do the same to make the thugs feel uncomfortable with our presence.

As I understand it, the original plan was to have all drainage go from the back to the front of each lot. This includes the alley adjacent to each lot, which should also drain to the front, and eventually to the front street. The "code" is apparently new and not in the original drainage design of the Heights. Many homeowners through the years have added fill that impedes drainage from the back to the front. The drainage is therefore disturbed and some alleys flood during rain. The correct solution is to restore elevations of the alleys so that runoff once again goes to the front. The wrong solution is to make the alleys into drains that need a fully engineered solution. As it is, without improvement that costs lots of $$, the alleys will continue to decline, hold water and be a mess.

This is off topic, but pertains to bike trails near the Nicholson trail. I rode my bike up the White Oak trail all the way to the end, and came back to 11th street. I then wanted to ride to Memorial Park, but there is no way to go there safely without a huge detour to the East. The bike trail map indicates that TC Jester is multiuse for bikes and cars, but I don't want to ride South on TC Jester over the railroad yard bridge with cars and trucks going about 50 mph next to me in narrow lanes. I tried the sidewalk, but on the bridge over the railroad yard the sidewalk narrows and there is no safety barrier to prevent me from tumbling off the bridge except some very low railing. It was scary and I experienced vertigo on the crest of the bridge. TC Jester must have originally been only two lanes and it is now four with not enough room for cars and bikes. Does anyone know of a good way to get to Memorial Park from the White Oak trail safely? Is the city planning any new bike trails that would go this way?

It sounds like you are strong arming your neighbors that may not want to offend you by making you demolish your junk. What would you say to a new neighbor who disagreed - gang up on him? Regarding drainage, constructing on the alley and storing trash on the alley affects drainage, don't you think? Not opening the alley allows it to be infested by rats, etc. A blocked alley to the public can still provide access for kids to sneak in and not worry about being seen. That's been the source of problems in my area where middle school kids use some of the alleys to have sex and deal drugs. Finally, a cleared alley provides for utility maintainence, and in the case behind my home, Hurricane Ike repairs were made to downed wires by trucks that were able to drive on the alley. As far as city standards for improvement are concerned, the city should be reasonable and help those of us who want to clean up the alleys and put gravel down by relaxing the strict standards they now impose. I'm not saying that there should be no inspection, but requiring a homeowner to put in sewer connects, do engineering studies, etc. is going too far. As it is, the city impedes anyone who seeks to improve the alley. Actually, the city sould welcome someone cleaning up the alley, and provide for the engineering and survey themselves. Then the city should work with the homeowner with the purpose of improving the alley for the least cost. I don't prefer a heavy handed government involvement. However, the problem exists, and someone has to do something about it. We need restrictions that are enforced, because of you and your neighbors who decide to squat on the alley, and bully others who disagree.

We could use the city's help. The city should require squatters to remove their stuff, not make someone else do it for them. The city could also relax their standards that are required for cleaning up the alley and improving it so that it once again allows public access. Why not fine $100/day for any junk on the alley easement? In most alleys that have become overgrown and built on, there is probably lots of standing water (who knows?). What happens is that someone proposes to improve the alley at their own expense and then the angry squatters complain to the city about minor drainage issues, etc.; whatever they can find to stop the alley improvement. The city then requires professional engineering plans, a survey, drainage studies, and sewer connects of the alley improver and essentially makes it too expensive for the improvements to occur. The city has become a big part of the problem. First by ignoring illegal construction, and second by insisting on unreasonable standards to anyone who wishes to clean up the alley and drive on it. Meanwhile the alleys continue to decay, and become habitats for rats and trash.

BTW, the City will order homeowners to clear out the alley if a request is made to do so. Contact the City or your councilperson to see which department does the enforcement. The city does no such thing. They sit back and do nothing, disregarding complaints. Apparently the city policy is to let squatters get away with it. The only recourse is to pay to tear down the offending squatters stuff and then bear the brunt of potential retaliation. The courts agree to alley public access, and have handed down judgements that are in favor of citizens who have cleared alleys, but that makes the burden fall on the victim.

The Heights has a big problem with alley squatters who steal public access. What's worse, the city council does absolutlely nothing about it. They appear to be in compliance with the squatters by enforcing strict alley improvement regulations to anyone who seeks to fix up and use the alley for it's intended purpose - access to their property. While enforcing strict road standards for alley improvement, the city does nothing to prevent a selfish neighbor from building on the alley. It would be a good use of city funds to clean up the alleys and dismantle illegal construction on them. Most of the illegal improvements are ugly, and trashy. I want to vote for a city council candidate that runs on a platform of enforcing our access rights. Who is on our side in this next election?

I just used the City of Houston Service Center web site to report this. I asked them to have the barriers removed. We'll see if anything happens any time soon.

What's the deal with the construction barrier along the back of Heights Hospital along the 400 block of W 20th street? There has been no activity for at least four months and the street is reduced by cordoning off the East bound lane behind the Hospital.

Fiesta is the same as Kroger. I picked up a Fiesta cart myself. Why don't you do the responsible thing and help return them? Maybe we should think of it as a community responsibility, not just Kroger's or Fiesta's responsibility. And isn't it also the person's responsibility to return the cart they took? I said it above. An inexpensive folding cart would be the responsible way to take groceries home if you can't drive them home. They only cost about $20, and can be used over and over. I don't think there are very many who can't afford that. When I see someone pushing a cart on the sidewalk full of groceries, it's not been a homeless person. OTOH, we do see the homeless using grocery carts for their stuff. I don't think they would let Fiesta have it back.

I'ts unique? Part of the Height's culture? You've got to be kidding... Do you appreciate trash in the neighborhood? When the Heights was growing in the early 20th century I doubt that grocery carts and trash were part of the culture. The people that lived here then were hard working, and honest. They sent their kids to fight in WWII. It was only when the neighborhood declined that grocery carts and other trash appeared. It's not culture, it's being irresponsible. I often go for a run on Heights Blvd and when I see an abandoned grocery cart, I wheel it back to Krogers. I took one Fiesta cart back to the store in a pickup truck that was abandoned in Halbert Park for about two weeks in September. It makes me wonder who the lazy jerks are that feel it's ok to simply leave the cart somewhere and trash the neighborhood. Folding shopping carts are a much better choice for taking groceries home, and they can be purchased for about $20 on amazon.com. I wonder how much of a struggle it is to wheel a large shopping cart along uneven sidewalks for any great distance. Whenever I see anyone doing that I think they're an idiot.