The Great Hizzy!

Remember that this isn't ranked by percentage of total county population but by total number of millionaires. Maricopa County, AZ is huge relatively speaking (almost the same size as Harris County population wise) so it would make sense that there are a lot of millionaires as a raw number. On the other hand, Palm Beach County, Florida, which is less than half the size of either Harris or Maricopa County, has almost as many total millionaires. Thus, PBC has a greater percentage of millionaires. EDIT: Then again, Harris County #6 is closer in total number of millionaires to #3 Orange County than Palm Beach County #9 is to Harris County. But I digress.

ROTFLMAO!

There's a difference between smog pollution and particulate matter pollution. Houston still is among the worst offenders when it comes to smog and ozone but not particulate matter (the air pollution that's most dangerous to the lungs and respiratory system).

Exceptional photos! I love the terrain, from Big Bend all the way up to Grand Teton.

The Hardy Yards area I would classify as the near Northside, which certainly has its struggling areas in the ten to fifteen block area north of the Hardy Yard site. But this is definitely not the East End. The East End is quite diverse, with some areas, particularly north of Harrisburg and Navigation, that one might equate to a ghetto, but with other areas like Eastwood that are pretty solid communities with rising property values and impressive older homes. As for the near Northside... yes, that area is certainly a shell of its former self. However, over the past couple of years, there's already been a slow but steady expansion of new residential units, including affordable single-family homes. I really like the potential of the area. As far as the realization of HY itself... I think the most important steps right now in its evolution are the gradual purchasing of defunct structures currently on the site. When the key developers are able to secure those parcels, it becomes that much more of a realistic project.

Mmm... alcohol!! (Within moderation of course).

I agree ^^^, although I can also see Kinkaid and Musicman's points. My first thought after seeing those two photos was: The Mercer! OTOH, with the elements put in place on the rear (rather than just the equivalent of a skinny, blank wall), it more appears to be the version of what the Mercer should've been.

I agree. Not risky but a good match of materials, a nice change-of-pace color scheme and an appealing outline.

So true! And I blame myself for submitting the term muckraker to this thread. Now I'm having flashbacks from my U.S. History classes in college. Muckraker = rabel rouser = grande agitante = trouble maker

That entire area... Grand Lakes, Cinco Ranch and Seven Meadows is suburban paradise (for better or worse depending on your view). They've done a good job of connecting those communities, and now retail is filling in at an impressive rate. In five years, though, FM 1093 out to Fulshear is going to be astounding!!

Texasbound, I tend to agree with The Niche in that you might want to look more at the west and southwest areas of both the city and suburbs. There are plenty of quality ares to live in throughout the city and metropolitan area but as any honest Houstonian will tell you, one of the (if not THE) most important considerations is commute time. That said, there are indeed some very family-friendlly 'burbs in northern/northwest Harris County and in Montgomery County. Some westside 'burbs to consider in western Houston include Grand Mission, which is about 21 miles west of downtown on FM 1093. Newer homes in the area that are generally in your price range. You'll have your choice of using FM 1093 or the Westpark Tollway to commute in to your gig on Yorktown. Also consider some in town communities along Briar Forest (but west of Kirkwood). These are older homes in the 20-30 year range but that have been well maintained and the neighbors are committed to the upkeep of the area in general. However, you'll want to take a look at the HISD schools in the area. While those in the area are better than average, they're still not perfect. You can't go wrong with much of the neighborhoods in Sugarland (suburban Fort Bend County) but you pay a bit more for the homes, depending on what part you look. Also, commutes will be more of a hassle trying to come in on the SW Freeway. Anyway, keep your eyes open, as you'll get plenty of compelling opinions on the matter here at HAIF. I'd give you an urbanist's perspective on this but you've already stated what your preferences are and such commentary wouldn't be useful to you--although, they'd surely spark up a nice debate around here!

If there is somewhat civilized life on that planet, I wonder if they suffer from allergies and how they cope?

It's so out of place anyway. Unless the ultimate design of the projects planned for the Super Block were to change asthetically, that old haunted house is completely out of place given the architecture surrounding it.

Once again, I go back to the failure of the Orion Towers. A tad bit on the gaudy side but an overall nice design, given the proposed location. But that's just it... lots of nice looking projects get proposed and never work out for whatever reason (incompetence, economic shifts, etc). I just hope that the tower proposed at Studewood works out because it would be cool to see a new tower rise north of the Bayou to parallel the ones already on the south banks.

Is that a residential component to the south of the library in WG's last image? Looks like it to me. In the meantime, I love the building's design. Very nice.

Don't worry about it, Dallasboi. It's hard to gauge intent sometimes just by reading some sentences on a computer. If you were merely posting this for the purpose of sharing some of your excitement about the project, then that's cool. S.L. Funk does a good job of that without coming across as a muckraker/pot stirrer.

All that said, I generally like the design. Although, the angle provided makes the building look a little too thin.

Hey, I can remember when the opening credits showed the skyline without the BOA tower. I believe it was in maybe year four or so (1981-ish) that they included the shot of the tower as it was being constructed.

While I won't just whip out "He's a racist" like so many are wont to do just because of his comments about maintaining the strong African-American identity and history of New Orleans, Nagin does need to learn to better consider what he's about to say and where he's saying it. Nagins comments simply weren't well-considered, given who he is and what he represents.

I realize that Philly has a growing number of communities in an "at risk" status and those are usually harbingers of lots of grit, decay and filfth, but on my last visit to new Orleans a few months ago, I saw too much of the same stuff still sitting on the ground since a few weeks after Katrina, and I don't recall Philly looking like that. I'd be interested to know how Mayor Nagin came to such a conclusion that Philadelphia is "dirtier" than the New Orleans we currently know. Is he comparing the areas near Center City to the areas around Downtown, Uptown and the Quarter?

I believe HBJ also made mention of this last week.

Baytown... no. Baytown's growth has been fairly stagnant over the last 20 years. It's probably no better than 70,000 now, although I know nothing of any recent annexations that might have added to the overall population.

I agree on Deussen Parkway/Lake Houston Parkway. Beautiful flora out that way.

Yeah, I like the design of the Hunt Building. I don't care about the lighting and all of that (not for or against) but I like the basic design of the building. And how is Dallas being compared more with Atlanta than Las Vegas a slight? As far as skykline lighting goes, I'd call it a compliment. Vegas lighting seems pretty tacky to me.

I'd like to offer some that haven't been mentioned: 1. TC Jester Blvd, particularly from W. 11th to about Pinemont. I like the winding road through the various subdivisions and with White Oak Bayou offering itself as a parallel. 2. North and South Braeswood. 3. Hillcroft between W. Bellfort and Braeswood. 4. Memorial Drive 5. North and South Drive 6. I'm probably alone on this but I actually like MLK Blvd from OST to Griggs. Well kept medians and the road goes through some decent older black hoods. 7. North and South Mac Gregor (minus the section of North Mac Gregor just past Scott to Tierwester). 8. Woodway 9. W. Alabama from Kirby to Montrose 10. Montrose from the Museum District to W. Gray 11. Heights Blvd. 12. Bayland Avenue in the Heights 13. Shepherd/Greenbriar from the Southwest Freeway to Rice Blvd. 14. Rice Blvd. 15. Lawndale from Country Club Estates to Forest Hill 16. W. Bellfort from Willowbend to Hillcroft 17. W. Gray from Waugh to Shepherd 18. Tidwell from Hirsch to Hempstead (granted, it goes through blighted sections of the city but the road itself is actually well-kept and is in very good shape; one of the best roads from a quality standpoint in the city, plus the landscaping is actually better than average). 19. W. 43rd through Oak Forest. 20. Studewood in the Heights (post reconstruction).