KatieDidIt

Yeah, that was Kips. IS that whole chain dead now? I remember their strawberry pie.

What's with man standing in front of the old buildings wearing a USA cap and/or waving an American Flag and pointing to the vacated offices?? He often takes poses of famous American Patriotic statues. He's there almost every day, and it does make you smile after few times because he seems like such a harmless loonie. Is he a hired guy for PR, is a tenant still in there we can't see or is he just a nut? Its not like you can look too long to figure out what he's pointing at because you will run into the back of someone if you did.

Anyone else seen him? I see him almost everyday between 2 and 3pm.

Brownstones are starting to go up. Prices starting at 850k. http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories...ml?ana=from_rss

I remember when the midtown Randall's opened way back when - my wife and I had just started dating then and she lived in midtown - and it was a big deal that there was going to be a grocery story downtown. But the parking situation sucked (the underground garage was a pain and the few spots in front were cramped and hard to get in and out of), the prices were high, and it was full of panhandlers. Granted, part of the "allure" of midtown was walking everywhere and living amongst panhandlers, but it has just never really clicked apart from the weekend nightclub scene.

Someone mentioned Specs - I have NEVER had a problem with panhandlers there, either in the parking lot or inside. But every other place in midtown seems to have a problem with thugs and street people. Why is Specs different?

Because Specs doesn't carry enough Boonesfarm or Maddog?.

249 to back up to that mess?? Where is the emoticon token on a reefer?

Some builder is building vanilla colored, patterned concrete walls on their constructions on Friar Tuck and Memorial. There are two of them and they look HORRIBLE, like shiney plastic. They look like the plastic walls you get in the bag of mini,plastic army men. Sad.

Also, if some one goes crashing into that ( not like anyone slides off Memorial into a wall ever....every month... ), it one huge piece that has to be reformed rather than patched.

I think the whole area right there is turning into the 4th downtown. Downtown, Uptown, Medical Center and now this area. Wonder what they will nickname it? Since Town Centre just describes that one devlopment some other phrase will be needed to describe that whole area of Gessner to the Beltway. Town West?

I love that the one they are building in NY is located in FISHKILL NY.......

I'm glad about McCormmicks too. Not really crazy about another Flemings, which seems to pop up in all these "market street" places.

I'd love to see a Berings pop in there. If its a "lifestyle area," a great little hardware store would be a great addition...and for West Houston too. Houston also needs another Central Market, but I don't think they are planning any real ones around Houston at this point.

This whole area seems to be coming to life and its so neat to see. Now if only someone would get ahold of Memorial west of Kirkwood and spiff it up. They have started at the corner, but they need to keep on going.

Palazzo's. Margarita and Crustinis to die for.

That's one of the few 60's mods I've ever sort of liked. Maybe because it has a little hint of Craftsman or Prarie style to it.

I got to agree that Riverside has some amazing home in it. Has there been an increase in value of the past few years like the rest of Houston?

Are you SERIOUS?????

Yes. They claimed there wasn't anything to rent for a good price for the town hall and night court. So they bought a mega-million dollar mansion in residental Piney Point. They did it under and alias so "they could get a fair market price." Apparently if it was the City of Piney Point buying it, they would have to pay more...not to mention shooting lots of red flags up in the air, revealing their business practices. I think they felt was much more cost efficent to have a big swimming pool for parties in the back and a glamourous office/suite for the social climbing mayor. It was a big deal around here.

The residents banned together and found them a place to rent right down the street. It didn't take them the "monthes and monthes of searching to no avail," like it did the "powers that be."

That's the house the Piney Point Mayor and Co. bought in secret for the new town hall. They got busted and proven wrong about their claims of no rental property available. So its being auctioned off

LOL. if it were only that easy.

Some pregnant, drunken and/or high homeless woman chased us down Main (downtown) a few weeks ago threatening to kick my blonde ass. All we were doing was walking, she kept following and dogging us........Freaked me out. Hubby said he would have decked her if she wasn't pregnant.

It will be an HEB anchored center developed by Fidelis. 125,000 square foot store so I would look for something like the one at Fry @ 99 in Katy that throws in some Central Mkt touches like expanded meat, natural foods, and cheese as well as some HEB Plus features like outdoor grill supplies.

I-10 @ Bunker Hill

I wish that new Town Centre could lure HEB to open a TRUE Central Market there. Houston is certainly big enough to supporttwo locations.

I see these post go back to July 2006 but I'm hoping to get some more information as we are actively looking to buy.

We plan to move from Houston to the Woodlands NOW. The things I want/need of the Woodlands are: a house on a greenbelt (or very wooded), neighborhood with lots of kids (ages 6-12), not too far back into the woodlands, quiet from street noise, and great schools for all levels. Lifeforms seems to be the right fit for the living in the trees idea. I don't see the point of moving to The Woodlands and living in a typical builder house.

We have been looking in IS,CC,PC. I like some houses in Grogans but worry there are not young kids around. I like Trace Creek a lot and I'm also drawn to the area around Bear Branch Park. Let me know your thoughts of areas to look at. People always refer to the "treehouse". Is this the most popular plan of lifeforms? Is there a way to search for lifeforms on the market now? I see the one on windstar... Parrothead seems to know how to do this.

There have been many good posts but special thanks to Parrothead, Bachanon, and Arch Daniel for the insightful comments. I look forward to your thoughts and ideas.

Thanks, archidave

I loved Cochrans Crossing. I used to drive over and park at Cattail dog park (off Cochrans Crossing) from Sterling Ridge and walk the neighborhoods over there. My favorite smaller neighborhood was Haydens Run ( main road in was Wisteria Walk), a Lifeforms neighborhood right by Galatas Elem.. Homes in the low 200's tucked amongst the million and up homes. The neat thing was you had to really drive back to it through a greenbelt, over a bridge that dead ended in a Park. Here's one listing http://www.har.com/7318724

Lots of the Treehouse plan in there too.

The schools in the area there are favored, however the education is no better than Houston schools. For now however they are"safer" all the way through High School.

Deretchin, the elem. school one of the boys went to is now around 1200 strong with temp buildings and drowning in ESL students, according to my old neighbors.

We moved from Houston to The Woodlands in 2004. Recently we moved back home to Houston.

Anything bad happened in Frostwood (the subdivision)? I thought it's a nice and safe neighbourhood. Would appreciate if you may share more details.

+

Frostwood homes sell within a week and over 500k. SO if people are jumping ship, others are boarding as fast as they can. Crime maps don't show anything other than stolen cars off the street. Lots of stuff along the freeway, but that's all over Houston.

PS- I just looked at the crime maps again. There is nothing going on in Frostwood except stolen cars and DUIs down Gessner. Stolen cars happen all over town, and if you are going to leave your car on a dark, neighborhood street overnight, its going to get broken into at some point.

ALso, when we were looking at Memorial homes, hubby wouldn't even consider anything around Gessner. Bunker Hill East or Beltway to the west to Kirkwood was the boundry.ANd always north of the bayou and south of I-10.

Well there wasn't for a while in the cut through way I go, and the fences were down. BUt they were pumping water out of the area..........so now I see activity again

Ron's Pub would shrug off any non-smoking ordinance. The place is a virtual smokehouse. NO music and dancing there either. Just Darts, cards,some games showed on TV and drinks.

What's going on with this project? There has not been any activity lately and now they are actually taking some of the fences down. Did it tank or has the freeway construction in the area stauled it?

Also, I was a little disappointed to see many of the same chain, suburban resturants going in that are at all the fake "town" centers. This is Houston, bring on the flavor and the funk. There seem to be a few individual ones, but Brio and all other blandbrands are cramming in too.

I was searching for a new breakfast place to eat on sunday, and didnt want to go to LePeep, LaMadeline, or my favorite Buffalo Grill on buffalo speedway.

My girlfriend and I did some searching around and we found a place that was ranked really well by Citysearch, Fountain View Cafe, near San Felipe and Fountain View.

This place had a great atmosphere, a classic 60's, 70's interior decor, warm friendly employees, and the food was great.

I had eggs, hash browns, and a muffin. My brother had biscuits and gravy that were legendary, and my girlfriend had french toast.

We really enjoyed it, and I just wanted to share my experience about it with you guys!

Sorry, dont have any photos to share!

Great place. Its been around forever and a favorite morning spot for Uptowners.

Fried Chicken and waffle's for breakfast?! l am getting heartburn just looking at the menu.

Gosh that was your typical Sunday Super in North Carolina. It was served in the Dining Room on china with the silver, complete with a waffle iron on the server.

Vic, I doubt they will ever let the districts totally merge and/or an application process occur for the basic reason it would KILL property values in SBISD. People move there and pay more to live there for the schools. If anyone could go to a SBISD school from anywhere in there area, what would be the point of moving there? Taxable values would plummit as would educational funding. No one in SBISD wants there kids going to school with the Westchase Apartment District "students."

Merging school districts would make previously nice areas decline, previously great school districts average and more of a flight to the burbs . Just little disorganized pockets of nice neighborhoods would remain in Houston, that attend private school. Remember, its the people who live IN the district , and the tax dollars they provide, that make it a good one or a bad one.

As to the Stratford and Memorial HS out of area attendance,I have only heard the chronic rumor that people rent cheap apartments for an address so their children can attend one school or another. MOst of the time the student has a relative that is a District employee. However, I have heard that they make allowances for the crazy area of Barkers Landing and Fleetwood from time to time. That zoning to KISD is weird.

I think I'll call Stratford when the offices are open and ask them about HISD students attending. I'm curious as to how this out of district education occurs. Are their voucers, scholarships or is there a surplus they are using to do this that should be rechanneled back into the district?

As to Westchester, I understand that it would most likely return to a neighborhood school, redistricting Memorial and Stratford. The revitalization of the areas that attend Memorial on the North side of I-10 are creating more students, as is the rebirth to a family neighborhood from a retiree one of Wilchester and Nottingham and Nottingham Forest. But I am sure its years off.

Hey Reef, when did you graduate from SMU? I graduated in '91

Regaurding SFM, gets keep your ears open the next two years. I know the dynamics of the area are changing quickly and more young families are moving in. There are some whispers that Westchester HS may have to reopen in five years to handle the influx of kids. My husband graduated from there and we would love to make it a generational thing.

What problems have you heard about? We are considering our options for our oldest, who would be going to Spring Forest in Fall 2009. We are considering Cornerstone instead (my stepson is high achiever). My wife had heard negative things about SFMS, mostly associated with its old principal, and she was under the impression that there was a new principal?

I'd be interested in any information you have on specific issues at Spring Forest. Is it just the demographics? At least for us a diverse population isn't a bad thing unless it is accompanied by problem behavior that could interfere with learning and be unsafe. I'll have to check with my wife, but I was under the impression that the main problems were conflicts between a principal who wasn't well liked and the teachers.

There was a lot of conflict with the principal, but that issue is too newly resolved and its "too soon to tell" if it changed anything. The Demographic problem is that you have some pretty harden kids coming from the Tully Stadium apartment area. Its always been a socially tough school, but since Katrina its gotten a little tougher. Many try to get their kids into private for the middle school years then return to Stratford in 9th grade.

I guess its all what you are used too and what you are comfortable with. And it also has A LOT do with the personality of your child. Only a parent knows if there child would get eaten alive or fall prey to pressure in such an atmosphere.

What happened to HUNAN on Post Oak? Did they move due to the construction or have they closed for good. That place is like Galleria Icon.