SLTX

As somebody previously mentioned, the line along I-10 was used 'til about 1997. In the mid to late '90's, all the trains I saw passing through the Spring Branch area travelled at speeds of 10mph or less. I haven't seen it mentioned, but Eureka Yard still exists and is in use.... in fact it had some major track work and renovations in the last couple years. You can see it if you look west while travelling over the yard on the T.C. Jester overpass. The yard is used for storing cars for a couple of cement plant type industries nearby, and also apparently for staging switching operations on the line heading out Hempstead Hwy.

Abraham Lincoln viewed blacks as an inferior race, stated in a speech that he "doubted they were even human", and believed they should be resettled overseas to prevent them from mixing with the white race. Should we erase his name from all institutions as well? How about many of the nation's founding fathers, such as Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves. I probably would've felt the same way as you back when I only had a third grade understanding of the civil war and the events leading up to it. But after much reading and research, you realize that the war wasn't about slavery, it was about much broader issues, but slavery was used as a wedge issue (politics never change) to garner support against the south. The Union leaders and generals were just as "racist" as the Confederate ones. If we start removing the names of every historic figure that supported slavery, opposed women voting, that was anti-semitic, that thought the red man should be eliminated, etc., believe me, there will be NO ONE LEFT. Not one. Society has changed drastically in the last 200 years, and NOBODY from that era is going to stand up to our 2009 social standards.

That figure of 200 homes is probably WAY off. Appraisal districts generally get their "year built" dates from the date of the last building permit filed on the property. So if you have a house built in 1890 that was remodeled or added on to in 1930, the year built will show as 1930 in their records. Also, sometimes they will lose records for large numbers of properties, and just assign a random date, 1950 etc., across the board when they recreate the files. I've found the appraisal district records to be pretty unreliable (for older homes) everywhere I've lived.

Whatever you say, but It's gonna be hard for me to tell the broadcast engineers I've worked with that all these years they were wasting their time seeking out low, wet areas for FM transmitter sites. They'll be crushed. LOL, sorry for the sarcasm, but I'm also a ham (NM5K sounds familiar actually) and former FM radio employee. Just wanted you to know I wasn't just making stuff up. Have spent some time out in one of those transmitter buildings at the base of one of the above mentioned 2,000 ft. towers. I'd say "catch you on the air", but sadly, all my equipment has been boxed up in a closet the last few years :-(

Several of the towers in the Blue Ridge antenna farm are approx. 2,000 ft. The area was not really chosen because of "cheap land", but because it is a very low-lying, wet and swampy area. That type of soil is preferred for an ideal radiation pattern in TV and radio broadcasting.

Cool, thanks for posting!

I think everything west of 1464, north of 90A, will have a Richmond address.

I assume from the description above that this development will be between Grand Parkway and 1464, and not on the east side of 1464?

I'm curious about that too... I used to work on W. Alabama near Woodhead, and at some point while I was working there, I came across some information that indicated at one point what's now Alabama was called Railroad St., because supposedly it followed a railroad line out of town.... I figure it was probably the Texas & Western. This would've been back even before the development of the Montrose area. Can't remember where I read this, but have never found anything else to verify it. I think all the above posted maps, and all others I've seen, are too new to show this. I don't think the T&W was around for very long, so there's probably a narrow window of time that it would've shown up on a map.

Agree.... would also like to point out that low-income doesn't necessarily mean living in the type of dump complexes we're talking about. I can bash, because I'm low income.... probably lower than a lot of the people that would be living in this place in question.... and I have a house in Sugar Land (bought, not rented), a car note, a wife who doesn't work, and two kids (small ones that the wife is taking care of). It can be done. So the "low-income" people that are often attracted to these dumps are usually the types that have no desire to make anything of themselves, and no desire to make a better life for their kids. Sorry if this offends, but I'm in that income bracket, so I rub shoulders with a lot of these people. It isn't about the income level..... So I'll go ahead and throw my NIMBY in there, too. Oh, and I also grew up in Sugar Land, and it's definitely always been two words.... that's how we distinguish the natives from the wannabe's.

It originally went all the way into the downtown area. The section east of Kirby was abandoned decades ago to make way for the proposed Southwest Freeway. After that, rail traffic was diverted onto the north-south line that runs through Bellaire to get into Houston. A rarely used section remained in place from that junction east almost to Kirby.... I remember years ago some company using that stretch for unloading gravel out of gondola cars that would be stored on that track. Also, it was where the Barnum & Bailey's circus train was stored while it was in town (across the freeway at the Summit). That stretch was abandoned when they started developing all those strip malls between 59 and Westpark in the Greenway area (probably 10 years ago?). Then the main section, that was still being used for through rail traffic between Bellaire Junction and Eagle Lake out west, was torn up at the time the photos were taken. The top photo in your link was taken from where Rice crossed the tracks... there was a small siding there. Most people will recognize the big Wald moving & storage neon sign that used to be kind of a landmark. The other two photos were taken inside the loop, east of the junction with the main line (Bellaire Junction).... the vicinity of Buffalo Spdwy. etc.

The only areas the City of Sugar Land "doesn't really care about" are the areas that aren't in the city limits.... people that have a Sugar Land address, but are outside of the city limits. It's not that Sugar Land doesn't care, they just don't really have any jurisdiction until the rest of the area is annexed. A lot of these areas (probably parts of New Territory, Greatwood, etc.) will probably be annexed in the next 5-10 years. I have lived here (virtually) my whole life, and if someone is telling you the north side "isn't really Sugar Land", they are probably very new to the area and/or completely ignorant of the area. The original townsite is north of 90A, so I'm pretty sure it's considered part of Sugar Land. I think there are probably some newcomers in First Colony who don't believe homes built before 1990 to be of any worth, so these are probably the people you've talked to. I have lived on both sides of 90A, and they have the same mayor, same police, same zoning, same fire dept, same school district, etc. It's the same, just more older developments to the north (some are south of 90A too, so even that doesn't really make any sense). Too sum up, if you are worried about the direction a neighborhood might take in the future, initially stay away from the ones outside the city limits, especially if they are near the border with the city of Houston. Some of these areas with Sugar Land addresses could actually be annexed by the city of Houston.... hopefully SL will get it done first though.

I just got my Fort Bend appraisal..... mine went down by $4,000.

This is so weird..... I remember the Deauville Mall in Stafford... or Meadows Place, on 59 at W. Airport. It had the Federated and Loews theater. I also remember there being a place in the mall that was just a huge indoor playground/arcade/etc. that you could have birthday parties at (or whatever parties). Don't know if this has been mentioned, but what I seem to remember is that it was built right about the time the huge oil bust hit..... and like everything else opened during that period, it crashed and burned and never came back. The place was a ghost town from the time it opened.... must have been about 1985. Building's tenants have changed so many times, I can't even remember what's in there now.... a furniture place maybe?

Positives: 1. Some of the houses are big enough to be Mediterranean villas. 2. If you can afford to live there, you're probably a millionaire (seems like a positive to me). 3. You might have sports celebrities and high profile CEO's for neighbors. Negatives: 1. Said Mediterranean villas cost a lot. 2. Your teenagers will have to drive at least a Lexus or they'll be made fun of at school. 3. Utilities on 15,000 sq. ft. house can get outrageous. But seriously, it's just the River Oaks area of Sugar Land. The biggest, most expensive houses are in there; if that's what you're looking for, Sweetwater is the place. People will definitely be impressed when they hear you live there (if they're impressed by that sort of thing). As far as whether it's worth it, I don't think you can really compare value to any other areas, because there just aren't any other areas like that around. Except maybe Alkire Lakes. Alkire Lakes = Sweetwater houses on 2 acre lots.

I guess it's been years since I've been to Pelican Island. I forgot about the railroad track there. I assumed it wasn't even there anymore. I first noticed that as a kid (early-mid 1980's?), and although it seemed rarely (if ever) used then, the track was at least still in place on both sides of the bridge, whereas it looks from the aerial as if it's been severed on the Galveston side, and just totally gone on the Pelican side. The thing that intrigued me (if I remember correctly) is that the railroad track climbed grade on the bridge just like the highway side, which I thought was totally unusual. It's been 25 years though, so I could be dreaming that.

If I had a bigger, newer house, I'd trade you! 2 of my last 3 jobs were in the Heights area, and I hate commuting. I like Timbergrove, but it has gotten SOOO pricey. And I had a friend who lived there and got ROYALLY flooded during Allison.... wouldn't like that. But all the houses in there look so nice now, seem to be a ton of remodels. And there are trees. Did I mention I like trees? (until a hurricane comes through and brings them crashing down on your house.... thanks IKE).

Wow, a 15-20 year old home is "old"? How poor am I? I must be really out of touch. My house was built in 1972, and I thought that was new (my last house was built in 1905). I do require some trees though.... I couldn't live in a desert like Telfair and wait 20 years for the trees to grow. And totally agree with the Venetian Estates comments. I grew up in that neighborhood, and would buy my family's old house back in a heartbeat if I had $900,000 laying around. Talk about a hot area. I LOVE all the waterfront properties in the area.... I might even be able to do without trees if it was on the water.

It looks like you probably have too many prerequisites (3 full baths, 3 car garage, best schools, new or near new construction, 3,000 sq. ft. minimum, reputable builder, remodeled, no traffic problems, clubhouse and pool etc.) for what you're willing to spend. Shoot, I've lived in Sugar Land almost my entire life, and I would probably snatch it up if I found what you're describing for $300k! There are always a TON of houses for sale in this area.... even more than usual right now. If you're really having that much trouble finding something, you probably need to either lower your expectations or raise your budget.

I also noticed the M.R. Wood school... not sure if it was torn down or just heavily refaced. When I was in school, it was the "alternative" school for Fort Bend ISD... where the bad guys went. And yes, it was the segregated school back in the day. That Mayfield Park area historically was the segregated neighborhood, dating back to the 1850's when the slave quarters of the Terry/Kyle plantation stood in the same location. 1. Yes, Lakeview elementary is what's left of Sugar Land HS... actually it was a K-12 school. The auditorium and gym buildings are all that's really left of the original complex that was built around WWI. It closed after Dulles HS was built around 1959. The original complex of buildings was pretty amazing.... I have many photos, will have to see if I can post. 2. Nope, no other old schools around that I know of. 3. Don't know about segregated areas of Stafford or Mo. City. Sugar Land's stands out because it was set up and built by the company town. 4. I think I know the house you're talking about, big 2 story turn of the century victorian next to Mo. City MS. Had heard what family built it at one time, but can't remember now. 5. I have a number of historic SL/Ft. Bend county photos, there was a coffee table book published in mid 80's called "Sugar Land Pictorial Tribute" or something, that clears up a lot of questions about the way things used to look. If I get brave enough, I'll try to upload some. Didn't know Sugar Land was ever "Sugarland" LOL, the people who named it made it two words from the beginning (1853?).