Original Timmy Chan's

Actually, with regulations being what they are today, it's also the new $150K and $200K and $250K homes as well. The operative phrase is "NEW HOMES". Unless you're building a new custom home on a 1/2 acre or larger lot, you're probably not going to see any trees saved on the lots. Developers aren't anti-tree by any stretch of the imagination. Every one of them would save every attractive mature tree they could, because they are GREAT from a marketing standpoint, which affects their bottom line. If you look at a "small lot" subdivision that was able to save trees, I bet you it was developed before 1990. A major reason behind that is that storm water detention and extreme event overland flow regulations (which help reduce flooding...a GOOD thing, right?) were introduced in Harris County in the mid-1980's. Of course there was a "grandfathering" period where previously planned subdivisions were allowed to be built without detention. But in general, most subdivisions built in the 1990's and beyond were required to construct storm water detention basins and streets and lot grades were implemented that required cut or fill on virtually every square inch of a property. Here's an example...the minimum detention storage volume required for a subdivision is 0.55 acre-feet of storage per acre of development, which generates enough excavation to place AT LEAST 7 inches of fill over the entire development. However, you don't place fill on the detention pond area (of course), and you generally don't place fill over your street rights-of-way. The only remaining areas to place the fill are over the lots (which need to be graded to drain and elevate the house slabs anyways). So, generally speaking, you've got a MINIMUM of 1 foot of fill to place over every lot in the subdivision. As I said previously, the rule of thumb is that cutting or filling more than 6 inches over a tree's root zone will KILL the tree. Therefore the trees must go. The alternative to placing fill on the lots is to haul the dirt off-site, as kjb described. This doubles or triples the cost of your dirt work, which is a major component of the cost of a finished lot. An additional concern is, where do you put all the dirt that's hauled off? There would be excess dirt to be hauled off of every single subdivision in Harris County, and there are only so many freeway embankments that need dirt. Or, as I said, you can generally save a few trees on larger lot subdivisions, since the size of the house footprint doesn't impact the lot as much. But there is only so much demand for these 1- and 2-acre custom home lots around town. There IS, however, a HUGE demand for the dreaded "$90K new homes" that Midtown describes. Where there's a demand, there will be developers and homebuilders willing to supply. What's the alternative? Do you FORCE everyone to buy a "starter" home that costs $200,000 or $300,000 to save trees? You might as well move to California...

I have no idea why anyone votes Democrat OR Republican these days... ...especially now that we've got KINKY!!!

I live inside the Loop, across 288 from the Med Center. It's a small-lot subdivision (50x100 lots) developed in the 1940's, so of course it's full of mature trees. We see red-shouldered hawks every day (2 of them), yellow-crested night herons feed in the roadside ditches on our street for much of the year, red-headed woodpeckers bang away on the trees, and we've also got cardinals right now, not to mention all the typical blue jays, mockingbirds, doves, grackles, etc. For those that live in the suburbs, ask yourself why you bought in the suburbs. Was it the price of the home? If so, then thank the developer that clear-cut your subdivision. It's not possible to develop "small lots" (the typical 1/4-acre sized and less) today without clear-cutting. -Regulations requiring storm water detention generates a lot of dirt that must be placed somewhere. If you place more than 6 inches over the roots of trees, they'll die. -FHA lot grading regulations require that lots be graded to drain, which also requires either cut or fill. Cut or fill more than 6 inches and you'll kill the trees. -The clear space around a house today doesn't leave room for trees. Water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer and electric/gas/cable easements must be cleared of trees. If you do have a tree left after clearing the easements and placing the house, they're likely to die from the stress of all the activity going on over their roots. -If you are able to save a tree, after all the above, the odds are that the tree you save will be ugly anyways (like the pine trees that are barren of limbs except for one little "puffball" 100 feet up.) The alternative to clear-cutting is to develop larger lots. Even on 1/2-acre lots it's difficult to save a lot of trees. The majority of a development will be cleared for road ROW's, utility easements and house pads. Now, I don't know about you, but I can't afford a home on a 1/2-acre lot in the burbs. The only way you can build on small lots is to clear-cut the trees. I've seen a 40-acre subdivision where the developer tried to save trees. After the subdivision was developed (prior to homebuilding), there were about 10 trees left. After the homes were built out, 2 original trees remained on the 40 acres. And let me tell you, those were two UGLY trees! About 10 years later the oaks that were planted by the developer really looked good. I'm sure in another 10 the place will look like Main Street in front of Rice U.

The University of Houston, which provided me with the opportunity to be who I am today The drive down old historic US 90A (Old Spanish Trail and Wayside Dr) through south and east Houston The 2nd Ward The 3rd Ward The old 4th Ward before the majestic oaks were knocked down and the townhomes went up Harrisburg Buffalo Bayou Galveston Bay/San Leon/Seabrook/Clear Lake Armand Bayou Scooters Ice House in Pearland The Big Top Lounge The Lone Star Saloon Warren's juke box The Brewery Tap The Axiom/Catal Huyuk/Harvey's Club DeLuxe/The Axiom The Maggot Colony The Main Street light rail Almeda Lightnin Hopkins/Albert Collins/Clifton Chenier Dowling Street Pasadena The Astrodome and the Astros Rainbow Jerseys NASA The Montrose Rice University (and Valhalla...and Night of Decadence!) 2,000,000 great people (surrounded by 2,000,000 questionable ones... j/k)

I grew up on the southeast side, so the only place I remember is the Lone Star Amphitheater, where I saw some good shows during college and the years after...Butthole Surfers, Rev. Horton Heat, Porno for Pyros are the ones I remember off the top of my head. On the southeast side we had Pipe Organ Pizza (one of my all-time favorite birthday parties took place there), SuperTrack (which FINALLY closed recently, unfortunately), Sea Arama in Galveston was always popular, whatever the waterpark was next to Sea Arama, and of course I spent a lot of time at the Wilson Park and Beverly Hills Park pools.

I believe that LJA Engineering & Surveying is the Engineer for most of the MUD's up in the Woodlands. Call Calvin Ladner, President.

They MUST have zoning! Beautiful pictures, by the way...

Something I haven't seen discussed (and maybe I've missed it) is the fact that a tunnel can be built without interfering with the existing operation of the freeways on the surface. At least conceptually, in my mind, the majority of the tunnel could be completed without anyone on the surface knowing that construction is underway. On a traditional freeway widening, management of the existing traffic is a significant cost. You have to build a freeway while not impeding traffic, which in its simplest terms means building temporary lanes, shifting the traffic over, demolishing the old lanes, building the new lanes, then shifting the traffic to the new lanes, demolishing the temporary lanes and building new lanes in their place. While underground construction is by no means easy or cheap, it would in some ways be similar to constructing on virgin territory, because you don't have to worry about the existing freeway.

DON'T DRINK THE WATER!

I'd start with a trip to Austin for some homegrown hydroponic... ...that might help me understand your question.

I haven't eaten at Burger Mart in probably 20 years...I liked it when I was a kid cause they had the playground outside next to the ditch (well before I remember seeing any McDonald's Playlands). Actually for any hamburger outside of Whataburger, I stick to C&D on Fuqua...but it's a long drive for me now. There's an old hamburger place on Scott Street near Yellowstone that I need to try. My wife says they used to be great, but hasn't eaten there in decades either. I'll definitely have to try the Taconmadre. I love barbacoa and tacos al pastor. What is "trompo"?

How is Taconmadre? I drive past it all the time on the way to my grandma's (she's lived in the same neighborhood since the house was built) I've driven past Taconmadre for a while and it's visually appealing, just wondering if the food is as colorful as the building? You know, there's only two restaurants on Edgebrook there that have been there since I was a kid: the Baskin-Robbins and the Burger Mart (which my mom and dad used to eat at when they were kids).

I think the last half of Paris Texas was filmed in Houston. I know there's a lot of scenes filmed in downtown...the motor bank across Franklin St from the Brewery Tap (aka the old Magnolia Brewery) is featured in a scene. There are also some scenes from a peep show theatre, which was also downtown. All I remember from those scenes are the backs of some downtown buildings, which I didn't recognize. I'm sure some of you downtown geeks would know exactly which buildings they were. I believe the beginning of Paris Texas was filmed down in Big Bend...Terlingua or Lajitas maybe?

I lived in Ohio for 4 years, and we had "tornado sirens" throughout the city. They would go off every week at noon as well, but I thought it was on Wednesdays. Fortunately for us, we only heard the tornado siren activated once for an actual tornado, and we didn't have any major damage. Am I correct in thinking that Pasadena also uses warning sirens for refinery emergencies as a signal to leave the area?

This is truly exciting news for Houston! Did I read the Chronicle right this morning, that the proposed improvements will be completed by 2012? If so, that's fantastic. Also, a question for "VoxUO"...I think the Wheeler/Richmond alignment is great, but what will be the route between TSU and UH, since Wheeler isn't continuous through the TSU campus? Will it go around to Alabama or Blodgett? I would assume the rail line MUST touch the TSU campus, therefore Cleburne or Blodgett would be preferable to Alabama, which is a few blocks from TSU. I'd like to see the line go along Wheeler across the length of UH, all the way to Calhoun and across Brays Bayou to connect to beautiful MacGregor Park. Maybe that's getting a little ahead of myself. As a resident of South Union, roughly a mile south of the proposed rail line at Scott and Griggs, I'm very happy to hear about this, especially the cross-town route from UH to the Galleria. I'll now have rail access to downtown, UH, Midtown, the Shepherd Square area, Montrose, the East End, Greenway Plaza (or more accurately, Edwards Theater for the wife)...basically everywhere I travel today. Very cool stuff. Especially the expedited construction schedule.

I hope no one makes fun of me for this, but I always loved the refinery "skyline views". In fact, I think the view from San Leon, looking across Galveston Bay at night towards Pasadena, Deer Park, La Porte and Baytown, is GREAT! Then again, I'm Pasadena born and bred, so the refineries are kind of like "home". That's also my absolute favorite 4th of July fireworks watching spot...from that vantage point you see the fireworks from Pasadena, Deer Park, La Porte, Baytown, Clear Lake, Texas City, Galveston...not to mention all the rednecks shooting off their own fireworks over the water from the shore. That's an Independence Day Party right there, from people that know their independence!

My mother-in-law lives about a block away from them. My wife and I walked through some of them one weekend a year or so ago, just for grins. There was an open house going on (although there were apparently no real estate agents around). Neither one of us were extremely impressed with the place. There were a lot of things that we liked, and a lot of things we didn't like. The bedrooms were incredibly small, but I guess that's just becoming typical of new construction. I would have expected more for $300,000+. Some of the places had some nice living areas, but it almost seemed that the townhomes were designed more for entertaining than for day-to-day living. Worst of all...there were obvious mold problems in a LOT of areas in there. I'm not afraid of mold so much (bleach will take care of that), but the mold is indicative of other moisture-related problems that aren't obvious to the eye. I remember the townhomes being wide open and exposed to the elements for a looooong time during construction. You would think the owners would at least have the presence of mind to clean that stuff up before an open house.

Villa Arcos Tacos makes the best breakfast tacos in town. It's on Navigation, a few blocks from the Original Ninfa's.

Hillcroft is probably my favorite street to eat on in Houston. I've been eating at Bombay Sweets for well over 10 years...in fact, I don't believe it was a buffet when we first started eating there. I still stop in for the buffet at least once a month for a quick and cheap Indian fix (around $5.00). One of my favorites on Hillcroft is Sri Balaji Bhavan, in the same parking lot as Raja Sweets, I believe (or maybe across the street?) It's vegetarian, as is Bombay Sweets. Great masala dosas and other goodies there. They were a hole in the wall 10 years ago, but obviously business has been good...they've expanded and upgraded the restaurant. I ate at the Busy Boy sandwiches a few months ago as well, but wasn't impressed. Stick to the mom & pop Indian places. Further up the street, between Westpark and Richmond, is Ashoka, which has more upscale dining and excellent food. A bit pricy, though. Other good places on Hillcroft are the gigantic Droubi's and Abdallah's. Droubi's is Lebanese, and I think Abdallah's is as well. Between 59 and Westheimer there are also a few other countries represented. Colombia, Iran, Italy (Antonio's Flying Pizza), are some of the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Also, the traffic on Hillcroft isn't nearly as bad as it used to be. It seems like the Westpark/Westpark Tollway improvements helped the traffic somehow.

You're kidding, right? It's definitely ingrained in the vocabulary of native Houstonians...I don't know how you could be raised here and not throw out "y'all" left and right! Getting back to the post at hand...I'm also an Inner Looper, but Sugar Land is definitely one of the nicer and most "complete" and mature suburbs you'll find around Houston.

You're kidding, right? That's a GREAT old advertisement...it fits well in the "hip" Main Street scene. Just a handful of years ago, that was also the location of NOTSUOH, a great little coffee shop/bar/reading room/chess club/hangout for the homeless/people watching spot. I don't remember when NOTSUOH opened, but it seems to me like it was way out in front of all the "revitalization" of downtown. At least before everyone started "dressing up" to go downtown...back when the only drinking establishments were the "totally unhip" Brewery Tap, Warren's, Market Square, La Carafe, and the Lone Star Saloon. Ah, the good ol' days.

Houston's best score was for ZONING, beating out a number of other cities...obviously this study was well-researched. Also, Houston gets knocked for having three concentric freeways around town (610, BW8 and Grand Pkwy), while "other cities typically have one bypass freeway around them." Well, HELLO! You're comparing us to cities like Madison, WI, Chattanooga, Scottsdale, Berkeley and Santa Monica, which all have 1/10th the population of Houston (and less in many cases)! What a screwy survey. Denver gets high marks for voting in a light rail system...Houston did the same, but we're blasted in transportation. How about this one: "Lake Michigan water receives very good grades from water quality experts, ranking Chicago as #2 in this category in our study." Is Lake Michigan appreciably cleaner than Lake Houston? Of course the difference between tap water (after treatment) from city to city is splitting hairs. It's all clean water once it's treated.

Here's the link you're talking about: http://www.interfin.com/images/WestsideMarketPoster3.pdf

Traditional commute patterns HAVE changed. I drive from my house near 288/610 to my job near Westpark and BW-8 on the west side of town, a reverse commute. Takes me 15-20 minutes to travel 17 miles, front door to front door. Downtown is not nearly as important as it used it be, with large employment centers at Greenway Plaza, Galleria/Uptown, Westchase, Energy Corridor, Woodlands, Sugar Land, Med Center, Greenspoint, etc., etc., etc. I love living inside the Loop for its social qualities and quality of life, not for employment or commutes (although the short commute is nice). To each his own...some enjoy the suburban life, others the inner city life. My main point was that you don't have to live in the suburbs to get quality housing at an affordable price. You do have to look a little harder to find it inside the Loop, but it's there...

I have no problem with naming a park after the Pope, as long as we can also have parks named after the Dalai Lama, Muhammed, Ganesh, Satan and David Koresh.