Original Timmy Chan's

My family roots on the paternal side are in Centerville. I've been there countless times including earlier this week, and I've wondered why Crockett has a statue of him but Centerville doesn't have squat honoring Lightnin'. He's probably one of the only, if not THE most famous person from out of the Centerville/Leon County area.

Interestingly enough, Albert Collins is also from Leon County. Leona to be exact, just down the road from Centerville.

Another famous blues singer, Texas Alexander, is from Jewett in Leon County.

Turns out all three, Collins, Hopkins and Alexander, are cousins.

I don't think anyone famous has ever come out of Normangee.

I agree those two legendary entertainers deserve a historical marker in the town they came from, but they didn't come from Houston. Townes Van Zandt was from Fort Worth, and lived most of his life in and around Austin. Chenier is from Opelousas Louisiana.

Well, let's take back po' Lightnin's marker too...he was from Centerville!

Yeah, I forget how much a difference a reverse commute can make. Good point. What neighborhood or area are you in?

I'm in South Union, right between 288 and Scott St. Many of the homes date back to the 40's, typical post-war 2/1 stick homes. Many of those have been added onto over the years. They're in various states of repair or disrepair. You can find some with good bones that are worth rehabbing. There are plenty more that should be knocked down, and plenty of vacant lots too.

There are some newer homes (<5 years old) sprinkled throughout the neighborhood too, if rehabbing isn't a preferred option.

Neighborhood is safe and quiet.

You've got other options directly across the freeway along Holly Hall with all the townhomes. If you're concerned about resale, those are a better bet, due to the steady stream of med students and young doctors from the Med Center. When we were looking around for a home about 8 years ago, you could still get a nice townhome for $70k. Don't know what they run nowadays.

Maybe Tammy is one of my long-lost cousins, along with Jimmy Chan and Chicken Chan.

Now add some markers/statues for Townes Van Zandt and Clifton Chenier and you've got a good start!

You can definitely still find properties and homes inside the loop for well under $100k. There are large numbers of available homes in my neighborhood in the range of $30k. I would knock them down and start over, but I see plenty of people renovating.

As far as commute, I drive 17 miles every morning from 288/610 out to Beltway 8 and Westpark. It's normally 15 minutes, but can be 20 minutes if it's raining. Sugar Land is 25 miles from my house, so you might count on a 25-minute commute. Reverse commutes are nice.

The Low Impact Design competition made the Chronicle today. The article focused on only one of the three competitions, but the one that may have the biggest impact on development in our area.

I am looking forward to the awards ceremony next week to see some of the ideas that come out.

Also interesting to see the final panel of judges in the Chronicle: "Judges include: Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, developers Ed Wulfe of Wulfe & Co.,Bill Huntsinger of MetroNational and Frank Liu of Lovett Homes, and legendary Houston conservationist Terry Hershey representing the Bayou Preservation Association."

Design contest may steer Katy Prairie development

By NANCY SARNOFF and MIKE SNYDER Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

Jan. 19, 2010, 10:23PM

A Houston developer is putting up $15,000 in a sustainable design competition for a new master-planned community the company intends to build on the environmentally sensitive Katy Prairie.

The goal of the competition is to encourage designs that don't worsen problems such as flooding, carbon emissions or loss of wildlife habitat. It is unclear, though, to what extent the winning designs will contribute to the development of the Katy Prairie project or those in two other categories in the contest.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6825416.html

I noticed a pair of shoes hanging from the power line around Alexander and 9th St this morning. I don't know if this is an urband legend or not, but I have heard it could be a sign for a drug dealer showing he is available for business or a gang showing their territory. Of course it could be some kids messing around...

Have any of you guys ever heard anything like this?

It's a sign that someone has one less pair of shoes in their closet...nothing more.

I'd consider taking the 610 Loop to 288 and then 288 to Highway 6. My sense is that if you're starting from east of 288, Highway 6 is not a problem, and might be much better than 45.

My sentiments exactly...SH 6 east of 288 is pretty easy. There are a few lights, but I usually average about 55-60 mph, even with the lights.

OK...I was unaware that lawn clippings were picked up weekly. I don't bag mine, and apparently no one on my block does either, that I can tell.

On the other hand, I do balance out that act of earth-friendliness by illegally dumping my organic and inorganic heavy trash.

The new biodegradable bags last 6 weeks, but the City only picks up organic heavy trash every two months, so you gotta be careful on your timing (if you bag clippings).

Anyone know if we can still throw piles of tree limbs out without bagging them? In the past, heavy trash crews have always picked these up without bagging or bundling.

Looks like I picked the wrong decade to start my 401k.

On the bright side, I still have the money I put in...but I haven't seen all this "compounding" effect that I was always told about. I must also say that without the 401k mechanism I wouldn't have the discipline to set aside six figures worth of savings on my own, so I do appreciate that.

I'm not a fan of the one-month layoff between regular season and bowl season.

The layoff wasn't good to my Coogs...the UH offense was clanging like an un-oiled machine.

The good and bad thing about the bowl system is that it doesn't mean anything when you lose.

I was also a Beverly Hills Bear...lots of great memories at that school.

I had the fortune of catching Mitch Hedberg there a few times.

I saw Mitch Hedberg a couple of times there in the early 90's...at least once with Jimmy Pineapple.

I'm as guilty as the Editor...I haven't seen a comedy show in years (nearly *decades* now)

Cool...I love New Mexican food. I wish you could find more around town.

My wife does this all the time and it drives me nuts.

But, she's from a city with real crime, and the general thought process there is to just leave the door unlocked or otherwise a crackhead will break the window and steal your stuff. Either way, your possessions are gone, but at least leaving the doors unlocked eliminates the need for a costly window replacement.

I haven't locked my car doors for years now. The key is to not leave anything that's worth more than the cost of replacing windows.

I first started doing it when I physically *couldn't* lock the door on my old car. It was going to cost me several hundred dollars to get the lock fixed, so I said screw it, and just stopped leaving anything more than CD's in the car.

After a few months, we had an old laptop crap out, so as an experiment I left the laptop in plain view in the back seat of my car. I left that laptop in the car for over a year, all four doors unlocked, and it was never stolen.

I've since upgraded to a nicer car, but I still don't lock my doors. It goes back to the same experience that the Editor had. I've had three cars broken into over the years, and the most "valuable" loss I had was a $25 car stereo. Of course every one of those was $100-$150 to replace the window. I don't have anything worth $100 in may car...I did the math...if you want the 50 cents in my console, just open the door and take it.

Thanks Brian...

I also hear that almost all the homes along Wheeler (in front of these dorms) have been demolished in preparation for the SE Light Rail line.

"Culberson filed a formal objection with the Federal Transit Authority late Tuesday, ahead of a deadline today for members of Congress to file any concerns."

http://www.chron.com...an/6762340.html

Wow! Looks like we need to vote for Annise Parker, Lane Lewis, Mike Laster, and Karen Derr. That sure was easy! Thanks Steve Hotze!

In defense of Steve Costello (who's running against Karen Derr), he stated that he specifically requested that Steven Hotze NOT endorse his campaign. Sounds to me like Costello doesn't agree with Hotze's views.

Apparently Hotze doesn't know an attorney from an engineer.

Steve Costello runs a very successful civil engineering firm. To my knowledge he's never been a lawyer.

Maybe the City of Houston will now turn their attention to the only team in town that's going to the post-season?

LET'S GO COOGS!!! Time to get the Bayou Bucket back to its rightful home on Cullen Blvd.

"But Alvin Wright the City of Houston Public Works Department said that isn't good enough. State law prohibits drivers from blocking sidewalks.Wright explained, "A person in a wheelchair... You're forcing a person who has their baby in a stroller to actually use the street to get through. That's not fair. That's not right."

Interesting quote.

Am I reading this correctly? Is it the City's stance that it's not fair and it's not right that people with baby strollers and the elderly and disabled are FORCED to use the street in our neighborhood, since there are no sidewalks? Or does that only apply in neighborhoods with sidewalks?

That's it, I'm calling the Texas Hammer: Jim Adler.

Raising the property with fill will only redirect floodwaters onto adjacent lower-lying properties. If it's going to be a parking lot, then they ought to try to work in conjunction with HCFCD to excavate even just a few feet down so as to provide extra water detention capacity during major flood events.

My thoughts exactly. A parking lot isn't subject to damage from floodwaters. Of course any cars parked on the lot are subject to damage, but they're mobile...and there's plenty of time to move cars before Brays gets out of its banks. Why fill it unless there are plans to develop it later?

We already have toyota center for the aeros and the new YMCA for the women's b-ball team.

If you recall, the Comets spent their last season at the AstroArena. That same facility also hosted the Rice Owls while Autry Court was being renovated.

The old AstroArena is one step above a YMCA gym...which puts it about two steps above the old Autry Court.