mrfootball

I'm pretty sure our H20 bill here in Longwood effectively doubled last month.

Outstanding link! Thanks for sharing. Having grown up in the area, I went to school with a number of kids with those last names mentioned in that article.

Could you reccommend a Watch Repair/Jeweler in the Great Northwest?

My immediate need is to have watch batteries replaced. The Jeweler we usually use for this charges $10 parts and labor to replace a watch battery.

Is there a place in the area that will replace a watch battery for less than $10 that does good work and can be recommended? I have several watches with dead batteries so total cost becomes a factor quickly.

Thanks,

-Gary K

I usually take mine to the Just About Time kiosk in Willowbrook Mall.

SHAME ON YOU for trying to get referral kickbacks! The original link he posted had an Affiliate ID in it.

Morons. I wish I was getting a kickback or at least some sort of freebie. I'd be a pretty good paid spokesman.

Unfortunately, not though. That's just the link I found with the coupon code that gives you the unpublished 11.3 cent rate.

I'll try not to share helpful info on this board in the future. Hate to upset the assclowns.

Here's my PSA for those of you in Deregulated utility markets, FYI - this is the cheapest time of year to lock in your electricity rate. They'll start going back up in about a week or so.

I lucked out last year and got a 10.9 cent rate (ambit) for a one year fixed rate which saved me about $1433 off Reliant's usual rate. I recall some REPs were charging 22-25 cents per kwhr last summer!

Current Best price in Houston that I found was with Champion Energy at 11.3 cents per kwhr (+$4.95 recurring fee) for a 12-month fixed rate contract. Promo code "SAVERPLUS"

Get it while you can...

Champion Energy

If anyone knows of any better rates right now in Houston, post'em!

Probably don't want the planes to hit them on their way into IAH.

Thank you Commissioner Radack & Co. for planting new Oak trees along Telge, Spring Cypress and the stretch of Huffmeister b/w Longwood and Telge. We value our trees and they look great.

With that said, we'd also like to see them planted on the newly expanded stretch of Huffmeister as well.

I agree. Makes me wonder why you're running around scared of your own shadow. But seriously, you should do your research. The real estate bust that caused the wave of foreclosures and plummeting home values is what did in that area, not the scary government.

Evidently time stopped for you and the area back in 1986...you seem to be stuck on this idea. Your thesis is flawed, as the area North of FM 1960 exploded with growth which continues today. While there was Champions, Champion Forest, Greenwood, Olde Oaks, Ponderosa and Westador back then there are now 50 or 60 more neighborhoods like them that have grown up North of FM 1960. They are still building some homes on the last remaining pieces of land in the Klein High School zone and those houses start in the $400k to the $1M+. This area's not exactly hurting. The areas from 1960 north and west past Cypresswood, past Louetta and past Spring Cypress and from I-45, past 249, past 290 all the way to 529 have pretty much filled in. New communities going in further out in Tomball, Klein and Cypress.

Could I chime in?

I have a group of friends who grew up in the subdivisions of Olde Oaks, Oak Creek, Ponderosa, Westador. They always talk about what a wonderful experience it was growing up in these areas of FM 1960. And the schools were great schools, back then.

This would have been about 20 years ago my friends were kids growing up there.

I have heard the stories (and seen the statistics on schooldigger and others) about the DRAMATIC decline of the schools these subdivisions are zoned to. However the subdivisions themselves are still nice (from what their parents who still live there say).

So was it overdevelopment of apartments nearby that caused the dramatic decline? Or something else?

And how does Spring ISD claim the schools are diverse, when it's obvious from looking at stats (like Westfield High) it is mostly one minority racial group in the majority?

Honestly after hearing these stories, it makes me completely paranoid about where to buy a home. The subdivision can look really great, even having mansions (like Olde Oaks and Northgate Forest) where you would NEVER think the schools within the subdivision (like Oak Creek/Reynolds Elem and Wells Middle) would rank so low. Generally when you see a bunch of estate-type homes that's supposed to be a good sign for the area? I'm just really confused.

Can a longtime resident of the area or a real estate expert on the area explain all this to me?

I grew up in Greenwood Forest and Ponderosa Forest (graduated HS in 1991). People used to move into these neighborhoods for the great schools, beautiful homes, low crime, big trees, greenery and overall nice quality of life. These neighborhoods (and Olde Oaks, Northgate, etc.) still look great and still have many of the original owners. There are quite a few millionaires living in those $150,000 homes that never appreciated. Unfortunately, due to the way these school zones are drawn, they have large geographic areas on the Southside of FM 1960. Originally, development in the area consisted of nice single-family custom homes in the aforementioned charming, wooded neighborhoods along FM 1960. In those days, there really weren't that many apartments. The entire area on both sides of FM 1960 was white, middle and upper middle class.

Over the years however, with the lure of cheap, available land and great schools, low-income housing began to sprout up on the South side of FM 1960 while nicer developments continued to grow on the North side of FM 1960. This along with the fact that Spring ISD made a decision in the late 80's to annex a portion of land from Aldine ISD in order to get what they thought at the time was valuable (taxable) commercial property along I-45. The trade off was an overnight change in demographics that snowballed, creating lots of problems in Spring ISD which resulted in decreased demand for this area by the middle and upper middle class families that had dominated it for decades. Same story for Klein Forest, except it's downfall was the fact that Klein ISD has a weird shape due to the fact that they gerrymandered in more 'diverse' neighborhoods stretching towards Houston, back in the 1970's in order to obtain more federal dollars. So instead of moving into these school zones, the white Middle / Upper Middle class demographic opted for newer communities nearby, north of FM 1960 - which has been one of the biggest growth areas in the nation for the past 20 years.

Some areas along FM 1960 have faired better than others, and it is directly attributed to the schools and their drawing zones. Klein, Klein Oak, Cy-Fair and Cy-Creek draw mainly from areas of north of FM 1960 (which is nearly built out from FM 1960 going North all the way past Spring-Cypress and from I-45 all the way West to 529) and have remained more desirable along with the new high schools created to absorb the new growth (Klein Collins, Cy-Woods, Cy-Ranch).

Hope that helps.

Oh well. Better your neighborhood than mine.

Yep, oh well....I live about 20-25 minutes away from that area. Not my neighborhood, but I hate to see the Government come in and destroy nice areas.

You live in the Heights, Red??? There's more riff-raff around you than there is North of FM 1960.

Which brings up the point to the idiocy of this thread. 1960 is no longer ground zero for NW Harris County. The area is immensely larger (1 million+ population) than it was when you were just a confused teenager growing up in the mean ole suburbs.

Mr. Football NEVER oversells the Section 8 problem! I demand that you take that back!

The problems with this area of FM 1960 are directly attributable to the Government.

The "section 8" issue includes those on TDHCA vouchers and other social dependents. That number would encompass large portions of the other apartment complexes.

Needless to say, the area zoned to Westfield HS and Klein Forest HS are pretty much identical situations with large sections of their enrollment zones drawing from the lower income South side of FM 1960 (sans Greenwood Forest) and beyond stretching towards Aldine ISD drawing in the aforementioned demographic.

The reality is, there are now over 1 million people in NW Harris County. While this thread refers to an area of 1960 zoned to Spring ISD, The area has grown tremendously. The stretch of FM 1960 from 45 to Veterans Memorial became one of the older parts of an area that on the whole has exploded with growth since the late 1960's. Even so, it's still nicer than most parts of Houston.

1960 never stopped growing. The areas beyond it grew more.

The link to the article no longer works.

I've been wondering what caused the dramatic decline (of the schools primarily) in this area. An area that was considered very desirable, with great schools, just 20 years ago.

And what areas in Houston could be the next ones to go the same way?

Seems like a similar thread to this one as well. http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...=5919&st=30

The Government moved a bunch of Section 8, voucher and other social dependents into the area South of FM 1960, between Veteran's Memorial and I-45. Ford Foundation experiment to find out what would happen if you integrated a mostly white, middle-to-upper middle class exemplary school district (Spring ISD) with Section 8 dependents.

Answer: They destroyed it.

You now have a situation where you get scenarios such as this...guy cooks his ex-girlfriend with BBQ grill on his apartment patio in places where you would've never thought could ever happen just 15-20 years ago.

FWIW, Bridgeland won the National Association of Homebuilders, National Community of the Year for 2009.

Bridgeland was named Master-Planned Community of the Year during The Nationals 2009 Gold Awards, topping both national and international entrants.

Presented by the National Sales and Marketing Council of the National Home Builders Association, The Nationals pay tribute to superior new-home sales and marketing achievements. Gold Award winners were announced Jan. 20 during NAHB

Tried out Pizza Fusion this evening.

Enjoyed it.

Great food, cool atmosphere.

If you like natural food, non-GMO and Organics...this is the place. Good quality food. Nice concept.

Utterly amazing.

Here's the latest story from the Chronicle: "METRO Eager to Put Stimulus Funds to Work"

The Headline should be "STIMULUS DOLLARS TO BUILD TOLL ROADS"

The Government using Economic Terrorism to take YOUR MONEY to convert YOUR ROADS into toll roads to take MORE OF YOUR MONEY!

Somewhere in hell, Karl Marx is grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Mia Bella is now open.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories...02/daily15.html

Thanks for the heads up.

Looking forward to trying this place.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/cyf...ws/6232440.html

By KIM JACKSON CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT

Harris County Precinct 4 has added 82 acres to its roster of parkland, and an additional 66-acre property donation is soon to follow, according to officials with V&W Partners, the development company that bequeathed the former Hewlett-Packard property off Texas 249 to the county about two weeks ago.

Harris County plans to carve out that 148-acre park, the Kickerillo-Mischer Preserve, which will have public facilities, but will remain primarily in its natural state with connections to planned trail systems on nearby Pillot Gulley and Cypress Creek.

Dennis Johnston, Harris County Precinct 4 parks director, said now that the property has been conveyed to Harris County, Precinct 4 can begin the first phase of the engineering process once a portion of Harris County park bond funds are allocated to Commissioner Jerry Eversole

Here are some photos from that event. Looks like they had a good turnout:

http://www.jessicatrapp.com/trees.htm

I'm guessing reading comprehension isn't one of your strong points, Pumapayam.

Epic fail? Really?

Sales have gone well in Bridgeland. It's a beautiful new community surrounded by other really nice communities in the $200K+ to $1M+ range. GGP has taken a hit nationally and is trying to reduce its debt load.

It is my understanding that tax credit housing (i.e. subsidized apartments) cannot be located within several (I think 3) miles of each other. In this case, there is another subsidized apartment complex on Huffmeister @ 290 next to the new hospital. That is approximately 1 mile from the location of one of the proposed developments which is located directly across from an Elementary school. I'll be posting the contact numbers and email addresses of county and state officials that people need to contact.

Residents of Ravensway and other neighborhoods zoned to Exemplary rated Millsap Elementary need to raise holy hell against this. They've had a tough enough time digesting the other new apartments in that area to get back to having an Exemplary rating. I hope the other areas fight like hell to stall these lucrative gov't subsidy projects.

That's great to hear they're doing this. Hope there's a good turnout.

The parasitical government preying on our beloved area's lack of government has sent me the following alerts about proposed new subsidized apartment developments in our part of town. There may be more for areas in Klein, Spring etc so you may want to check the Texas Dept. of Housing website for information about your area.

Hopefully we can get organized as a community to fight this, please contact your neighborhood association, school district demographer, local leaders, congressman, etc and let them know you do not want this in your community:

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has received a pre-application for Housing Tax Credits for the Cypress North Development proposed to be located at 10.688 acres NEC Huffmeister Rd. & Birdcall Ln., Houston.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has received a pre-application for Housing Tax Credits for the Ashton Park Development proposed to be located at Approx. 12 acres at 14560 Wunderlich Rd., Houston.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has received a pre-application for Housing Tax Credits for the Ridge at Willow Brook Development proposed to be located at 8330 Willow Pl. S., Houston, TX

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has received a pre-application for Housing Tax Credits for the Tuscany Villas Development proposed to be located at 10 acres at approx. 10000 Blk FM 1960 W., Houston

For additional information, visit the Housing Tax Credits Web page at http://www.tdhca.state.tx.us/multifamily/htc/ or you may reply to this email.

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On The Border is borderline awful Mexican Food. They really shouldn't even try to open up restaurants in a market like Houston that has so many good Mexican restaurants. I would think they'd be better off peddling their bad Mexican Food out-of-state where people don't know any better.

Holy moly.

Oh, one thing to note: There is a minimum purchase that is higher than the value of the gift certificate. For the higher values it is double the size of the gift certificate. Furthermore, on the higher value gift certificates they impose a mandatory 18% gratuity on the full retail of the dinner. Still a good deal, but caveat emptor.

My neighbor gave the place pretty good reviews. I'm going to have to try this place.