MikeO

I have a whole house to remodel, and I guess the real question is whether I need to use a general contractor at all...as you point out, there is a price in both dollars and control.

In a prior home remodel I did some years back, I dealt with all the subcontractors myself and came out well...I just have some time issues now that would make it harder.

This time I'm going to gut a bathroom, move a wall, etc. I don't know if I have the knowledge to coordinate all that.

Has anyone had any experience with using The Great Indoors for a kitchen or bathroom remodel?

I'm looking to buy a townhouse (hopefully for under $200,000) in one of the established townhouse communities in the Galleria / West Houston area. ("Established" because I don't want to deal with builders or developers.)

I'd appreciate any feedback, good or bad, from people who are familiar with the townhouse communities in this area -- from the Briar-sphere (Briargrove, Briarwest, etc) to Bering / Augusta, to Wilcrest / Kirkwood / Dairy Ashford.

Which developments have HOAs that are tyrannical, divided, or broke,which have the higher owner-occupancy rates, and so on.

Since I have been thinking like a buyer, rather than a renter, I'm noticing that several townhouse complexes which I used to consider "nice" are now looking a little rough when it comes to the physical plant. Paint is peeling, wood trim is rotting, shingles are loose, etc. Could this be a sign that HOA dues aren't getting paid because of the recession?

I would welcome any thoughts or feedback.

Welcome to the system and thanks for the correction.

It is always good to hear from the horse's mouth where we have a tendency to do quite a bit of speculation and old facts.

In looking at HAR postings for the Sussex, it appears that a lot of units do not have washers/dryers. Is this always the case, or does it vary unit to unit?

Who remembers a film festival one evening at Liberty Hall? Three people, two from Ch2 & myself, produced a three screen extravaganza of all the underground film we'd all shot in Dec or 1971. It was a long night. Then later in '73, I filmed a dance troupe doing a jazz routine on stage Liberty Hall.. Still have the film...wish I had the name of the music used.

Youtube has some video footage of Gram Parsons performing at Liberty Hall with Emmylou Harris and the Fallen Angels in '73. Not good quality by today's standards, but interesting stuff.

This was all before the gentrification of the League City -- Kemah area. In the 70's northern Galveston County was a pretty safe place, probably safer than today as far as major crime, but it was funky, semi-rural and somewhat blue collar. People talked about which "side of the lake" you were from -- meaning that the North side of Clear Lake was white collar and suburban, while the south side was really Texan. A lot of the ambiance on the south side of the Lake was kinda summed up by the old song, "My Long Hair Doesn't Cover Up My Red Neck." Or maybe that's just the circles I moved in at the time...

In the late 70's I rented a shack (there's really no other word for it) at the corner of 5th and Harris streets in Kemah. This location is now under water, part of the Marina. My rent was about $100 a month, and I had neighbors that kept chickens and goats. To those of us that remember those days, today's Kemah seems surreal.

I grew up in League City during the 80's and 90's, and watched it grow from when it was described as "the armpit of the earth", through the development of South Shore Harbour and other large subdivisions in the late 80's and early 90's to now, when it is considered to be one of America's best small cities.

I would love to see any early pics, maps, whatever of League City, Clear Lake or Dickinson, or hear any stories or memories from anyone who lived in the area back in the 50's through the 70's, or earlier. Thanks again.....you guys are great!

I moved to Clear Lake City when I was 15, in 1973. I was fascinated by my first exposure to League City, because at the time it was truly a small southern town. I had previously lived in the New York suburbs, and this seemed exotic.

Main Street was a two lane, tree shaded street. The street now know as Egret Bay Boulevard did not exist; El Camino Real dead ended at NASA Rd. 1. There was an apartment complex and a convenience store -- a UTotem, I think -- across the street from Clear Creek High. The strip center on the northwest corner of the Main St -- Hwy. 3 intersection was there, as was the bank and a couple other businesses.

In the 70's, most of the land along Main Street from Clear Creek High all the way to Clear Lake Shores was cow pasture. There were one or two small subdivisions on the north side of the highway, which I assume are still there. Clear Lake Shores was funky, seedy, and very affordable -- no million dollar homes there at that time! Plenty of bikers, shrimpers and hippies. At the entrance to Clear Lake Shores stood Captain Okie's liquor store and Captain Okie's beer joint. Captain Okie was, according to rumor, a guy who had smuggled liquor into Clear Lake by ship during Prohibition.