J008

Renters pay their share of property taxes through the rent they are charged without the benefit of homestead exemptions or tax deductibility. Unless of course the landlord negotiated some walmart style exemption.

Agree, I am heading to Greenway and previously to Galleria so no luck for me.

Traffic is better because there are not Wal Marts with half a dozen red lights at every interstate exit. Developments like this will bring the suburban traffic congestion to an area that currently doesn't have it.

From my experience, traffic inside the loop is dramatically better than in the suburbs. I'd take a flood or train wreck in Montrose/Heights over the average day in woodlands/katy/pearland. I feel that by not having a walmart and half a dozen redlights at every interstate exit that traffic is better inside the loop.

I believe it was the plot on chonicle that showed a road connecting 2nd and Koehler crossing yale and heights with a new set of red lights that made me believe this would bring walmart traffic through Heights Boulevard.

Completely agree, I am not brave enough to take Heights\Waugh down to Dallas. I quit at Washington and take the pedestrian bridge at Jackson Hill. Even though it is a big inconvenience I've almost died on the Waugh bridge too many times to take it anymore..

There is a big difference between what is good business for Wal-Mart and what is good business for the citizens of Houston. Just because Wal-Mart wants something doesn't mean everyone in the City has to roll over and give them every variance and permit they want. If the community doesn't need three Wal-Marts within 8 miles, then the community shouldn't bend over backwards to cut new roads, add traffic lights, clogging important intersections for residents, and so on for a store the community doesn't need. I couldn't agree with you more. This development will create a huge traffic burden to anyone who lives around here, all so the people can buy toilet paper 10 cents cheaper, and this could never have been possible unless we first paid the tab for the grand walmart avenue exits off of I-10. I know there is no sympathy for the weirdos who bicycle to work, but this redevelopment will certainly kill the already anemic stretch of the bike lane (pt parking lot) on Heights between I-10 and Washington. I would welcome walmart or anyone else if the end result was a safe bike lane that could get you from the heights to the otherside of buffalo bayou. Instead this will probably kill this stretch of bikeable Houston.

I am still suspect of the simultaneous I-10 feeders and wal mart location. How will having wal-mart on I-10 with a half dozen new red lights make traffic better or reduce flooding? Weren't those the goals of the project? Would the store be possible without the additional I-10 access? To me this is as much a subsidy as anything else.

Happened to see this article on Khou.com with the new I-10 access it seems a Heights Wal-Mart would fit in nicely. http://www.khou.com/news/crime/Suspects-charged-in-connection-with-brazen-midday-Walmart-holdup-97094579.html

Duplicate post please delete

That would help explain the urgency in which the unneccessary I-10 exits are being built. Wal-Mart almost always has some government assistance when they build a store.

I am anxious to see what the city says. I drove by the one at Yale and I-10 leading you the wrong way and I cannot think of a reason that that light could be useful.

Has anyone noticed the streetlights that give you a green light going the wrong way on a one way street. I don't have photos but below is a streetview link to shepherd at 11th and you'll see two green lights going the wrong way. I know there is another at yale and I-10 and I am trying to remember the one that was placed right above a do not enter sign. They have to cost something to maintain and power and they are at least an obnoxious waste of resources and at most a potential invitation to a head on collision. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=yale+at+i-10&sll=29.793747,-95.391123&sspn=0.008771,0.013754&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Yale+St+%26+W+10th+St,+Houston,+Harris,+Texas+77008&ll=29.790573,-95.409894&spn=0,0.013754&z=16&layer=c&cbll=29.790675,-95.409896&panoid=ZL6M1xP-8LRYvOcNJ1CwuA&cbp=12,178.8,,0,5

If you are going to be robbed, it is hard to think of a better outcome than: 1. No one is hurt 2. The robbers are caught 3. Your property is recovered.

The Houston Press has a bit more descriptive article on it as well. http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2010/04/coffee_shop_heist_bust.php

Saw a for sale sign on the now empty lot this morning.

I am always amazed at how any discussion of bicycle transport almost always devolves into a car versus bike culture war. I bike to work 90% of the time and would be AMAZED to see the most modest improvements in biking like 1. Don't allow parking on bike paths, 2. Maintain bike paths and 3. Finish bike paths that have been started. While I firmly take the pro-bicycle almost contempt-toward-cars point of view the existing bike infrastructure is so deficient that I believe it is hard to talk about a cycling nirvana when there is still a Denali parked on the "bike" path. Seriously, a parked car has more clout than a cyclist!

Saw the below sign up this weekend for a new restaurant at 11th and Beverly across the street from Berryhill.

There is cut through traffic in Montrose, but there are very few “cut-throughs” in Montrose like the one being proposed through the center of the heights. I believe only Shepherd is similar connecting two interstates (10 and 59) with four lanes. I feel that having bridges rather than feeder roads along 59 helps the neighborhood especially in regards to cyclists, pedestrians, and home values. Wouldn’t it be nice to see some similar creativity in the Heights/I-10 area?

There are also virtually no interstate onramps or feeder roads in Montrose (Shepherd to ~Taft, Allen Pkwy to 59). There are six bridges over 59 in this area though that have no interaction at all between the neighborhood streets and the interstate. I believe the lack of interstate in this neighborhood has actually helped it retain the walkability, higher home prices, and greater selection of retail that you mentioned.

I went to the Fiesta on 14th and Studemont looking for a sign and couldn't find one in the entrance way or in the parking lot.

Thanks for the extra details.. I sure hope they catch this creep. I think you meant between Oxford and Studemont.

This morning I was planning on taking a ride across the bridge that connects Oxford street to the Studemont bridge, but around 7 am this morning there were still crews working on it. I did not go all the way up to the bridge but could see the temporary wooden handrails and workers everywhere. I am anxious to see if they get it done today.

I spoke with some of the people at Antidote who said they heard gunshots and then a woman yelling that her son had been shot. Someone saw the victim standing on the street before the cops came and he appeared to have been shot in the stomach. Don't know if it was a robbery attempt or not, but I did not get the impression that it was.