pineda

If you are not speaking from extensive personal experience, i.e. having attended Bellaire and Memorial and ALL the Klein ISD high schools, I would have to dismiss your rant as simply that, a rant. Otherwise, I think I would put more stock in the TEA than whatever you have to say.

Most excellent website! I was surprised to see, though, that the TEA rating for all four Klein ISD high schools was Exemplary, while Memorial was one rung below that at Recognized and Bellaire was two rungs below at only Acceptable. That was interesting!

Hot Texas Housing Market Squeezes Homebuyers http://recenter.tamu.edu News Release No. 75, August 2004 By David S. Jones, College Station, Texas Texas homes have become noticeably less affordable. The estimated monthly payment (including escrow for taxes and insurance) needed to buy a median-priced home jumped by more than 9 percent during the 12 months ending in June. Dr. Jack C. Harris, research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, says the culprit was a combination of rising prices and interest rates. Harris tracks Texas housing affordability quarterly with the Texas Housing Affordability Index (THAI). The index was .99 for second quarter 2004, the lowest it has been since the Center starting tracking affordability in 1989. It is also the first time the index dropped below 1, the level at which the median household income is adequate to qualify to buy the median-priced home. The .99 means the median income in Texas is 1 percent below this standard. Over the past year, the median price of a Texas home rose nearly 3 percent to $132,300.

I'm sure they're both great American companies, but I have noticed a different "feel" from both Target and Wal-Mart. There are two Targets by me, and two Wal-Marts, so I'm speaking of course from limited experience. Wal-mart feels cold, impersonal and indifferent to your presence there. The employees are not like the ones shown on television, they're not happy at all. When I'm going through the check-out, I try to ask if the cashier is having a good day. I always get an earful of discontent from Wal-Mart employees. They are NOT happy campers! Target employees seem happier, more content and seem to take a little more pride of ownership in the place where they work. Since the product offerings are pretty similar (I even like the food section better at Target!) I choose to shop at Target. I also prefer to shop at Lowes's over Home Depot for the same reasons. Both Lowes's and Target seem to care that you are there and appreciate it, while I get the feeling from Home Depot and Wal-Mart that they could care less if you were there or not. All things being equal, the little extra effort exerted towards customer care and appreciation puts Target and Lowe's over the top.

Just felt the need to add my two cents... I grew up in the southwest part of town (Westbury/Bellaire). Why didn't I stay there when I got married and had kids? One reason, the houses were cheaper and nicer and newer in the 'burbs, there was less crime in the 'burbs, and the schools were much better than HISD. So, there you have it, affordable housing, better schools, and less crime. I realized that there are trade-offs; worse commute, less entertainment (arts, music, zoo), but I knew these things going in. If I was single again, I'd probably live in Downtown Houston in a heartbeat, because I loved the excitement of the city, but when you have kids, other considerations come into play. (I'm guessing I'm a lot older than others posting to this site!) HA!

New shuttle bus plan for Conroe and South Montgomery County (SoMoCo?). Houston Chronicle

Now that TxDOT has agreed to pay off Tortuga and Tandem, the project starts to move forward. Questions still remains as to the funding of it, though. Houston Chronicle

Very interesting story, particularly the part where the other engineering firms vetoed doing the flyover noise study, because it might contradict what Carter Burgess had already determined for TxDOT! Houston Chronicle

Closer to Hooks Airport and the mighty Spring Creek!

Houston Rush- Is that an English bulldog you got there with you?

Beautiful downtown Spring, Texas!

Texas Education Agency Great Schools Klein ISD I put the website for Klein ISD on there because it's our district and we really love it! Last year, Klein Oak High School became an official International Baccalaureate program school. I believe the only other IB schools in the Greater Houston area are Bellaire, Lamar (maybe), and Awty International (private school). You may want to take that under consideration if something like this is of any importance to you. To some, it may not make a bit of difference if their school has the IB program or not. To others, they move specifically to this area so that their children can attend. Only children who are members of the Klein district can attend the IB school in this area. If specific areas of study appeal to you and your children, you would be wise to request interviews with spokespersons at the schools who have programs that you're interested in. Some schools may gear more towards athletics or art or music programs and you can better find all that if you visit the school personally. Good luck in your endeavors, I'm sure you'll be happy wherever you land!

I-69 is dead. TxDOT needs federal money for the engineering studies still required to be done, and the federal government is not answering the phone on this one.

Maybe she didn't forget him at all, maybe she did it on purpose!

If you read the transcript of the TxDOT Meeting held in June 2004, you will find out that the I-69 project has now been incorporated into the Trans-Texas Corridor, which has a 1200' footprint. The Grand Parkway is only 400'. Plus, the I-69 project has been funded by Congress, and the Grand Parkway is still awaiting funding. HCTRA, which was once a "cash cow", is no longer one, and has been dragging its' feet when it comes to funding any of the Grand Parkway routes. TxDOT meeting in June 2004

I miss Channel 24!

I hate to say, because I am not a big fan of P.T. Barnum (AKA: Tillman Fertitta), but he does seem to have a stranglehold on Galveston lately, and this will undoubtedly cause a resultant uptick in property values. If you want a primary residence, or a second-home/vacation property in the Galveston area, now would be the opportune time to make that purchase. If you like kitsch and flash and glitz, then you may even want to buy a home nearby one of his properties to fully enjoy that experience.

I-69 Information Good background for you to learn more about I-69, the NAFTA Superhighway!

( Link removed by Editor because we got a nastygram from Texas A&M ) Excellent source of information on property values all across the Lone Star State!

Citizen Corps! With all the tropical storms out there, this might come in handy!

West Texas! This is a link to Virtual Guidebooks, showing panoramic vistas of West Texas.

Here's an alternative to Wal-Mart; Free Cycle! Free Cycle! If you need something, and it doesn't have to be NEW, just in working order, consider that someone else in the Houston area may be willing to just give it to you for FREE! That saves everybody money, and it keeps otherwise useful items out of a landfill. In the Houston area, the group is approx. 3000 members. Dallas and Austin have about double that. But, the Houston just started last November, so that's pretty good for a "newbie". Try it, and if you like it, tell a friend. There is also an alternative website that offers items very inexpensively: For Sale In Houston!

Houston Chronicle According to this recently published article by the Houston Chronicle, the Woodlands has been sold out again by a big-time mall developer. They have said that they will finish things that have been started. But, where does that leave the last neighborhood to be built, tentatively titled Creekside Park?

Houston Chronicle According to this article published last Thursday in the Houston Chronicle, the Woodlands is actively searching for a paid full-time lobbyist, who will have among their various duties, the uneviable task of protecting the Woodlands from the Grand Parkway. The Woodlands, as you may recall, made a strategic tactical error when all of their business/social clubs and groups gave their unwavering support to the Grand Parkway project, in any alignment chosen. Now that TxDOT has decided to update the Supplemental Study of the DEIS, the Woodlands seems to be getting nervous and beginning to take the efforts of the group known as United to Save Our Spring a little more seriously than before.

I think I'm still in denial or withdrawal or whatever. For a while, I thought I had been banned without being told of it. While I was gone, I had to go somewhere, so I found so new websites/boards to look at, (although nothing comes close to the level of professionalism of production on this forum), and so here are some of them: FreeCycle ForSaleInHouston MovingHouston MET_Houston and, of course, my perennial favorite obsession: UnitedToSaveOurSpring Thanks again, Wayne, for all your hard work, we really do appreciate you!