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Texasota

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Everything posted by Texasota

  1. Texasota
    Wow. That roundabout is ...intense.
  2. Texasota
    I'm ok with the first parking *because* it's in the floodplain. They didn't really have too many options.
  3. Texasota
    Did this get missed? COA was approved in April. 4 story office building on a currently vacant lot. ShowDoc.aspx (houstontx.gov)
  4. Texasota
    I'd love to see more of these. Let Hines or Skanska build a new class A tower; convert one of these 70s/80s things to residential.
  5. Texasota
    I have never lived someplace with an HOA and doubt I ever will. You are conflating "saving our homes" with "preserving the single family nature of an area". Those just aren't the same thing, and you've made no effort to explain why "preserving the single family nature of an area" has any inherent value, especially an area that never was completely single family. Even putting Studewood aside, most pre-WWII neighborhoods were built as a mix of single family homes, duplexes, triplexes, small apartment buildings, and shops. They were built that way because that's how you build a self-sustaining neighborhood. That's how you ensure that people at different financial means can all afford to live in the same neighborhood. In an environment with rapidly increasing property values, all these kinds of zoning restrictions do is artificially restrict the supply of housing and price out a lot of the same people who, in the past, would have moved to the neighborhood. Look at the neighborhoods that do have historic district status. Buying a modest house in Heights East or something is no longer realistic for most people. At least the historic ordinance doesn't regulate use though, so you can still open a shop, cafe, or restaurant. And at least we have garage apartments.
  6. Texasota
    You didn't file to "save your homes". Your homes were never under any threat. You're upset about what one of your neighbors is doing. Which is fine! But this is an example where I think a slim majority of homeowners in an area has too much power over what the minority can do with their own property. I have mixed feelings about minimum lot size areas. At a minimum I think a 55% threshold of support is too low and restricting replatting is a mistake. But I definitely don't think they make sense on a street like Studewood. The presence of some single family homes doesn't change the fact the Studewood is a major corridor, and prioritizing a few detached single family homes over every other type of home (and business!) is obscene.
  7. Texasota
    Minimum lot size areas never should have been allowed to include lots on Studewood, and they never should have prevented replatting for non-residential purposes. Excluding any kind of commercial use is anti-urban, backward thinking, and I'm glad this (pretty good looking) development was able to find a loophole.
  8. Texasota
    Uh, I don't know what enchiladas you're eating, but maybe you should go to a doctor Ross...
  9. Texasota
    I kind of like how cobbled together the bridge really looks now.
  10. Texasota
    The floor is kind of fun. The building is ugly enough that it's kind of starting to grow on me?
  11. Texasota
    Impressive, but I hate the way they created a buffer along Rogerdale and Bellaire Blvd.
  12. Texasota
    I mean, if you're judging the walk by looking out the window while driving, I'm not sure that has much value.
  13. Texasota
    I'm no fan of parking podiums, but I think it will be interesting to see this from a better angle, even at the current rendering's quality. The current rendering shows a shot of the whole tower, which is great for tower fetishists but doesn't tell us much about the experience of walking past or through it. I think a useful comp is the BIG office tower under construction downtown - that has a potentially obnoxious podium as well, but additional renderings (and hopefully the built reality) show that they actually put a lot of thought into the experience from the sidewalk.
  14. Texasota
    DC's is much better tied into surrounding neighborhoods and the city as a whole though. Some of that is built in to Minute Maid's location, but I'd hate to see whatever Crane develops become a weird inward-looking theme park that turns its back on the rest of the city.
  15. Texasota
    I have to assume that was a joke...
  16. Texasota
    Something more like the Nationals' set up in DC would be nice.
  17. Texasota
    Hmmm, "converted into" looks suspiciously like "replaced by". Not that I'm complaining. New building is a bit awkward but definitely an improvement.
  18. Texasota
    Just because you disagree with someone doesnt mean theyre being disingenuous. Ad that's, at most, a difference of degree not kind.
  19. Texasota
    Stop trying to accuse people of feigning sympathy or pretending to care about others just to hide whatever you think their real motivations are. Just stop it. You can disagree with them. You can think they are misguided or wrong. That's all fine. But let's not call each other liars.
  20. Texasota
    Towers in Uptown aren't really "surrounded" by each other - setbacks are enormous and there are, of course, the many strip malls. It's getting somewhat denser but I'd say each tower still largely stands alone. And Montrose Boulevard, just between Westheimer and 59, already has, what, 4 towers? I would love to see stuff like this downtown, but Montrose Boulevard is in a weird in-between state right now and would really benefit from density. I don't think I actually want it to become a corridor of towers, but this is Houston. Nothing ever becomes all one thing anyway. A mix of eclectic retail and midrise apartments regularly pierced by a tower? Sounds perfect to me.
  21. Texasota
    We don't know what the Skanska development or the Kroger replacement are really going to look like (though no driveway from Montrose at the Kroger development is a good start.) Even with this thing - what does the ground floor actually look like? WHat is in the space facing Montrose? Could go either way.
  22. Texasota
    I don't think this comparison is really fair to either street. But theres way more pedestrian activity on cross streets currently than on Montrose Blvd, just because Montrose is less comfortable and theres less facing the boulevard itself. Both of those issues have to be addressed, but if these new developments result in wider sidewalks and retail/other destinations worth walking to, then definitely.
  23. Texasota
    Well, even if there's a surplus, a road has never finished "paying for itself." Highways are expensive to maintain. But this project is pretty specifically intended to address access issues *caused by* or exacerbated by the toll roads, so seems completely appropriate to me.
  24. Texasota
    Harris County has voted to send 53 million to a trails project. Oops, I see that link didn't work. Try this: https://harriscountytx.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=10874881&GUID=54D67B0D-C571-41AF-93FE-6AC29D271BA6
  25. Texasota
    Am I missing something? That walk is fine. Emancipation Avenue could stand a road diet, but it's not that bad. Plus, you can always cut down Walker and walk on the other side of the stadium. Roughly the same distance.
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