VicMan

Usually it's the other way around and it's the other districts that hassle Houston residents who want to get out.

Ross, do you happen to live in North Forest? Is that the problem? LOL

1. The City of Houston doesn't have the same boundaries as Houston ISD, so technically that would be "it's the other districts that hassle Houston ISD residents who want to get out"

2. I seriously think that North Forest should be forcefully annexed into Houston ISD and/or Aldine ISD. The only way that NFISD would remain viable as a district is if the stewardship currently in charge started attracting people to live in the district.

Regarding the Houston Press entry: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2009/...ertain_futu.php

The bit about the Marriott bandit sign is pretty interesting

http://www.lasalamedas.com/

Now that it will not get a renewed lease at the Piney Point location, where will it go next?

Well put. School Districts routinely will accept the children of its employees if they live outside of the District, but aside from that exception, they really should hold firm on a residency requirement. And a utility bill is not an unreasonable way to affirm this. Not only does it give them an address they can work with, but it is more reliable than a parent's driver's license. A parent may be willing to present an old ID, but if they're required to present a recent utility bill, well that's much more difficult to pull off.

HISD allows out of district residents to attend for no charge if they are accepted. But there are some things:

1. No free transportation

2. Out of district people have to get into an HISD school; they are accepted LAST, after the HISD-zoned kids and the children of HISD employees

This is a standard operating procedure.

The Houston ISD website states that a utility bill is needed to enroll your child: http://www.houstonisd.org/HISDConnectDS/v/...00052147fa6RCRD "proof of your identity and residential address (driver’s license and utility bill);"

I'll look at other district websites and compare them to HISD...

* Aldine ISD http://www.aldine.k12.tx.us/sections/paren...orm/english.cfm "Proof of residential address in parent’s / guardian’s name. Possible documents that can be used are utility bills (with the exception of telephone), mortgage closing papers, lease agreements, etc."

* Alief ISD: http://www.aliefisd.net/site_res_view_temp...21-50d815c22e30 "Two proofs of residence (deed, lease, bank statement, and/or most recent utility bill)"

* Clear Creek ISD http://www2.ccisd.net/Departments/PublicIn...nformation.aspx "Two Proofs of Residency in the Clear Creek Independent School District: Current Deed to a house in the name of the Adult seeking to enroll a child, or Current mortgage or payment book, Signed apartment lease in the name of the adult seeking to enroll a child, AND A copy of a current electric bill, or Water utility bill for the address identified."

* Fort Bend ISD http://www.fortbendisd.com/parentlinks/enrollchild.cfm "proof of residence including a deed or a lease agreement and a recent utility bill,"

* Katy ISD http://www.katyisd.org/files/parents/Accep..._Enrollment.pdf "Any of the following documents containing the name of the parent/guardian and street address are acceptable for proof of residency for initial enrollment purposes: 1. A recent utility bill (other than a phone or cable bill) with parent/guardian’s name and street address; 2. House or apartment lease agreement*; or 3. An earnest money or purchase contract and a letter from a mortgage company indicating loan approval or proof from the home builder/realtor of cash payment verification*."

* Pasadena ISD http://www.pasadenaisd.org/studentsvcs/frame.htm "A current deed, a mortgage, a mortgage payment book, or an apartment lease, and a utility bill (present or previous month) to establish residence within the school district"

* Spring Branch ISD http://wve.springbranchisd.com/About/Enrol...06/Default.aspx "1. Proof of residency (provide one): *Lease *Mortgage papers *Tax Bill (Not utility bills)"

* Stafford MSD http://www.stafford.msd.esc4.net/parentenrollmentinfo.aspx "Proof of Residency (i.e. mortgage contract, lease agreement, rent receipt)"

North Forest ISD does not state what it considers to be proof of residency: http://www.nfisd.org/default.aspx?name=ccr.register

HISD wants a copy of a utility bill as proof of residency to enroll a child. I don't want to give them that sort of data, as it's none of their business. So far HISD hasn't provided a copy of the School Board action establishing a utility bill as minimum proof of residency. Has anyone ever fought this before? I know, it's pretty petty, but there's enough public record data to prove where we live that I don't see their point.

Thanks. Clear Creek was fixed in the description.

If anyone can find the Humble ISD zone breakdown for me.. that would be swell.

Cotton.. gotten the link to work yet? I, nor anyone else, seem to be having problems.

For Humble ISD I see a list of subdivisions by school, but no maps (yet) http://www.humble.k12.tx.us/attendance.htm

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...ro/6390446.html

They got a suspect

That's really cool! It's very useful to see which high schools have which boundaries:

Pasadena ISD has its high school zone maps here: http://www.pasadenaisd.org/pages/HighSchools.pdf

Pearland ISD has its high school zone maps here: http://www.pearlandisd.org/files/filesyste...ool_zoning1.pdf

Alief ISD has no high school boundaries, as it has a lottery to determine high school assignments

North Forest ISD has one high school

Which makes ssense given the Alief High Schools are pretty close to each other. Aren't Elsik and Hastings literally side by side?

Yep - Elsik and Hastings are next door to each other. Taylor is a bit to the west.

As for the original topic, HISD is opening a new K-8 to relieve Dowling. I don't know exactly where it will be.

Hence no map.. Interesting.

Thanks. Are there other districts around town that do that ?

As far as I know, there are no other Houston-area districts that do that.

Ahh.. under the parents section. Thank you.

Dont suppose you have one for alief up your sleeve too? Their website has them for ele, int, and mid schools.. but not Hs.

Alief assigns its high schools differently: A random number generator determines whether a person goes to Elsik, Hastings, or Taylor. His location within the district does not affect the assignment. However AFAIK one can get into the school that his or her sibling gets into.

This links appears to be defunk.. anyone know where I can get the FBISD HS zoning map?

If its on their website, it is well hidden.

Its the first of 5 districts Ive looked at so far that doesnt have a readily accessible map.

Well.. except Alief.. they just have the District map, theydont break it down by school... so if anyone has that too?

Is it this common in these particular districts, that the boundaries change yr to yr so the screw it to trying to put a map out ?

The 2008-2009 map is here: http://www.fortbend.k12.tx.us/cmf/var/tidb...080818_1305.pdf

Well, in some districts with influxes of people on undeveloped land, new high schools open frequently. In Houston ISD, which is almost completely built out, high school boundary maps hardly ever change.

Foxmulder has a point: METRO should increase lot security.

The guy in the picture likely will get caught.

If it's in Garden Villas, the " school information" on the HAR page is dead wrong.

Garden Villas is zoned to Houston ISD (Garden Villas ES, Hartman MS, Sterling HS)

OK, I give up on whatever technicality you're arguing here, but Edwards ("Regal" now I think) uses the west side of the structure and people who work in the Koch building on the other end of the block park on the east side of the exact same garage that is directly connected to their building via walkways. I have visited there before and I know people who work there today. I'm not going to go anymore off topic than this. Cheers.

Edwards and Koch DO share the garage, but AFAIK there isn't a separate side thing. The elavators for the Edwards and for the Koch are on opposite sides, though. AFAIK the workers park in that garage during the day, while the theater patrons use it during the night.

Only two years behind schedule but it's better than nothing.

Speaking of Metro and it's quirks, it's been relayed to me that Frank Wilson is chauffered around in an armored BMW. It's from a pretty reliable source, but even I don't want to believe it's true. This is what he visits the bus operating facilities with? What a screw you to the drivers he's trying to screw over wage wise.

Determine if it's true or not; if it is, I'm sure the press would like to know.

Whether Wilson is or is not, it doesn't seem necessary. An old, beat up truck with 18 MPG city is good enough to use to tour bus sites.

American Eagle flys prop planes from Hobby to DFW. I recall they moved major portions of their fleet down here to a warmer client. There were cold weather problems with these planes.

Yes, the 1994 Roselawn, Indiana incident caused AA to relocate several ATR aircraft to warmer areas.

Anyway, a search of AA.com shows that on April 16 on the Hobby-DFW route the AA airlines will fly daily 9 flights that day. 4 of them will use ATR-72s and 5 of them will use ERJ-145s.

Um...You guys aren't that far from hobby...Besides won't some NIMBY raise a fit about the noise? American Already charges an arm and a leg just to FLY PLUS bags...You could save that money and use the toll road to get to hobby and park for a few days...

1. SGR already has general aviation jet traffic, so I'm not sure if some additional ATRs will raise any noise levels to significant levels. Now, military aircraft would be a huge annoyance.

2. Continental also charges for one or two bags for economy class pax on basic tickets in the U.S., but Southwest does not. Out of all of the major U.S. airlines Southwest is the only one that has two bags free within the Continental U.S. Most of the others charge even for one bag. To be fair, Southwest is the dominant carrier at Hobby and many go to Hobby specifically to fly Southwest. However there are ways to avoid the bag fee on AA, CO, or other carriers (packing light and only taking carryons, being a member of the frequent flyer program, etc)

3. American Eagle, or whatever airline decides to fly to SGR, would have to attract people from Richmond, Rosenberg, Sugar Land, Missouri City, Stafford, and far southwest Houston who want the convenience of flying out of SGR as opposed to HOU or IAH.

In 1998 I flew on Atlantic Southeast Airlines (dba Delta Connection) from Houston Hobby to Dallas/Fort Worth on an Embraer EMB-120.

There is a possibility that ERJs could be used, but there's also a possibility ATRs could be used too. I guess it depends on the specific economics of SGR-DFW. ATR-72s have been used for longer services, I.E. Bari to Djerba.

Using this: http://gc.kls2.com/

* SGR-DFW: 240 miles

* BRI-DJE: 599 miles

So SGR-DFW isn't close to the full range of an ATR72.

Many prop planes are economically good for shorthaul routes, and some airlines, realizing this, are putting Q400s in place of regional jets. I.E. Colgan Air, dba Continental Airlines, operates Q400s out of Newark to some places on the Eastern Seaboard. If you have heard of Porter Airlines, it operates Q400 flights from Toronto City Centre (YTZ) to Newark Airport (EWR): That is 336 miles.

Also, notice that Executive Airlines dba American Eagle operates ATR72s on many Puerto Rico to Caribbean island routes.

I'm not sure what the answer would be for charter vs. scheduled. I know businessmen like having multiple frequencies, but I'm not sure how many frequencies would be enough for Sugar Land to Dallas.

EDIT: There's an airliners.net thread from 2007 about ideas for alternative airports in Houston and Dallas: http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/g...quest#ID3446617

I can't recall ever having flown a commercial flight as far a distance as from Houston to Dallas on a prop engine plane. How can you be sure that the ATR-22 would be the plane being used? So I have to fall back on my earlier question about the economic feasibility of commercial airline service vs. charter service.

deanda will be farther east than you believe. it will be east of telephone.

Ah, I see. I know DeAnda will relieve Mitchell. Mitchell's boundary is here: http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolbounda.../MitchellES.pdf

From looking at Mitchell's boundary it seems likely that DeAnda's boundary will extend west of Telephone, just as Mitchell's boundary does now. There's a possibility DeAnda's boundary may go west of Mykawa.

BTW, where can I find the addresses of DeAnda, Reagan K-8, and the Sharpstown reliever school?

First you want the bus to run down MY streets, now you want commercial flights at MY airport?

Vicman, where do YOU live again? Oh yeah - the inner-loop. Are you just trying to punish those of us who chose to get away from all the things you're suggesting now?

Hehehe..

Well, it's a bit different having an ATR-72 take off twice a day (in addition to the general aviation traffic) versus the homeowners at Garden Villas, who hear a 737 take off about every minute

If by "the city" you mean Downtown Houston, then isn't that what the P&R services would be for? Or are you referring to intra-Sugar Land services (between the airport, Schlumberger, and city hall)?

On City-Data I pointed out that there were plans around 2003 from the Fort Bend County government to install commuter rail to take Fort Bend County-area residents into the Texas Medical Center: http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summa...286-9044560_ITM (Hanson, Eric. "Fort Bend County, Texas, Draws up Commuter Rail Plan." - Houston Chronicle - October 6, 2003)

In 2005 Fort Bend County began a kind of "park and ride" service involving minibuses that would go from the county to Houston employment centers: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...ro/5304824.html

Do these points answer your questions?

Vicman, do you actually know of Sugar Land residents who desire METRO services that would take them into the city? Do you have any docuementation in the form of a scientific survey that proves that a majority of Sugar Land citizens even want METRO services?

Of course this does NOT count P&R services, which we all know would be greatly used.

and because there's a P&R lot right at the boundary between Houston and Stafford, the big prize has already been given away without Stafford participating in METRO's 1% sales tax. There's no incentive for them to join up.

Looking at this map of the METRO lots: http://www.ridemetro.org/SchedulesMaps/Pdf...-System-Map.pdf

And this map of the City of Stafford: http://www.cityofstafford.com/PDF%20Files/ZoneMap2005.pdf

The West Bellfort Park and Ride is pretty close to the City of Stafford - but it doesn't seem to be exactly on the border.

I can see how it makes Stafford joining METRO a bit less likely. Still, it's not quite the same having to rely on a P&R there versus getting on near Stafford City Hall.

1. This only measures vacancies. Anything fully booked isn't listed.

2. Wouldn't you say the same of 77048 or 77047?

3. But you shouldn't build a complex in an area when the complex will over-tax the area's infrastructure. Notice how the Sugar Land-area zips had several schools per zip code.

Anyhow, here are maps of the two "empty" southern Houston zip codes:

* http://cbtcws.cityofhouston.gov/zipcodes/z...p?zipcode=77047

* http://cbtcws.cityofhouston.gov/zipcodes/z...p?zipcode=77048

047 and 048 are very close to the new WaterLights district of Pearland, which will house some office buildings and retail.

No complexes or vacancies in 77478, 77479, 77498.

I think that proves the point that THIS AREA NEEDS AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING.

SUGAR LAND HAS OVER 75,000 PEOPLE AND FORT BEND HAS OVER 500,000. YOU CANNOT EXPECT A CITY OF THAT SIZE TO FUNCTION WITHOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING.

this school will be nowhere near the area of interest.

I'm saying that Sobti should change his "area of interest" from northeast Fort Bend to southern Houston. DeAnda ES will be in southern Houston.

Anyway you can use this tool to check for vacancies in TDHCA-supported developments. Lemme look up the vacancies of some Bush, Kempner, and Travis high school-area zip codes and see what else there is in that area. The zoned schools within the zip code are also listed. 16827 Old Richmond Road is at 77498. Keep in mind this only shows vacancies, and not numbers of supported complexes.

* 77083 - 3 complexes, 72 vacancies - Hodges Bend MS, Fleming ES, Holley ES, Mission Bend ES, Mission Glen ES, Mission West ES

* 77469 - 1 complex, 4 vacancies - Bush HS, Travis HS, Crockett MS, Jordan ES, Oakland ES, Pecan Grove ES,

* 77478 - No vacancies - Dulles HS, Dulles MS, Barrington Place ES, Dulles ES, Highlands ES,

* 77479 - No vacancies - Clements HS, First Colony MS, Fort Settlement MS, Sartartia MS, Austin Parkway ES, Brazos Bend ES, Colony Bend ES, Colony Meadows ES, Commonwealth ES, Cornerstone ES, Settlers Way ES, Walker Station ES

* 77498 - No vacancies - Austin HS, Kempner HS, Garcia MS, Sugar Land MS, Drabek ES, Lakeview ES, Oyster Creek ES, Sugar Mill ES, Townewest ES

There are 76 vacancies left in the area. Because the area already has heavy usage of its infrastructure, it's not wise to build a 150 unit low income complex.

On the other hand there are two zip codes in southern Houston which have little development and have little to no vacancies for any TDHCA complexes.

* 77047 - 1 complex, 9 vacancies - Almeda ES, Law ES, Rhoads ES, Woodson K-8

* 77048 - No vacancies - Codwell ES, Frost ES, Thomas MS, Sterling HS

Notice how the entire zip codes have few schools within them. There are acres of open land, and a 150-unit Section 8 complex can fit comfortably in this area.