Cypress Creek Parkway

[Trae]

Here's an idea, rename it Highway 6.

How? Highway 6 joins 290 at that Highway 6/FM1960 and 290 intersection. Then, Highway 6 splits off from 290 just after Hempstead and goes off through College Station, etc.

[crone]

I understand the topic is renaming 1960. A frivolous endeavor. And, you guys were having fun making fun.

I only speak from my own experience, after many conversations with friends, neighbors and strangers in the grocery store. Nobody I know objects to low income housing in the school attendance zone. The last low income housing proposal close to us , the land was owned by a guy in Huntwick and the apartments would have been his immediate neighbor. It was withdrawn, not rejected. Our problem comes with the schools.

How many low income students can reasonably be absorbed by a school at a time? How many are too many? Forest went from 10% to 60% in less than 10 years. How does that affect curriculum? Teachers? Band? Low income does not equal dumb. Low income does make things different for teachers. Having to raise every cent of money to take the 1 act to regions is going to limit what a teacher can do. What if they win and go to state? Many of these kids are working to help the family. They cannot afford the extra $500.00 a year for band trips. So much for band. Forget about parent groups raising money. The parents are at work. How much is too much?

Yes, this current dust up is about renaming 1960. We are having this discussion because the people who are against the taxing authority started a pissing match so you guys could all join in and they could go to Ms. Riddle with further proof that nobody supports anything.

The 16 signers of the objectionable letter were folks who have spent a lifetime in this community helping to make it better for everybody.

The Woodlands and Kingwood are MPC. Conroe has zoning. Spring is a disenfranchised no mans land just like the rest of us. One of the reasons we moved here was the trees. If I wanted to live in a rice field I'd move to Katy.

[TheNiche]

I understand the topic is renaming 1960. A frivolous endeavor.

Then we agree.

[AtticaFlinch]

Here's an idea, rename it Highway 6.

But what do you think about Krystal?

How? Highway 6 joins 290 at that Highway 6/FM1960 and 290 intersection. Then, Highway 6 splits off from 290 just after Hempstead and goes off through College Station, etc.

But what do you think about Krystal?

I understand the topic is renaming 1960. A frivolous endeavor. And, you guys were having fun making fun.

I only speak from my own experience, after many conversations with friends, neighbors and strangers in the grocery store. Nobody I know objects to low income housing in the school attendance zone. The last low income housing proposal close to us , the land was owned by a guy in Huntwick and the apartments would have been his immediate neighbor. It was withdrawn, not rejected. Our problem comes with the schools.

How many low income students can reasonably be absorbed by a school at a time? How many are too many? Forest went from 10% to 60% in less than 10 years. How does that affect curriculum? Teachers? Band? Low income does not equal dumb. Low income does make things different for teachers. Having to raise every cent of money to take the 1 act to regions is going to limit what a teacher can do. What if they win and go to state? Many of these kids are working to help the family. They cannot afford the extra $500.00 a year for band trips. So much for band. Forget about parent groups raising money. The parents are at work. How much is too much?

Yes, this current dust up is about renaming 1960. We are having this discussion because the people who are against the taxing authority started a pissing match so you guys could all join in and they could go to Ms. Riddle with further proof that nobody supports anything.

The 16 signers of the objectionable letter were folks who have spent a lifetime in this community helping to make it better for everybody.

The Woodlands and Kingwood are MPC. Conroe has zoning. Spring is a disenfranchised no mans land just like the rest of us. One of the reasons we moved here was the trees. If I wanted to live in a rice field I'd move to Katy.

But what do you think about Krystal?

Does nobody have an opinion about Krystal but me?

I'm talking about the Krystal on 1960. It's the only Krystal in the entire Houston area. It's on 1960.

1960.

[crone]

Is Krystal like White Castle or Steak and Shake? Tell us about Krystals. Are you going to Fargo to the Latin convention next week?

[psilverot]

But what do you think about Krystal?

But what do you think about Krystal?

But what do you think about Krystal?

Does nobody have an opinion about Krystal but me?

I'm talking about the Krystal on 1960. It's the only Krystal in the entire Houston area. It's on 1960.

1960.

Correction = Cypress Creek Parkway

[sevfiv]

Ooh Krystal! I think we should rename 1960 "Krystal Parkway."

[Subdude]

Apparently, FM 1960 is getting a new name. Bucolic strip malls! Fairies tripping up and down the new medians! It will be fabulous!

From ABC 13 - KTRK

Ah yes, welcome to the land of the marketing consultants, where anything might be made better by giving it a new name: Nasa Parkway, Fort Bend Parkway, Sam Houston Parkway, Uptown, Eado, etc. etc.

[20thStDad]

This is amazing news, I have always thought of anything called a "parkway" as a magical, exciting, stylish surface to drive on.

We can only dream that once the parkway name is official, Krystal will take note and start building more locations there.

[AtticaFlinch]

This is amazing news, I have always thought of anything called a "parkway" as a magical, exciting, stylish surface to drive on.

We can only dream that once the parkway name is official, Krystal will take note and start building more locations there.

I'd suggest Krystal should also build near the new Walmart on Yale, but I suspect it wouldn't be very welcome there. A White Castle would be welcome, but only because a hip, multi-racial comedy featuring Doogie Howser was made about it. Maybe we could rename Yale to Oak-Cedar-Elm-Wooded-Tree Parkway and bring some of that suburban magic to the inner city.

I think we're on to something, folks.

[20thStDad]

I'd suggest Krystal should also build near the new Walmart on Yale, but I suspect it wouldn't be very welcome there. A White Castle would be welcome, but only because a hip, multi-racial comedy featuring Doogie Howser was made about it. Maybe we could rename Yale to Oak-Cedar-Elm-Wooded-Tree Parkway and bring some of that suburban magic to the inner city.

I think we're on to something, folks.

Just one addition - rename the Wal-Mart development to "Heights City Centre". OMG!!!!!

I apologize for the OT action. I actually do think renaming FM 1960 is a good thing, because "FM 1960" just doesn't have any positive connotation to me. Then again, I work on a street that is simultaneously known as FM 2234, Shadow Creek Parkway, and McHard Rd. This might create some confusion in everyone's GPS.

[AtticaFlinch]

I actually do think renaming FM 1960 is a good thing, because "FM 1960" just doesn't have any positive connotation to me.

In theory, I have few problems with a name change. I guess what I find annoying is the arbitrary and stereotypically boring suburban nature of the name chosen. I grant there's a Cypress Creek nearby, but 1960 doesn't exactly parallel its path. The name veers too close to a cloyingly nostalgic reminiscence of a rustic and pastoral land of make-believe, and I suppose I'd prefer something more original than that if a name change was deemed necessary. Is there not somebody of historical note we can name the street after?

[KD2113]

Let's just add one more confusing road to the rest of Houston. FM 1960 will always be 1960. No amount of name branding and/or medians will change the development along the corridor.

[hbcu]

I used to live behind Willowbrook Mall in the apartments there for some years.....quiet, enjoyable but I alwasy wondered how fast the 249 development south of the beltway would penetrate the area as I drove out there recently and that's a perfect example of no zoning going wild....

Now that I moved..I see Greens Road going all the way through which will kill whatever privacy that was back there...

all the major streets from I-45 and Acres run straight thru to 1960 so development was forthcoming years ago...however, no zoning killed any uniformity...

but lets be real also....the residents who started these neighborhoods off I-45, etc. only to run north aren't manking things any better by running away....

just look at how they left Aldine ISD

[TheNiche]

but lets be real also....the residents who started these neighborhoods off I-45, etc. only to run north aren't manking things any better by running away....

just look at how they left Aldine ISD

Didn't Aldine ISD just recently receive a big national award for being the best urban school district in the country? It would appear possible that white flight somehow yielded educational opportunities for poor brown-colored children.

[hbcu]

Didn't Aldine ISD just recently receive a big national award for being the best urban school district in the country? It would appear possible that white flight somehow yielded educational opportunities for poor brown-colored children.

Come on...Aldine and Klein ISDs carved into african american neighborhoods more than a Thanksgiving turkey...just look at the attendance maps and you'll see that one area split into three districts....then you got kids on one street going to schools further than they need to, etc...no one banked on blacks getting out and moving north while hispanic population soared..

urban whatever....1960 is what it is because people took advantage of direct access via roads and buses...if you got to blame someone for changing things....blame the real estate developers (mostly white)...throwing up tons of apartments and building small homes that were extra affordable (Lincoln Green, etc.)

anyone with a brain realizes those areas will turn quickly

[JJVilla]

Not sure of some of your points but one of the examples of weird boundaries is that people that lived by Klein Forest went to Ike and vice-versa.

[AtticaFlinch]

anyone with a brain realizes those areas will turn quickly

Turn what exactly?

I went to an Aldine elementary school. And now, if I don't move in the next decade and a half, my kids will go to Bammel High School. I like my neighborhood a great deal, and I can't foresee moving unless my job takes me out of Houston. Then again, I gladly devote my evenings to my child (with another on the way), and I have never been convinced that subpar schools have subpar students. The teachers may not be the best, and the schools themselves may have difficulty competing with students' cultural misplacement of values - otherwise not supporting a strong need for education. But all these things can be fixed at home. In fact, that's where I think the biggest difference between average students and exemplary students can be found. I don't think it's a race issue, although I'm not blind to the statistical fact that minority races tend to value education less than affluent whites. Regardless, competing for the top 10% will be easier for my kids in Bammel than it would be in Klein, Katy or Memorial. And considering my kids are most likely to go to a public university, that 10% is all that really matters.

Plus, Houston is a multicultural city, and 1960 is a microcosm of that diversity. I like that my kids will grow up outside of a homogenized white enclave. It'll put them at a distinct advantage, with the accelerated social development they'll receive, over their whitebread raised peers. The world's a different place than it was even 20 years ago. Old social constructs that once defined American life no longer do. Comfortability within diverse groups will be a key factor for future success (that, being fluent in Spanish and having a solid understanding of math and science).

[hbcu]

I grew up in a minority setting as the original folks I assumed felt threatened when my parents and peers moved there in the 70s as they had college degrees and sought the American dream...we had a great thing going until the other half of the district felt threatened...regardless

All I'm saying, urban, suburban, etc..unless you live in Santa Fe, Texas, diversity is the norm now as people of all races will move anywhere

The bottom line is 1960 is an area that's easily desirable

[little frau]

I have a sister who lives in an apartment complex right on 1960. She works in the area and seems to like it out there.

When we talk, it's usually about other things but the other day, this name change was on my mind so I asked her what she thought about it. She knew nothing about it. Had not heard a thing about it.

It was and is a complete non issue to her and her co-workers and neighbors.

She was however, wondering if she'd have to get new checks! I told her 'nah, forget about it'.

[mrfredmor]

Apparently, FM 1960 is getting a new name. Bucolic strip malls! Fairies tripping up and down the new medians! It will be fabulous!

From ABC 13 - KTRK

On an only slightly related topic, I believe TC Jester now connects all the way though from Cypress Creek Parkway (there - I used it!) to FM 2920 (soon to be known as "Willow Creek Turnpike"!) I can say for certain that it goes from Cypresswood all the way to FM 2920 and Google Maps says it goes all the way to FM 1960, but I did not have time to verify; can someone confirm this?

[texasmug]

On an only slightly related topic, I believe TC Jester now connects all the way though from Cypress Creek Parkway (there - I used it!) to FM 2920 (soon to be known as "Willow Creek Turnpike"!) I can say for certain that it goes from Cypresswood all the way to FM 2920 and Google Maps says it goes all the way to FM 1960, but I did not have time to verify; can someone confirm this?

Yes, it does now connect between Cypresswood and "the road formerly known as" FM 1960. T.C. Jester is one seriously broken up road. Never understood why they do that around here. Cypress-North Houston Rd. is not as extremely broken up as T.C. Jester, but is another example and I'm sure there are many more examples around town. It doesn't have an overpass at 290, yet it continues on the other side of 290. Why not just use a different name? Seems like it would be confusing for someone looking for an address who's not familiar with the area. Guess that's why more and more of us have GPS on our phones now, huh?!

[lockmat]

I drove down 1960 this weekend from 45 to 249 and there are medians down the entire thing, dividing the six lanes in two. It looks really great and I bet it's helping traffic flow and safety a ton. The only place it opens up is for left hand turns and they have dedicated turns lanes at those places. It looks like they're getting ready to put some vegetation in the places where it is wider.

This is the first smart thing I've seen Houston do to the streets. Hopefully they keep doing stuff like this everywhere.

[Justin Bryan]

As far as this being a "Vanity" renaming, that is not true, all the signs are changing to Cypress Creek Parkway, the USPS will be delivering mail to Cypress Creek Pkwy addresses, and on maps it is already changed, go to Google Maps and type in "Cypress Creek Parkway, 77068" and all of FM 1960 is already renamed from SH249 to I-45... you were greatly miss-informed.

[sevfiv]

For all those that like to print out directions using Google maps before heading out may have noticed a recent change to the F.M. 1960 Corridor. GPS drivers may have even heard the change.

“In one mile, turn right on Cypress Creek Parkway.”

The actual signs are not placed just yet, but the alternate name designation assigned to F.M. 1960 by Commissioner Jerry Eversole back in July 2010—between Aldine-Westfield Road and Highway 249, known also by its alternate name designation, Tomball Parkway—is now digitally present.

However, all the businesses along this stretch are still displaying F.M. 1960 as their address location via Google’s online maps.

http://www.hcnonline.com/klein/news/article_f6fbf882-fb6e-11df-8037-001cc4c03286.html

[LTAWACS]

What is it about roads in the Houston area being called Parkways when they are nothing remotely like a real Parkway?

Average people are just that... average. Too dumb to know anything other than to get to work and back.

[Specwriter]

If FM 1960 needs to renamed to make SOMEONE happy then go ahead and rename the damned thing. I agree with JLWM though, let's please stop being idiots and renaming everything a parkway. Allen Parkway (formerly Buffalo Drive) is a parkway. St. Joseph Parkway (formerly Calhoun) is in no shape, way, or form a parkway. I vaguely remember (that's the way I remember everything these days - vaguely) hearing that streets running perpendicular to Main Street in downtown Houston were originally designated avenues, e.g. Texas Avenue and that Main Street and those running parallel to it like Travis Street were thus designated. It would be great if anyone could confirm that. "St. Joseph Avenue" I can live with. JLWM, I'm sure you're o.k. with that too but "parkway" still bothers me after all these years.

The renaming that really p****s me off is NASA Parkway. Again, not a parkway at all except maybe where it runs in front of the West Mansion but there it retains its NASA Road 1 designation. Recall it was once known as FM 528 all the way from Seabrook to Alvin. Why do we feel the need to abandon the old Farm-to-Market road designations and the historical perspective they provide? It is also an historical slap in this region's face to diminish the importance of the literal path that leads to our prominence in space exploration. Grrr!

Is it too late to go back to Jackrabbit Road and forget this Cypress Creek Parkway stuff?

[JLWM8609]

I vaguely remember (that's the way I remember everything these days - vaguely) hearing that streets running perpendicular to Main Street in downtown Houston were originally designated avenues, e.g. Texas Avenue and that Main Street and those running parallel to it like Travis Street were thus designated. It would be great if anyone could confirm that.

Check out this 1913 map, it confirms it.

http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/maps/images/map0435.jpg

The renaming that really p****s me off is NASA Parkway. Again, not a parkway at all except maybe where it runs in front of the West Mansion but there it retains its NASA Road 1 designation. Recall it was once known as FM 528 all the way from Seabrook to Alvin. Why do we feel the need to abandon the old Farm-to-Market road designations and the historical perspective they provide? It is also an historical slap in this region's face to diminish the importance of the literal path that leads to our prominence in space exploration. Grrr!

Didn't the readdressing come around the same time the NASA 1 Bypass Fwy opened up? This Google Streetview photo looks like the NASA Road 1 designation was given to the new freeway going by the street sign.

See the sign here: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Nasa+Road+1,+Houston,+TX&sll=29.644982,-95.356005&sspn=0.130394,0.336113&g=Cullen+Boulevard,+Houston,+TX&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Nasa+Road+1,+Houston,+Texas+77058&ll=29.521301,-95.124296&spn=0.004117,0.010504&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=29.521381,-95.124352&panoid=oowNQqm1issQawL7Y-ETOA&cbp=12,324.84,,0,-2.63

Maybe that's why the old NASA Road 1 became NASA Parkway? Still doesn't give them an excuse for the incorrect use of "Parkway". "Old NASA Road 1" might have been a better choice.

I don't mean to piss you off any further, but did you know that Cullen Blvd. in Pearland is now being called Cullen Parkway? They also renamed McHard Rd. to Shadow Creek Parkway. It's like a disease!

I guess when it comes time to give Riverside a boost, they'll rename N. and S. MacGregor Way (I like the term "Way", you don't hear it often) to N. and S. MacGregor Parkway? To be technical, they did have parkway attributes in the 20s and 30s when they connected MacGregor Park to Hermann Park along mostly undeveloped lots. Perhaps the "Way" in MacGregor Way is an abbreviated version of Parkway for that very purpose? Hmm..,

[Specwriter]

Didn't the readdressing come around the same time the NASA 1 Bypass Fwy opened up? This Google Streetview photo looks like the NASA Road 1 designation was given to the new freeway going by the street sign.

See the sign here: http://maps.google.c...324.84,,0,-2.63

Maybe that's why the old NASA Road 1 became NASA Parkway? Still doesn't give them an excuse for the incorrect use of "Parkway". "Old NASA Road 1" might have been a better choice.

Yes, it did and I agree "old NASA Road 1" sounds more appropriate.

I don't mean to piss you off any further, but did you know that Cullen Blvd. in Pearland is now being called Cullen Parkway? They also renamed McHard Rd. to Shadow Creek Parkway. It's like a disease!

I cross it on BW8 every time I drive home and sigh. Re-naming in and of itself doesn't bother me too much except when the descriptor is so patently inappropriate. I grew up in a house on a cul-de-sac that accesses nine houses. It's name still is _________ Court. At this rate I wouldn't be surprised if some idiot re-named it Something Parkway.

I guess when it comes time to give Riverside a boost, they'll rename N. and S. MacGregor Way (I like the term "Way", you don't hear it often) to N. and S. MacGregor Parkway? To be technical, they did have parkway attributes in the 20s and 30s when they connected MacGregor Park to Hermann Park along mostly undeveloped lots. Perhaps the "Way" in MacGregor Way is an abbreviated version of Parkway for that very purpose? Hmm..,

I like MacGregor Way. "Parkway" would fit better here than in most recent instances because of the attributes you referred to but it is fine like it is and should be left that way. At least the Cullen part was kept in Cullen Parkway. Dispensing with historical names like Calhoun and Stuebner (as in Stuebner-Airline) is a pity. I guess it is just the powers-that-be telling us that we are too stupid to appreciate the history of this area.

You can't expect a young person or someone who has moved in from a diffentent area to know who the people, e.g. Cullen, MacGregor, Holcombe, or Westheimer, or places that no longer exist like Almeda or Westfield to which street names refer were but by taking away those names it ensures that they will never even have a reason to ask.

[psilverot]

Noticed that Cypress Creek Parkway signs were up along with the FM 1960 ones. When are the trees or plants going in?