The Heights Information & Developments

[heights_yankee]

This is not directed at anyone who made comments here, but I vent about this to my girlfriends all the time.

When did a room for each child become a neccessity? It was never that way when I was a kid and I am only 35! That is a very modern idea and definitely a Texas thing. Many families are growing up in small spaces in the more expensive parts of the country- NY, CA, MA. I grew up way out in the country [read: cheap] and still had many friends who shared rooms with siblings. I am not saying that it is wrong to want rooms for everyone. However, it really chaps me when people say things like "I want to live insert neighborhood inside the loop but my kids need their own rooms." No. They don't "need" anything except clothes, food and shelter.

Anyway, quality of life means different things to different people. No one is right or wrong for wanting different things. People are wrong when they lie about what it is they really want.

One of my best friends lives in San Diego. She has a 3/2 and works from home. She has 2 sons who share a room and the 3rd teeny bedroom is her office. She loves San Diego and they would live in something even smaller if it was all they could afford. When we lived in a 2/2 in Montrose, I told my husband if we could never afford to buy ITL again, we would just stay in that house and if we had 4 kids, well, they would sleep in the drawers of a dresser [like when Kramer had the Japanese businessmen stay at his apartment]. Quality of life for me is not wrapped up in square footage so the Heights will always be fine.

Heightsfan- you need to find out what your friend considers attributes of a high quality of life. Maybe the Heights is right for him and maybe it's not.

[cwrm4]

FWIW, I've actually met a guy who was born IN the bedroom of my house in 1920. It's a 2/1, 1100 sq ft bungalow. He lived there with both parents and two siblings. Later, the family business paid out and they built a home in River Oaks. But he told me of his memories living in my house and said "it didn't seem small to us then".

[sarahiki]

When did a room for each child become a neccessity?

...

Anyway, quality of life means different things to different people. No one is right or wrong for wanting different things.

I agree with you. Nobody NEEDS that. I'm watching Oprah right now about a little girl in Kenya living in a single room with the six other members of her family. But some people might CHOOSE to have more space, and that's fine.

You are also right that quality of life means different things for different people. As I wrote above, we don't NEED a bigger house than the 2/1 we could afford in the Heights. But to me, the Heights doesn't give me the better quality of life. For me, I'm choosing a bigger house, lower mortgage, better schools, cleaner parks & playgrounds, and safety. To someone else, being in the "pulse" of the city, and in a quaint, friendly, historic neighborhood, is more important. I get that. I respect that.

What bugs me a little is that more people can't accept, as you do, that people define quality of life differently. It's like to justify the choices we make, we have to cut others down. If someone wants to live in a little bungalow in the Heights, let them! Don't try to convince them that a big house in the suburbs is better. And if you live in a big house in the suburbs, don't proslethize to your ITL friends about why they should move out, too. (obviously I don't mean you, this is a general plea).

[crunchtastic]

I guess all kinds of things can inform your perspective. I grew up in low-middle suburban tract housing, maybe 1,500 sq ft 3/2. And that house seemed awfully damn big --too big -- to a teenager who had to clean it every week in exchange for car privileges.

[travelguy_73]

I had to laugh when reading this thread and then this blog post. OMG, this is so how we act around our outer loop friends, LOI.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/...gentrification/

In general, white people love situations where they can

[jgs1419]

White people like to live in these neighborhoods because they get credibility and respect from other white people for living in a more

[TheNiche]

I had to laugh when reading this thread and then this blog post. OMG, this is so how we act around our outer loop friends, LOI.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/...gentrification/

Holy damn, this is a good blog!

[crunchtastic]

Holy damn, this is a good blog!

the whole blog is hilarious. I just forwarded it to all my earnest, white, overeducated and mostly liberal friends.

[20thStDad]

We stayed because we have 15 years of friend equity here - that and I'm still looking for the guy that stole the bike out of my garage.

How alike are we all? I'll look for the guy on your bike if you look for the one riding mine (and my wife's).

I love this neighborhood.

[woodheightsguy]

Keep an eye out for mine as well. Thankfully, they walked right past my golf clubs (would have had serious issues if those were stolen) and just took my bike. Guess not many thieves play golf, they all need transportation though....

[20thStDad]

Keep an eye out for mine as well. Thankfully, they walked right past my golf clubs (would have had serious issues if those were stolen) and just took my bike. Guess not many thieves play golf, they all need transportation though....

That's because they already have my clubs, hard to play carrying 2 bags.

[Tiko]

Occasionally I see around 10-20 black barrels parked in a vacant lot in different areas in the neighborhood. They were across the street from Yabo's, behind Someburger, and now they're over by the Dirt Bar on Yale. Can somebody tell me what's going on? I'm going to call Art Bell next.

[Tiko]

Also noticed yesterday some are on Waugh next to Chatter's and in several clusters along Yale. I believe they're breeding.

[west20th]

Hmmm....maybe they contain fuel for the black helicopters

[ricco67]

I can see the correlation. Black barrels...black helicopters.

Someone definitely needs to contact Art Bell.

[west20th]

Or maybe they are hiding "black holes" in them. Hmmm....wonder how many holes one of them holds?

[ricco67]

Or maybe they are hiding "black holes" in them. Hmmm....wonder how many holes one of them holds?

Good question. Maybe we can throw in a bunch of monkeys to see how many it can hold.

[RedScare]

Good question. Maybe we can throw in a bunch of monkeys to see how many it can hold.

What could be more fun than that.

[20thStDad]

Does anyone have any new/good intel on recent developments? I have seen several large lots for sale along Shepherd between I-10 and 610, but there are still an obscene amount of these used car dealerships. I dream of a day that Shepherd and Durham aren't littered with them, is that even a possibility? Maybe not in my lifetime, but it would be awesome, especially since Shady Acres and other areas west of Durham are coming along. I feel that Shepherd/Durham is an ugly scar cutting right down the middle of a decent (great in spots, coming along in others) area, at least between I-10 and 610.

[musicman]

Does anyone have any new/good intel on recent developments? I have seen several large lots for sale along Shepherd between I-10 and 610, but there are still an obscene amount of these used car dealerships. I dream of a day that Shepherd and Durham aren't littered with them, is that even a possibility? Maybe not in my lifetime, but it would be awesome, especially since Shady Acres and other areas west of Durham are coming along. I feel that Shepherd/Durham is an ugly scar cutting right down the middle of a decent (great in spots, coming along in others) area, at least between I-10 and 610.

i'm sure there are dollar stores looking for a new home.

[sidegate]

Does anyone have any new/good intel on recent developments? I have seen several large lots for sale along Shepherd between I-10 and 610, but there are still an obscene amount of these used car dealerships. I dream of a day that Shepherd and Durham aren't littered with them, is that even a possibility? Maybe not in my lifetime, but it would be awesome, especially since Shady Acres and other areas west of Durham are coming along. I feel that Shepherd/Durham is an ugly scar cutting right down the middle of a decent (great in spots, coming along in others) area, at least between I-10 and 610.

I agree, there are lots of very cool, very pleasant neighborhoods in the Heights but Shepherd, once one crosses Memorial, leaves a less than favorable initial impression of the area.

[Dan the Man]

I know this will never happen, but wouldn't it be cool if everything between Shepherd and Durham was demolished and turned into a linear park to connect the Heights with the Buffalo Bayou park?

[Scott08]

I'm not seeing the problem. The "funkiness" of the Heights area is what first attracted me to it almost 20 years ago. The Shepherd/Durham corridor is what it is, a bastion of commercial properties for the working class. I'd hate to see it become totally yuppified.

Edited April 11, 2008 by Scott08

[crunchtastic]

My first car, when I was 17, came from one of those lots on Shepherd. Back then if you wanted a used car, you shopped Washington and Shepherd, since you had so many to choose from in a close area. I had $1,000 to spend, and came very close to the 71 Super Beetle from Uncle Buddy's on Washington, but ended up going with a 64 Falcon from some place on Shepherd. Now that middle class people don't buy used cars from lots like that, they've become 'blight'.

I drove that Falcon 8 years with nothing but new tires, water and fuel pump. Loved that car. Even without AC!

Edited April 11, 2008 by crunchtastic

[mkultra25]

I'm not seeing the problem. The "funkiness" of the Heights area is what first attracted me to it almost 20 years ago. The Shepherd/Durham corridor is what it is, a bastion of commercial properties for the working class. I'd hate to see it become totally yuppified.

I expect that to be an unpopular viewpoint here, but I am in complete agreement with it. I'll go even further - I liked the Washington corridor a lot more the way it was 20 years ago than I do now.

[20thStDad]

I expect that to be an unpopular viewpoint here, but I am in complete agreement with it. I'll go even further - I liked the Washington corridor a lot more the way it was 20 years ago than I do now.

There IS middle ground between everything being yuppie and having 80% of the properties be crappy used car lots. That's all I'm shooting for. Most of it is just an eyesore right now, in my opinion.

Edited April 11, 2008 by 20thStDad

[tanith27]

Yeah, I have a hard time defining "funkiness" as run down used car lots or parking lots overflowing with day labourers. To me, "funkiness" is 19th st or the lower Montrose area or Java Java or White Oak....areas that retain a certain charm that people tend to gravitate towards due to artistic or counterculture desires. Its hard to find places in Houston exactly like 19th or lower Montrose for their quirkiness and uniqueness. These decaying used car lots are too common in the city and the suburbs for me to consider them 'funky'. To me they're an eyesore.

[diggity]

I don't know how much middle ground you can have between run down car lots and new retail centers.

As a business owner in the area, I can't say I'm too sad to see the car lots and abandoned buildings being razed.

[memebag]

I expect that to be an unpopular viewpoint here, but I am in complete agreement with it.

I like the are, car lots and all, too. I think those of us who like it may be less vocal about it.

Yeah, I have a hard time defining "funkiness" as run down used car lots or parking lots overflowing with day labourers. To me, "funkiness" is 19th st or the lower Montrose area or Java Java or White Oak....areas that retain a certain charm that people tend to gravitate towards due to artistic or counterculture desires.

That "charm" can't exist without day laborers and used car lots.

[20thStDad]

I don't know how much middle ground you can have between run down car lots and new retail centers.

As a business owner in the area, I can't say I'm too sad to see the car lots and abandoned buildings being razed.

There's more to life than used car lots and retail - restaurants, residences, liquor stores - endless other things. I've just never understood how that many of the same type of business can exist in such a small area. I don't think they add any character or charm to anything, they just waste space. I guess one pro is that they keep property values down some. That's about it.