When I snapped a picture of David Adickes' latest installation, on I-10 just north of downtown, I assumed (Adickes being a Presidential-sculpture guy and all) that all four of the giant heads on display belonged to US Presidents. I see now that this was a wrong assumption. Page 53 of the May edition of 002 Magazine has the explanation:
These four men are nicknamed "Mount Rush Hour," Adickes tells us, "but its real title is Tribute to American Statesmanship. I define a statesman as someone who cares more for the country than his/her own political career. And Lawd knows, we need some. The four figures: Washington, Lincoln, Houston, and Stephen F. Austin were truly statesmen."
OK then. My identification of the two on the left as Franklin Pierce and Martin Van Buren didn't make much sense from that perspective, so I'm glad to have this cleared up. And a tip of the hat to Jeff N for not being as blinkered as I was and calling the Sam Houston bust correctly.
The parade was over, and Tom Jones had parked his eye-catching ride, Swamp Mutha, inside the Art Car Museum.He and two friends sat on the curb in front of the museum, reveling in the afterglow of their pet public art exhibition -- Houston's Art Car Parade.
As they shot the breeze just after 2 a.m., a speeding Pontiac crested the railroad tracks on Heights Boulevard. The driver was going so fast when he hit a parked Toyota Camry 50 feet away that Jones' friend Dion Laurent only had time to think one word.
"No."
The parked car launched into them, flinging Laurent against the fence and pinning Jones and his other friend.
"They were in agony," Laurent said, shuddering.
Jones, a pillar of the Art Car community and curator for the Art Car Museum, died Sunday morning from internal injuries. The other two men survived.
What a tragic end to Art Car Parade Weekend. A memorial for Tom Jones on Flickr is here. My sincere condolences go out to Tom Jones' family and friends, along with my thanks to Jones for everything he did to make these weekends the special and unique experience that they are.
The parade was over, and Tom Jones had parked his eye-catching ride, Swamp Mutha, inside the Art Car Museum.He and two friends sat on the curb in front of the museum, reveling in the afterglow of their pet public art exhibition -- Houston's Art Car Parade.
As they shot the breeze just after 2 a.m., a speeding Pontiac crested the railroad tracks on Heights Boulevard. The driver was going so fast when he hit a parked Toyota Camry 50 feet away that Jones' friend Dion Laurent only had time to think one word.
"No."
The parked car launched into them, flinging Laurent against the fence and pinning Jones and his other friend.
"They were in agony," Laurent said, shuddering.
Jones, a pillar of the Art Car community and curator for the Art Car Museum, died Sunday morning from internal injuries. The other two men survived.
What a tragic end to Art Car Parade Weekend. A memorial for Tom Jones on Flickr is here. My sincere condolences go out to Tom Jones' family and friends, along with my thanks to Jones for everything he did to make these weekends the special and unique experience that they are.
David Crossley uses the recent Houston Area Survey results on attitudes towards city planning as a starting point for this op-ed about a favorite topic of his, form-based codes.
[T]he question that has stirred debate was "Are you in favor or opposed to zoning in Houston -- that is, citywide control over the uses of the land in different areas?" Fifty-four percent favored this idea, 29 percent did not. Almost twice as many favor zoning as oppose it.In response to the story on the survey, former Mayor Bob Lanier, a co-founder of the anti-planning, anti-regulation Houstonians for Responsible Growth, sent a letter to the Chronicle worrying about "calls for prescriptive land-use restrictions on every piece of Houston property."
Guess what? We already have those, and have had them since 1982.
Land use is heavily controlled in the city's Code of Ordinances. In fact, scholarly papers suggest Houston has an unusually large number of rules governing development. The biggest is Chapter 42, entitled "Subdivisions, Developments, and Platting." Chapter 42 has the greatly redeeming value of having proved for more than a quarter of a century that it is perfectly legal in Houston, Texas, to use form-based code to control development throughout the city. Before going forward into a discussion of form-based code, just keep in mind that Houston already has it.
[...]
A 1999 rewrite of the ordinance divides the city into two zones: urban and suburban. This would be a very good start, except that it then defines "urban" as everything inside Loop 610 and "suburban" is everything outside the Loop. This means that the small suburban neighborhood of Afton Oaks is treated as urban and, just across the Loop, the enormous city of Uptown/Galleria is suburban, even though it has more jobs than downtown San Diego or Miami and 30,000 residents.
So our regulations differentiate between urban and suburban as different geographic areas rather than different forms. But Houston is growing very fast, residential neighborhoods are constantly under siege by residential density increases and commercial surprises, and it's time to fix that problem.
Regardless of those definitions, though, 42 greatly favors suburban-style development. Fabulous urban projects like Post Midtown on West Gray at Bagby required "variances" from the city Planning Commission because many elements of these projects are illegal everywhere in the city (except the central business district, which is an exceptional case of long-term civic wisdom at work).
Almost everyone's common sense said that the 23-story Ashby development is a wonderful project planned for an inappropriate location. Situated in, say, the Binz area at the Museum rail stop, it would be a real improvement to the area, a source of ridership for the substantial investment in transit, and a sustainable use of land. Decent form-based code would have made that obvious and prevented the controversy.
This is a ridiculous, but common, situation with a straightforward solution -- and it's not zoning. Klineberg's question suggests that zoning is the only option for "control over the uses of land." People are grasping at straws when they answer this question in the affirmative. What they want is some rational citywide control over the uses of land.
Instead of zoning, the solution lies in a fundamental redefinition of urban and suburban in Chapter 42 that is simple in concept, followed by a major overhaul of the regulations themselves.
If any of this sounds familiar to you, you've probably read Crossley's longer piece on form-based codes in Houston, which I've linked to a time or two. Obviously, I think there's a lot to recommend this approach, and I hope to see the revisions to Chapter 42 that Crossley references come about. At the very least, I'd like to see more discussion about the possibilities, rather than obsessing about what constitutes "zoning". Let's fix the problems we all agree that we have - I feel confident there's room for common ground here.
The president of CityPass wasn't convinced there was much to do in Houston.Mike Gallagher had been to Houston 25 years ago on business, and as far as he could tell, about the only attraction was Johnson Space Center.
But local boosters pestered him into coming back. Surprised to see Houston's array of museums, a quality zoo and the Downtown Aquarium, Gallagher added Houston to his CityPass network of cities, which includes the more touristy San Francisco, New York and Seattle.
It was enough to convince him that Houston was a viable market, and the area's own CityPass goes on sale May 13.
"It says to the world, 'There is a tourist destination, and you should visit,' " said Greg Ortale, president and chief executive of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The bureau hopes to sell 30,000 passes a year, aiming them at Latin American tourists who visit to shop and go to appointments at the Texas Medical Center as well as to regional visitors and even locals looking to save money.
[...]
The Houston pass, which provides admission to six attractions, will cost $34 for adults and $24 for children.
The price is nearly half what visitors otherwise might pay if they bought tickets at individual ticket counters.
Four of the attractions are fixed: Space Center Houston, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Houston Zoo and the Downtown Aquarium.
Pass holders also can choose two options from among four other offerings: George Ranch Historical Park or the Health Museum; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston or the Children's Museum of Houston.
The passes, which can be purchased from any of the attraction sites, are good for nine days from the date the first ticket is used.
One point to note is that other than Space Center Houston and the George Ranch, all of the featured attractions are accessible via the Main Street rail line. If you're staying at a Medical Center or downtown hotel, the City Pass will be a desirable thing to have. I've said before that one of the underrated benefits of the rail line is in helping to make Houston more attractive to visitors. This is an example of what I'm talking about.
Pittsburgh overtook Los Angeles in the category that measures short-term particle pollution or soot. Los Angeles, the country's longtime soot and smog leader, has enacted aggressive measures to tackle sources of pollution, resulting in a substantial drop in particle pollution levels, said Janice Nolen, the [American Lung Association]'s assistant vice president of national policy and advocacy."It's not that Pittsburgh has gotten worse; it's that Los Angeles has gotten better," Nolen said. "If the trend continues, Pittsburgh will top two lists, and L.A. will only be leading the nation in ozone."
Still, Los Angeles held its own in two other categories measuring year-round soot levels and smog. And statewide, 26 of California's 52 counties with air quality monitoring stations got failing grades for having either high ozone days or particle pollution days.
The association's "State of the Air: 2008" report, being released today, was based on air quality measurements reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by state and local agencies between 2004 and 2006. The study looks at three key pollution measures.
The eight metropolitan areas considered to be the nation's most polluted by every measure were Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Visalia-Porterfield and Hanford-Corcoran, all in California; Washington-Baltimore; St. Louis; and Birmingham, Ala.
The cleanest cities were Fargo, N.D., and Salinas, Calif.
Well, at least Houston/Harris County didn't make the bottom ten, even if we did get a failing grade. You want clean air, go move to Hays County. At least for now, they get an A.
Six months ago, the Houston Area Survey noted more negativity in local attitudes towards immigrants. That negativity is more pronounced now.
The survey found 63 percent agreed that new immigration should be limited, up from 48 percent in 2004. Meanwhile, 61 percent of those polled said illegal immigrants are a ''very serious" problem, up from 43 percent in 2006.This year, 56 percent favored granting citizenship to illegal immigrants who have learned English and didn't have a criminal record, down from 68 percent in 2007. And today, 43 percent believe immigrants contribute more than they take, down from 52 percent in 2002.
The pessimistic attitudes toward immigrants are striking in an area as diverse as Houston. Nearly 25 percent of Harris County's population of 3.8 million is foreign-born, according to 2006 Census Bureau data.
The local attitudes reflect a nationwide fear of a rapidly growing population of immigrants who don't embrace American culture, reduce the prominence of English and increase poverty that will strap taxpayers, the survey noted.
The backlash against the mostly Latino immigrants is comparable to past resentment over large-scale immigration from Europe, Klineberg said, adding the bias is stoked by conservative media outlets who only focus on the negative aspects of the influx.
''Whenever there have been large waves of immigrants arriving in the country -- the Irish in 1840s and 1850s or the Greeks, Italians and Poles at the turn of the century -- Americans have always responded with antagonism and fear," he said.
This increasingly negative feeling about immigrants, both legal and illegal, first surfaced in the Houston Area Survey in 2005, he said.
''Each year there has been deepening anti-immigration attitudes, and this is happening despite the evidence of successful assimilation and upward mobility" of new arrivals, said Klineberg. ''All the evidence suggests Latino immigrants moving up and out of poverty, learning English and becoming Americans at least as rapidly, if not more rapidly, than Greeks and Italians did 100 years ago."
I said it last time, and I'll say it again this time: I believe economic anxiety,which is now being amped up by the housing crisis, coupled with a more generalized anxiety over things like the war in Iraq, is the driving force behind this. Indeed, there's a note on the sidebar that says:
Positive assessment of the local economy dropped to 57 percent from 60 percent in 2007, even though the official local unemployment rate has fallen.
I believe that when the economy starts to improve, a lot of this negativity will abate. It won't be cured, of course - we'll see this all over again the next time the economy goes into a prolonged tank - but people will focus on it less, and it will diminish as a political issue. We saw the same thing in the early 90s during and shortly after the Bush 41 recession - remember Prop 187? It's just more of the same, though perhaps a bit nastier and more prevalent thanks to the existence of a greater number of communication channels.
That's basically the tack I'm going to take on Houston Have Your Say tonight at 7 PM on KUHT channel 8. Should be interesting.
In her report of the first week of business for Green Market, Tiffany wrote:
The biggest challenge for Central City going forward will be extending our volunteer base to cover the new market. One of the reasons we can bring organic produce to the market at such reasonable prices overall is that we are a mostly volunteer organization. We have no full-time employees, and only a handful of staff who draw some part-time wages for certain jobs. It has been a real strain on all of our regular, devoted staff and volunteers to get the new market up and running.We are in desperate need of new volunteers to work the Green Market. We need people to help with load in at 2:00 in the afternoon to help vendors be ready for market opening at 4:00. We need people to help watch things during market time from 4:00 to 7:30. We need people to help re-load and get people out of the market safely at the end of the day. Imagine a small farm run by a family, with only one person available during the day to run market stalls and sell product. Who watches the stall while you go park a vehicle? Who helps you unload? What happens at re-load time at 7:30 pm when you are tired? The answer at Green Market needs to be volunteers. Right now we don't have enough.
If you think this is a good cause and want to help, please drop me a note at kuff - at - offthekuff - dot - com, or go to Central City Co-Op's web page and click on the "Get Involved" tab. If you have any questions, you can emai me or leave a comment here. Thank you for your consideration.
So I promised I'd be back to give updates on our efforts at Green Market, the Central City Co-op project at Discovery Green. We had our first market day on Thursday the 17th. I am just recovered enough to sit down and tell you about it.
The best news is that we had a fabulous opening day. The public spoke with their dollars and everyone had a much better day than anticipated, which was a huge lift to us all. Overall, I have to say how impressed I am with the energy and good will everyone brought to the table in getting this going on market day. Think about the unknowns and the risks: A brand new venue with no track record, no stable residential customer base and totally untested procedures for doing basic things like parking vendor vehicles and running credit cards.
I give absolutely everyone an "A" for effort and energy. From the park staff who hustled to help get things rolling for setup to the vendors who graciously rolled with every possible thing going not quite the way we had planned to the random members of the public who chased hats and tablecloths in 20 mile an hour wind gusts, we had an exciting and wondrous day. Children played, veggies got purchased, people talked until their voices gave out.
There are definitely things that we need to do better, but frankly I don't think we could have PLANNED anything any better than we did. Loading in and out was traumatic- we all have a lot to learn about how to do this safely and efficiently. Parking was a challenge- we had an event at Toyota Center last Thursday, and it will only become more demanding as the Astros have home games on Thursdays this season. But we are learning, and will learn more each week.
The biggest challenge for Central City going forward will be extending our volunteer base to cover the new market. One of the reasons we can bring organic produce to the market at such reasonable prices overall is that we are a mostly volunteer organization. We have no full-time employees, and only a handful of staff who draw some part-time wages for certain jobs. It has been a real strain on all of our regular, devoted staff and volunteers to get the new market up and running.
We are in desperate need of new volunteers to work the Green Market. We need people to help with load in at 2:00 in the afternoon to help vendors be ready for market opening at 4:00. We need people to help watch things during market time from 4:00 to 7:30. We need people to help re-load and get people out of the market safely at the end of the day. Imagine a small farm run by a family, with only one person available during the day to run market stalls and sell product. Who watches the stall while you go park a vehicle? Who helps you unload? What happens at re-load time at 7:30 pm when you are tired? The answer at Green Market needs to be volunteers. Right now we don't have enough.
Of course if you are reading this and interested in giving some time to the Market, you can drop me a note here, or go to http://www.centralcityco-op.org and click on the "Get Involved" tab to learn more and let us know you are interested. There are also volunteer opportunities at our Wednesday market in Montrose, which would help by giving other volunteers the chance to rotate to Thursday slots downtown at Green Market. And of course it's all about growing a community of people interested in organic produce, sustainable agriculture and local farming, so we hope you'd think that was way cool in and of itself.
We are busy tweaking things and trying to make this week better than last. We hope that the public will continue to be supportive of our efforts. I think we are on to something wonderful and potentially really successful at Green Market. If you haven't visited yet, please come. Let me know what you think.
You can always count on the Houston Area Survey for some provocative data.
Most Harris County residents would support zoning or other land-use planning tools to guide growth, protect neighborhoods and curb suburban sprawl, the 2008 Houston Area Survey shows.Almost two-thirds of those responding to this year's survey thought more land-use planning would benefit Houston, three-quarters said redeveloping older urban areas was the best way to absorb population growth, and more than half said they would support zoning.
As neighborhood leaders push for stronger protections against development they consider unsuitable, political analysts and potential candidates said the survey results send a message that will resonate powerfully in the 2009 city election campaign.
"There is a clear perception that there needs to be a system to guide growth," said Stephen Klineberg, the Rice University sociology professor who has directed the annual survey since 1982 and will present this year's results to the Greater Houston Partnership on Wednesday. "There's a pretty powerful consensus there."
Somewhere, Wendell Cox and Randall O'Toole are wailing and gnashing their teeth. Oh, the humanity!
It's uncertain, however, whether these public attitudes will lead to new policies.Klineberg and others cautioned that the survey gauges support only for general concepts. Details of a zoning ordinance or other planning initiatives might get a different reaction, they said.
Shortly before Houston's last zoning referendum in 1993, surveys showed a majority favored a zoning ordinance. But the election failed after voters saw maps showing how the new rules might affect their own property, said Kendall Miller, the president of Houstonians for Responsible Growth. The organization, led by real estate professionals, lobbies against additional regulations on development in Houston.
"Giving up control of their own property and handing it over to city government is part of the process of land-use restrictions," Miller said. "When people understand that, they generally reject it."
The print edition showed that the approval rate for "zoning" was a bit less than it was for the 1999 survey. This is a little like those "do you plan to vote for a Republican or a Democrat this year" polls. The generic result may look favorable for your side, but once a specific candidate - or in this case, a specific proposal - is in place, there will be specific things to criticize about it, and people who might like the idea in the abstract will see themselves as losing if it passes. This is not to say that another zoning referendum would be doomed to fail, just that having a majority in favor of the concept now means little.
One last thing:
Houston's business, political and neighborhood leaders have debated growth and development issues for decades. These discussions have intensified in recent years as people flocked back to older neighborhoods inside Loop 610, land values rose and developers started replacing bungalows with townhomes or high-rise buildings.
Again according to the print edition, 76% of respondents said that growth in Harris County is best done by redeveloping older areas, rather than expanding to the outer edges. That's a fine and responsible thing, and I'd give the same response. But it does bring up the matter of traffic congestion on surface roads again, and it highlights the urgent need to address those issues now while it's still possible to do so. I've got more to say on this shortly, but for now I just want to note the point.
This sounds like excellent news.
The Montrose Boulevard Conservancy's two-year plan to create a high-quality, landscaped and well-lighted pedestrian pathway with park-like amenities along one of Houston's main streets got a green light from area residents on April 10.The plan -- "Walkable Montrose: A Master Plan for Re-Establishing Houston's Grand Boulevard" -- was received with mostly positive reviews from about 160 residents and city officials who filled the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral's S.P. Martel Auditorium, 3511 Yoakum Blvd., to standing-room-only capacity.
The community-based plan by the nonprofit proposes to restore Montrose Boulevard, built in 1911, to its original status as a grand avenue or pedestrian "promenade," group president Claude Wynn said.
Wynn and John Walsh, Montrose Boulevard Conservancy board member and real estate businessman, presented the plan. It calls for a 2.7-mile pedestrian walkway from Buffalo Bayou at Allen Parkway to Hermann Park's Mecom Fountain.
It would connect to hike-and-bike trails in Buffalo Bayou Park, Hermann Park, Rice University and the Metropolitan Transit Authority's Red Line Rice/Hermann Park Station.
[...]
Some components of the plan, such as the brown signs that direct visitors to the Museum District and specific points of interest, will be part of the city's responsibility.
Other areas, such as individual sections of the boulevard, are to be paid for by businesses that volunteer to spruce up and maintain those sections.
Walsh said the first phase of the project will cost $4.7 million, which includes a three-year reserve for maintenance after work is completed.
"We will call upon property owners for maintenance," Walsh said.
It will save about 50 percent in costs to construct all of the sidewalks, curbs, lighting and other work at one time, he said, rather than space out the construction and costs from business owners over a 20-year period.
"This is really stupendous for Montrose," said resident David Crossley, who predicted the project would result in "an explosion of business along Montrose, because it won't be a speedway -- it will be a great boulevard."
See MontroseBlvd.org for more. I have but one request: Can we please extend this a little farther north? I realize the street changes name to Studemont at that point, but it's still the same road. And that area needs this kind of attention, too. Pretty please?
That's what Houston Politics reports will eventually happen.
James Reeder, a co-chairman of the neighborhood group fighting the proposed tower, says it's likely that the developers will make enough changes in their project to secure the permits they need. Since the resulting project probably won't be acceptable to the neighborhood, Reeder says, the next step would be litigation.His comments came during a panel discussion Monday night sponsored by the Baker Institute Student Forum.
[...]
Reeder, a partner at the Vinson & Elkins law firm who lives near the proposed high-rise, said the only regulatory leverage the city has over the project is to limit its impact on traffic congestion. If the developers build fewer apartments or take other steps to sufficiently reduce the number of daily trips into and out of the building, the city will have to approve it, he said.
But the story won't end there, Reeder said, pledging that neighborhood leaders would turn to the courts, if necessary, and fight the project "to our last breath."
And I think they'll lose, and spend a lot of money in the process. As long as it's just their money, I don't care. I certainly understand why they feel so passionately about this. My concern is if the city is involved in any such lawsuit. I'd hope they'd take a hard look at their odds of winning, and of what they'd actually gain from a public policy perspective by fighting this battle to the bitter end as opposed to punting and taking a more holistic approach going forward.
I know that County Commissioners are into building things, but this is a new one on me.
Out on prairie as flat as a polished dining room table, where he has no river or even rivulet to dam, Commissioner Steve Radack intends to dig a hole and build a 500-acre lake that will teem with sportfish and lure anglers from afar.Radack has defied nature before -- his Precinct 3 is building a nearly 50-foot-high soap box derby hill in equally flat Hockley. But the proposed lake dwarfs the soap box derby in scope and cost, the way a trophy bass does a minnow.
John Paul's Landing, on the Katy Prairie in northwest Harris County, could cost as little as $8 million. But where there is no natural basin, the only choice is excavation, and that's Radack's problem. He could be looking at a $60 million price tag if he can't find someone who will dig out and remove 12 million cubic yards of dirt -- enough to fill five Astrodomes -- for free.
[...]
Radack said those who have raised questions about the lake are ignoring that Precinct 3 will provide a premium recreational park in an area already encroached by subdivisions and strip malls. And the fishing -- the lake will be stocked with bass, channel catfish and other species -- will be better than nearly anywhere else in the county, he said.
"I wanted to create something where people could go for free and spend a lot of quality time with their families," he said. "It's always a good feeling to put something together that brings people together."
Well, I can't argue with the motivation for this scheme. It's a fine thing to claim some land for the purposes of keeping it green, and that part of the county needs such things to be done sooner rather than later, as development out there is very brisk. One could argue, of course, that this can be accomplished by turning that tract into a regular old park instead of a massive man-made lake, and some folks who know more about ecology are worried about that very thing.
Meanwhile, federal and state biologists have questioned whether the county can funnel in enough water to build a lake and whether the water can sustain a healthy fish population."We definitely have concerns about whether they will have enough water," said Donna Anderson, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The lake's planners point to an old-fashioned water source: the skies.
Fred Garcia, the John Paul's Landing project manager at the Harris County Flood Control District, said rainfall on the property and roadside runoff funneled into the hole will fill most or all of the lake. And if more water is needed, the lake will fill when Cypress Creek floods the Langham Creek area -- which happens about every five years, Garcia said.
He added it could take five to 10 years to complete the lake.
[...]
Because the lake will not have a constant source of flowing water, biologists remain worried that there will not be enough oxygen in the lake to support a viable fish population, said Anderson of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Texas Parks & Wildlife has also questioned whether nitrates and fertilizer from farm runoff might pollute the lake, said Jamie Schubert, coastal biologist with the department.
Garcia said water will go through wetlands and marshy areas that will be planted near the lake. Many pollutants naturally are removed in such wetlands, making it habitable for fish, he said.
Massive aeration pumps, he said, will be installed on the lake's bottom to spray water above the lake surface and expose it to oxygen.
Anderson, who has reviewed the project, said it does not seem to make sense environmentally to build a 500-acre lake on prairie where no such body of water existed historically.
I don't know enough about this to have an opinion on the fish-viability question, but that last paragraph sounds like a reasonable concern to me. Or as a commenter put it, "if God intended a lake on the Katy Prarie, wouldn't He have provided for one?" You do have to wonder what unintended consequences there might be. And what could be done if the thing does turn into a stagnant pond, which would make for ideal mosquito breeding grounds? How much might draining and refilling it with dirt cost? Maybe these possibilities are extremely remote, but I guess I'd want more than just Commissioner Radack's word for it.
One last thing:
No one is interested in the dirt yet, Garcia said. But the flood control district is hoping that a Grand Parkway builder will need dirt for the highway.
There's a quid pro quo option in there somewhere, I just know it.
Apparently, nobody really knows for sure.
Sugar Land and surrounding Fort Bend County often get a double dose of dirty air from commuters' tailpipes and what's blown inland from the Gulf of Mexico, air-quality experts say.But nobody knows for certain what they're breathing, because Fort Bend County is the most populous county in Texas without a monitoring station to measure air pollution. There are nearly 50 monitors across Greater Houston.
"It's such an obvious oversight," said Matthew Tejada, executive director of the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention, or GHASP. "They need to know more than anybody what's in the air."
[...]
The prevailing winds off the coast force air pollution that didn't become ozone the day before to pool in Fort Bend County. Ozone, a colorless gas formed when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds react in heat and sunlight, is the main ingredient in smog. Chronic exposure to smog can damage lungs, and people with lung or heart disease may have trouble breathing.
Sugar Land is also downwind of the W.A. Parish power plant, which generates more than 3,500 megawatts of electricity, enough for about 2.8 million homes, making it the second-largest in the U.S. The plant has reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides by 80 percent over five years, but still produces more of the pollutant than any other industry source in the eight-county Houston region.
What's more, the wind-aided buildup of ozone is compounded by the homegrown emissions from cars and trucks. Fort Bend County's population has grown 40 percent to nearly 500,000 people since 2000.
"Fort Bend County bears the brunt of today's pollution and yesterday's pollution," Tejada said.
But it's unknown to what extent.
[...]
Bob Hebert, Fort Bend County's judge, said he has not requested a monitor. The smog problem is a regional one, he said, so if Houston fails to meet federal clean-air standards, then Fort Bend fails, too.
"With the exception of the Parish plant, we don't have any major polluters in the county," Hebert said. "But we have the prevailing winds, so we can't clean up the air on our own. We could close the Parish plant tomorrow and still not meet the federal standards."
I feel like I'm missing an important piece of information here. Like, how much would it cost to install however many monitors would be needed to get an accurate picture of the problem. Is it simply not feasible, or is the somewhat defeatist attitude of Judge Hebert penny-wise and pound-foolish? Someone help me out here, please.
Assuming that the cost isn't too prohibitive, I don't understand why you wouldn't want to put in the monitors. Isn't everyone better off with full information here? And even if the bulk of the problem is the Parish plant, being able to document it more thoroughly might give you some leverage to get them to do better in the emissions department. Further, having sufficient data might also help to do things like more accurately inform the county's transportation policies. I just don't understand why they're content with not knowing.
The hotel next to the George R. Brown Convention Center is on the block.
Houston Convention Center Hotel Corp. has hired real estate firm CB Richard Ellis to sell the property through a process that also will seek development proposals for a second convention hotel."The ideal buyer will buy the existing hotel and build the new one," said Richard Campo, chairman of the city-chartered group that owns the property and contracts with Hilton Hotels Corp. to manage it.
Earlier this year, city officials said they were considering putting the hotel up for sale, a move that could pave the way for a second to be built on a parcel just north of Discovery Green next to the George R. Brown Convention Center.
The idea was that another hotel would make Houston a stronger competitor for major conventions.
[...]
In about 30 days, an offering memorandum outlining the details of the sale and, most likely, a solicitation for development proposals, will be sent to a targeted group of investors.
Analysts have said the hotel could fetch $350 million.
The hotel corporation said it will let the market determine the property's value.
Mary Carolan of CB Richard Ellis said in this time of tight credit, investors are seeking "quality" real estate, and that Houston is being targeted by domestic and international funds because of its strong economy relative to other parts of the country.
Carolan said she's been getting inquiries from international pension funds that never would have returned her calls to them just two years ago.
"They want to know when product in Houston is coming available," she said. "We're not just domestically desirable, but globally desirable."
Well, that's nice to hear. For sure, it hasn't always been that way. Better enjoy it while it lasts. A little cashing in wouldn't hurt, either.
City Controller Annise Parker said she isn't certain whether the city should sell the hotel outright and walk away, or use that transaction to finance another hotel near the convention center."There's apparently some feeling among the convention professionals that Houston would benefit from it," she said. "I understand the need to have sufficient hotel rooms close to the Brown, but it's taken us a few years to crawl out of the post-9/11, post-Enron doldrums and for the hotel bookings to tick up. I would have to see numbers on what kind and type of hotel would make sense, and why the city should get involved again."
Well, if that aforementioned ideal buyer comes along, we won't have to worry about making that decision. What do you suppose are the odds of that?
Pretty good reviews, I'd say.
Those who flocked to the opening "Family Day" event gushed with enthusiasm as they surveyed the green space. While the park is compact, visitors Sunday said they were amazed at how much there was to do.Visitors could hit golf balls, play shuffleboard, explore a new playground, dine in chic restaurants, stroll through gardens and enjoy a myriad of live entertainment venues.
Eric Andell, who has lived downtown for 10 years, enjoyed his meander through the park. "What's not to like here?" he said. "It's great to have some green space."
Nine-year-old Zeal Alexander, who was soaking wet after dashing repeatedly through a fountain, agreed.
"It's like going through a force field that's icy cold," he said.
[...]
In Discovery Green, the trees are strategically located in rows around open areas. Some 100-year-old live oaks were brought from other parts of Houston, where they had been slated to be destroyed.
"I especially like the old trees. It just feels like Houston,"said Amy Curtis, who brought her two young children to the park's opening.
Visitors who prefer using the trees as reading posts can even have books delivered to the park's reading room. Those inclined to more high-tech entertainment can access free Internet and even check out laptop computers to use in the park for free for two hours.
"This will be particularly good for those on a lunch break or convention visitors," said Edward Melton, who oversees the program.
I'd think that a big beneficiary of the new park will be the George R. Brown Convention Center. One reason for having a convention in a particular town is because there's stuff to do there, optimally nearby or at least within transit range, for when you're not sitting in a seminar or workshop. Between the park and the Main Street rail line, which makes the Museum District easily accessible, there's now a lot of stuff to do outside the GRB. That wasn't the case before. I don't know how much that sort of consideration weighs on convention planners, but I'll bet the opening of Discovery Green is going to make these people's job a little easier.
As I said before, we'll make our first official family visit to the Green on Thursday for the opening of Green Market. I'm looking forward to it.
The Chron has a chat with Nancy Kinder, who headed up the private fundraising efforts for Discovery Green.
Q: When you started raising money, what was the pitch you made to donors? How did you convince people this would be a worthwhile use of their money?A: When we explained the vision and they looked at the location, they all knew what we saw immediately and what the mayor saw: that if you build a park downtown, if you really do want high-rise living, apartments, condos, you need to have something for these people to do and to be a part of. If you have an apartment and you live downtown, where are you going to go?
I mean, there's concrete everywhere.
Q: So you raised all this money to create the park. What will be the source of money for operations and maintenance?
A: There are four parts to the budget. We (the conservancy) own the restaurant, and Schiller del Grande operates it. We get a certain percentage of rent, so, if they do well, we do well. Also, City Council approved $750,000 a year for general maintenance. A gala every other year will be the third part of it.
The fourth part, we need businesses and companies around us to help us out with the programming. The programming is critical. If you have people here, the more you do for them, the more they'll come back.
Q: Have you encountered any concerns that all the millions being contributed to Discovery Green might be reducing funding available for other charitable causes?
A: At the beginning, there was some concern out there among the green groups. But I think we've brought a more high profile to green space and urban parks and created a blueprint for other organizations that want to do green space. We've convinced them you can't just have green space, because no one will come.
Here's a very early story about the opening day festivities.
Beneath blue skies and a cool breeze, Mayor Bill White declared the opening Sunday of Houston's first major downtown park-- which took four years and $122 million to transform from a patchwork of parking lots.Discovery Green stretches in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center along McKinney for about eight city blocks or 12 acres -- surrounded by a dramatic view of Houston's skyline.
"This is a pure urban park that will have programs every day. It will have more intense activities than some of our other parks," said White, who had traded in his suit and tie for shorts and tennis shoes for the occasion.
[...]
Many in attendance for the "Family Day" entertainment were gushing with enthusiasm at the myriad of entertainment, including model-boat races, kites, sports demonstrations, music and dance.
Well, I hope they'll come back, then. Tiffany got a call from one of her co-op colleagues this afternoon. She was staffing the information booth for the Green Market, and needed help because they had already given out all of their flyers and promotional materials. We loaded the kids into the minivan, made a quick stop at Kinko's to pick up another 500 flyers, and I dropped her off at the entrance to deliver the reinforcements, picking her up again after a swing around the block. The place was clearly full, and the report from the market was that it was "crazy busy". In fact, they were supposed to have about 500 postcards printed by the Downtown District to hand out, but they were all distributed yesterday, before the official opening. So, based on all this, I'd say the place is off to a roaring start. We'll be there Thursday evening for the first Market day, along with a picnic dinner. I'll get Tiffany to write up a report afterwards.
Anyone here visit the Green today? What did you think?
I finally got the chance to photograph those giant Presidential heads that you can see on I-10 eastbound just past I-45:
Here's a map to where they are, in case you want a closer look that doesn't involve highway speed. The captions read "A tribute to American statesmanship". Have I mentioned lately how much I love having David Adickes in town?
By the way, the question of who the four Presidents are came up in the comments on the picture. I think we all recognize Lincoln and Washington, so it's the other two who might be a mystery. Based on what David Adickes himself said here, the guy on the left is Franklin Pierce. Next to him, based on my own guess, is Martin Van Buren. If you think otherwise, please speak up.
Many of you may have wondered, "So he's married, right? And she gets mentioned sometimes, but we've never actually HEARD from her..."
So here I am to rectify that!
As CK has mentioned before, I've been involved with the Board of Directors for Central City Co-op since last fall. Our family has been a member of the co-op since 2003, and when I accepted my severance late last summer, I decided that one of the things I wanted to concentrate on was going back to my original career intentions of working with non-profit and educational groups. Since I'd done a corporate gig for 10 years, getting my feet re-wet by working with a group near and dear to my heart seemed like the perfect option.
I hadn't been on the Board more than 6 or 8 weeks when someone said, "Hey, Discovery Green has approached us about being the market operator for their new park. We should look at this."
So my business experience has come in handy helping the co-op develop a brand-spanking-new business in the bustle that is downtown Houston. It's been a wild and wonderful ride. Working with all of the various groups involved in Discovery Green has been very exciting. There's a ton of brain-power and good will behind the park effort, and a lot of excitement brewing with the Green Market offering.
Green Market, a project of Central City Co-op, will operate on Thursday afternoons from 4 to about 7:30 pm during the summer, with some adjustment as winter comes and the day gets shorter. We will operate year-round. It's a real challenge to develop a market for organic produce and locally produced artisanal goods, but we think it's coming along nicely. Because we can't be sure what the market will bear, things will start slowly, but we have plans for steady growth and the addition of vendors on a weekly basis. Our thrust is local, organic, "green" and primarily agricultural. As a Certified Farmer's Market, we will bring farmers from a 200 mile radius of downtown into the city, providing local produce. We are also trying to bring a variety of value-added agricultural products (prepared foods, for instance), and merchandise from local craftspeople. A big part of our challenge is creating a demand in downtown that can sustain these farmers and artisans. We hope that the park will facilitate the creation of a real community around these ideas.
When I first started going to co-op, I was interested in finding organic vegetables and fruits for less money than the local supermarket, and felt that somehow participating in a community of people interested in ideas of sustainability in general, and organics in particular, was a good thing. The idea of local agriculture, and the contribution of farm-to-fork issues in the environment and the local economy was something I hadn't even thought much about. And I had no idea whether I or my family (then only husband) would like local produce. I've learned a lot over my years as a co-op member about the offerings of local farmers. The strawberries may be smaller, but I swear they are sweeter. The local spring onions and fresh herbs are a delight to cook with. I've learned not to fear greens. I've rediscovered what a real tomato tastes like.
I hope that our effort at Green Market will bear fruit, not only for the office and residential communities of downtown, but for the local farmers and artisans we hope to have at market on a weekly basis. All of this, of course, depends on market attendance, and people being willing to purchase perishable items downtown and take them home. It's a gamble. But one Central City is, with the support of our existing community of members, farmers and our new partner at Discovery Green, willing to take. We look forward to the evolution of our new community.
Come see the Market on Thursdays beginning next week! The Co-op will also have a table at Family Day at Discovery Green this Sunday, where you can pre-order our assorted "share" of produce for delivery at market on Thursday. We will also have open market (by the piece) shopping on Thursday, and pre-orders for future pickups.
As for my role here at the blog, I'll leave the heavy lifting to the other adult in our household. I think he does a fine job. I do intend, though, to write about our work at Green Market and other things that strike me from time to time. Thanks for reading today, and I'll be here again with a market update next week!
UPDATE
I will be appearing on the early morning news programs on local affiliates Channel 11 Friday morning at around 6:15am and on Saturday on Channel 2 at around 6:30 am to talk about Green Market. Of course these both being live appearances, times could vary dramatically. Either way I am up and camera ready by 5:45 am 2 mornings in a row. How's that for dedication?
Discovery Green, the new urban park in east Downtown, gets a nice writeup on the verge of its grand opening.
Discovery Green, the 12-acre, $122 million park that opens April 13, represents Houston's changing self-image as its leaders embrace the green qualities that so often impress visitors arriving by air for the first time."It does symbolize a new direction for Houston's public investment and civic philanthropy," said Mayor Bill White, who kicked off the fundraising campaign for the park in October 2004.
Discovery Green will be the first major public park in downtown Houston.
Visitors can sprawl in the grass for a concert, race model boats or splash in an interactive fountain. Runners can try out the jogging path while more sedate visitors can read a magazine in a small library or have a drink at The Grove restaurant.
[...]
Another concern often expressed about downtown parks is that they're likely to attract homeless people. Root Memorial Square, a small city park just south of Discovery Green, was the site of homeless encampments for years.
Experts on designing urban parks say the best way to prevent this is to keep them filled with people and activity.
Root Memorial Square is across the street from the Toyota Center. As a Comets season ticket holder, I can attest to the homeless-persons issue there, but that pretty much vanished after its 2005 facelift.
Moreover, the public and philanthropic investment in Discovery Green can be justified only if the park attracts many people from throughout the Houston area, said Phil Myrick, a vice president of the Project for Public Spaces, a New York nonprofit that participated in early planning for the park.Too often, Myrick said, "money gets poured into a place that very few people end up enjoying and spending time in."
Because Discovery Green is in a "challenging location," Myrick said, it will have to offer compelling activities to attract visitors from far-flung neighborhoods.
"Consider your average person on a Saturday or Sunday. Are they really going to pack up the kids and head downtown, or stay closer to home?" Myrick asked. "If downtown is the only audience (for the park), it will be a terrible waste."
Guy Hagstette, the park's director, said he's keenly aware of this challenge. Planners have worked hard, he said, to develop attractions and activities that appeal to all kinds of people. Almost all of the activities, with the exception of model boats and parking in the underground garage, will be free.
People who enjoy trendy games can play bocce, an Italian sport similar to lawn-bowling, while more traditional Texans can pitch horseshoes. Part of the model boat pool will be frozen during winter months for ice skating. Children can frolic in a "mist tree" that also serves as a piece of public art and a place for joggers to cool off.
The Houston Public Library will offer indoor and outdoor reading rooms and plans to provide free WiFi service throughout the park.
Since most of the new development surrounding the park is likely to serve an affluent market, Hagstette said, he has tried to ensure that Discovery Green's attractions serve diverse communities.
The park plans to host a health fair on Juneteenth and an Asian festival. A farmer's market will serve a demand for locally produced food. On weekends, families can visit the park, put their pets in one of two dog runs and watch their kids play on the playground while they discard their newspapers and cans into recycling bins.
The farmer's market is Central City Co-op. I know this because Tiffany is on its board of directors, and has spent the past several weeks helping to get everything ready to go for the grand opening. She will do a guest post later this week with more information about Central City and what you can expect to find at that farmer's market at Discovery Green.
I think it all sounds pretty cool, and I'm really glad to see there's a stage for outdoor music performances as well. Maybe someone will resurrect the idea of Party on the Plaza, which has been sorely missed. Having this park right in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center will be a heck of a nice advertisement for the rest of Houston, too.
And as promised, the park has spawned a lot of new development.
The streets surrounding Discovery Green, the new 12-acre downtown park, hum with activity as its April 13 opening approaches. A luxury high-rise apartment building and office tower are rising on two sides of the park, while a planned hotel and other nearby projects hope to benefit from it.Brokers, developers and analysts say the park is attracting new development that promises to shift downtown's center of gravity to the long-dormant area east of Main Street.
The flurry of projects shows Mayor Bill White was correct when he predicted in 2004 that a high-quality park next to the George R. Brown Convention Center would create an "explosion of growth" on its periphery, said broker Dave Cook of Cushman & Wakefield.
"Everyone now feels that they want to be on the park," said Cook, who's been involved in a number of land deals in the area.
Some of this growth is a result of Houston's strong economy, a growing convention business and demand for downtown office space, real estate professionals say.
But Discovery Green, they say, is accelerating and intensifying this trend.
"I don't think the park is the only draw," said Ralph Howard, chief executive of Situs Cos., a real estate consulting firm based in Houston. "But it's becoming a new, natural center for the central business district."
[...]
The lure of urban parks is evident in views from balconies jutting out from One Park Place, the 37-story luxury apartment tower that developer Marvy Finger is building on Discovery Green's western edge.
The prospect of living near the park is so appealing, Finger said, that he's already leased about 60 of his 346 units, even though the project won't open for a year and he hasn't started marketing. The units will lease for $1,500 to $4,500 monthly, said Deborah Hartman, a publicist for the project.
Finger was the first developer to plunge into the market around Discovery Green. It was a crucial move for those who followed, said Cook, the broker.
"Finger's acquisition was the critical site and the critical development," Cook said.
Having a core of residents near Discovery Green will be an important part of making the park a success. But Phil Myrick's statement about the park needing to draw people from elsewhere is true as well. I feel like a key to that will be the upcoming expansion of Metro Rail, because being able to get to a place like Discovery Green without having to worry about - or pay for - parking will make it a more attractive destination. That's a few years off still, though, so we'll have to see how it does with just the Main Street line for now. I figure we'll pile the kids in the minivan and take a visit sometime soon after this weekend, so I'll let you know what my impressions are when that happens.
The Catastrophic Theater, which had its mighty fun launch party last weekend, is set to debut its first show this Friday.
When Catastrophic Theatre sets sail Friday with the area premiere of Big Death and Little Death, you can expect the journey to be a bit jarring.Director Jason Nodler wouldn't have it any other way.
Comfort-food theater is not Nodler's dish -- as anyone familiar with his work can attest. In 1993, Nodler co-founded Infernal Bridegroom Productions and was its artistic director until 2003. Houston's leading alternative theater troupe folded last year due to financial difficulties.
After several years freelance directing around the nation, Nodler is back helming a new company, with former IBP icon Tamarie Cooper as associate artistic director (and so far, the group's only other staffer). They are launching Catastrophic with Mickey Birnbaum's apocalyptic comedy, produced in collaboration with the University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance.
"I began in the theater as a playwright," Nodler says, "but wanting to write a play unlike anything else I'd seen in theater. Something very funny, very weighty, very pop -- equal parts art and entertainment. In finding this play, it's as if I found the play I was always trying to write."
As the company describes it, Big Death is "a dark comedy with pit-bull cannibalism, death metal, war veterans, car crashes, drugs, sex, teen angst and the end of the world." Premiered in 2005 at Washington, D.C.'s, Woolly Mammoth, it has divided critics there and elsewhere. Peter Marks of the Washington Post found it "pretty excruciating ... a shrill meditation on nihilism in America."
Yet reviewing the production Nodler directed later that year at Providence, R.I.'s, Perishable Theatre, Bill Rodriguez wrote: "Nodler has assembled a perceptive cast that nails this bittersweet play like a stake through the heart of oblivious contemporary culture ... (it) can be a high point of your theatergoing year."
"It's about a returning Gulf War vet who finds himself unable to reintegrate into society and his family," Nodler says. "And the effect on his teen son and daughter who need his attention. There are flashbacks to the story's core traumatic event that happened one year earlier, when he'd just returned, when he's greeted by his family and during his ride home with them.
"Really," he adds, "it's about one big death and myriad little deaths."
Should be interesting. If you were ever a fan of Infernal Bridegroom, the name may have changed but the mission is the same. Check 'em out.
The developers may be moving forward, but the city is saying "not so fast".
City officials have rejected the latest permit applications for the controversial Ashby high-rise, saying the developers must provide more information about traffic impact and take other steps before the project can be approved.In returning the plans for the 23-story building to developers Matthew Morgan and Kevin Kirton of Buckhead Investment Partners Inc., city engineer Mark L. Loethen said they must supply more data about anticipated traffic volumes, including figures about traffic generated by similar projects in other parts of Houston.
Loethen also expressed concern that a planned driveway into the project at 1717 Bissonnet might cause problems, including encroachment into the westbound lanes of Bissonnet by large trucks backing into the driveway.
Morgan said he and his partner would work with their traffic consultant to provide the requested information and resubmit the plans, which they first submitted almost a year ago.
Although Mayor Bill White has said publicly that the city will not approve the project in its current form, Morgan said the outcome of the application process is not certain.
"We continue to believe we have followed all the rules and regulations that were in place at the time we submitted our plans," Morgan said. "We have a legal right to build this project as originally designed."
I still believe that in the end, there is nothing the city can do to stop this project. The best outcome is to improve codes and regulations to prevent the next inappropriately located high rise from getting built.
Chris Amandes, a leader of the neighborhood-based Stop Ashby High Rise task force, said he doesn't understand why the developers are continuing a project that the mayor has said the city won't approve."They may be setting themselves up to sue the city, or using this application as a bludgeon" to pressure the neighborhood to agree to proposals that it has so far found unacceptable, Amandes said.
I believe the lawsuit option is indeed what they have in mind, and frankly I think they'd win. I think they know that, and I think the city does, too. The city can bluster all it wants, but I think the developers win now or win later, and it's just a matter of how much it costs.
I've mentioned before that I lived in Montrose for nearly ten years, before I bought a house in the Heights. From 1993 to 1997, I lived on the northern end of Montrose, near Montrose and West Dallas. There wasn't much there back then - lots of rental housing, empty lots, and a few small businesses. It was a funky, kind of run-down but still interesting urban neighborhood.
Well, a lot has changed since then, and there's a lot more change to come. I've blogged about quite a bit of it, and will keep doing so as the area keeps evolving. I think a lot of good things have happened, along with a few not-so-good things, and I think there's the potential for a lot more good to be done. I also think there's the potential for all the changes to have a lot of negative effects, mostly having to do with overwhelming the infrastructure, and I think it's important to keep an eye on what's happening.
So towards that end, I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to take a bunch of photos of the area; basically, the stretch of Montrose/Studemont from West Gray to Washington Avenue. I did this partly to document what it looks like now - if you used to live there but haven't seen it in awhile, you'll be amazed - and partly to point out what I think can be done to make the eventual finished product better. I've compiled the pictures, along with my comments, into a Flickr photo set, which you can also view as a slideshow - click on Options, then Always Show Title And Description to see my comments if you view it this way.
My thesis is simple. This is already an incredibly densely developed corridor, and it's going to get more so as the new high rise is built and several parcels of now-empty land get sold and turned into something else. It's already fairly pedestrian-friendly, but that needs to be improved. And for all the housing in that mile-long stretch of road, there's not enough to do. Not enough places to eat and drink, to shop and recreate. Midtown has a lot more such options, and I think this area has at least as many people. I think there's an opportunity being missed, and I think with a little vision, this part of Montrose can be a real activity hub.
Anyway, that's how I see it. Take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think.
Last month, after EarthLink officially defaulted on its contract with the city to provide municipal WiFi and paid a $5 million penalty for doing so, the city announced a pilot project to provide WiFi hotspots in certain neighborhoods, to be paid for with that EarthLink cash. That plan is now moving forward.
On Monday, Mayor Bill White announced the city will use about $3.5 million of that money to build 10 free wireless network "bubbles" in low-income parts of Houston to give residents access they otherwise might do without.The long-term possibility, White said, is that the bubbles could be connected and the areas between them added to the network, providing WiFi access across the city.
"It's a matter of connecting those bubbles," White said.
Monday's announcement launched the first bubble in the densely populated Gulfton area of Southwest Houston. The city is establishing a committee to determine where future networks will be located. Build-out is expected to happen over the next two years.
[...]
To expand the network beyond the first 10 bubbles will require partnerships with other private businesses, said [Craig Settles, an independent municipal wireless consultant and author of two books on city WiFi]. He suggested deals with area hospitals, which tend to be spread throughout the city and might have interest in establishing a network to communicate with ambulances, clinics, doctors and patients citywide.
Last week, the city finished the formal process of requesting information from potential service providers about how it might build out the network, said Richard Lewis, director of the city's information technology department. The city likely will ask for bids to build the remaining nine networks, maintain them, provide technical support for users and create a system for businesses to advertise on the network, potentially building revenue for operational costs, he said.
Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Verizon Wireless and Tropos Networks -- which donated equipment for the Gulfton network -- are pilot sponsors. HP will help develop an "affordable computer purchase plan," according to a news release.
In addition to installing Internet service, the city is working with social service groups to provide computer access and training for users. Each bubble will include about 15 public access points at schools, city facilities and community organizations within the area.
Dwight has more. I liked this plan when I first heard of it, and I like it now. If full coverage isn't in the cards, this sounds like the next best thing.
Swamplot brings the news:
A reader who doesn't sound too happy about the situation sends word that David Adickes has sold his artist-studio building at 2500 Summer St.:
Artists who lease space there have been told they need to leave in less than 6 months. Deborah Colton Gallery resides on his 3rd floor.
Yes, that's David Adickes, sculptor of large presidential heads.
That means that if you have never had the chance to look at or photograph the large presidential heads, you are officially on a deadline to do so. Don't delay, act now.
The On the Spot Blog gives the second and third entries in its three-part series of what's going on with the Archstone Memorial Heights apartments that are scheduled to meet their doom shortly, to be replaced by something swankier. (Part one is here.) It looks like we can expect some demolition action soon:
Now that the tenants have moved out of the space, some obvious activity is taking place inside the buildings by the maintenance personnel. Interior doors, window blinds and other lightweight items are being moved from the buildings. As far as I can tell, no major interior demolition has begun (no dumpsters for demolition debris is yet on site).I suspect that we will see the activity ramp up in early April, and the buildings gone and the ground cleared by May. I will continue to watch SwampLot's daily demolition reports for clues as to when the heavy machines will be coming to take it down.
I'll have a good view of this as it happens, since I drive past it nearly every day. I haven't heard any updates yet regarding the proposed Court Street abandonment, or if Archstone Memorial has listened to the feedback from Super Neighborhood 22 regarding the orientation of its street-level retail in the new development. I'll let you know when I do. Thanks to Swamplot for the catch.
This totally flew under the radar last week - I only heard about the Planning Commission's vote the day it happened when this story appeared in the This Week section of the Chron - but the decision to deny a variance to subdivide a lot beyond the minimum 3000 square foot requirement is a big deal.
The vote to deny Jared Meadors of Medusa Properties' request for his property at 2601 Baylor St. to be exempted from East Sunset Heights' ordinance mandating 3,000-foot minimum lot sizes came March 13in a standing-room-only meeting at the Houston City Hall Annex, 900 Bagby.With one abstention and virtually no opposition from commissioners, the vote reflected the recommendation of the Houston Planning and Development Department.
It followed two previous public hearings on the matter since Feb. 14 and the testimony of residents from East Sunset Heights and other neighborhoods with similar ordinances.
Meadors, who bought the property in August 2006, had sought to re-plat his 5,880-square-foot property into three lots rather than two. He had requested the variance based on money his company had spent, in part to conduct exploratory demolition on a small portion of a former post office built on the site in the 1920s.
He also claimed that he wasn't informed of the lot size ordinance filed by Sunset Heights residents Sept. 26, 2006, and adopted by Houston City Council in October 2007.
[...]
Vicki Davis, the primary East Sunset Heights resident who drove the community's effort for the lot size ordinance, said the commission's decision was received by a grateful community.
It also sets precedence, she said, marking the first time an attempt was made to seek a variance after a prevailing lot size ordinance was in place.
"It was positive to see the neighborhood come together and work hard to fight this, and we are grateful for all the help we received from outside the neighborhood. People from all over the city were watching this," Davis said. "This was our battle, but in the end, it was a much bigger fight than this corner in East Sunset Heights."
As you may recall, previous attempts to enforce a minimum lot size ordinance didn't go so well, which led to a different approach last year. I'm glad to see that this time the outcome was what the neighborhood expected. Inside Central Houston has more.
Whatever the next step in the Ashby highrise fight is going to be, get ready for it.
The developers of the controversial Ashby high-rise said Monday they are moving forward with their long-delayed permit applications because city officials haven't responded to their compromise offer to build a smaller development.The decision by developers Matthew Morgan and Kevin Kirton of Buckhead Investment Partners revives their original 23-story project that has been on hold since November, when the developers agreed to delay seeking permits after an outcry from surrounding neighborhoods led to discussions of new development regulations at City Hall.
Morgan and Kirton said their revised proposal calls for a 22-story building with a smaller footprint and fewer residential units -- changes they said would eliminate any possibility the project would cause unacceptable traffic congestion.
The developers said they submitted this idea to city officials three weeks ago but had received no reply.
"We feel as if we have no choice but to move forward," Morgan said, adding that he and Kirton had instructed a consultant to begin walking the original permit applications through the city's review process.
[...]
Under the latest proposal, Morgan and Kirton said their building would be almost as tall as originally planned but significantly narrower, with a small park on one corner of the property, landscaping and other measures intended to provide a buffer between the building and surrounding single-family neighborhoods.
A document outlining the proposal, however, shows the offer is contingent on significant financial concessions by the city: An immediate refund of about $500,000 for new sewer lines the developers installed to serve the project, along with a payment to the developers of up to $2.15 million, over as long as 10 years, from revenue generated by increased tax values on the site.
Neighborhood leaders said the city would never agree to these payments, which casts doubt on the sincerity of the developers' offer.
"This is a charade," said Ron Kahanek, the president-elect of the Boulevard Oaks Civic Association, a neighborhood just north of the project site at 1717 Bissonnet at Ashby.
That doesn't sound like a sincere offer to me, either. Which suggests that Morgan and Kirton feel very comfortable that there was never any real chance the city could stop them. Hard to blame them for their confidence, I suppose.
Andy Icken, a deputy city public works director, said the pending permit applications for the project would be reviewed under a decades-old driveway ordinance that the city is now applying to certain high-density development projects. These reviews typically take 11 days, Icken said.Mayor Bill White has said repeatedly that the project, as originally proposed, would cause an unacceptable increase in traffic congestion. It is uncertain, however, what changes the city would require under the driveway ordinance.
[...]
The dispute over the Ashby project has led to renewed discussions about how the city can encourage denser development in its core while protecting the character of older neighborhoods where detached single-family housing predominates.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, you can't deal with a problem of scale by tweaking traffic regulations. Updating the form-based codes is the way to go. Which was unfortunately never going to be doable in time to help the anti-Ashby folks, but could be in place to deal with the next Ashby, if we get started now. Have we resigned ourselves to this yet so we can get something done? It'd be nice.
If you believe Joel Kotkin. He makes a pretty convincing argument in his recent article in The American. He gives the jobs and diversity one-two punch (must have been listening to some of Mayor White's speeches), and thumbs his nose at new urbanism and "superstar cities." The part that hit me hardest comes toward the end of the article:
Another of Houston's advantages is its history of tolerance. In the antebellum period, Houston was home to a large proportion of Texas's "free people of color." For decades after the Civil War, blacks certainly suffered the indignities of segregation, but Houston largely avoided the ugly desegregation battles of the 1950s and '60s (for one reason, business elites realized that such conflict would be bad for economic growth). Perhaps nothing better reflects Houston's openness to minorities than its willingness to accommodate upwards of 150,000 poor, predominately African-American evacuees from the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina. The massive humanitarian undertaking was largely a joint effort of the city's African-American churches and its largely white evangelical congregations.In the future, Houston's culture of tolerance will no doubt be tested by the challenge of assimilating immigrants. Houston's traditional racial mix of blacks, whites, and a much smaller Hispanic population has been upended by an immigrant wave that began in earnest after the oil bust of the 1980s. Attracted by low housing prices and economic opportunities, large numbers of immigrants from Mexico, Vietnam, China, India, Nigeria, Venezuela, and other countries swarmed into the city. In the 1990s, Houston's foreign-born population soared by 94 percent--the biggest increase of any major city. Today the newcomers account for over 21 percent of the population.
Those couple paragraphs really just make me think more about what's still left for the government and individuals to do to make Houston a place where everyone succeeds. Houston has tons of success stories in every demographic, but there are still big numbers of people that are struggling here. Our diversity is a strength, but let's be careful not to take that for granted and make sure that people succeed here because of what Houston (and the county and the state) do and not in spite of what they don't.
Hat tip to Houston's Clear Thinkers. Read the post there and read Kotkin's whole article to find out why Houston is such an American dream city.
Swamplot has an updated look at the Costco that's coming to the west end of Greenway Plaza, at Weslayan and Richmond. From the description of the parking lot, I'd say it puts to rest any possible notion that it might possibly be accommodating to rail passengers, if any such notion still existed. Seems like a missed opportunity to me, but they didn't ask me. Anyway, check it out.
Got this last week and forgot to post about it. From SuperNeighborhood 22, an update on the Archstone Memorial Heights situation:
The TIRZ 5 (Memorial/Heights) Board will meet on Tuesday, March 11 at 2:00PM. The meeting location is changed from the Memorial Heights Archstone apartments' Media Room to a larger venue at the United Way Building, room E/F, at 50 Waugh Drive. A new public comment opportunity has been added to the meeting's agenda. Members of the public who wish to speak may sign in prior to the meeting. After being acknowledged by the Chair, the Board will hear individual comments limited to approximately 3 minutes each.Superneighborhood 22 continues to collect input from the community about Archstone's intention to seek abandonment of the Court Street and Spaceway Park rights-of-way.
Please e-mail comments to: Superneighborhood22@yahoo.com
Results to date: 90% opposed to the abandonment of Court Street.
It is the opinion of the SN22 Council that attractively landscaped large splitter islands with mature trees add unique character and a sense of place to our urban streetscape - qualities that should be preserved and encouraged along Washington Avenue, and that are consistent with the precedent set by the Washington on Westcott (WOW) Roundabout design. Splitter islands enhance pedestrian mobility in active mixed-use areas by enabling safer pedestrian crossings of the entire intersection.
The Court Street turn lane offers emergency vehicles from HFD Station 6 a shorter southbound path than a standardized intersection at this location would. Drivers are able to make right turns even when a Metro bus is serving passengers at the transit stop. This right turn access works effectively to lessen congestion at the intersection, and the landscaped island provides a shaded refuge for both transit users and pedestrians.
SN22 requested that COH/PWE/Traffic & Transportation evaluate the safety of the Court Street turn lane and install appropriate signage to eliminate confusion and misdirection of traffic. Two communications several weeks apart were received from T&T's Deputy Director, Ray Chong, informing us first; that funds had been allocated to resolve the problems; and second, that a consultant has been engaged to redesign the intersection. As yet we have been unable to determine if Mr. Chong refers to the same consultant engaged by Archstone to provide a redesign for the intersection. If that is the case, the public property will be abandoned and incorporated into Archstone's private 28.10 acre re-development.
At the February TIRZ 5 meeting Archstone stated the intent to move the abandonment request forward for approval by the COH Joint Referral Committee.
I think this abandonment is a bad idea. If you agree, and if you can attend this meeting so as to express that, please do so. Thanks.
UPDATE: See the On the Spot blog for a resident's view of what's happening at Archstone Memorial Heights.
Having been dispatched to Pearland a couple of weeks ago, the pioneer Giant Presidential Heads that will be the first ones for their eventual Giant Presidential Heads Park have settled in to their new home. It's, um, still a work in progress. Swamplot has more about what will eventually be there, but go click over now so you can say you knew what it looked like when it all began.
(I really need to get myself over to the four-statue display near I-10 and I-45, known as "Mount Rush Hour", so I can get a picture of it before it disappears. There's just something about Giant Presidential Heads that make life worth living.)
Missed this last week: Swamplot has some more news about the upcoming demo-and-rebuild of the Archstone Memorial Apartments on Washington and Studemont. Basically, Super Neighborhood 22, which encompasses that area, is not happy about the design that's being proposed.
While members of SuperNeighborhood 22 support the redevelopment, they are concerned that the project's suburban design -- which calls for the back of the residential components to face Washington Avenue -- is hurting efforts to transform the avenue into a walkable, pedestrian-friendly destination.Monica Savino, a member of SuperNeighborhood 22, points out that Archstone was one of the first developers to come into the area 12 years ago when the Archstone Memorial Heights complex was built, and she's disappointed that the developer isn't cooperating with the new vision for the Inner-Loop area.
"This is an irresponsible way to develop in an urban area where land prices are so high," Savino says. "It's unfortunate that the project turns its back on a highly trafficked street that is currently undergoing a major revitalization."
Savino says neighborhood groups have encouraged Archstone to include retail on the ground floor facing Washington Avenue. But, she says, Archstone hasn't been receptive to the requests even though the company made a pledge in a public meeting to cooperate with SuperNeighborhood 22 and Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 5 on the project.
The real shame here is that all the dense development going on along Studemont from Washington south to Dallas, and along Washington pretty much everywhere you look makes this project a prime candidate, in a perfect location, for pedestrian-friendly retail. I took some photos a couple of weeks ago along that stretch of Montrose/Studemont to document this trend, which I'll get around to uploading to Flickr and blogging about some day after the primary, to show the massive changes there already, with so much more to come. Especially with the heavily-used park area down by the bayou along Allen Parkway (which as I understand it was originally going to be turned into private property; what a tragedy that would have been), this area is already attracting walkers and joggers, some of whom already live right there. What it lacks is places for these people to go to shop, eat, and otherwise recreate. Archstone would be doing everyone, including themselves, a favor if they provided more of that.
The bottom line is simply that this is an urban area in every way - it's historic, it's dense, it's close to downtown, and it's attracting residents who want to live in that kind of environment - and it deserves urban-centric development that fits it. Archstone, which was a forward-thinking pioneer in the 90s for building this apartment complex in the first place, is perfectly capable, and indeed has a track record elsewhere, of delivering something equally visionary now. I just hope they listen.
There's another looming issue that we touched on before as well:
Meanwhile, Archstone has requested that the city abandon nearby Court Street so the company can incorporate the land into its project. Archstone claims the street is dangerous, confusing and lacks control signage.But some residents are concerned that the abandonment of Court Street will cause increased traffic congestion.
Savino points out that any time a public right-of-way is abandoned and taken private, it limits options for mobility improvements.
Adding to the area's density is a recently approved residential tower, an apartment complex and a parking structure just down the street from the Archstone site.
"It's a shame that such a historic corridor could be turned into a high-speed area," Savino says. "We don't want to be the next Richmond Avenue. Their plans are creating a squandering affect on the neighborhood."
Savino emailed me to say that the TIRZ is supporting the abandonment; see here (PDF) for the details. As I said in my previous post, the neighborhood is still looking for feedback from people who use this Court Street byway, especially folks who are passing through from elsewhere. Please email your comments, along with your ZIP code, to superneighborhood22@yahoo.com. Thanks very much.
Mayor White is taking another crack at an ordinance aimed at the Ashby highrise, and has met with some initial approval for it.
The City Council indicated its support of White's approach by shelving a draft ordinance that had been the subject of debate for many months. Instead, the city will take public discussion for six months, and use an old city law on driveways to force traffic revisions from the Ashby developers, if needed.The driveway law dates back to 1940, though its current form began to take shape in 1968. White acknowledged that reviving this broadly worded law might have a "chilling" effect on growth, so he circulated a memo Wednesday with criteria on how it would be applied. The memo said developments that meet three criteria will receive "more intense scrutiny" of their traffic loads. The criteria are:
- A location where 60 percent or more of the properties within a 500-foot radius are residential
- Driveways that feed onto local or collector streets instead of a major thoroughfare
- A net increase of 50 additional vehicles going to and from the development during rush hours.
To mitigate the traffic effects, developers might have to add turning lanes or lights, scale back the number of apartments, or change the type of stores, White said.Enforcement comes from the city's power to reject a site plan, which shows where driveways connect to public streets.
The city will use these "interim procedures" while gathering public comment through July 1, the memo said. By Aug. 1, the city will issue a new proposal for regulating traffic from high-density developments. But it was unclear if this meant a new ordinance or the adjustment or tightening of current ordinances or policies.
"We are listening to everybody's concerns," Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck said. "It's an extremely complex process, and one size does not fit all."
Chris Amandes, co-chair of the Stop Ashby High-Rise task force, said he was fine with the mayor's new strategy.
"They are continuing along the same lines as the high-density ordinance, but this has the additional advantage of not having to pass City Council," Amandes said.
See here for the previous update. At least this approach now has support from the Ashby opponents, which is a step forward from where we were before. I still think that a narrow focus on traffic is myopic and will not do enough to avoid this kind of situation in the future, and that the risk of exposing the city to a lawsuit over an ordinance like this is a risk that should be weighed very carefully. I'll be very interested to see what we learn from those six months of public discussion.
Here's a story about the Beer Can House, which is having a grand re-opening party this weekend after a successful restoration.
The Beer Can House is, after all, an homage to individual vision, although Milkovisch, who died in 1988, might have preferred to call it an homage to Texas Pride and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Or a way to avoid painting the house.Decide for yourself. People will be able to see it up close when the house reopens March 8, one of the few remaining bungalows in a neighborhood now filled with expensive, three-story townhouses. Docents will be on hand between noon and 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, showcasing what more than 40,000 beer cans and other whimsical additions can do for a house. (The house will be open by appointment, as well, and available for rental to groups of 25 or fewer.)
There are garlands made of pull tabs, the tops and bottoms of beer cans and cutouts from the sides of cans, all hanging from the eaves. That shaded the house from the harsh Houston sun, reducing Milkovisch's electric bills. The small yard is covered in concrete slabs, dotted with glass marbles. Just a way to get out of mowing the lawn, he insisted.
The mailbox and fences are covered with cans, and wooden sculptures are studded with metal letters -- AMEN, reads the top of a wooden ladder -- and elaborate cutouts.
"John Milkovisch never thought of himself as an artist," said Julie Birsinger, project manager for the Beer Can House. He was, instead, an upholsterer and a beer drinker.
[...]
Birsinger had to figure out how to renovate a house covered in beer cans, which isn't the sort of thing taught in art-restoration courses. Her goal was to restore the work to its original condition and to replace any artistic elements that couldn't be repaired.
The sunlight that once twinkled off the glass and metal is now in short supply as towering townhomes loom over the house, so new lighting will be added to recapture some of the ambience. Originally, the Orange Show had hoped to buy an adjacent lot for parking space; that didn't work out, so parking remains at a premium throughout the neighborhood.
As for the house's signature décor, many of the cans were in good enough condition to be rehung after cleaning -- a good thing since Birsinger couldn't run to the corner store for a six-pack when she needed new materials.
Beer cans have changed. Some brands are no longer produced. Other labels have been redesigned, detachable pull tabs are history and modern cans aren't even made of the same material as cans from decades past.
No problem, thanks to members of the Brewery Collectibles Clubs of America, who responded to a call for vintage cans from the 1960s and 1970s.
I cannot tell you how much I love the fact that there is such a thing as the Brewery Collectibles Clubs of America, and that they were able to respond to a call for "vintage cans from the 1960s and 1970s". Talk about one man's trash being another's treasure. Anyway, go visit the Beer Can House when you get a chance. It's a true gem of Houston, and I couldn't be happier that it's in good hands.
Well, I failed to find any mainstream media coverage of the West 11th Street Park dedication ceremony, but the person who sent me the word about it was kind enough to forward me these links:
KUHF:
Despite intermittent rain, several dozen people gathered to celebrate the official opening of the 11th Street Park.It's one of the few remaining large natural forested areas inside the 610 Loop.
Houston Mayor Bill White says the site fits in with the city's overall parks plan.
"Too often we haven't thought ahead about preserving the greenspace that makes our city so special as we've grown. This is part of a whole change in the culture and direction of our city as a result of the fact that we're thinking ahead and preserving more and more of our greenspace and special places and things that make neighborhoods real neighborhoods."
[...]
The City of Houston had already pledged $4 million. And community members and philanthropists were able to raise another $1.3 million. Councilmember Toni Lawrence says saving the park was one of the reasons she ran for office.
"At one of the auctions, I bought a picture of this park. I have it hanging in the hallway. And it symbolizes to my staff if you work hard and, excuse me for kind of being emotional at this, this is a very, very important symbol. This is a symbol of working hard, but it's also a symbol of the community."
The 11th Street Park is home to some of the tallest trees inside the loop and is a sanctuary for 101 species of birds.
Houston Community Newspapers:
"This has been a de facto park in the community for years," said Roksan Okan-Vick, executive director of the city's parks board. "The rest of us are just now catching up."The land had been owned by the Houston Independent School District, which declared the property as surplus when the demographics for a new school at the site and an outcry from the community put an end to those plans.
Civic leaders and the city had worked since 2005 to raise the $9.2 million to retain the area as a park.
An item added to the state's urban park budget by state Sen. John Whitmire accounted for $3.75 million allowing the parks board to acquire the final five acres.
"It's amazing what people can do if we just come together," Whitmire said.
Mayor Bill White said the city had paid a fair price for what is one of the few remaining natural urban forests inside the 610 Loop.
"We rely heavily on private philanthropy in this community," he said, adding that the decision had been an easy one for the City Council.
The Mayor made what I thought was a pretty good point about this, that in a low-tax community it's incumbent on private funding sources to fill in the gaps where needed for that community to be truly livable. There's fodder there for an excellent debate some day. Anyway, just wanted to share these stories. Enjoy!
I was able to attend the ceremony that marked the official transition of the West 11th Street Park to city-owned park space. It was a nice and pleasantly brief affair that was well-attended by folks in the neighborhood who had worked so hard to save it. There were a lot of moving parts to this effort, starting with the grassroots organization, and it required a fair bit of coordination among different governmental entities - the Mayor's office, the HISD board of trustees, and ultimately the state Parks and Wildlife bureau - and there were a lot of ways in which it could have failed. But it didn't, and we're all the richer for it. I haven't seen any actual news coverage of this, so I'm going to print the press release I got for this here:
At last, the full 20.2 acres of the West 11th Street Park property is now a permanent part of the Houston Park system. After several years of advocacy, fundraising, and dedication to protecting this beautiful urban forest, the Houston Parks Board received the final funds necessary to save the last 5 acres of the property."The city moved quickly to preserve important green space, working with the community and state and local leaders," said Mayor White. "It's an effort we're very proud of."
"I am honored to have played a role in the preservation of the West 11th Street Park," said Senator Whitmire. "Working together, we have protected this precious park land for generations to come."
The story behind the purchase of West 11th Street Park is unique, starting with discussions that began more than a decade ago with the Houston Independent School District. The history also includes a bold decision by the Houston Parks Board to take out a one-year bridge loan in order to bide time to raise the final $3.62 million to purchase the park, an unexpected commitment of funds from the Texas Legislature to ensure the park's full acquisition by the City, and subsequently, the availability of recently donated funds for new signage, trail repairs and modest park improvements.
"Having a one-year bridge loan in hopes of raising over $3 million is unheard of in the world of fundraising," stated Roksan Okan-Vick, Executive Director of the Houston Parks Board. "I am thankful that our board of directors was willing, and am thankful that it all worked out." West 11th Street Park will be managed for the City by the Houston Parks and Recreation Department.
"We are excited that the entire 20.2 acres of land will be coming into the City's system of parks," said Joe Turner, Director of Houston Parks and Recreation Department. "There have been many people working behind the scenes to make this happen. I'm happy to see that their hard work and dedication will result in such a beautiful wilderness park right in the middle of Houston."
As am I. Congratulations to everyone who made this happen.
The West 11th Street Park isn't the only park getting attention this week. So is Memorial Park.
City officials and local parks advocates Tuesday launched a $10 million fundraising campaign for a new running trail, expanded tennis facilities, a pedestrian bridge and other amenities at Memorial Park.These improvements and others are included in a master plan for the park approved by the City Council in 2004. Proposals to move ball fields and the tennis center out of the park to put more focus on its natural areas, included in an earlier version of the plan, were dropped after an outcry from groups that use those facilities.
Leaders of the Memorial Park Conservancy, a nonprofit group that works to protect and improve the park, said they hoped to raise the money and start work on the improvements in the next three to five years.
"We're excited about getting people excited about the park," said Stephen Costello, the conservancy's board chairman. "There's a significant jewel here in the city."
The new running trail on the south side of Memorial Drive, he said, will complement the Seymour Lieberman trail on the north, one of the most popular running spots in Houston.
The two trails will be connected by the pedestrian bridge, which would also be used by pedestrians and bicyclists.
This sounds great. The pedestrian bridge in particular is a fine idea. I look forward to seeing the end result of this.
I'm going to quit wondering about the viability of the Astrodome Redevelopment project. The thing has more lives than Jason Voorhees.
The on-again-off-again Astrodome convention hotel plan is on again after Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to seek a deal with the project's developers.The court authorized county officials to mediate differences between Astrodome Redevelopment Co. and two opponents of the project, the Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
County Judge Ed Emmett said the vote was not needed because negotiations could continue without any action by the court.
But Commissioner Jerry Eversole urged the court to take a position.
"If we do absolutely nothing, that sends the message that we aren't supportive of what is happening," Eversole said. "I want to make sure that I vote today for us to continue looking at the project."
As part of the vote, the court agreed that the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., which oversees Reliant Park, could entertain other proposals to redevelop the Dome.
I'm okay with this. Until such time as someone proposes spending public money on some aspect of this project, I see no reason to not let it play out and see where it goes. If a developer with his own funding thinks he can make something out of the Dome, I say good luck. We can always tear it down later if all else fails. And if someone else proposes something more sensible than what ARC has put on the table so far, then so much the better.
OK, that's a misleading title, since the West 11th Street Park never closed, though its future was in doubt for awhile there. Be that as it may, there will be a celebration to mark the acquisition of all 20+ acres of the park tomorrow, the 21st of February. Here's the details, from the press release I got:
West 11th Street Park Celebration and Press ConferenceWHAT: After several years of advocacy and raising critical funds, all 20.2 acres of the West 11th Street Park is now a permanent part of Houston's Park system. The Houston Parks Board will take this opportunity to thank donors and strategic partners who helped permanently secure this extraordinary park for Houston.
MEDIA OPP: On Thursday, February 21, the Houston Parks Board will thank the donors, city and state leaders, and residents of Timbergrove Manor neighborhood who have made contributions to help permanently secure all of the acreage of West 11th Street Park for Houston. Several leaders will speak, including Senator John Whitmire, who in May 2007, played a critical role in finalizing the park purchase by urging the Texas House and Senate to adopt a state budget that included the $3.75 million in funding necessary to complete the purchase of West 11th Street Park. Media will have the opportunity to go on a guided tour of the park by Friends of West 11th Street Park President Lorraine Cherry following the press conference.
WHEN: Thursday, February 21, 2008
10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: West 11th Street Park, 2300 West 11th Street, on Wister St. between Shelterwood and Shirkmere next to the West 11th Street Park sign. (map)
WHY: For 32 years the Houston Parks Board has pursued opportunities to develop equitably distributed parks throughout Houston. The West 11th Street Park is a major success in this ongoing effort. The Houston Parks Board is a 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to acquire, improve, and protect parkland for Houston.
Definitely something worth celebrating. If you're in the area, you should drop by for the ribbon-cutting.
This ought to be interesting. From the Houston Politics blog:
In this corner, former Mayor Bob Lanier and consultant Wendell Cox. In that corner, Gulf Coast Institute President David Crossley and Virginia Tech planning professor Arthur Nelson.What's this fight about? Land use and growth in Houston, the nation's only major city without zoning.
As city officials struggle to devise policies that protect established neighborhoods while encouraging growth and development, experts representing opposing viewpoints will discuss local land use issues in a public forum Feb. 26 at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
The format for the event won't be a debate . . . more like a series of speeches, followed by questions from the audience. Crossley and Nelson will make the case for a general plan to guide the city's development and appropriate rules to enforce the plan. Lanier and Cox will argue that excessive regulations drive up housing costs and threaten the business- and development-friendly culture that has helped Houston to thrive.
The free event is sponsored by the Gulf Coast Institute, Houstonians for Responsible Growth, the Greater Houston Partnership and Blueprint Houston.
Be there if you can. Boyd has more.
Houston Intown magazine has an update on the impending Upper Kirby facelift/street widening, which will have the unfortunate side effect of dooming the existing trees, despite earlier hope otherwise. There's some details in there about what will replace those to-be-removed trees, and other features of the new streetscape. This is slated to begin in April, so if nothing else, get ready to avoid that area for the next year or so. Check it out.
Good news!
You can purchase tickets here. I just think it's eminently fitting that the event takes place on February 29. Enjoy!
I swear, there have been so many ups and downs and twists and turns in the Astrodome Redevelopment story that I find it hard to guess at what's coming next. The latest development, which comes on the heels of some actions by County Judge Ed Emmett that made the plan seem doomed, now makes it sound like it's gaining traction.
A convention hotel at the Reliant Astrodome could net nearly $50 million annually four years after opening, a consultant said in a report released by Harris County Friday."Reliant Park is transforming into one of the largest, most versatile sports, entertainment and conversion complexes in the United States," hotel consultant John Keeling, vice president of PKF Consulting, wrote. "To our knowledge, there are no other hotels like the proposed (hotel) adjacent to" a major stadium and convention center.
Astrodome Redevelopment Co., which has proposed reinventing the Dome as a convention hotel, hired PKF to do the study last year.
A consulting firm hired by the county, Convention Sports & Leisure, found that PKF's study conformed with analyses of financial prospects for large hotels.
Dick Raycraft, county budget and