Category Archives: Elsewhere in Houston

Super Bowl security

Posted on December 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There will be a lot. You may or may not get to hear about it. When an expected 1  million people descend on Houston for 10 days of Super Bowl concerts, contests and championship football, they will be protected – and … Continue reading →

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The Complete Transportation Guide To Super Bowl LI

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

For which the tl;dr version is don’t drive in or near downtown if you can at all help it. More than 1 million people are expected to converge on downtown Houston during the week leading up to Super Bowl LI … Continue reading →

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More bayou bike trails

Posted on December 10, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. Laying out the particulars for a new trail section along White Oak Bayou, Chip Place saw something out of place where the trail crossed the Heights Hike and Bike Trail near T C Jester. It was the stairs connecting … Continue reading →

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Hempstead landfill application denied again

Posted on December 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A state commission has denied a new application to build a landfill in Waller County, saying ordinances adopted by the county and the city of Hempstead now prohibit a garbage dump in the area. A highly charged debate over … Continue reading →

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Smoke-free Houston, ten years later

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: It’s been 50 years since the release of the Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health and the harmful consequences from the use of tobacco. 2016 marks the 10th year of the adoption of Ordinance No. 2006-1054 … Continue reading →

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No Astrodome laser light show for the Super Bowl

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Alas. Organizers have nixed a proposal to use high-tech lasers to project dazzling images of Houston’s culture and history onto and through the roof of the Astrodome during Super Bowl LI. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said the NFL turned … Continue reading →

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Does it matter why infrastructure was improved?

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I say no, but maybe that’s just me. In the days leading up to the nation’s biggest sporting event, thousands of visitors will use Broadway to travel from the airport to downtown hotels and other spots. Work on gravel paths, … Continue reading →

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Climate change will not be kind to Houston

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It could be even worse, if that’s any consolation, but it will be bad as things are going now. Houston’s brutally hot summers, persistent humidity, floods and hurricanes never have been much of a selling point. It’s been something to … Continue reading →

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Time once again to talk about the Super Bowl and its economic impact

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

We’re less than 100 days out from Super Bowl LI here in Houston. I don’t know how much people who are not directly involved in the planning and execution of it are thinking about that. The economic benefits of hosting … Continue reading →

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The Reliant Stadium area is ready for its closeup

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

For the Super Bowl, of course. Gotta look pretty, you know. Currently, the area surrounding NRG Park, which includes NRG Stadium and the Astrodome, is “functional” but hardly an impression-maker for a throng of out-of-town guests, said Ed Wulfe, chairman … Continue reading →

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Renaming Dowling Street

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The process has to change before the name can be changed. For years, Third Ward residents have had to roll with the changes in their community, often having to live with decisions made in the corridors of power at City … Continue reading →

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The Houston Furniture Bank

Posted on September 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Get to know them, they do great work. [Oli] Mohammed, a native of Bangladesh who has devoted his life to helping the poor, came to Houston after several years of working with refugees in Kenya. “I’m from Bangladesh, and poverty … Continue reading →

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Have we reached a tipping point on flood mitigation?

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

That’s a question that is alluded to but not directly addressed in this story. “This is how the land is supposed to act,” said Mary Anne Piacentini, executive director of the Katy Prairie Conservancy, a nonprofit land trust. “It’s supposed … Continue reading →

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The Food Bank’s new home

Posted on August 14, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I wish them all the best at their new address. The giant “End Hunger” message emblazoned in green on the Houston Food Bank building just north of downtown will soon go away as the charitable organization plans to start cooking … Continue reading →

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Did Steve Radack really say that?

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Apparently so. Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack recently said some people want to get flooded so they can cash in, and he’s not backing down from his comments. Radack says this was one minute of a 90-minute community meeting in … Continue reading →

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Still asking for Zika help

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Following reports of the first local mosquito-borne Zika infections in the U.S., Mayor Sylvester Turner is once again calling on the state of Texas and federal government to provide financial assistance to help fight it. “There are … Continue reading →

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An update on the effort to make the Heights less dry

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

In which we learn there is indeed some opposition to this effort. A petition favored by grocery giant H-E-B to partially lift a 104-year-old ban on beer and wine sales in a dry part of the Heights could be headed … Continue reading →

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Astroworld II?

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Turner would like to see it happen. In a recent informal lunch with members of the media as he approached six months in office, Mayor Sylvester Turner ticked off the important things his administration has accomplished — unanimous passage … Continue reading →

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Hempstead landfill application resubmitted

Posted on July 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. A Georgia-based company on Wednesday announced it had initiated a new application to build a controversial landfill in Waller County, bringing renewed attention to a project that a citizens group and several county commissioners have actively … Continue reading →

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East End former KBR site sold again

Posted on July 8, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I’d forgotten all about this. When a sprawling tract of land lining Buffalo Bayou east of downtown hit the market three years ago, some of Houston’s most prominent observers of urban development put forth ideas about what could be done … Continue reading →

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Appeals court reverses Ashby damages award

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It’s kind of amazing to me that the Ashby Highrise saga is still a newsmaker. In a major ruling that could stymie future legal challenges against developers, a state appellate court has reversed a key portion of the 2014 judgment … Continue reading →

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More options for glass recycling

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Through a new partnership with Strategic Materials Inc., North America’s largest glass recycler, the City of Houston is able to offer residents a more convenient way to recycle glass. “Since the removal of glass from the City’s … Continue reading →

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Hempstead landfill fight still not over

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

As with all things, it ain’t over till it’s over. Green Group Holdings recently purchased the 723-acre parcel where the company had planned to build the landfill before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality turned down the project. The move … Continue reading →

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Astrodome parking plan coming

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Better get ready. Harris County officials on Friday unveiled a $105 million plan to raise the floor of the Astrodome and build two new levels of parking beneath it, the strongest signal yet that the county plans to maintain and … Continue reading →

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On recycling glass

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure about this. Considered only in terms of the city’s short-term budget and Waste Management’s profits, perhaps the decision to stop recycling glass makes sense. But it wasn’t popular at the symposium, which was hosted by UH’s Center for … Continue reading →

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Hey, look, it’s another Astrodome proposal

Posted on June 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Meet A-Dome Park. A Houston architect is touting a new idea for the Astrodome’s overhaul, urging the county to avoid an indoor park concept and instead strip the structure down to its bones. The concept, dubbed “A-Dome Park,” is being … Continue reading →

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How much would you pay to fix Houston’s sewer system?

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Whatever your answer to that question is, the real answer is that

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Woodland Heights neighborhood traffic management plan

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Of primary interest to the folks in my neighborhood only, though I will note that as Mayor Turner has made it easier for neighborhoods to request traffic-calming measures like speed cushions, this could be in your future as well. Tonight … Continue reading →

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Mayor Turner asks for Zika help

Posted on June 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox. With members of the local legislative delegation at his side and an illegal tire dump as the backdrop, Mayor Sylvester Turner called on the state of Texas to declare the Zika virus a public health emergency and … Continue reading →

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A brief summary of the effort to make the Heights less dry

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Heights Life provides a fact sheet: The petition is backed by HEB, who hired a law firm to handle the drive. Some of the canvassers, who are paid and may or may not be your neighbors or Heights residents, … Continue reading →

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We could be #3!

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

In a decade or so! If current trends hold. Chicago, the only city among the nation’s 20 largest to see population loss in 2015, could be overtaken in a decade by Houston as the third-most-populous city if the trend continues, … Continue reading →

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Reimagining Lower Westheimer

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. Lower Westheimer is one of Houston’s most well-known streets, but on some fronts its reputation isn’t a positive one. Narrow and bumpy, the street is both a hub of retail and recreation activity and also … Continue reading →

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Typhoon Texas

Posted on May 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Someplace new for the summer. Not far from Katy Mills Mall, rainbow-colored slides tower seven stories high over a new water park that has taken shape on 25 acres. A short hill with a waterfall running through it greets visitors. … Continue reading →

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Memorial residents file lawsuit over flooding

Posted on May 29, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. A group of residents sued the city of Houston and one of its local redevelopment authorities Wednesday, alleging that they approved commercial development in the Memorial City area without requiring adequate storm water mitigation, resulting … Continue reading →

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