Category Archives: Elsewhere in Houston

More on the effort to make the Heights less dry

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the Chron: With the intention of building a new store in the Heights, H-E-B said Wednesday that it has been working with a political consulting firm in Austin to help change a law precluding beer and wine sales in … Continue reading →

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Making the Heights a little less dry

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From Swamplot: A GROUP CALLED the Houston Heights Beverage Coalition PAC is hoping to bring about a vote on allowing beer and wine sales in the technically dry section of the Houston Heights. The group published a notice on May 5th announcing an application to the city to … Continue reading →

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Will the Ashby highrise ever get built?

Posted on May 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Who knows? Penelope Loughhead’s house in the leafy neighborhood near Rice University abuts the land where, nearly a decade ago, a proposed high-rise sparked a land-use battle that resonated citywide and throughout the local development community. This week marks two … Continue reading →

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A way to use the Astrodome while we figure out what to do with it

Posted on May 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

How does a Super Bowl light show grab you? The future of the Astrodome still might be in the dark, but that doesn’t mean the iconic building can’t return to the spotlight for at least a few minutes. A pair … Continue reading →

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Hauling Glass

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

In times of change, there are always opportunities to do well. Where some saw rubbish, 8-year-old Pan Berlanga saw opportunity. He launched his first business after the city of Houston and Waste Management in March negotiated a new recycling contract … Continue reading →

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Help a brick out

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From Swamplot: AN INDIEGOGO PAGE has just been launched to crowdfund the removal and reuse of an unexpectedly large group of well-preserved 1930s bricks from thenow-under-deconstruction Yale St. bridge over White Oak Bayou. The group calling itself Friends of Houston’s Yale Bridge Bricks says the funds will be used … Continue reading →

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Don’t let the mosquitoes bite

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

That’s going to be a challenge. Mosquitoes don’t breed in flood waters. They drown in them, said Dr. Mustapha Debboun, director of the Mosquito Control Division at Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services. But it’s after the flood waters … Continue reading →

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“Space City” fight escalates

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It’s getting real. The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau is asking a federal judge to stop a rival comic convention from using the phrase “Space City” for its three-day festival scheduled for NRG Center over Memorial Day weekend. The … Continue reading →

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Don’t expect any flood project funding from Congress, either

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Nice thought, but ain’t gonna happen. As the flood threat across much of the Houston region lessened Friday, local leaders began shifting their focus to recovery and two Houston congressmen announced legislation to fund more than $300 million worth of … Continue reading →

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Disaster declaration made

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office today confirmed that President Obama has approved the governor’s request for a federal disaster declaration for Fayette, Grimes, Harris and Parker counties. The action paves the way for federal recovery assistance to … Continue reading →

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Storm debris collection begins in Houston neighborhoods

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Beginning Saturday, April 23, 2016 the City of Houston Solid Waste Management Department and private contractors working on the City’s behalf will begin storm debris collection in the single-family neighborhoods impacted by Monday’s flooding. This includes the … Continue reading →

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Want to buy a big piece of land near the Medical Center?

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s your chance. A single tract of land large enough to hold multiple office towers, high-rise residential buildings and a hotel doesn’t often come available inside Loop 610. One near the Texas Medical Center is even more uncommon. After 45 … Continue reading →

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The Greater Houston Storm Relief Fund

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: After receiving calls from corporations and others who want to help financially, Mayor Sylvester Turner is establishing The Greater Houston Storm Relief Fund, to accept flood relief donations. “We’ve been hearing from residents who are confused about … Continue reading →

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On drainage and flooding

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Two items of interest from Gray Matters, both on the subject of the week. First, from Cynthia Hand Neely and Ed Browne of Residents Against Flooding: Man-made, preventable flooding has surged dirty, sewage-ridden water through Houston living rooms three times … Continue reading →

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How you can help or get help in Houston

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Via email from State Rep. Gene Wu: I hope this email finds you safe after yesterday’s flooding. While we are seeing most of the high water receding from our neighborhoods, there is still a good deal of cleanup work to … Continue reading →

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Ghosts of Allison

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I sure hope everyone made it through yesterday’s ferocious rain all right. The storm that flooded the greater Houston area on Monday – drenching the region with the most rain since Tropical Storm Allison dumped more than 24 inches in … Continue reading →

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Final Four weekend was pretty good for Houston

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll take it. Beyond the basketball court, the Houston economy appears to be the big winner of the Final Four. Across the city, several restaurants, bars and hotels reported big boosts in customers and cash flow, as an estimated 70,000 … Continue reading →

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We Heart Houston…someplace else

Posted on April 2, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

A popular piece of public art is looking for a new location. It’s difficult not to smile while driving east on I-10 when passing the “We Heart Houston” sculpture near the Patterson St. exit in the Heights. Since 2013, the … Continue reading →

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The Ashby legacy

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

What hath it wrought? The plot of land where developers promised the so-called Ashby high-rise would be built in an affluent neighborhood still sits empty. Yet the 1.6-acre lot at 1717 Bissonnet, which in 2007 sparked a battle that came … Continue reading →

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The reverse Ashby

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

You have to admit, this is kind of clever. A Houston developer has filed a pre-emptive strike against the owners of a luxury high-rise near the Galleria to head off an “inevitable lawsuit” over its plans to build a tower … Continue reading →

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It’ll be 2020 before you know it

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Census is coming to town. The U.S. Census Bureau kicked off a Census test in Harris County on Monday, surveying 225,000 households as part of its preparation for the 2020 review, the first of its kind to rely primarily … Continue reading →

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Other cities want to be like Houston

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

For parks and landscaping. The word “infrastructure” typically conjures up images of towering buildings, layered freeway interchanges and heavily monitored drainage ditches; concrete, cars, trucks and impressive feats of engineering that attempt to mold the natural world and resources to … Continue reading →

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Fiesta down

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Durham/North Shepherd strip, from about 11th Street up, has largely been immune to the implacable Heights-area gentrification machine. That may be about to change. One of the oldest Fiesta stores is closing at the end of this month, leaving … Continue reading →

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Now what for recycling?

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Sure hope there’s a plan. Houston’s curbside recycling program is in limbo after Mayor Sylvester Turner and City Council rejected a new contract with Waste Management on Wednesday, prompting concern among residents and environmental activists about a potential lapse in … Continue reading →

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Those damn dams

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

In case you didn’t have enough to worry about. Here’s the deal with what could be a terrible threat to Houston: most of the time, it isn’t. In fact, it’s a 26,000 acre recreational greenspace on Houston’s west side. It … Continue reading →

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It’s hard out here on a recycler, part 4

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It was a bad year last year. Recycling continues to hurt Waste Management’s bottom line, as low oil prices and low commodity prices have made that a challenging business for at least the past year. The Houston company on Thursday … Continue reading →

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What’s coming to the Yale Street post office location

Posted on February 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Some more news from my neighborhood. A Houston developer plans to replace a shuttered U.S. Postal Service building in the Heights with a two-story mixed-use development with space for offices, shops and restaurants. MFT Interests last month scooped up the … Continue reading →

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Waller County landfill plan appears to be dead

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe. A Waller County commissioner on Wednesday declared victory in a years-long battle against an outside company’s proposal to develop a landfill there. “I am proud to say the landfill is dead,” Commissioner John Amsler said as the regular commissioners … Continue reading →

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Meet the woman in charge of prepping Houston for Super Bowl LI

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The countdown is on, and the spotlight is already ours. When Sallie Sargent applied to take charge of Houston’s preparations for next year’s Super Bowl, she faced a rather daunting audition: find 11 major sponsors to finish a $25 million … Continue reading →

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Exxon Mobil fighting its tax bill

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Of course they are. Exxon Mobil is fighting the Harris County Appraisal District over the $1.04 billion value placed on its sprawling new office complex in Spring, just south of The Woodlands. The oil giant, which has been guarded about … Continue reading →

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Under the Dome

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The latest plan to save the Dome takes a step forward. Harris County Commissioners Court moved forward on Tuesday with one piece of the Astrodome revival that needs to happen whether or not the park plan is achieved, according to … Continue reading →

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“Bad, but not awful”

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Your Houston economy, folks. As Houston enters the second year of the worst oil downturn in decades, its once-booming economy has sputtered, and the strain finally is starting to show. Houston could flirt with recession in 2016 as the oil … Continue reading →

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RIP, Yale Street post office

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It’s gone. Clues could have been the overgrown landscaping, multiple notices taped to the doors and, for the keenest observer, the bare pole without a U.S. flag or clanging metal cables. Headed back to his SUV on Thursday, one man … Continue reading →

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Uptown living

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a thing that is happening. Home to the city’s glittering epicenter of retail, with a dramatic skyline dominated by the towering Williams Tower and other office buildings, Uptown Houston is best known for the places where people work and … Continue reading →

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