Category Archives: Elsewhere in Houston

No more Fat City

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the goal of a new effort from the Mayor’s office. Dubbed Healthy Houston, the effort will promote programs and policies aimed at getting Houstonians moving on bikes and walkways and in parks and playgrounds; improve access to healthy, affordable … Continue reading →

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Et tu, Leo?

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

At least one person living near the Ashby Highrise is looking forward to its construction. Linbeck Group, a general contractor whose top executive lives in the neighborhood adjacent to the building site, is expected to start construction at the beginning … Continue reading →

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Ashby everywhere

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Nancy Sarnoff notes a trend. Homeowners in the Memorial area held a meeting last month in the lobby of a nearby medical office building to discuss what to do about a large apartment complex being planned in their neighborhood. They … Continue reading →

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What would you do with 136 acres near downtown?

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Something urban, mixed-use, and transit-oriented, one hopes. A rare opportunity lies in 136 acres just east of downtown Houston. The Buffalo Bayou-front parcel, a longtime industrial and office complex, went on the market earlier this summer – a move bayou … Continue reading →

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Regent Square gets off the ground

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This has been a long time coming. More than five years after announcing plans for the 24-acre Regent Square project off Allen Parkway, GID Development Group has begun construction on the first building, a 21-story apartment tower called The Sovereign. … Continue reading →

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Ashby set to rise

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, here it comes. Construction on the 21-story luxury apartment building at 1717 Bissonnet is scheduled to begin by the fourth quarter of this year and is expected to take 18 to 24 months to complete. Kevin Kirton … Continue reading →

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No Dome vote this year?

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There may not be an Astrodome-related bond referendum on the ballot this year. The last day Commissioners Court can place a referendum on the November ballot is Aug. 20, according to county attorneys. The court’s Tuesday meeting was its last … Continue reading →

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Funding to rebuild Yale Street Bridge acquired

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. Calling the Yale Street bridge “functionally obsolete” after a recent engineering study, the Texas Department of Transportation has secured “out of cycle funding” to replace the bridge, Councilwoman Ellen Cohen announced late Monday. Cohen said that means the … Continue reading →

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Yale Street Bridge to get makeover

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You may recall that last November the load limit on the Yale Street Bridge was reduced by TxDOT to 8,000 lbs per single axle and 10,000 lbs per tandem axle, which has resulted in truck traffic being forbidden on the … Continue reading →

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How cool are we?

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Way cool, apparently. Houston is known for many things: Oil, NASA, urban sprawl and business-friendly policies. But the Texas city deserves to be known for something else: coolness. The Bayou City may not be the first place you associate with … Continue reading →

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Trudi Smith: What’s going on with Buffalo Bayou

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I have been presenting over the past few weeks. Transformation of Buffalo Bayou Park, one of Houston’s most iconic green spaces, is well underway. With an historic $30 million catalyst … Continue reading →

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It’s what comes after the rain that’ll get you

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

All that rain we got was great and badly needed to finally kill off last year’s drought. But we know what comes next. In the last three weeks, Harris County has confirmed three cases of this potentially deadly disease in … Continue reading →

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Water conservation task force

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Parker has put together a water conservation task force. “This task force will be forward-thinking in its approaches to addressing water conservation and water supply diversification,” Parker said, “taking into consideration Houston’s climate, existing water supply and alternative approaches … Continue reading →

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Laura Spanjian – From Industrial to Green Revolution: The New Houston

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. Bike Share kiosks in downtown. Electric vehicle charging stations at the grocery store. Over 15 miles of new rail lines being … Continue reading →

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Parklets

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Not really sure what to make of this. Six years ago, a posse of guerrilla designers fed a parking meter on a busy San Francisco street, unrolled sod in the parking space and plopped down a potted tree. The result … Continue reading →

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Discussing the Z word

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. The go-ahead for the Ashby high rise has left me feeling really depressed. If affluent residents with all their political and social connections can’t keep a 21-story skyscraper out of their bucolic … Continue reading →

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Buffalo Bayou begins its makeover

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This is going to be great. The jogging and biking trails that wind through Buffalo Bayou Park west of downtown are about to get a bit more circuitous as a $55 million effort to transform the area into an iconic … Continue reading →

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A history of Allen Parkway

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Cool. When the roadway now known as Allen Parkway was new, it was the primary route between downtown Houston and a new residential community, River Oaks. “It was in 1923 when the Hogg brothers and Hugh Potter decided to build … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over historic preservation ordinance

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I got an email last week from Kathleen Powell of Responsible Historic Preservation for Houston announcing that the first lawsuit against Houston’s new historic preservation. You can see a copy of the complaint here. What I have not seen is … Continue reading →

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Tyson Sowell: Making Plans for a Brighter Future

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. In my previous article, I talked about the phasing out of single-use check-out bags being just one step the City needs … Continue reading →

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Tyson Sowell: The Problem of Single-Use Bags

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. On Wednesday, June 20, Houston City Council approved a budget amendment to “address littering by plastic bags or phasing out plastic … Continue reading →

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No Dome action yet

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s still there. Beyond that, nothing to report. Harris County officials put off any final decision on the fate of the Astrodome on Tuesday, though the top executive suggested a new option for the deteriorating stadium. County Judge Ed Emmett … Continue reading →

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Recycle that polystyrene

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From the Inbox: Polystyrene Foam Recycling Available Beginning Monday, June 25, 2012 Beginning Monday, June 25, 2012, the City of Houston will accept clean block style or packaging polystyrene foam at the Westpark Recycling Center, 5900 Westpark, Houston 77057 and the … Continue reading →

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Defacing Picasso

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Some people, I swear. Officials at the Menil Collection don’t know why a man spray-painted Pablo Picasso’s “Woman in a Red Armchair” at the museum, but the act wasn’t caught just on surveillance cameras. It also was captured by a … Continue reading →

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Fixing pipes needs to be part of the state water plan

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The idea of conservation is to use less than you are currently using. When a large part of your water usage is due to leaks and losses, any sensible plan for conservation should start with addressing the underlying issues causing … Continue reading →

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No smoking at UH

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Put that cigarette down and slowly back away. The University of Houston is on its way to becoming a tobacco-free campus. Under a new proposal by school officials, UH would outlaw the “use, sale, advertising, and sampling of all tobacco … Continue reading →

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Here comes Trader Joe’s

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

They’re opening the first Houston-area store in the Woodlands, which doesn’t count as far as I’m concerned. But it’s all right, the one I am interested in will follow behind shortly. The 13,500-square-foot store at 10868 Kuykendahl has a fraction … Continue reading →

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No one likes the new noise ordinance

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Look for more changes to come. The latest participants in the never-ending noise battle are local nightclub owners who feel they have been unfairly targeted after the Houston City Council updated the noise ordinance in October. They have been issued … Continue reading →

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Alamo Drafthouse coming inside the Loop

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Woo hoo! I am so thrilled to announce that we’re getting two new Alamo Drafthouse locations in Houston! I love living in Houston and I love the Alamo theaters here, and the expansion of the company in this wonderful city … Continue reading →

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Skeeter season

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Not the minor league baseball team, the kind we all hate. Despite dire predictions of an even worse-than-usual mosquito invasion this spring, the swarm of activity actually thinned out in May, after two out-of-control months buoyed by rain and unseasonably … Continue reading →

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More reactions to the new Astrodome report

Posted on May 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Texans owner Bob McNair says “Sure, that’s nice and all, but don’t you forget about me.” “Our first concern is Reliant Stadium,” McNair said Thursday. “We want to make sure we’ve got adequate funds there for repairs, replacement and improvements, … Continue reading →

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Meet the new “What To Do With The Astrodome” report

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Not that much different than the old “What To Do With The Astrodome” report. The Astrodome, a now-empty showplace that has hosted everyone from Elvis Presley to Hurricane Katrina evacuees, should be turned into a multipurpose facility that could spark … Continue reading →

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Assessing the risk of wildfires

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

While one hopes that it won’t be a problem this year, the Harris County Fire Marshall has come up with a plan to protect vulnerable areas from wildfires. Four months ago, Harris County became the most populated county in the … Continue reading →

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Bike racks at restaurants

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I wholeheartedly approve of this. On nice days, a 20-station bicycle rack stays mostly full outside Hay Merchant, a food-and-beer establishment located among a cramped string of restaurants on Westheimer near Montrose. When the rack is full, it means 20 … Continue reading →

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