Category Archives: Elsewhere in Houston

Lisa Gray writes about Market Square Park downtown and its unfulfilled potential. The main reason people don’t go there, says Project for Public Spaces, is that … there’s nobody there. So what attracts those first brave souls to linger in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Nice little slideshow from the Houston Press about some downtown eyesores. I daresay it’s a largely uncontroversial list, though I personally have no particular beef with the look of either the Alley Theater or the George R. Brown Convention Center. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I was very interested to see this op-ed in the Chron by Tory, Christof, and former Houston City Council Member Caroll Robinson, in which they describe six infrastructure projects we should undertake in the near future. Some of these ideas … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Oh, noes! The dream isn’t dead, but it is on hold for the time being. After months of delays related to the credit crunch, the upscale Sonoma condo and retail project planned in Rice Village has officially hit the skids. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, so much for that. It began with the best of intentions: A grand plan to blanket the city with a wireless ”cloud” would provide cheap Internet access to the masses. When that project failed last year, as it did … Continue reading → Continue reading →

City Council has followed through on its plan to ban so-called Attention Getting Devices, or AGDs. The ban will not go into effect until January 2010. But scenic advocates cheered the decision, saying the prohibition is a necessary step to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Very sad. Mac, a mischievous, young Asian elephant who had become one of the Houston Zoo’s most popular animals, became ill and died Sunday. He was 2. He entertained visitors with his ability to dance, produce music on wind pipes … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Last month, I mentioned that City Council was looking at extending the billboard ban to include so-called Attention-Getting Devices, or AGDs. These are your giant inflatable gorillas and whatnot that businesses display to lure in customers. City Council may take … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Matt Yglesias points to this story about putting a Costco store in an urban location, in this case downtown Vancouver, and the benefits of such a thing. The new store is a feat of engineering and an unusual mix of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Missed this earlier, but Swamplot‘s eagle eye was on the case. The developers of the Ashby high-rise sent their plans back to the city of Houston just days before Hurricane Ike hit, and not long after the Public Works Department … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Is the dream doomed? The developers of the Sonoma project are up against it – specifically, up against a one-year deadline to accomplish a few specific tasks related to the Bolsover abandonment. A condition, passed by the Houston City Council … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The next big project downtown is still moving ahead, despite the current state of the economy. Chandeliers were being hung in XXI Forever, a trendy apparel store which represents a significant new injection of soft retail downtown. At 25,000 square … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I found this Chron article about the coming encroachment of Houston onto the little (real little – population 719) town of Fulshear to be fascinating. It’s interesting, and commendable, that the town’s honchos have been planning for this eventuality. (Planning! … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Got the following email, which I thought was interesting: Dear Super Neighborhoods, In June 2008, Mayor White established an On-Premise Sign Task Force to make recommendations and improvements to the City of Houston ‘s Sign Code. One of the first … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We sure do seem to want another convention center hotel around here, don’t we? The city is ready to step up efforts to land a second convention center hotel, offering a local tax rebate to encourage developers to build within … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The city of Houston has a plan to cut greenhouse gases. Mayor Bill White’s plan would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 11 percent below 2005 levels by 2010. City officials described the target as conservative, because it’s based on existing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

According to the Chron, we may have to wait a little longer than we originally thought for that. At the request of Gov. Rick Perry, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday granted the eight-county Houston region an extra nine … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In these difficult times, the wants-to-be-a-city of The Woodlands is calling on its citizenry to help it through its hour of need. Citing turbulence in the financial markets, The Woodlands Township, a special district with limited governing power, is turning … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Meant to link to this Lisa Gray column about the Odd Fellows lodge in the Heights and its recent growth in membership last week, but since I didn’t do it then I figure now is as good a time as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As we know, the University of Houston-Downtown wants a new name. They put out a call for suggestions. Via ConFrijoles, I see that before Ike came to town, they published an “informal list” of such suggestions so far. Personally, my … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Swamplot, it appears that one of the last pieces of business the city of Houston conducted before Ike arrived was to deny a variance request for the Ashby Highrise developers for a loading dock. In comments for the Public … Continue reading → Continue reading →

(I drafted this last week, before we left town and before we knew where Ike was going. I figure all bets are off now, but I thought I’d run it anyway, if only to serve as a reference point.) Time … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is good news. Houston is poised to dramatically expand its recycling programs through a variety of initiatives aimed at ending the city’s reign as the most wasteful major metropolis in the country. The stepped-up effort includes a pilot program … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Mimi Swartz looks at the city of Houston’s journey to becoming a more environmentally-conscious place. After years of dismissing as whiners the small minority who suggested that pollution was doing damage not just to Houston’s image but also to its … Continue reading → Continue reading →

ZZ Top says “Come visit Houston, y’all.” The trio, who grew up in Houston and calls themselves the “little ole band from Texas,” was recruited by the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau to promote the virtues of visiting the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Hair Balls updates us on Regent Square, the development that will eventually replace the departed Allen House. Although final approval is pretty much final approval, there are still steps to be taken, says the planning department’s Suzy Hartgrove. There’s the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

UH-Downtown wants a new name. “UH-Downtown has undergone a dramatic transformation … but we’re still referred to as a branch campus,” President Max Castillo said. “We are not.” UH-Downtown, located in the shadow of a freeway overpass on the northern … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Missed this from last week: As county officials and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo haggle over how best to make use of the Houston Astrodome, a new group has emerged with a novel idea. They want to turn the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

If you work downtown and have an interest in urban design, check this out: The event showcases the work done by a group of summer interns in architecture. Super Neighborhood 22 covers, among other things, the rapidly changing Washington Avenue … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Sugar Land wants to be a more entertaining place than it is now. Sugar Land City Council is considering a measure to create an entertainment district that would include among other things, a concert hall, minor league baseball stadium and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is rather dicey. What’s the best way for downtown workers to get to Beck’s Prime restaurant in the Bank One Center on a scorcher of an August day? The downtown tunnel system, of course. But if you’re a person … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I don’t know about you, but I think Discovery Green is pretty awesome. Houston’s only major downtown park has settled into a rhythm four months after its April 13 opening. The enormous crowds of the first few weeks, which taxed … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Swamplot hears from a reader: A reader notes that a sign offering “13,000 sq feet of restaurant/retail for lease” is up at the Alabama Bookstop, and asks if plans for the location have been announced. There’s no doubt that the … Continue reading → Continue reading →