Category Archives: Elsewhere in Houston

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Good news! You can purchase tickets here. I just think it’s eminently fitting that the event takes place on February 29. Enjoy! Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Given that nobody has liked any of the proposed Ashby highrise ordinances so far, and that we may not see any action taken by City Council for the next seven months or so anyway, perhaps we ought to start hoping … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The first step in solving a problem is to admit you have a problem. City officials want to spend up to seven more months to consider ways to regulate traffic from high-density buildings, Mayor Bill White said Wednesday. The announcement … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It was nice while it lasted. EarthLink Inc., the company hired by the city of Houston to build a wireless network, plans to sell its municipal WiFi business, effectively pulling the plug on its project here. While city officials will … Continue reading → Continue reading →

After the recent spate of outside experts telling us that Planning Is Eeeeevil, it’s refreshing to hear from a different group of outside experts saying it’s not so bad after all. Houston needs a regional growth plan to compete globally … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Look out, Pearland, here they come! It’s official: The first U.S. presidents whose busts will be installed at the planned Presidential Park and Gardens WaterLights District have been announced. Houston-based Historic Real Estate, developer of the project at Texas 288, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One of the more interesting comments I got on this post about the Legacy at Memorial highrise construction was to say that the Archstone Memorial apartments on Washington between Studemont and Waugh were going to be torn down in favor … Continue reading → Continue reading →