Tag Archives: urbanism

Connecting Uptown and Memorial Park

Posted on November 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I approve of this. The overwhelming task of getting to Memorial Park from Uptown by bike or on foot is poised to vastly improve, provided a $22 million project for a bridge across Buffalo Bayou and underpass of Loop 610 … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: CityNerd visits Houston

Posted on October 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

An urban planner who has mostly heard negative things about Houston visits our city for a couple of days, and finds quite a bit about it that he likes: Found via Evan Mintz. It’s about 20 minutes (there’s about two … Continue reading →

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Connecting Buffalo Bayou Park and Memorial Park

Posted on September 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I approve of this. Two popular Houston parks may finally be bridged together after Harris County Precinct 4 unveiled a $13.5 million Buffalo Bayou Greenway Connector project to join the recreation areas. Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones announced $170 million … Continue reading →

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The sidewalk situation

Posted on July 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We have a lot of work to do. Growing up in Gulfton, Sandra Rodriguez walked just about everywhere. Her father took the family’s only vehicle to work, so Rodriguez and her four siblings got used to the southwest neighborhood’s patchy … Continue reading →

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Another neighborhood road projects/bike lanes update

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Once again, from the Woodland Heights Civic Association. We would like to provide you with important updates regarding the road projects in our area. Firstly, we are pleased to inform you that the construction of the 11th Street project is … Continue reading →

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Coliving

Posted on June 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I’m fascinated by this. In one of Montrose’s newest residential projects opening next year, renters will be able to walk into fully furnished spaces stocked with basic supplies, paying rents below market rate in one of Houston’s trendiest neighborhoods. Rent … Continue reading →

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Ashby 2.0 gets sued

Posted on June 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s party like it’s 2007, baby! Just when the 16-year battle over the proposed Ashby high-rise site in Boulevard Oaks appeared to drawing to a close, opponents have filed a lawsuit that again puts the fate of the project into … Continue reading →

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A ride down the West 11th bike trail

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been riding the West 11th bike trail since it opened, mostly to go to some of my favorite lunch places. It’s been great, modulo the occasional hazards like trash/recycling bins out for collection and delivery trucks or construction vehicles … Continue reading →

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How much downtown parking do we need?

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know the answer to that, but this is how much we have. Downtown Houston dedicates more than a quarter of its land to parking spaces, surpassing the percentages in most major U.S. cities, a new report shows. A photo from … Continue reading →

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Ashby 2.0 cleared for groundbreaking

Posted on April 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s actually happening. Along-embattled residential high-rise project in Boulevard Oaks is set to move forward, with one Houston City Council member calling the news “terrible.” The Langley , a new luxury rental community jointly developed by El Paso-based Hunt Companies, … Continue reading →

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Ashby Highrise 2.0 gets a permit

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s happening! For years a controversial proposal to build a high rise in the wealthy enclave of Boulevard Oaks appeared to be dead — a lesson in how land-use battles can erupt even in a city with virtually no zoning. … Continue reading →

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A brief 11th Street update

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

From the latest Woodland Heights Civic Association newsletter: 11th Street Safety Improvements: Project Update The WHCA board hosted City officials (David Fields, Lauren Grove, and Colin Lupold) at the January 10th general meeting. We had around 50 or so on … Continue reading →

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Concept Neighborhood’s Second Ward project

Posted on November 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Sounds really cool. I hope they can pull it off, and in a reasonable amount of time. Plans to turn a swath of the East End into a walkable district are getting larger and more ambitious – setting the groundwork … Continue reading →

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Shepherd/Durham construction update

Posted on November 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good long story in the Chron. When the workers clear — still months away — Shepherd and Durham, along with some major side streets, will be remade, and in many ways reformed. The streets, dual thoroughfares that funnel traffic between Memorial Drive and … Continue reading →

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The slow but steady march of Houston’s non-car transportation infrastructure

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good story. When he arrived in Houston two years ago, what David Fields saw belied what he had heard. The nation’s fourth-largest city has long been known as car-centric and geared toward commuting, with a web of wide freeways that … Continue reading →

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West 11th construction is about to start

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Get ready, here it comes. City staffers are finalizing a plan to add protected bike lanes along 11th Street in the Heights and reduce the number of driving lanes, despite pushback from some residents in the area. Crews will begin … Continue reading →

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More on A Tale Of Two Bridges

Posted on September 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

After I wrote about the effort to get two new bike and pedestrian bridges built in the Heights area, with the intent of making some new connections across the White Oak Bayou and to the existing White Oak Bayou Trail, … Continue reading →

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Yes, let’s build more bike trail bridges

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s all about connectivity. Stopping for a water break on the normal blistering-hot Houston day, bicyclist Reagan Smithers, 33, can see the tops of the trees along her street from the White Oak Bayou Trail. As the grackle flies – … Continue reading →

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Is there one last twist in the West 11th Street saga?

Posted on June 25, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This was posted as an update to the change.org petition in support of the West 11th Street project: The opposition to making 11th street safer is asking TXDOT to stop the project-we need your help! The group that has organized … Continue reading →

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West 11th Street will proceed as planned

Posted on June 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Plans to narrow 11th Street in the Heights, which have divided residents wider than the four-lane road some are trying to maintain, will proceed, Mayor Sylvester Turner said Tuesday. “This change isn’t easy and won’t satisfy everyone,” Turner said … Continue reading →

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CURBS Houston

Posted on June 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

In my last post about the West 11th Street project, I’ve noted that opposition to the project has been featured in news stories about it, but I have not seen any mention of organized support from the neighborhood – BikeHouston … Continue reading →

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Yeah, we’re still talking about West 11th Street

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We can’t help it, sorry. When Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner assured concerned Heights residents he’d take “a closer look” at plans to reduce 11th Street to one lane in each direction, he likely didn’t expect a sightseeing tour to give … Continue reading →

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Ashby Highrise 2.0

Posted on May 3, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Since a judge sided with developers of the so-called Ashby high-rise in 2016, the grassy lot at the center of one of the most closely watched land-use battles in Houston’s history has sat untouched, surrounded by chain-link fencing. … Continue reading →

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The next street safety project my neighborhood will be fighting about

Posted on April 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

My wife came back from this month’s civic association meeting and handed me a flyer for this, along with more or less the exact words I’ve used in the title of this post. North Main Street runs north from I-10 … Continue reading →

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More on the 11th Street project

Posted on March 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron editorial board mostly approves of the city’s plans for 11th Street in the Heights. Ever since Mayor Sylvester Turner unveiled his Vision Zero Action Plan — an ambitious program to end traffic fatalities by 2030 — the city … Continue reading →

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The 11th Street makeover

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Gonna be interesting to see how this turns out. A main thoroughfare through Houston’s Heights is the latest street where city officials are preparing for fewer car lanes, in an effort to consider more ways that people get around. The … Continue reading →

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The Shepherd and Durham Major Investment Project

Posted on December 30, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Get ready for some major construction, but the end result will be well worth it. Beginning next month, those who travel along North Shepherd Drive and Durham Drive in the Heights are going to have to cope with road construction … Continue reading →

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More fourplexes

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I am in favor of this. Houston is mulling changes to its planning rules that could encourage a broader variety of housing types, such as triplexes and fourplexes, that developers and the city say could create more affordable options and … Continue reading →

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Can you tell me how to get (safely) to Memorial Park?

Posted on July 17, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Safety is nice. A $200 million-plus plan to improve [Memorial Park] is aimed at making it a signature destination for all Houstonians. With that success, though, will come the same challenges anything popular in Houston faces: How will people get … Continue reading →

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Big Tex Storage

Posted on February 13, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I’m strangely almost nostalgic for a controversy like this. A group of Heights residents are lobbying legislators to protest the development of a storage facility at the site of the former Stude Theater, which was demolished after the property was … Continue reading →

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Can downtown survive COVID-19?

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

So depressing to read. When Understory opened last summer, the stylish food hall in downtown’s Bank of America Tower quickly became the go-to lunch spot for throngs of office workers who stood in line for poke bowls, gourmet burgers and … Continue reading →

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The rooftop park at the downtown post office

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Very cool. The company redeveloping downtown’s former post office property will open a rooftop venue early next year as part of a five-acre park and organic farm that will top the historic building at 401 Franklin St. Lovett Commercial said … Continue reading →

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In which Houston becomes more walkable

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a start. On 19th Street, one of Houston’s most enduring strips of shops and restaurants, there is a vacant lot tucked between two stores, about a block from the landmark “Heights” sign. When developers recently expressed interest in putting … Continue reading →

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A better way to do I-45

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Michael Skelley on Facebook: Here’s a new vision for I-45. -saves money -no displacement in low income areas -no destruction of White Oak Bayou -prevents TxDOT vandalization of EaDo -downtown amenities if we want to fund those ourselves This … Continue reading →

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