- 20-Acre Industrial Development Breaks Ground in Humble [HBJ ($)]
- How Much Downtown Houston Office Landlords Are Profiting, According to Savills Studley Report [HBJ ($)]
- Why Houston Luxury Home Sales Are Slowing Down [HBJ ($)]
- Historic Montrose Compound Under Contract To Developer Doesn’t Have Any Historic Protections To Prevent Demolition [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- H-E-B Opens New Store in Mont Belvieu Crossing Shopping Center [HBJ]
- Dallas Import Truck Yard Opens in East Village Development [Eater Houston]
- Final 4 Food Vendors Named for Downtown’s Finn Hall [Culturemap]
- State To Explore How To House Recovery Workforce After Natural Disasters [Houston Public Media]
- Still Waiting for the Lights To Be Fixed on Shepherd Drive [The Leader]
- William Fulton: Why I’m Scared To Walk in Houston [The Urban Edge]
Photo of Evelyn’s Park, Bellaire: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Well, That stature is horrifying.
“the cops immediately told the TV reporters to warn bicyclists that when they are crossing the street in a crosswalk they should walk their bikes or else they will be violating the law”
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So my understanding is HPD is telling all bicyclists they should always be taking the full lane wherever legal (anything under 12-ft in lane width) at all times so as to prevent incidents like this occurring in the future. It is NOT legal to ride a bike on the sidewalk or a crosswalk – ALWAYS take the full lane from here on or the legal system will laugh in your face.
It’s to be lamented that Montrose is losing all its character. I appreciate the gentrification, but tearing so many historic homes down for more dense housing is destroying the very thing that made it desirable in the first place. I really will be sad to see this particular house go, but not at all surprised, when you have Philistines tearing down John Staub landmarks in River Oaks, you know you’ve crossed the Rubicon. Houston could learn from San Antonio a thing or two about Preservation. Just because you can tear a landmark down, doesn’t mean you should. SMH. Houston needs some pride in its past.
And is that suppose to be The Mad Hatter in the flicker of the day? That’s really creepy. Why would you put something like that in park with young children? I’d have nightmares. Maybe this can be uprooted and stored like the Confederate Monuments. Bellaire can surround it with a battalion of police officers and remove it in the dead of night so as not to upset fans of Lewis Carroll.
Fulton seems to suggest that pedestrians and bicyclists are never at fault. If one of these is killed by a car, I suppose it is just churlish (or even criminal) to ‘blame the victim’, even if said victim was violating the law and flouting common sense. It is the driver’s obligation not to kill anyone regardless of circumstances.
Yeah, sad to see that property go. I’m not sure what the solution is since it’s hard to tell someone what they can and can’t do with their own property. I do support the idea of an owner going though a process to landmark and protect their own property. Then if they sell it, the new owner couldn’t knock it down. But any new buyer would know that going in. The downside (for the existing owner) is that removes part of the buying pool so if you want your house saved you have to be willing to take a potential hit when it comes time to sell.
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Most people that say they want these properties saved are not willing to buy them to do so, or to take a loss to protect the ones they have.
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(the other issue is the city. As someone that buys these old places to fix up. Working with the city is a nightmare. Each time I go though I think ‘and that’s why they’re normally blown up’)
I commute by bike and foot at least three times a week.
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When I’m on the bike, I wear a helmet and bright yellow clothing with reflective strips and blinking lights, and I ride in the street like a car, stopping at stop signs and red lights, and waiting for my green light. I stop behind the car in front of me and do not attempt to pass it on the right. I assume that all of the car drivers around me do not see me, and are unlicensed, uninsured, drunk, and texting. I watch for parked car doors, vehicles backing out of driveways, red-light runners, and unleashed dogs.
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When I’m on foot, I walk on the sidewalk. I may or may not wear my yellow reflective blinky vest. I stop for red lights and for the orange hand, and I wait for the white walky man.
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I’m not afraid to yell “HEY!” or “YO!” if a car starts across my path on an intersecting trajectory, and have done so a few times. Since beginning this commute in January, I’ve only had a couple close calls, and both of those were as I was walking, once on a sidewalk crossing the exit of HEB where the drivers have a stop sign that they ignore, and once crossing at an intersection where I had a walky man and the cross traffic had a red light that they were supposed to stop at before turning right.
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Bicyclists simply DO NOT BELONG on the sidewalks. Besides being illegal in the CBD (which this intersection is not), it’s dangerous everywhere. Car and truck drivers are not expecting fast-moving traffic to come whizzing onto a crosswalk from a sidewalk. If they check at all, they check once, see no pedestrians, and proceed.
Re statue… I am going to remove my ‘Cultural’ hat for a moment, and replace it with my ‘Redneck’ hat… that is one fucking ugly statue! I think I would be scared of it if I were a kid.
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Okay, I think I’ll leave the ‘Cultural’ hat off for a while…
the bottom line for me is that in a collision between a truck and a bike, the truck is going to win. so it doesnt matter who is right or wrong or who has right of way, if you are the bike rider you need to watch what’s going on around you especially when doing something that has high potential for collision like crossing a street (regardless of whether you are on the sidewalk or in the street). yeah the truck driver should be watching out too, but its not his life that’s at stake.
There are some streets I’m just too damned scared to ride my bike on. I’d rather ride the sidewalk and risk getting ticketed than get smashed into.
Maybe the cyclist was right. Maybe she has the law on her side. Maybe the dump truck driver should go to prison for the rest of his life. We can put all of that on her tombstone. If you walk or ride in Houston you better look out for dump trucks, they are not looking for you. I cross Waugh and W. Dallas on foot as the author mentions quite often too. He’s right, it is scary. Your head better be on a swivel. You can be right and dead at the same time. I wish it was easier to walk in Houston and I think it is getting better but we have a LONG ways to go.
@Cody,
Most “historic preservation” is actually density prevention by other means. Whenever I hear “preserve the character of the neighborhood,” I interpret it as “prevent other people, especially renters, from living near me.”
People + Community = character
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old buildings are aesthetic preferences only, not what defines character.
Anyone not in a car in a crosswalk with a green light should be safe from cars. It’s a crosswalk. Cars have to stay out if there are people in them or about to enter them. How can you blame someone for getting hit by a car while in a crosswalk??
Bicycles should be allowed on sidewalks and crosswalks. They are limited to 3 mph (e.g., “same as/may as well walk it”) when peds are around, and 5 mph “at your own risk” when not (I jog at 6 mph). Cyclists must yield to pedestrians. Cyclists can still use roads, etc. CoH: puh-lease fix the sidewalks.
When I think “preserve the character of my neighborhood”, I think “preserve all of the 80-year-old four-plexes and 50-year-old eight-plexes so that there will be some long-term renters around. I *like* the old garden complexes and small rentals. What I *don’t like* are the giant monstrous luxury apartment complexes that take up an entire block. Those just don’t fit in.
I came three feet from getting sawed off like a blade of grass last Friday evening crossing Woodway at Post Oak Lane while being guided by whitey walky man. Whew.
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A few minutes later, a courteous Benz stopped (as they are supposed to for pedestrians) on the curve-out to eastbound Woodway/Memorial Park from the northbound 610 service road. This 10′ crosswalk is the scariest place I walk. Service road traffic is supposed to stop, but they rarely do as they are flooring it eastbound.
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The Arboretum/Memorial Park/City needs to cut back the vegetation here to eliminate the blind spot for drivers and pedestrians.
Without reading the other comments, am I the only one who thinks the statue looks a little bit like George W. Bush?? I also thought the giant in BFG looked like him too. Maybe the issue lies with me.
Like other have said, in a conflict between bicycle and car/truck, the bicycle will lose. No matter what the law says, they will lose.
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And, Jgriff is right that bicyclists (and pedestrians) should have their head on a swivel. Personally, I wouldn’t bother riding a bike in this town unless it was on a dedicated separate trail. When walking, I hew to areas that have good sidewalks, quiet streets, or a separate path. A bit more effort but I enjoy staying alive.