Also, though I never joined, I used to read posts on the Houston Architecture Info Forum. In all fairness, if this is the same Nitche, property ownership had been mentioned long before the Ashby situation ever came up.

Lastly, before I take off early to get ready for my “ethnic holiday” tomorrow, if Messrs. Morton & Burkhead hear of or read this blog – it’s not too late. Listen to the neighbors. Or send someone else to listen/talk to them. Things like “there will be a huge shadow” are of concern to those whose greatest pleasure is the garden they have spent years and thousands of dollars on. ‘Tower of traffic” isn’t a funny phrase to people with children who can now ride bikes to their friends’ houses or have elderly family/neighbors who walk. We all know how people drive in the morning and evening – we’re Houstonians! Take the initiative to invite someone from the Arboretum to a community meeting for discussing changes in growing environment – they’ve had enough experience with that this past summer! Discuss the traffic mitigation report and ASK if anything has been overlooked. TELL them that the teardown will start on ____ and what streets will have the heavy trucks and when. TELL them that the noise will start at ____ and end at ____ and this is the number to call if it starts/ends more that 15-30 minutes off of that. TELL them that you hope to finish by whatever date, barring hurricanes & floods, and that you hope they will visit and patronize the restaurant/spa/shops/whatall because you WANT the development to be a positive change.

Change will happen. We’re hardwired to fear it; otherwise, no one would have ever come in out of a storm. Information is the key to locked opinions. Is everyone going to be happy and throw flowers? No. But I personally would respect someone who looks me in the eye, tells me a truth I’d rather not hear and works with me in the process of incorporating such into my life as opposed to someone who avoids me.

So….Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh! Irish breakfast tomorrow at Brian O’Neill’s begins at 8 and the parade starts at noon and ends up at Lucky’s Pub downtown!

@ Hellsing: The placement of the dumpster is no doubt grandfathered.

@ Jules: I agree with you that there is not an inherent problem with NIMBYs. A NIMBY that is letting off some steam is engaging in catharsis. I get that, and that’s fine (although I might bitch about their ugly yard signs from time to time, which in that moment makes ME a NIMBY).

A NIMBY that tries to pull strings in such a way as that a government entity usurps one person’s property rights arbitrarily in favor of another person who lacks title to the property right being disputed…yeah, I’m not going to cut that NIMBY any slack. And if they start in with the ad hominems, then it’s over. My beef is with “NIMBY charlatans” or “dishonest people” as previously qualified.

To be fair, I do recognize that dishonest charlatans seem to be the most vocal on these kinds of issues, and I think that they do their more respectable NIMBY comrades a disservice. (It’s just the same as how there are a lot of respectable Republicans being out there, in spite of Rush Limbaugh…not that you’d know it from listening to popular political discourse.)

With that in mind, I do apologize if I haven’t been perfectly clear and precise in each blog post. I figure that most of the readers will have some historical context to understand my meaning, but that’s not always the case.

One thing is for certain, TheNiche is a lot of things but “a fraud” is not one of them.

How many am/pm trips are the bikes and the van going to eliminate, on paper?

This seems idiotic to me.

“Ugly” ia also a very subjective term. I think a tan is the most hideous thing a person can subject his/her body to and that Kate Winslet blows Angelina Jolie away at Force 10. But that’s in the eye of this particular beholder. Maryland Manor is not latest-trend modern and new – I think that’s your issue.

Incidentally, a friend & I were wondering over dinner last night – what would have happened if the developers had treated the situation and the neighborhood’s concerns with the approach HEB took before building on the old Wilshire Village site? You know, doing those silly things like being civil, taking concerns into account and asking for input, saying that since no more land can be grown in the area the only way to construct is up for needed dwelling space but they want to integrate into the neighborhood, not intrude? Ah, what might the current sentiment be if the developers could have worked up the courage to look people in the eye and talk? Too bad we’ll never know.