COMMENT OF THE DAY: ZIP ON THIS SIDE “I live in the 77092 portion of Oak Forest. Luckily, our brick ranch houses have been spared the wrecking balls hitting on the little bungalows across the bayou.” [marcy, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Airline Farming]
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Oak Forest
- 1309 Chamboard Ln. [HAR]
- 2010 Hewitt Dr. [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH? “In front of this building, to the right of the staircase, there used to be a sign that said ‘witch parking.’ Not sure why . . .” [Bill, commenting on The Feds Go After Houston’s Allied Home Mortgage]
A decade-long scheme of systemic fraud by Houston-based Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp. cost taxpayers $834 million in insurance claims on defaulted loans and forced thousands of the company’s customers to lose their homes through mortgages that were “doomed to fail,” according to a lawsuit filed by a former branch manager of the company and which the U.S. government officially joined yesterday. Allied Home, which is based in offices at 6110 Pinemont Dr. (above) off the Northwest Fwy. not far from Houston’s new FBI HQ, claims to be the largest privately held mortgage company in the country (99 percent of the company is owned by founder Jim Hodge), with 200 branches, down from a high of 600. Separately, the company has now been suspended from issuing any FHA-backed loans or GNMA-backed mortgage securities.
THE MISSING LINK IN THE BIKE TRAIL FROM OAK FOREST TO DOWNTOWN 
After surveying a stretch of land mostly along White Oak Bayou from 11th St. to Lawrence Park, Chronicle blogger Martin Hajovsky says he doesn’t see any traffic problems that would stand in the way of a connection between the Katy/MKT hike-and-bike trail and the White Oak Bayou trail. A bayou-side hookup, which would create a continuous off-road path from Downtown to Oak Forest, is just one segment of grander bayou bikepath plans contained in the Bayou Greenway Initiative, which the Houston Parks Board is working on piece by piece. Adding the longer chunk planned along White Oak Bayou north of the current trail would extend the Downtown route all the way to Jersey Village. [Home in the Heights, via Off the Kuff; previously on Swamplot] Proposed Bayou Greenway map: Houston Parks Board
Reopened yesterday after almost 2 years of construction and renovation: The Oak Forest Library at 1349 W. 43rd St., sporting 2 new brick-and-glass wings on the buildings west side, around a new outdoor reading room. The original building’s signature green tile mosaic wall still faces the Oak Forest Shopping Center’s continuous W. 43rd St. parking lot, but a new second entrance for the neighborhood now peeks out from behind a much greener space on Oak Forest Dr. — across the street from Oak Forest Elementary:
OAK FOREST: NEW WEST U OR MINI BELLAIRE? The Chronicle is out with its annual survey of area home prices. Sadly, this year’s online version doesn’t allow easy cost-per-square-foot comparisons, leaving Houstonians who like to build and buy their residences in bulk without much to oooh and aah over. Consolation: The accompanying neighborhood profiles include a peek at the controversy that’s apparently been raging through Oak Forest: “‘I call it the new West University,’ said Jason Light, owner of the Light Group, a local real estate firm active in the Inner Loop area. . . . Marlene Casares and her husband, Jalin Casares, looked all over town before settling on Oak Forest, she said. A year ago they bought a new 4,300-square-foot home. . . . ‘It’s like a little mini Bellaire, but with better prices,’ she said.” [Houston Chronicle]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: FOLLOW THE MINI STORAGE “Mini Storage facilities are almost always limited partnerships designed to last 7-10 years and put on strategically poised land the developers/LLP’s have determined will increase in value. The facilities are generally inexpensive to build and maintain and are easy to demo once the property has gained enough value to where it is sold for development. The area all along 34th street is just not ready for redevelopment yet. It’s currently a dump. Additional years of creeping development from the Northern Heights will be required to eventually turn the 34th St. blight into the redevelopment gem many hope for.” [CK, commenting on What They’re Doing to Food Land on Ella]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: DONUT RUSH HOUR IN OAK FOREST 
“That Shipley’s must draw folks from miles around. Theres almost always a long line of cars, often extending out onto Ella. I am always amazed too at the long lines late at night…who eats donuts at 11pm? I guess they’re night shift workers.
Yep, they need to re-do that whole shopping plaza and center it around that Shipleys, providing tons of drive-thru space :)” [JRo, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: The Ella Square Deal] Photo of Shipley’s Donuts, 3410 Ella Blvd.: Chad & Susan Harris
Kassy Rodriguez’s plan for turning the months-old dog park at T.C. Jester Park in Oak Forest into a “dog Astroworld”? Create gravel walkways, put kennels next to the restrooms so your doggie won’t have to watch you pee, embiggen the play areas, add ponds with gentle sandy banks, and build some sort of zip line owners can attach fake furry critters to, so tennis-ball-shy canines can have something to chase after. But the most important part of her plan: Turning up the volume on the Texas twang in her contest-entry video (screen capture shown above), so some dog-food company will pay for all the improvements. It’s succeeding so far: Rodriguez and her dog Dora have reached the finals in Purina’s Beneful WagWorld Dream Dog Park contest. Voting is open to the public, but it ends tomorrow. The top vote-getter wins $500,000 for local dog-park improvements, a small cash prize, and a year’s worth of chow.
- Finalist: Kassy R. & Dora [Beneful WagWorld Dream Dog Park Contest]
- Dreaming a little doggie’s dream [Houston Chronicle]
Armed with your suggestions, roving Swamplot photographer Candace Garcia set out to document the smallest freestanding commercial buildings in Houston she could find. And here are the results! Above, “The Spot” hair salon at 1207 Westheimer in Montrose, at the corner of Commonwealth.
More tiny:
The winner of this week’s game? Quin. Congratulations! You’ve just won a one-year individual membership in the Rice Design Alliance. Our runners-up for this round are O.C. and OJ, both of whom also guessed O.F.
Where’s that?
MORE OF THE STORY OF THOSE DISAPPEARING OAK FOREST OAKS 
“My neighbor lived in what you would consider a ‘tear down.’ For several years she struggled with selling and moving or rebuilding on the lot. A big factor in the decision was finding a builder that would keep the integrity of the lot and not cut down the gem – a 100 year old tree that is 4′ in diameter. She thought that she found the builder that respected the tree and had the same vision while simultaneous[ly] she found her dream home over in Garden Oaks. . . . Shortly after the transition, a family bought the lot and are ready to build . . . I have 2 neighbors including myself that would take this tree. I have till Friday to find an association that would underwrite this project and be interested in saving this tree.” [Kat Alan Madison + Austin; previously on Swamplot] Photo: HAR
COMMENT OF THE DAY: OAK FOREST OAK SEEKS HELP WITH MOVE “A neighbor of the Woodcrest demo is seeking help relocating a 100-year old red oak that is scheduled to be part of that demo. If anyone has the resources and/or machinery to do so email me or post here and I will put you in touch with her. mmatt_chew at h0tmail d0t c0m.” [mek ju, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Memorial Plaza]