COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT 4 MILLION SQ. FT. OF WAL-MART DISTRIBUTION LOOKS LIKE “Also, that Wal-Mart facility (which is not in the picture because is just left of the two large buildings) is HUGE. To put it in perspective, it would be like 10 Reliant Centers or George R. Browns to come close and that was phase 1 back when we did the drainage and utility plan. Phase 2 will double the size. Wal-Mart sees Houston as the point of entry of much of it’s goods in the future than Los Angeles. The expansion of the Panama Canal will make the Port of Houston that much more strategic in trade with Asia.” [kjb434, commenting on Courting the Smiths: We Don’t Care Who You Are, But Please Please Like Us!]
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR SHARE OF THE SOG “1 inch of rain falling on 1 acre of land equals roughly 27,154 gallons of water. The City of Houston is roughly 600 square miles, or 384,000 acres (as there are 640 acres in 1 square mile). So 1 inch of rain on the City of Houston gives about 10,427,136,000 gallons of water. With 50 inches of annual rainfall, that comes out to 521,356,800,000 gallons of water a year. All of it freely provided by the heavens. The City of Houston has 2.2 million people. So each person essentially gets 236,980 gallons of ‘free’ rainfall a year.” [Random Poster, commenting on Flushing for Dollars]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: LOT SIZE AND THE ROAD TO DEMOLITION 
“. . . The owners of the above pictured house realized a LONG time ago that the value of their 10,000 SF lot was the same with or without the existing structure. THAT is the point when maintaining the structure becomes uneconomical. THAT is when repairs stop. THAT is the starting point on the path to real decay and eventual demolition.
Interestingly, the economics of a townhouse give their owners MORE incentive to keep up with repairs. Their ratio of structure-value to land-value is higher meaning that going forward they should have MORE economic incentive to keep their structures maintained.
Even a $100,000 structural repair on a townhouse on a 1,800 SF lot isn’t likely to push it into teardown status. Making the repair is still economically rational. You’d be far less likely to affect a similar repair on a single family home on 5,000 SF lot in the same neighborood.” [Bernard, commenting on Up and Down in Hyde Park] Photo of former property at 1212 Hyde Park Blvd.: fortbendtomontrose
COMMENT OF THE DAY: YOUR HOUSTON TOWNHOUSE IN 2050 “. . . Imagine your typical 100 x 100 ft lot, shared driveway down the middle, with 3 fee-simple townhouse units on each side. Now, imagine them 40 years from now, when the post-tensiooned slabs have failed, roofs are worn out, window/roof leaks have caused rot, etc. It is hard to imagine the scenario in which one of the middle units could be replaced with something new. It is going to be very difficult. So somewhere down the road, it may be necessary for a new entity to come in and buy all six units and replat them for the land to find some other productive use. And that doesn’t sound all that easy, does it? This doesn’t seem to be a problem that afflicts every townhouse project, but the ones with the internal shared drives, party walls and continuous slabs sure seem vulnerable. I see the potential for future slums.” [Mies, commenting on Up and Down in Hyde Park]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOUSTON HOMEBUILDING TALES, ABBREVIATED “Once upon a time we knew how to build homes to take advantage of [things] like prevailing winds, natural shade, the position of the sun at different times of the day and year. Then we started just smacking them down in a line after clear cutting the entire sub-development and relying on being able to chuck in a bigger AC unit to take the load.” [Jimbo, commenting on Factory-Built Green Homes for Houston]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOW MUCH TO TURN IT TUSCAN? “It’s not even $8 million! Merely $7,999,000! I’d love to buy this place but I’m afraid I’d end up baroque.” [wilf, commenting on Deep Discount Madness Returns to Piney Point Village: Megamansion Now 60 Percent Off!]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHY YOU HAVE SO MUCH MORE FREE TIME IN HOUSTON “Every other city has the EXACT same commercial development at major interchanges, except instead of being linear (and easily accessible) it’s clumped together, so you have to wade through a sea of traffic lights to get anywhere. Every trip you take to a feeder-fronting business, whether it’s Best Buy or Kroger, would take several minutes longer if you had to wade through the morass of traffic lights that characterizes freeway-centric commercial developments in the Northwest, the Midwest, or the East Coast. That’s WEEKS of your life back, actual time you spend having sex or playing video games or eating too much queso.” [Keep Houston Houston, commenting on Comment of the Day: The Invention of Feeder Food]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THERE’S A LITTLE BIT OF TUSCANY IN EVERY OLIVE GARDEN “What culinary region of Italy brought us bottomless salad and bread sticks?” [bassmaster, commenting on Sabetta Café Makes Sure To Feed the Blogs First]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE INVENTION OF FEEDER FOOD “On another note, I would like to find out precisely who was responsible for making the philosophical decision to attach feeder roads to freeways in Texas in the first place, way back in the 50’s. Feeder Roads turned out to be an aesthetic disaster, helped kill off many local business districts, and led to the proliferation of countless mediocre restaurant chains.” [Mies, commenting on Comment of the Day: That’s Why They Call Them Feeder Roads]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THAT’S WHY THEY CALL THEM FEEDER ROADS “Just think how much value they’re adding to the land that will front the service roads. Stores! Restaurants! Strip centers! It’s a developer’s dream. And isn’t that what it’s all about?” [KC, commenting on Setting Sail Again: Studemont Billboard Flagship]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: CHIN UP, WEINGARTEN! “I don’t totally understand Weingarten’s defensiveness here. After all, they totally earned the wrath of people in the community who would like to see older, architecturally significant buildings preserved in some fashion when they tore down the north side of the shopping center at Shepherd and Gray. They made a calculation then that peoples’ upset feelings would not outweigh the financial benefit. Given this, why do they care what people think now? Did the negative publicity before actually hurt them in any material way? (I’ve made a point of not shopping at the new B&N even though I am a compulsive book-buyer, but I have no illusions that me and people like me have any impact on their bottom line.)” [RWB, commenting on Weingarten Exec Blames Those Alabama Theater Demolition Drawings on Staples]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: ALL WE ARE IS MULCH IN THE WIND “. . . On the other hand, in the framework of geologic time, all things will be turned over, smashed or similarly annihilated, so, No Worries! In the short term everybody, do like the landscapers do: Drive your yard waste around town in a trailer or pick-up truck. It will vanish quickly – directly relative to your driving speed.” [movocelot, commenting on New Rules for Yard Waste]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE BEST KIND OF NEIGHBOR FOR YOUR LAWN “I live on a large lot in the heights with a couple of mature trees. I haven’t bagged one leaf, actually I have picked up lawn clippings and leaves from neighbors that have been set out, and put both into my compost. I’ve filled 2 5′x25′ raised beds with the compost in the last 2 years. I now have a 3 pile/annual rotation taking up a 4′x12′ area. I doubt I will ever run out of capacity for waste generated by my property. Sorry but this arguement about not enough space is not a logical one.” [SaintCyr, commenting on New Rules for Yard Waste]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: LITTLE MUSHROOM PILLOWS FOR EVERYONE! “I suspect the Trees and Tea Party rooms are about to be the hot new look for those who can afford the look. Amazing what a little imagination, and probably a lot of money, can accomplish. They certainly redefine the term “kids rooms.†I suspect a lot of adults would probably love to redo their rooms into Alice in Wonderland fantasies as well. And some might after they see these.” [Matt Mystery, commenting on Inside That Kemah House of Theme Extremes]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: STILL WAITING FOR PARK 8 TO ARRIVE IN THE LAND OF OZ 
“Do you have any update on this project? I’m very curious to find out more about the status and what the projected outcome will be for the many buyers of this condo that is 3 years behind schedule.” [Caroling, commenting on Park 8 Chinatown Condo Project: Parked?] Rendering: Marketing Park8
