COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOW TO MAKE A HOUSTON SUMMER THAT MUCH HOTTER “I thought it was crazy to schedule an outdoor music festival in summer, too, and then I went one year and found myself surrounded by 10,000 girls in barely-there bikinis, and realized that an outdoor summer festival in Houston is, in fact, a stroke of genius. (And the heat wasn’t bad at all that year — the second Summerfest, I believe.)” [Anse, commenting on The Montrose Bar Where Souls Will Be Exchanged for Cocktails?]
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ASTRODOME STRIPPED BARE BY THE ARCHITECTS, EVEN 
With the June 10th deadline to submit the Astrodome proposals that the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation kind of forgot to ask for approaching, architect Ben Koush pens some poetic support for UH grad student Ryan Slattery’s idea to open the Dome up for public use and reduce it to a shell of itself: “Architects, myself included, often tend to like ‘structure’ and buildings that are under construction better than those that are finished. Even crappy suburban spec houses have a noble purity when they are just a concrete slab and 2x4s, before the pipes, wires, and air-conditioning ducts go in and clutter everything up.” Noble purity notwithstanding, Koush does recognize at least one problem: “Since the Astrodome is essentially in the center of a giant parking lot with gates as well as a long, un-shaded walk discouraging the public from visiting, one wonders who would actually use [it].” [Arts + Culture Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Save the Astrodome
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE NEW TALLER TOWNHOMES THAT FELL OVER NEXT DOOR “Just to add a little clarification here. I live in one of the already existing structures there. They have been there since 2008 and have fared quite well during storms since being constructed. The ones that collapsed had started being built about 5 or 6 weeks ago. They were being built by completely different builders. There were two frames up. Each were four stories tall. The crazy thing was how tall they were. The second story on the new construction was taller than the third story of the ones that had already been there. They were however a completely different design than the already existing ones. In any event the weather wasn’t that bad. I was awake when they collapsed and actually saw the second one fall after the first hit it. Scary. Regardless of wind sheathing, that should not have happened. Someone could have been seriously injured or worse.” [Mike, commenting on The Heights Blvd. Townhomes That Collapsed Overnight]
COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: DOWNTOWN’S HORSE PEE PROBLEM “If the streets smell like pee it is because of the horse cops. Seriously, walking down Main Street is like walking through a barn, and it isn’t the fault of the homeless — it is the dang horses. Why do we need horse cops anyways? Can’t cops get around on bike, or scooter, or something that doesn’t leave piles of poop in the middle of the street?” [Evan7257, commenting on Bringing the Streets Downtown Right into the Lobbies]
BRINGING THE STREETS DOWNTOWN RIGHT INTO THE LOBBIES 
Why isn’t there more street life Downtown? A recent architectural exhibition suggests that one cause might be the sealed world of a tunnel system that’s accessed mainly through closed-off corporate lobbies: “[Rice University’s Bryony Roberts] argues that these [sites] provide opportunities for a new type of public space that would more effectively integrate street activity and subterranean circulation,” explains OffCite’s Helen B. Bechtel. Using studies of One Allen Center, the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Reliant Energy Plaza, and Wells Fargo Plaza — imagined here to include ramp-like pedestrian feeders — Roberts shows how “otherwise segregated interior and exterior public spaces” might be linked. The exhibition’s on view — where else? — in the One Allen Center lobby at 1200 Smith. [OffCite; previously on Swamplot] Rendering: Bryony Roberts via OffCite
COMMENT OF THE DAY: STAKES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD “I always have fun explaining to out of town guests what those signs are. For my benefit, I hope they stay up for a while longer, at least until the building is finished and their predictions come to pass. As an aside, I do feel bad for the lawn people who have to mow around them each week . . . they are unsung heroes in this drama.” [JD, commenting on The Last Stand of the Ashby Highrise Impediment Apartments]
HANOVER AT RICE VILLAGE FEEDING THE HUNGRY 
The retail ring facing Morningside, Dunstan, and Kelvin around the bottom of Hanover at Rice Village seems to be filling out: With Zoës Kitchen opening in February at 5215 Kelvin and Cloud 10 Creamery making plans to since January, Prime Property’s Nancy Sarnoff drops the names of the other 4 restaurants on the way: There’ll be Cyclone Anaya’s (shown in the photo here on Morningside to the right of Cloud 10 Creamery), a coffee shop called Fellini, Punk’s Simple Southern Food, and Coppa Osteria. Sarnoff also mentions the lone non-restaurant planned, “a boutique” called Saint Cloud. [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Allyn West
A ‘FIELD GUIDE’ TO HOUSTON FOOD TRUCKS 
A new book declares which among the estimated 1,400 are the best food trucks in Houston: Houston Chronicle food writer and UH marketing professor Paul Galvani tells a 392-page story of what he calls “the food truck movement,” providing maps and reviews of his 100 favorites, like Good Dog Hot Dog and The Modular, which gave rise to the recently opened Downtown ramen shop Goro & Gun. Houstonia food writer and El Real Tex Mex co-founder Robb Walsh doesn’t seem to think this is a book meant for the coffee table, blurbing, “I plan to carry a copy in my car as a field guide . . . .” [Houston’s Top 100 Food Trucks; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Houston’s Top 100 Food Trucks via Swamplot inbox
COMMENT OF THE DAY: MY CENTRAL SQUARE DORM DREAM “When I was at school at UH-D, I would take the rail up to campus everyday and see those two buildings there. To best contribute to the urban fabric, I often would imagine that someone would redevelop them as dorms, and the block that is between it and the rail line could be repurposed as a plaza with a few cafes that would link the building to the rail. The private dorms could serve UH-D, HCC Central, South Texas Law, the medical schools, and even UH and TSU once the University line is complete. Having students commute from the various schools to this central location would add vibrancy to the area and could bring about good academic fellowship. Not sure of the economic feasibility, but it would wildly popular (if the dorm fees were reasonable). Since it’s college kids, renovations need only consist of low cost furnishings, concrete floors, bare ceilings, and maybe a gym and cafeteria. Gotta dream big.” [VMel, commenting on New Owners of Central Square Plaza Want To Make Something of It]
METRO’S NEW TRIP-PLANNING APP 
You can now download T.R.I.P., a trip-planning app that’s all Metro’s own. The Write on Metro blog first mentioned the app in October 2011, reporting that a launch was expected later that winter. Of course, that delay isn’t mentioned in today’s press release announcing that the Transit Route Information and Planning app, a screenshot of which is shown here, is up and running, ready to provide schedule and route information based on the user’s location, predict “to within 3 minutes” arrivals of the next bus or train, and generate routes. And it’s free. [Write on Metro; Ride Metro]
NO PLANS TO REDEVELOP GRAMERCY PLACE APARTMENTS, SAYS NEW OWNER 
Here’s what Fred Sharifi, the new owner of the Gramercy Place apartments on Portland St., has to say about those rumors that the old apartments will be torn down and replaced by something as tall as the Museum Tower on Montrose that they sit behind: “[T]here will be no midrise built,” Sharifi’s property manager writes in an email, “and he has no plans at this time to redevelop the property. If he does eventually build on the property it will be town homes . . . .” [Swamplot inbox; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Swamplot inbox
CITY COUNCIL APPROVES CHANGES TO DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE City council today gave a long-awaited thumbs-up to a new regime of amendments to its development ordinance, known as Chapter 42. Among the many changes: a new, higher upper limit on townhome density for the huge donut of land bounded by Loop 610 and Beltway 8. Developers will now be able to squeeze them in at a rate of 27 units per acre, matching the allowed density in the Inner Loop. [Planning and Development; previously on Swamplot]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOW TO KILL REDEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS FOR THE ASTRODOME — WITHOUT EVEN TRYING “So, a private group (Astros) comes to the County and gets tons of public funding to build the Astrodome. But, now, if a private group has a great idea to repurpose the Astrodome, they cannot suggest that it be paid for with any public funds or let the tax payers consider their ideas for use with public funds. Only the great wise elders of the County Commissioners who have sat on their hands for over a decade on this issue can propose a solution for the Astrodome that involves the use of public funds. The ballot measure had better have a ‘none of the above’ option.” [Old School, commenting on Headlines: League City’s Red-Light Cameras Go Dark; ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’ Bombard Midtown with Wildflowers; previously on Swamplot]
TENANT: GRAMERCY PLACE APARTMENTS TO REMAIN RENTAL UNITS An update: Though the other rumor suggests that the Gramercy Place apartments behind the Museum Tower on Montrose Blvd. will be torn down and replaced by 2 residential midrises, a tenant there reports that the new owners of the 5 buildings on the 200 block of Portland St. have seemed “adamant” that the 31 apartments will remain as rental units and have said they intend “to respect” their “historical quality.” [Previously on Swamplot] Photo: Swamplot inbox Update, 2:15 p.m.: The owners confirm what the tenant had heard. Read more here.
ADIOS, BOCADOS 
Culturemap’s reporting that Bocados on West Alabama is closing after a party on Cinco de Mayo. Bocados owners and friends from their days at across-the-street University of St. Thomas Terry Flores and Lily Hernandez tell Culturemap that though they’ll be leaving the restaurant at 1312 West Alabama where they’ve been for 15 years, they’re considering buying a Heights property where they might bring Bocados back. Moreover, reports Whitney Radley, the pair says they plan to open this summer “in a yet-undisclosed location” downtown a restaurant they’re calling The Red Ox Grill. And what’s up next for the Bocados building? Radley writes that it’ll be The Brick and Spoon, a restaurant coming to Montrose by way of Lafayette, Louisiana, on June 1. [Culturemap] Photo: Panoramio user Wolfgang Houston
