THE PARK WHERE HOUSTON ARCHITECTURE CRITICS GO TO SHARPEN THEIR CHOPS 
From Ben Koush’s new building-by-building history of the Texas Medical Center (which now apparently has more square footage than Downtown): “In 1991 the Gus S. and Lyndall F. Wortham Park was dedicated on part of the site of Shamrock Hotel. (The rest of the site is a giant parking lot.) It was designed by Philip Johnson’s ex-partner John Burgee and features water jets, columns that appear to be taken from a freeway overpass and vine covered pergolas. It makes a nice, very secluded place to take a nap during the afternoon since it is always deserted.” [OffCite; previously on Swamplot]
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MOBILE FOOD VENDORS MOBILIZE 
A collective formed by more than 2 dozen food-truck operators plans to roll on city hall later this month — to present the mayor and council members with a list of proposed changes to city ordinances, fire code, and health regulations that restrict where and how Houston’s growing fleet of mobile food units can operate. The changes promoted by Mobile Food Unit Houston would get rid of current rules requiring food trucks and trailers to park more than 60 ft. away from each other, allow a single propane permit to cover multiple locations, and lift the ban on using propane fuel in the Med Center and Downtown. The changes would also allow their customers to sit down, lifting current rules that prohibit the sale of food-truck food near seating areas and letting them to set up limited numbers of tables and chairs on their own. [Mobile Food Unit Houston; previously on Swamplot]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: ALLISON’S AIM WASN’T TRUE “. . . The phrase ‘I didn’t flood during Allison . . .’ doesn’t mean anything. Most of Houston didn’t flood in Allison either because they didn’t get the large volumes of rain that portion of the city received. Many areas of Houston flood during minor summer storms, but didn’t flood during Allison. It always just depends where and when the rain falls and also if the runoff compounds downstream.” [kjb434, commenting on Riverside Terrace Stucco Redo, With or Without Garage]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: OUTGOING APARTMENT WARNING “And one other thing for all you lovers of vintage Inner Loop apartments. . . . A much larger bomb is about to be dropped.” [Bernard, commenting on Boulevard Oaks Kicks Out the Apartments on Poe Corner]
AN UPDATED GUIDEBOOK TO HOUSTON BUILDINGS NEW AND THROUGH 
The third edition of the Houston Architectural Guide won’t be available officially until October 8th, but the Houston AIA is now taking pre-orders through September at a discounted price (PDF). The latest version of the encyclopedic catalog and tour guide, updated by Stephen Fox, will include 340 new entries covering structures that have popped up in the last 13 years — plus a whole bunch more from the last edition, moved to the back-of-the-book “now demolished” section. [AIA Houston]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: MACKIE AND KAMRATH DENTAL BUILDING WAS GETTING A BIT LONG IN THE TOOTH “That building may have looked good from the outside (from a distance; up close you could see the re-bar holding the granite slabs on) but it was WAY outdated on the inside. No way was it set up for a class of 100 students, which is what the School of Dentistry now enrolls every year. I taught in a basement classroom there for 4 years. Between the complete lack of reliable electricity to all of the outlets and the jury-rigged data cables and conduits, it was a minor miracle we didn’t burn the place down or break someone’s neck during labs. And don’t get me started on the thermostats! Never knew if I was gonna need a sweater or a shower after class.” [Sunsets, commenting on M.D. Anderson Planning To Extract Dental Branch from Med Center]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE HOUSTON DESIGN SWEEPSTAKES “MacKie and Kamrath seem to be winning the award for most demolished landmark buildings in the last 18 months. . . .” [Matt, commenting on M.D. Anderson Planning To Extract Dental Branch from Med Center]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THOSE KIDS “. . . Let me be clear. I know exactly where I live and knew where I was moving to 8 years ago. And contrary to what assumptions have been made, I love where I live and am proud of where I live. I love the history behind it. There are great people who live in all parts of this neighborhood all the way down the street to where crack is being sold. When I read this article the first thing that pops into my head is ‘park=kids=hangout.’ I am actually glad that they’re doing what they’re doing instead of putting up yet another apartment complex. The more green and conservation and beautification, the better. A park is a park, meaning where people will congregate which also means kids. Understand that when I posted this comment, I was fresh off of witnessing kids stealing a man’s phone and he being helpless to get it back. And the kids live in this neighborhood. Which just refreshed my memory of my neighbor getting his windows busted out while driving to his house by kids that live in this neighborhood who thought it would be fun to throw rocks at cars driving down the street. I think to when I was riding my scooter and kids that live in this neighborhood thought it would be fun to throw rocks at me while I was driving down the street almost causing me to wreck. I am aware that crime happens in every neighborhood. And despite the 3 instances I just wrote about I have no desire to move. I am happy to see historical sites preserved. In fact there were plans to pave some of the streets here, including mine. As many broken peices of brick there that makes it a pain on any car to drive over, the bricks are staying and will be preserved and I’m so glad! . . .” [Holly, commenting on New Fourth Ward Park of the Open Church]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: A HOME TRIBUTE TO ROGER RASBACH “We own a Rasbach house and pinch ourselves everyday about how fortunate we are to benefit from his genius. We got to meet him a few months before his death and learned the story of the designing/building of our house (we are the second owners). A brilliant gentle man. His sense of scale particularly sets his homes apart.” [NOBSKA, commenting on On Track with a Huge Hacienda in Bellaire]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: BABY, PLEASE DON’T GO DOWN THE BULK FOODS AISLE “That’s Lightnin’s corner. HELL NO!!!” [SYMWAFA, commenting on Conquering Flag of Whole Foods Market, Planted in the Third Ward]
THE PASSING OF THAT PLANNING COMMISSION LADY Kay Crooker, an outspoken longtime member of Houston’s city planning commission, died earlier this week. She was a fixture on the commission from 1984 to 2009, acting as a consistent advocate for what she viewed as the integrity of Houston neighborhoods. Part of her legacy: landscaping requirements encoded in the “tree and shrub” ordinance the city approved in 1991, as well as its more recent expansions. And hundreds of negotiated niceties added to developments where her approval was required. [Legacy; more info]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: GROWING YOUR OWN WHOLE FOODS MARKET, FROM SEED 
“If I plant that same sign in Corpus Christi, will they come????????????????” [miss_msry, commenting on Conquering Flag of Whole Foods Market, Planted in the Third Ward]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: SEPARATED AT DEATH? 
“The demolition photo makes the Turnberry building resemble that good old, lamented avant-garde 1980s Best Showroom in south Houston . . . the one that from day one looked as if part of it were being demolished, right down to its “loose†bricks . . .” [sabine waugh, commenting on Knocking Down Houston’s Turnberry Tower Without Even Building It] Photo: SITE
CONQUERING FLAG OF WHOLE FOODS MARKET, PLANTED IN THE THIRD WARD 
“It seems as though this sign appeared over night” at the corner of Dowling St. and Holman St., writes the reader who sent in the photo at left. It reads, “Coming Soon, Third Ward,†above and below a Whole Foods Market logo. “Is this true?” the reader wants to know. Aw, c’mon! Someone went to all that trouble to put up this sign . . . and now you want to ruin the fun? [Swamplot inbox] Photo: Swamplot inbox
EAST OF DOWNTOWN, AND NO ONE’S BITING 
“I need help,” writes the would-be seller of this townhome just north of the railroad tracks from East Downtown, a day after cutting the asking price down to $254,900. (It originally sold for $236K back in 2008.) “I read Swamplot daily and love seeing what your astute commenters have to say. I’ve lived in the Houston area my entire life but am new to selling a house around here. I’ve had my townhouse on the market for a few weeks now but haven’t had much traffic. I’m wondering if this is normal around here or maybe there’s just not enough buzz for my house. Is the pricing all wrong? Are the pictures awful? Is my agent doing enough (umm… Hi, mom!)? Is my ’hood too early in the gentrification stage? It really is a great house and a pretty cool neighborhood if I do say so myself! I’d love some advice from folks in the know.” [Swamplot inbox]
