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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SERVER UPGRADE 
There is nothing wrong with your internet set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are, uh . . . improving the transmission today with a long-overdue server upgrade. It may take a bit of time for identifying info about Swamplot’s new location to propagate across the internets, though, so hold on for a few bumps. Photo: Tony Young [license]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOME IS WHERE YOU PUT YOUR EXTRA CARSEAT “I have the exact same thing in my music room, except it’s a removable bench seat from the minivan instead of two captain’s chairs. I’ll bet this is more common than you think in houses with a pre-2008 Dodge/Chrysler minivan parked out front, or almost any three-row SUV.” [marmer, commenting on Houston Home Listing Photo of the Day: The Commute from Home]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE CASE FOR STUPID NEIGHBORHOOD NAMES “I think of ‘the east end’ as everything east of downtown all the way to 610. Eado is more of the area just east of downtown (not much past the new dynamo stadium). I’m not alone in this thought. Eado is a stupid name, but people have been calling that area that for a long time, now people have more reasons to go there and the name is getting used more frequently by more people. Trendy names although silly and annoying, are very helpful in marketing an area (especially if you are trying to make it a new hot spot).” [caneco, commenting on Warehouse Turned House Turned Mobile: Start’s East Downtown Startup Incubator]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE RICE MILITARY DITCH DEFENSE “The traffic issues including travel patterns and existing infrastructure are different in every neighborhood along WAve and need to be addressed on a case-by-case basis especially in these older, grid layout areas. If you think traffic on these 20′-25′ paved streets with 2′ deep swales on either side is fast moving — just wait until the streets are widened to 30′+ with new, smooth concrete and nothing but someones entry, home office or garage 10′ away! I’m very happy that 2 wayward, late-night autos ended up in the swale in front of my house instead of on my porch. Successful traffic calming devices in my ’hood include parked cars.” [MSchuler, commenting on The Rotting Drywall Is Flying at Park Memorial]
HOUSTON PINKBERRY NO. 3: ACROSS FROM CENTRAL MARKET 
On the occasion of the opening of the Houston area’s second Pinkberry (in the Woodlands Mall, tomorrow), the frozen-yogurt franchisor is announcing its first inside-the-loop location: next to Walgreens, across the street from Central Market in the retail building formerly occupied by Village Kids and Janie and Jack — at 3838 Westheimer. The first area Pinkberry (pictured at right) opened last year off the Gulf Fwy. in Webster. Photo: Tone N.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: CAREFREE HOMESTEADING IN HOUSTON “Living in a teardown is the best way to own a residence homestead. Cracked slab? Let it widen. Brickwork splits open and doors stick? Apply caulk, sand the doors. Roof needs replacement? Paint over the water stains on the ceiling and stick some buckets in the attic to catch the drip. Black mold? Spray a solution of bleach and water on it. Buy some air freshener. Don’t like the off-white color of the walls? Paint it neon pink with glitter, if that’s what suits you. Nobody cares. You live in a teardown!” [TheNiche, commenting on Crazy for the Inner Loop]
ROUNDING UP VIRGINIA AND OHIO WORKERS, SENDING THEM TO NORTH HOUSTON 
The official tally of ExxonMobil employees who’ll be working out of the company’s enormous new campus just south of The Woodlands is now up to 10,000, approximately 2,000 more than reported last year. The company announced today that beginning in early 2014, workers from ExxonMobil facilities in Fairfax, Virginia, and Akron, Ohio, will be relocated to buildings now under construction in a new forest clearing west of the intersection of I-45 and the Hardy Toll Rd. Also being brought up to breathe the fresh Spring air: some employees currently working in ExxonMobil’s chemical and research & engineering companies at the Baytown refinery. ExxonMobil says it’ll expand its 385-acre campus to make room for the recently announced newcomers. [Marketwatch; previously on Swamplot] Rendering of new Energy Center: ExxonMobil
COMMENT OF THE DAY: SHORT-TERM APARTMENTS “Wait. When this place was built it was out of place because it was a brand spanking new apartment complex in the Washington Corridor which (with a few exceptions) was a dead area / no man’s land of heavy industrial uses and crumbling residential shacks. Now these well maintained, 20 year old garden apartments are woefully obsolete and cry out for demolition because they aren’t dense enough, hip enough, or mixed use enough for surrounding neighborhood. How can you not love this city?” [Bernard, commenting on Archstone Memorial Heights Clearing Out Residents Again for Bigger Buildings, 4 Years After First Attempt]
MAKING A KILLEN OUT OF THE OLD STELLA SOLA SPOT 
A whole bunch more tables will be added to the restaurant Ronnie Killen is opening up at 1001 Studewood St. in the Heights, last known as the location of Stella Sola. Also, the name hasn’t quite been decided yet: either Killen’s Steakhouse in the Heights or KS2. Other details in Patrice Shuttlesworth’s report from the ready-to-demo interior: There will be outdoor dining on a new rooftop garden, accessible by elevator; and the floorplan will be mixed up a bit, with the front door and meat locker both relocated. Killen hopes to have the place open by the middle of next month. [Eating Our Words; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Stella Sola
THAT RUMOR ABOUT A NEW CENTRAL MARKET IN GARDEN OAKS 
To all of you who’ve been emailing, tweeting, and speculating about H-E-B buying the Sears shopping center at 4000 N. Shepherd at the edge of Garden Oaks and turning it into a Central Market: Interesting idea. But here’s your rumorkiller: Houston division prez Scott McClelland tells Swamplot, “H-E-B has not looked at this location and we’ve had no discussions about it to date.” Photo: City-Data
COMMENT OF THE DAY: OH, AND WATCH OUT FOR THOSE AREAS NEAR THE SHIP CHANNEL TOO “If you are looking inside the loop at places like Eastwood or just outside the loop at places like Oak Ridge and Westbury, be careful that your house is at least 1000 feet from any highways. Living within 1000 feet of a major highway can expose your children to serious air quality issues in addition to what we already have to endure in Houston. Also, make sure that you get the house tested for lead paint and be ready to have some cash on hand to do some work to remediate any lead paint on the interior and any lead paint that is coming off on the exterior. I always thought that I was being overly cautious when I had my house remediated before moving in. But one day I had my then 4 month old baby on the changing table and watched as he scratched the paint on the wall with his finger and then put his finger in his mouth . . .” [Old School, commenting on Crazy for the Inner Loop]
CRAZY FOR THE INNER LOOP “I’m sort of at my wit’s end, I don’t have anyone else I can ask, so here goes: say you have $150K–$200K (closer to $150K would be best/more realistic) to spend on a house anywhere in Houston — where do you buy, now, at this point in 2012? We’d prefer to keep it in the loop, and we’ve got a baby with more possibly on the way. Trying to buy a house in this city is driving me insane.” [Swamplot inbox]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: A LIKELY STORY “Exact same thing happens every time I list my garage apartment on the MLS. Someone grabs the info and posts it to craigslist. I’ve always thought these folks are misguided but legitimate Realtors using it as a way to lure apartment seekers who don’t already have their own agent. They see the ad on CL, call the ‘agent’ and she takes them to the property and collects the buyers-side commission. However, it could be more of the scenario that Katie P describes, which is much more malicious. Earlier this year, I got a knock on my door from a person who wanted to see the apartment, even though the MLS [listing] had been removed a few weeks prior. He was not too pleased to find out the property was long gone. I found the ad on craigslist and called ‘agent Samantha’ to find out more about the property she listed. She was more than just a little flustered and told me that she wasn’t sure what properties her assistant had posted to craigslist. After a few minutes I informed her that the property was no longer available and she needed to remove the ad.” [Kepdogg, commenting on The MLS Rental Scam Going on Now in the Heights]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHEN EVERYBODY WANTS TO RENT OUT YOUR HOUSE “Your Realtor should know about this. It is not uncommon. It happens regularly to MLS listings. A friend of mine in Meyerland had the same thing happen. It seems they wait until the MLS rental listing status shows pending or leased, which often means the Realtor’s sign is gone from the yard, but the house might still be vacant for 30 days or so until a legit tenant moves in. That’s their window. In my friend’s case the scammer went as far as to look up his name on HCAD and get a g-mail email address that made sense. Same song and dance: he was in London on business; below market rent, etc. The police, FBI, etc. will not do anything. The scammers are usually not local. The scammers sit at their PC’s all day long and do this over and over and over looking for that one gullible renter who will send a deposit to a complete stranger via Western Union. It’s hard to believe it ever actually works, but I guess if you do it enough times, someone will fall for it. The best thing to do is leave the Realtor’s sign in the yard until someone takes occupancy. That should be a giant waving red flag for anyone who shows up to look at the house. If you want to go a bit further, leave a note on the front door saying something along the lines of, ‘Don’t be a victim of online scams. This house is already leased’ or ‘Don’t be a victim of online scams, the only way to lease this house is to call XYZ at (xxx) xxx-xxxx.'” [Bernard, commenting on The MLS Rental Scam Going on Now in the Heights]