Comments on: Comment of the Day: Buried Landscapes of the Houston Heights http://swamplot.com/comment-of-the-day-buried-landscapes-of-the-houston-heights/2009-03-25/ Houston, Texas real estate development, home buying, landscape, and design Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:52:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: NorhillJoe http://swamplot.com/comment-of-the-day-buried-landscapes-of-the-houston-heights/2009-03-25/#comment-23636 NorhillJoe Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:24:04 +0000 http://swamplot.com/?p=7680#comment-23636 kjb434, speaking of landfills - aka trash dumps. I wonder if the homeowners at The Park at Memorial Heights know that they are on top of a dump. I used to explore that area in the early 90's and the dump had an large number of broken milk bottles. I assumed it was from the former milk bottling business on Allen Parkway. kjb434, speaking of landfills - aka trash dumps. I wonder if the homeowners at The Park at Memorial Heights know that they are on top of a dump. I used to explore that area in the early 90’s and the dump had an large number of broken milk bottles. I assumed it was from the former milk bottling business on Allen Parkway.

]]> By: Sheila http://swamplot.com/comment-of-the-day-buried-landscapes-of-the-houston-heights/2009-03-25/#comment-23630 Sheila Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:06:49 +0000 http://swamplot.com/?p=7680#comment-23630 Add to that the lot south of the developing hike and bike trail and east of the dead end of 5th Street that is supposed to be part of the natural drainage pattern and is still listed on the Inner Loop Condos site as soon to be developed. On the other hand think gondolas, like they have in Vegas. Add to that the lot south of the developing hike and bike trail and east of the dead end of 5th Street that is supposed to be part of the natural drainage pattern and is still listed on the Inner Loop Condos site as soon to be developed.

On the other hand think gondolas, like they have in Vegas.

]]> By: ArlingtonSt http://swamplot.com/comment-of-the-day-buried-landscapes-of-the-houston-heights/2009-03-25/#comment-23627 ArlingtonSt Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:41:28 +0000 http://swamplot.com/?p=7680#comment-23627 I've noticed on current satellite maps that you can still pretty well trace where the White Oak Bayou tributary (sometimes called Gostick Gully) ran to the NNW up along the eastern boundary of the Houston Heights. It still exists in some form south of White Oak Drive - you can trace the trees surrounding it right up to the western edge of Jimmie's. (As noted on Swamplot earlier this week, though, someone wants to turn that stretch of the gully into a 75-car parking lot.) North of White Oak Drive, you can still see on the satellite map that there aren't old houses where the tributary used to run - there are the parking lots between Camphouse BBQ and the warehouse, then the new townhouses and some warehouse development on 6-1/2, then some green space around where Beverly would have hit 7th (but didn't - because of the gully). Then there are mostly new constructions and yards all the way up to north of 8th. I think the NW corner lot at 8th and Beverly is still not entirely filled in. And you can feel the elevation dip in that area if you're on a bike. Don't imagine this stuff would interest anyone who doesn't live close by but, yeah, it's surprising how many people who do live here don't know about it. They have probably noticed the weird flooding patterns, though. Which aren't going to get any better if that parking lot is built. I’ve noticed on current satellite maps that you can still pretty well trace where the White Oak Bayou tributary (sometimes called Gostick Gully) ran to the NNW up along the eastern boundary of the Houston Heights. It still exists in some form south of White Oak Drive - you can trace the trees surrounding it right up to the western edge of Jimmie’s. (As noted on Swamplot earlier this week, though, someone wants to turn that stretch of the gully into a 75-car parking lot.) North of White Oak Drive, you can still see on the satellite map that there aren’t old houses where the tributary used to run - there are the parking lots between Camphouse BBQ and the warehouse, then the new townhouses and some warehouse development on 6-1/2, then some green space around where Beverly would have hit 7th (but didn’t - because of the gully). Then there are mostly new constructions and yards all the way up to north of 8th. I think the NW corner lot at 8th and Beverly is still not entirely filled in. And you can feel the elevation dip in that area if you’re on a bike.
Don’t imagine this stuff would interest anyone who doesn’t live close by but, yeah, it’s surprising how many people who do live here don’t know about it. They have probably noticed the weird flooding patterns, though. Which aren’t going to get any better if that parking lot is built.

]]> By: Howard Hughes http://swamplot.com/comment-of-the-day-buried-landscapes-of-the-houston-heights/2009-03-25/#comment-23598 Howard Hughes Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:32:08 +0000 http://swamplot.com/?p=7680#comment-23598 This happened during the development of a lot of older lower-end neighborhoods. Sometimes pipes weren't even put in the channels, they were just filled up with dirt. This resulted in a lot of differential settlement and foundation problems. The most egregious example I can think of is the Broadmoor neighborhood off of Telephone Road in the East End. Old maps show a tributary of Braes Bayou running through the area, but it must have been improperly filled in when the neighborhood was developed in the 1930s. Now nearly all the brick bungalows in the neighborhood show evidence of foundation problems; some are pretty severe. Even the sidewalks have some pretty pronounced topography. This happened during the development of a lot of older lower-end neighborhoods. Sometimes pipes weren’t even put in the channels, they were just filled up with dirt. This resulted in a lot of differential settlement and foundation problems. The most egregious example I can think of is the Broadmoor neighborhood off of Telephone Road in the East End. Old maps show a tributary of Braes Bayou running through the area, but it must have been improperly filled in when the neighborhood was developed in the 1930s. Now nearly all the brick bungalows in the neighborhood show evidence of foundation problems; some are pretty severe. Even the sidewalks have some pretty pronounced topography.

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