Houston, Texas real estate development, home buying, landscape, and design

9 Comments

1. 1
   From kjb434:

   Parking lots get you depressed?

   Are you that unstable?

   Many people don’t realize how green our city is with parking lots centered on commercial corridors.

   Just go to west Texas or parts the desert southwest where a tree only exists if a human planted it. Pretty much your dealing with solid pavement or barren soil with desert plants. Forget about shade unless you build it.

   October 14, 2009 at 8:02 am
2. 2
   From Hellsing:

   Unstable? Gosh, a day without an insulting retort from kgb is like a day without a root canal. ;) Many parts of Houston look quite lush from the air. This doesn’t happen to be amongst them.

   October 14, 2009 at 8:38 am
3. 3
   From kjb434:

   My point about “unstable” is I don’t know how people get so emotionally torn from seeing a parking lot. It’s a parking lot.

   But your are right Hellsing, Houston is quite lush and green. I actually laughed in a conversation amongst friends when they made a comment that Houston is all paved.

   October 14, 2009 at 9:09 am
4. 4
   From marmer:

   Houston is quite lush and green, in most places. Parking lots are good, except when they displace historic buildings. ;-) I just wonder why parking is so darn expensive downtown when people say we have so many parking lots…

   October 14, 2009 at 9:32 am
5. 5
   From biggerintexas:

   What do trees have to do with parking lots? It just a basic truth that surface parking lots are not very aesthetically pleasing no matter how you look at it. Especially when they are huge 1000 space lots fronting strip mall after strip mall as tends to be the case so often in Houston.

   October 14, 2009 at 10:58 am
6. 6
   From kjb434:

   “It just a basic truth that surface parking lots are not very aesthetically pleasing no matter how you look at it.”

   I didn’t know this was codified into law?

   Talk about your blanket assumption.

   October 14, 2009 at 11:02 am
7. 7
   From RWB:

   Kjb, I think biggerintexas is making a statement of taste, not trying to “codify” something into “law.” Similar to me saying, “Michael Bay movies really suck!”

   That said, I would like for you (or anyone) to give an example of a parking lot (not a parking garage, but a parking lot) that is aesthetically pleasing. In your opinion. This is not a dare or anything–I am genuinely curious to know if any architect of developer has managed to create a nice looking parking lot. Preferably a large one–I think it would be a lot easier to make a pretty small parking lot.

   I tend to think parking lots are ugly and have the effect of “uglifying” the buildings they are next to. I like it when lots are hidden (for example, placed behind a building), and prefer parking garages to parking lots. That said, I fully understand their utility the the necessity for their existence.

   October 14, 2009 at 11:56 am
8. 8
   From RWB:

   “That said, I fully understand their utility the the necessity for their existence.”

   utility and the necessity

   (sorry)

   October 14, 2009 at 1:14 pm
9. 9
   From wilf:

   Empty tin cans roll sadly by as the pavement yawns.

   October 14, 2009 at 1:50 pm