COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT IS AND ISN’T RISING IN THE MEYERLAND FLOODPLAIN 
“Last night I rode my bike over to an area of Meyerland that I kept seeing listed in the Daily Demolition Report (this is the pocket just south of S. Braeswood, west of S. Post Oak). It was worse than I imagined. Many houses have been removed. Many others are still standing but vacant. A few have been rebuilt or are in the process of being rebuilt — these are all 2-story ‘McMansions’ and elevated. Visually, it’s a weird looking place. The new houses stick out because of their scale to start with, and putting them up on pedestals next to empty lots exaggerates the effect. When the floods come again, they will be surrounded by a giant McMoat.” [Memebag, commenting on Comment of the Day: Where Houston Stayed Underwater After the Memorial Day Flood] Illustration: Lulu
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Braes Heights and the inner loop section of Willow Meadows has the same look and feel. Massive new homes towering over the old mid-century ones. For a while it will be a strange combination, until the last of the original homes are gone. You are right that the new homes being multiple feet higher only exaggerates the impact.
@JD: The mix of different scales isn’t unusual. What’s unusual is the empty lots and abandoned houses. Unless something is done about the flooding, there may never be demand to rebuild all of those houses.
The empty lots and abandoned houses are part of a work in process. Houses got demo’ed before YE to reduce the tax bill. Developer-owned lots are being listed for homes with $1M+ price tags while oil is at $30/bbl. Homeowners waiting for grant money (that might never come) to raise homes, etc. It isn’t like people just walked away from $400k lots, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes, even if much of that is waiting on bureaucrats to come through for them. Then there’s deed restrictions to contend with, which for a time hampered new builds. We have friends who are going to tear down and build new, but there’s a lot involved and their house is one of those that looks abandoned. It just takes time.
@JD: Are we sure the work in progress ends up with housing in that area? Or is it destined to become a new retention pool?
About 30 of the vacant lots in braes heights were bought out by FEMA and Harris county after Allison. I heard at one time those couldn’t be resold for 99 years; but I don’t know if that’s true.
“Unless something is done about the flooding”
What is your suggestion, pray tell?
@GlenW: I am not a hydrologist. Humans do stuff about flooding all the time. They increase the rate water flows away, or reduce the rate water flows toward. Why do you ask?