8 Comment

• Memebag July 18, 2016 at 8:57 am

  From the White Oak Bayou article:
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  “And if they can do that work, Zeve expects it would be an extensive effort involving multiple city and county departments and costing millions of dollars.”
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  How can they justify spending millions of dollars to make the bayou prettier when we’re losing billions of dollars to floods? Even if the beautification doesn’t make things worse, even if it makes them slightly better (which I doubt it can) there have to be other places to spend that money that will better reduce the economic impact of flooding.
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  Wouldn’t it be cheaper to buy everyone in the Heights some augmented reality glasses that cover the concrete with wildflowers and bunnies?
• commonsense July 18, 2016 at 9:11 am

  @Memebag, people in the heights already live with augmented reality glasses. Their glasses automatically delete the realities of blight, crime, terrible traffic, mediocre schools, and overrated restaurants.
• Superdave July 18, 2016 at 10:16 am

  I think we should jack up all the structures like they did in Galveston after the Great Hurricane. During a flood, Houston would become the Venice of the Western Hemisphere. Also, I believe the city should have to account for the flooding caused by their pothole program. Think about all the water those potholes would have retained, that will now flow directly into the bayous, increasing flooding.
• prettybuilding July 18, 2016 at 1:16 pm

  that lovely building in the photo is the hq of houston design company primer grey
• JB3 July 18, 2016 at 2:14 pm

  The flood control district should buy the under-developed acres homes area and turn it into a spillway / public park. Sort of like Keith-Weiss on Halls Bayou.
• gruffbear July 18, 2016 at 4:24 pm

  I’m not sure that I understand why someone would tear down the Brookhollow buildings for retail when there’s an empty shopping mall across the freeway. The demolition would be far easier, and it is at least as accessible from the freeways and surface roads.
• Ross July 18, 2016 at 7:32 pm

  Yep, those Brookhollow offices look tough to demolish. Lots of concrete in those Brutalist style structures.
• Old School July 19, 2016 at 5:53 am

  Removing the concrete from the bayou is not just about making the bayou “prettier”, even though this city could benefit from every dollar invested in aesthetics. The natural bayou is full of plants that help filter flood water and mitigate pollution before it gets into the bay. It would also be a much improved environment for birds and other wildlife, which is also very important considering the rate of habitat destruction and isolation due to booming development in Houston. It can even help with our urban heat island problem. All that concrete cooks in the sun and reflects heat day and night. A natural bayou landscape would absorb heat. Our bayous and flood ways are our only natural asset in Houston. We have no mountains, lakes or shoreline. When we invest in our flood control system to make it into attractive and useable free space (like Buffalo Bayou park and Willow Waterhole), we see real benefits in the environment and in property values that well exceed the investment.