Comments on: Regrets, More Than a Few: Cole’s Did It Their Way

By: kjb434

kjb434 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:05:55 +0000

That simply isn’t true. Lots of businesses of entrepreneurs are run out of their homes or apartments. As long as a deed restriction or HOA rule doesn’t prevent it, you can run a business from home. Even if the rule does prevent it, you can still run a business that doesn’t need high traffic.

There are also several farmers markets throughout the region that also allow the selling of non-farm based goods.

By: Neil

Neil — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:02:35 +0000

Our non-third-world building codes have raised the financial stakes too high for most people to have an entrepreneurial site in their own employment that is located anywhere *outside* of a flea market, folks.

By: Raj

Raj — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:44:43 +0000

kjb434, thanks for the info and analysis. I’m not saying that fire hazards should be ignored, but we should be honest, curious, and concerned about the timing. Why the draconian approach that shut down a thriving market?

So much money has gone into the Pearland Waterlights district, which seeks to create the impression of a historical, community-oriented, walking-friendly center. But Pearland is shutting down a place that already does all those things, only for mostly low-income people.

By: kjb434

kjb434 — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:35:42 +0000

Raj,

It’s not just the developers and Pearland. The city of Houston and Mayor White are in on this too. A lot of developers (commercial and residential) are targeting the land along the Beltway. This particular business happens to be within Pearland’s city limits. City of Houston would have shut it down because of the proximity. City of Houston is spending a lot money on the roads near the Beltway to make the land more attractive to developers and to accommodate currently planned developments. Monroe Road north of the Beltway is a recent example of this. This road will be rebuilt into a boulevard soon because of the new Target shopping center going in. The Mayor also pushed for a similar still project out on Mercury Road next to the new US 90 Freeway.

Also the argument that they haven’t shut it down for a long time so they shouldn’t now is not a strong one to stand on.

By: Raj

Raj — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:26:05 +0000

Jessica wrote, “It was only a matter of time before the fire marshal shut it down, really.” The place has been around for decades. Why now? Why weren’t these problems cited years ago? Is the problem that the new big time developers in Pearland forced the issue?

By: EMME

EMME — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:03:32 +0000

I hear you on the local color, but those living in gated communities only see beige. :)

By: kjb434

kjb434 — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:38:54 +0000

But “local color” can happen without third world safety standards.

Trader’s Village in Cypress is a good example of a modern flea market.

If the Trader’s Village scale is to big, it’s not uncommon for a flea market to exist in an old shopping center.

The commenters are right that this place was a blight to the community.

By: marmer

marmer — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:33:22 +0000

On chron.com, both in the news story and the local Pearland blog, there have been lots of comments to the effect that this was a blight upon the face of the earth and that Pearland would be better off if it was scraped to bare ground. I am intrigued by all the vitriol. I thought it was interesting, local color, one of those “what makes the Houston area special” kind of places. I didn’t go that often but always enjoyed it when I went (and got a spectacular deal on a chop saw there.) I didn’t even think the traffic was all that bad.

By: Carol

Carol — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:33:07 +0000

Is this surprising? It is called a “flea” market.
I haven’t been there in years, but it was bad back then, too.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:39:33 +0000

I live not too far from Cole’s, and visited once or twice. It was only a matter of time before the fire marshal shut it down, really. The only place I’ve ever been to where you can buy lawn mower parts, used cassette tapes of old tejano music, or 10 pairs of socks for a dollar, view Cole’s dusty collection of antique motorcycles, and pick up a pit-bull puppy off the back of a truck on your way out. The motorcycle collection is seriously impressive, it will be interesting to see what happens to it if Cole’s is forced to close for good.

By: marmer

marmer — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:47:13 +0000

Yes. Especially some of the food vendors in the covered area. Probably as close as you could get to Mexico without actually going there. There was also an indoor area that had lots of actual shops that sold antiques and collectibles. I kinda enjoyed going there once in a while, and got some pretty good deals on stuff (and saw tons of pure junk) but not every weekend or anything like that. But now that I think about it, a big fire when the place was full would probably have led to loss of life on a scale we haven’t seen in the modern era of fire regulations.

By: kjb434

kjb434 — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:54:54 +0000

You would swear you were in Mexico or India looking at that.