05/10/12 11:29pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THAT HOUSTON SOUND “I used to live 750 feet from 610. And before that, I lived 1,000 feet from active railroad tracks and kept my windows open at night. The sound that eminated from these sources would definitely exceed City or State standards, but is exempted. I had no right to silence and nor did I care. I even sort of miss the trains and the booming noises from the hump yard a mile to the south. I wish we had that in the Boulevard Oaks area and the Museum District. It’d make them a little more authentically Houston.” [TheNiche, commenting on Headlines: Noise Ordinance Complaints; Galveston’s Coming ‘Maginot Line’]

05/07/12 11:41pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: PLEASE HELP THE HOMELESS — TO BUY WHAT I’M SELLING “. . . I characterize the problem as a social blight and attribute my interest, concern, and thought toward it primarily because the long-term homeless are not engaging in society as consumers. They are a dead weight. I cannot sell them things, and the people that give them things are made less able to afford to buy my things. Homelessness is a problem because it interferes with the fulfillment of my greed.” [TheNiche, commenting on The Secret Homeless Caves Under Downtown]

05/04/12 11:50pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: WE’RE FROM STUCCO, AND WE’VE COME TO TAKE YOUR HOME “Just an obervation: almost every teardown pictured lately has an italianate townhome or house behind it. Is stucco the new grim reaper for Houston real estate? I mean, it’s not as bad of an omen as the angry french fry, but seems to be more prominent as of late.” [Stating the Obvious, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Beverlyhill Bullies]

05/02/12 11:24pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE RICE MILITARY MARCH “I walk around in Rice Military and between the old homes, new townhouses, ditches, curbs, overgrown lots, old pea-gravel concrete, newer brick-u-luxe pavers, electrical and cable boxes, new mailbox clusters, construction vehicles, and general chaos, there is hardly any contiguous sidewalk in any block in any direction.” [Miz Brooke Smith, commenting on Where the Sidewalk Takes a Little Break]

05/01/12 11:13pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHEN THE BULLDOZERS HEAD FOR SHARPSTOWN “. . . The Heights used to be pretty shady too. Times change. Neighborhoods change. Sharpstown’s day in the sun is coming, but it’s still a ways off. It’s not hard to look at the wave of redevelopment that has poured out from the center of Houston and realize Sharpstown is the path of growth. Back in the 80′s West U houses were being bulldozed by the dozen. Soon lots of folks were priced out of West U and the bulldozers turned to Bellaire. Now they are turning south all the way to the South Loop. Meyerland is in play too. Right now the primary western barrier is the edge of the Bellaire HS zoning map. As Meyerland continues to improve though, the childless pioneers who don’t care about school zones will be the first to start the gentrification process in Sharpstown. Eventually . . . critical mass. If the neighborhood associations were smart, they’d start their own tax district and ear mark all the proceeds for demolition of the junkiest properties. Demo some junk. Demo some more junk. Hold the land as it appreciates. Sell it to a developer who has a plan to build that you like (not just the highest bidder). Pour the land sale money into more demolition. Rinse. Repeat.” [Bernard, commenting on Headlines: Selling the Astrodome in Pieces; Felix Mexican Restaurant Sign Mystery]

04/30/12 6:32pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: DELINEATING THE HOUSTON-KATY BORDER DMZ “I always thought George Bush Park was an appropriate boundary between what should be called ‘Houston’ and what should be called ‘Katy.’ However, this requires suffering a weird ‘interzone’ considering the feeder roads and Park Ten. Still, Park Ten has a feel of neutrality to it. Might still work.” [Katied, commenting on A Peek Inside Houston’s New J. Crew No. 2]

04/27/12 11:45pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: BEWARE ALSO THE KEG PARTY AT THE HARRINGTONS’ HOUSE ON SATURDAY “Loved the article, or should I say press release, in the Kingwood Observer about the river beach party hangout for teens. It should really help build awareness of, and traffic to, the spot. Great marketing effort!” [PaulP, commenting on Headlines: Fire Station Rehab; Hermann Park Apartment Building’s Loose Python]

04/26/12 11:48pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED “This is awesome! This is what makes Houston entertaining. With no zoning rules in place, our residential landscape is essentially open to a free for all when it comes to building. Residents have little or no protection against what can go up right next to them. SO what do you do to protect your current neighborhood, you get creative and fight back. Just as the developer has as much of a right to build there, the community also has the right to reject or stop it any legal way they can.” [MericaRulz, commenting on A List of Gentle Ashby Highrise Protest Methods]

04/24/12 11:46pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: WOULD’VE KNOCKED IT IF I HADN’T TRIED IT “Normally, I’m all for jumping on the ‘this is why we’re fat’ bandwagon, as well as the one that’s opposed to Austin imports. But having sampled a Tootie Pie, they are dang good. I’m actually excited about this one.” [MJ, commenting on More Houses Wanted for More Pies]

04/19/12 10:23pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: A BETTER USE FOR THAT SPACE ABOVE THE FRIDGE “I agree that they did a great job remodeling this house, and an even better job photographing it. However, the thing that drives me nuts is the requisite wine-rack-above-fridge. Wine shouldn’t be kept at room temperature in Houston, unless you can afford to keep your house far cooler than I keep mine. Regardless, refrigerators cool by removing the heat inside. Where does that heat go? Out the back, and up! Heat rises, right into that wine. We need to find a better use for this space, maybe one that could even benefit from the heat. Built in crock-pots? Egg-incubators for backyard chickens? Anything but wine!” [Soulfinger, commenting on Spruced Up in Spring Shadows]