COMMENT OF THE DAY: AND WHERE WOULD THAT PUT VERSAILLES? “If Louis XIV was reincarnated as an insurance broker in Houston, this is where he would live.” [finness, commenting on Where the La-Z-Boys in Lazybrook Are Frozen in Time]
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: MONTROSE AIN’T LIKE IT USED TO BE “What’s with the petitions and the rainbows and unicorns? Renderings? Real hippys would squat on the land, throw up some tents to sell their bead jewelry and homemade hippy stuff until the police and/or bulldozers come. 21st century Montrose is full of pussies. 20 bucks sez the guy with the hearts on his sign is in line on opening day ready to fill his hemp messenger bag with organic chicken breasts and a sustainably farmed pomengranate flavored something or other at the overpriced new neighborhood-centric HEB.” [meatsack, commenting on What the Montrose Land Defense Coalition Really Wants To See at Wilshire Village]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: A PARK GROWS IN IDYLWOOD “The neighborhood will be able to ‘use’ the vacant land but cannot build permanent structures upon it. With the exception of one lot at the far end of N. Macgregor, 9 are connecting so that they will form a large U shaped property. There’s been talk of a shared garden but who knows… The area still looks pretty rough right now, but the damaged sidewalks, where driveways once were, are being repaired and curbs installed. There are existing trees and lawns so hopefully it will become, at the very least, another usable green space. I suspect that, when the next big flood happens and some of the remaining homes get hit yet again, if another FEMA buyout is offered, we’ll be seeing more open land along N. Macgregor. . . .” [PYEWACKET2, commenting on Comment of the Day: The Great Idylwood Shoreline FEMA Buyout]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE RIVER OAKS MIDDLE AGE SPREAD “What’s sad is that River Oaks is losing the land versus house battle . . . What made River Oaks so elegant, really, was the amount of land on each lot which was probably 1/3 house to 2/3 land in most cases. Now it’s more like 2/3 house to 1/3 land. Many are nothing more than enormous townhouses with front yards.” [Matt Mystery, commenting on Down and Out in River Oaks]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: ISLANDS OF VALUE “I have come to believe that what is nearby means nothing at all to a lot of people. The Heights just east of Shepherd was, just a few years ago, mostly shotgun shacks and run down rentals. That stopped nobody from building half million dollar plus homes. Now- that doesn’t mean this place isn’t overpriced – a comp is a comp. I’m just saying that there are apparently many people who love being the castle surrounded by the serfs.” [finness, commenting on Swamplot Price Adjuster: Brookesmith in the 200s]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: IMAGINING THE H-E-B HEIGHTS REVITALIZATION PLAN “The Sons of Hermann site would not have to be dry. There used to be a liquor store at the Boulevard and the bayou – Kims #1. Tapping in to all the people who now live within drunks-puking-in-your-driveway distance of Washington makes that site a good choice. Enter from Yale or Heights. Then maybe those condos that are 6 feet from the RR [tracks] would finally sell.” [finness, commenting on H-E-B Plans To Build a Montrose Grocery Store at Wilshire Village]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE GREAT IDYLWOOD SHORELINE FEMA BUYOUT “The ten houses in Idylwood, 6 along N. Macgregor, 2 on Wildwood and 2 on Park Ln were all heavily damaged by Hurricane Ike. Most all those houses have been hit numerous times, not the least of which was Allison. Those homes were right on Brays Bayou. Come on folks, some of the homeowners hated to sell to FEMA but it was either that or jump through impossible hoops to raise the homes’ foundations. True, there’s been a lot of improvement to the bayou but who knows if those improvements will be effective when the next flood hits? Not everyone chose to take the buyout.” [PYEWACKET2, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Idylwood Hat Trick]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT IT TAKES TO FIX UP A MIDCENTURY MOD “A house of this vintage and vernacular requires a fairly specific buyer possessing a working knowledge of the systemic underpinnings of a home. The first priority will be to upgrade electrical systems, HVAC and plumbing (below grade) – this assumes the aforementioned has not been upgraded within the past 10 years or so. . . . Equally important is the roof and with a flat roof, extra care has to be taken to ensure proper water shedding and flashing details. Next is insulation (particularly with respect to a flat [roof] as there is no plenum), this will involve removing all of the gyp. bd. at the ceiling in order to access the area in question. New electrical wiring can then be run as well as HVAC ducting, followed by high efficacy insulation. Of course, work on all of the above items will result in potential new discoveries such as dry rot, termite damage, non-compliant items per current codes, etc. Expect to reasonably expend $100K for the items noted. This is before you can consider updating the bathrooms, kitchen, new lighting, etc. As there is no garage (not a deal breaker but lack of covered parking could be), consideration should be towards erecting a architecturally harmonious structure on the driveway side of the home. Project is not for the faint of heart but in the end, well worth the effort and potential rewards. This house would likely qualify as a City of Houston Historic Landmark and if pursued, could potentially also include the related tax breaks.” [JAH, commenting on More Backstory on That 1960 Walnut Bend Mod: Nobody’s Screwed It Up Yet]
COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: MAKING OLDER HOMES SAFER “Ironically, all of the lawsuit-limiting legislation passed at the request of the home-building industry makes Texas one of the few states where a pre-existing home is a more secure investment than a new home. When the market begins to reflect this, which it will eventually, new home builders will regret it.” [jlawrence, commenting on The $58 Million Perry Home]
COMMENT OF THE DAY RUNNER-UP: SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE “. . . I always laugh when I see some Prius with an Obama sticker pulling into their Perry Home.” [doofus, commenting on The $58 Million Perry Home]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE WILSHIRE VILLAGE CURSE “. . . I think we can officially call this site cursed as everyone who has anything to do with it seems to begin making insane decisions about what to do with it. A grocery store?? Really?!?” [mstark, commenting on H-E-B: Yes, We’re Buying the Wilshire Village Site]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WE’RE FROM THE TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER AND WE’RE HERE TO HELP “Given all the refineries, industrial plants, chemical plants, railroads, stagnant swamps and cesspools, traffic pollution, and the like that plague this hellhole of a town, it is a freaking wonder that Houston doesn’t lead the nation in cancer cases.” [Random Poster, commenting on Today’s Odor in Baytown Is Brought to You by ExxonMobil]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE SOCCER STADIUM AT FINGER FURNITURE “Am I crazy to ask the question why this site would not be an easier solution for the Dynamo’s stadium? It’s right on 45 South, has much better ingress/egress than the east end site, with dedicated exits going north and south, very close to downtown. . . . Looking closer, too, it makes for easy alternative use(s) for the stadium (which means TSU can have even more convenient use of the facilities with their campus not 2 miles away), near Hobby Airport for sports fan travelers/reporters/etc., and doesn’t take a ton of money to make the site possible since it already has a vast parking lot, utilities, (albeit obnoxious) pylon freeway sign. Knowing the Fingers family, they would take the call, and be happy to trade the site for another from the city for future development. Yahtzee!” [JG, commenting on A Whole New Ball Game: Fingers Back and Open for Business]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE “TRICKLE-DOWN” THEORY OF HOUSTON REDEVELOPMENT “. . . Historic Districts suck and deed restriction, too. They pit neighbor against neighbor, creating the distraction that will keep residents from organizing across the city and taking aim at the real predators. Meanwhile, the money behind the bulldozers is laughing till they pee their pants.” [finness, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Foundations of Wayne]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: CONFESSIONS OF A CURIOUS HOMESELLER “I used the baby monitor to listen to the showings of my house. Just hung out at the neighbors. Not because I thought our realtor needed monitoring but because I was just so, so curious about what folks would say about my house. No real surprises. But I was amazed how many people brought small children to the showing–they spent a lot of time telling their kids to leave our coasters alone.” [Merrie, commenting on Spying on the Homebuyers]