12/20/16 2:30pm

Voting begins this afternoon for the penultimate category in the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: the Neighborhood of the Year Award. A big thanks to everyone who took the time to submit a nomination!

Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoPlease note: This category is not meant to recognize the Houston area’s “best” neighborhood (whatever that might mean). It’s meant to recognize the area’s Neighborhood of the Year — which affords you, the voter, much more latitude in your choice. It also means that it’s especially important that, as you vote, you take time to tell us why the nominee you’ve selected deserves special attention above all this year’s other worthy contenders.

You can votes 4 times for this category (as is the case with all of this year’s awards) — once each by means of a comment below, an email to the Tip Line, and a proclamation of your affections on Facebook or Twitter.  If you aren’t familiar with Swamplot voting rules, check out the explainer here — and be sure to get your friends in on the action (which ends on Tuesday, December 27th at 5 pm, when voting for all categories will close).

Without further ado, we present the nominees for 2016 Neighborhood of the Year:

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The 2016 Swampies
12/19/16 3:45pm

The final wave of ballots for the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate begins this afternoon! This week’s first new category open for voting is the Houston High Water Award. Which of the nominees on the roster have earned this prestigious accolade? That’s for you to decide!

Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoYou can vote in 4 ways for this award —  by commenting below, by emailing us, or by posting on Facebook and Twitter. Make sure all 4 of your votes count by checking out the official voting guidelines, posted right here; don’t forget to stir up support for your favorite nominees from your friends, and don’t forget that voting for all categories will end on December 27th at 5 pm. 

If you haven’t already sent in your choices for the first 5 categories — that’s Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition, the “Where Are They Now?” Award, Best Industrial Incident, and Special Achievement in Parking — here’s your chance to catch up! (And for those of you keeping count, we’ll have our last 2 categories open for voting later this week.)

Now, take a gander at the Houston High Water Award’s official nominees:

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The 2016 Swampies
12/14/16 5:15pm

It’s Wednesday — and it just so happens we’re now over the hump on the ballots for the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, too. Quick refresher: So far voting has begun for Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition, the “Where Are They Now?” Award, and Best Industrial Incident. The official list of nominees for this year’s Award for Special Achievement in Parking is now ready for your perusal, too; thanks again to everyone who joined in to help round up the contenders.

Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoRemember, you can stuff the ballot box by voting 4 times for this award — that’s once by commenting below, once by shooting us an email, and once each by Facebook and by Twitter. Get the complete details here to make sure your votes count, and don’t forget to ask your friends to help push your nominee to the top! All votes are due by 5PM on Tuesday, December 27th. 

Who made the greatest strides this year in the oft-stagnant field of parking? Take your pick from the nominees below:

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The 2016 Swampies
12/13/16 5:30pm

We’re off to a good start already with voting in the first 3 categories of this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: Ballots for Favorite Design Cliché, Best Demolition, and the “Where Are They Now? Award opened last week. Now, which of the candidates will clean up in the Best Industrial Incident category?

Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoAs with all of this year’s award categories, there are 4 ways to vote for your favorite nominee. (You can even do all 4, if you’re really enthusiastic about a candidate!) Vote by leaving a comment below, by sending us an email, and by blasting your choices to Facebook and Twitter. Don’t forget to send your friends to the polls, too — just be sure you all get your choices in by 5 PM on Tuesday, December 27th. Check out this year’s complete voting guidelines, if you need a refresher on the specifics.

What qualifies a nominee as a strong contender for Best Industrial Incident? Was it the most visually stunning event? The one that touched the most Houstonians? Or the one with the most interesting fallout? That’s up to you — now check out the official nominees:
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The 2016 Swampies
12/12/16 9:15am

Nominations for all remaining categories in the 2016 Swampies closed on Friday; last week we also kicked off the actual voting, starting with the first 3 of this year’s 8 awards: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition of 2016, and the “Where Are They Now?” Award.

Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoThanks to everyone who’s joined in the fun so far, by submitting ballot-worthy choices and by voting! Your participation what makes these awards happen.

All this week we’ll be opening up more ballots for the remainder of this year’s categories; that’ll give you some time to get your votes in, and maybe do a little campaigning for your favorite nominees, before the holidays hit. Check here if you need a refresher on the 4 different ways to vote — just remember that the polls will close for all awards at 5 PM on Tuesday, December 27th. After that, we’ll ring in the new year by announcing the winners.

12/09/16 5:30pm

Unexpected comebacks and inglorious fade-outs abounded in your nominations for this next category in the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: the “Where Are They Now?” Award. Thanks to everyone who contributed! Now, it’s time to whittle down the list to that single winner.

Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoThe nominees for this award are people, places, and things which have made a noteworthy transition of one variety or another. As with this year’s other categories, there are 4 ways to vote for your favorite nominee  — and if you really want to give your favorite a boost, you can do all 4. Make your voice heard by leaving a comment below, by sending us an email, or by shouting out your choices to Facebook and the Twittersphere — and, of course, by getting your friends in on the action to help. Be sure to send your votes in by 5 PM on Tuesday, December 27th.

Any questions? Read up on the complete voting guidelines, if so. Now, on to the nominees for the 2016 “Where Are They Now?” Award:

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The 2016 Swampies
12/08/16 4:45pm

Smashing nominations, everyone! Thanks to you, the ballot for 2016’s Best Demolition award is loaded up with some truly impressive has-beens.

With your help, we’ve compiled a bang(ed)-up list of potential candidates. And with a little more help — in the form of your votes — we can now pick the winner! Before you vote, ask yourself this: Should this category commemorate the best act of demolition, the demolition that produced the best results, or the best building to meet its unmaker?

The voting rules for this year’s Swampies are posted here, but they’re not that complicated: You can vote in this category through each of 4 methods: in a comment below, in an email to Swamplot, on Twitter, or on Swamplot’s Facebook page. If you’ve got a favorite candidate, start a campaign! And don’t forget to add why you’re voting for that particular nominee. The polls close for all categories at 5 pm on Tuesday, December 27th.

Without further, um . . . adieu, here’s the list of this year’s Best Demolition contenders:

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The 2016 Swampies
12/07/16 5:15pm

Here they are, ripped and culled from your submissions: the official nominees in the first category of the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. That, of course, is Favorite Houston Design Cliché. Thanks to all of you who contributed! These awards wouldn’t happen without you.

As in years past, you can vote up to 4 times in this category by 1) leaving a comment below this post; 2) sending us an email; or by expressing your preference on 3) Twitter or 4) Facebook. Make sure your vote counts by reading and following the 2016 voting instructions, and get your vote in by 5PM on Tuesday, December 27th.

Just as important as the votes you cast, though, are the explanations you provide with them. Tell us why you’re voting for who you’re voting for! What you write may sway other readers to vote as you did. And if your candidate wins or comes in second place, your clever comments might be included in our round-up post.

Here, then, are the 2016 nominees for Favorite Houston Design Cliché:

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The 2016 Swampies
12/06/16 12:45pm

LAST CALLS FOR YOUR NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2016 SWAMPIES Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoIt’s down to the wire for submissions to the first 2 categories of this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: nominations for Favorite Houston Design Cliché and Best Demolition close tonight at midnight. After that, the “Where Are They Now?” Award and Best Industrial Incident categories will close on Wednesday night, trailed by Special Achievement in Parking and the Houston High Water Award on Thursday; by the end of Friday, we’ll shut down submissions of contenders for Neighborhood of the Year and this year’s Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate as well. But why wait that long? Voting for the first category will start before then — get those nominations in now so you can focus on the good stuff.

12/05/16 12:30pm

Last Tuesday we started introducing the categories for the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate — that means this Tuesday is the last day to send in nominations for the year’s first Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon Logo2 awards — Favorite Houston Design Cliché and Best Demolition. You’ve got until midnight tomorrow to submit your top choices for those 2; after that, their 1-week submission windows will snap shut.

And 2 more categories will close each day after that, as the official ballots begin to roll out (stay tuned for more info on the voting process). Some of the categories that opened mid-week — that’s Best Industrial Incident, the Houston High Water Award,  the “Where Are They Now? Award, and the Swamplot Award for Special Achievement in Parking — could still use your creative keyboardery to help pack their ranks with the city’s most award-worthy contenders. And of course, nominations for the coveted 2016 Neighborhood of the Year and Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate categories will close last — be sure to send your top picks for those by midnight on Friday. 

Making a nomination is easy — just visit any of this year’s category description pages and leave your suggestions as a comment (along with a quick explanation of why you picked it). Feel free to further elaborate on a nominee someone else has already suggested, as that’ll help it wind up on the final ballot.  Alternatively, you can email your choices to us by way of the tip line. Got any lingering questions? Check here for the official nomination guidelines.

The 2016 Swampies
12/02/16 4:30pm

We’ve come to the eighth and final category for this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. So far this week we’ve opened up nominations for Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition, the “Where Are They Now?” Award, Best Industrial Incident, Special Achievement in Parking,  The Houston High Water Award, and — just this morning — Neighborhood of the Year.

Here’s the last one — and perhaps the most sweeping of them all: What was 2016’s Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate?

Covering the real estate moments that make, change, and define the city is the whole point of Swamplot. So tell us: What real estate happenings from the past year stand out above the others? Was it something Swamplot wrote about? Or did we miss something that you think takes the real estate cake? Your nominated moments need not have taken place within city limits — but they should include sufficient Houston-ish qualities to be deserving of the award.

For this same category last time, the top spot went to the unexpected salvation and restoration of the Weingarten Mansion. The 2013 winner was Urban Living’s failed lawsuit against its own former customer, and in 2012, the award went to voter approval of funding for the Bayou Greenways Initiative.

We’ll need your help to pinpoint this year’s most award-worthy moment. Add your comments to this post or send us an email describing the moments you’d like to nominate — and don’t forget to tell us why. If you need to jog your memory, browse back through the site. And if you have any questions about how to make a nomination, you’ll likely find the answers here.

Now nominate away! As with each of the other categories, you’ve got a week to send in your top picks — so make sure you get your entries in by midnight on Friday, December 9, when the window to submit your choices will close for good.

The 2016 Swampies
12/02/16 11:45am

We’re almost done introducing the categories in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. So far, we’ve opened nominations for Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition, the “Where Are They Now?” Award, Best Industrial Incident, Special Achievement in Parking, and  The Houston High Water Award. If you haven’t done so already, there’s still time to put in your own suggestions for each of these.

This next category can get pretty competitive: Neighborhood of the Year. Past winners have come from all over the greater Houston area — the last honoree was Downtown, while the 2009 winner was . . . well . . . Galveston. (Robindell snagged the second place spot, last time.)

What qualifies a neighborhood to pick up that coveted “of the Year” designation? That’s for you to decide. When you make a nomination, be sure to say why your pick is especially award-worthy. You can submit your nominations — along with convincing explanations as to why your nominee should win — in the comments below, or in an email, by midnight on Friday, December 9. (If you’re just joining us, please consult the official rules for nominating.) Now tell us, who are this year’s contenders for Neighborhood of the Year?

The 2016 Swampies
12/01/16 5:30pm

This morning we opened up another category for the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. That brings the tally up to 5 so far — Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition, the “Where Are They Now?” Award, Best Industrial Incident, and Special Achievement in Parking. Here’s the last new category for today: the High Water Award.

This award is meant to honor contributions to flooding and flood drama in the Bayou City — or gee, maybe there’s some even more compelling form of high water here we should take note of? What deserves the spotlight for its role in the Houston flooding story? It could be an event, a place, a symbol, a lawsuit, a myth, or a something-else-entirely; we’re looking for nominees that capture a key element or instance of the city’s relationship with excessive water. Whatever you choose, just be sure to explain yourself when you send in your picks.

To float your nominees for this award, leave a comment below with your suggestions (and your rationale). You can email it to us, too, but all nominations for this category are due by midnight next Thursday, December 8. (More on how to nominate can be found by clicking here.)

The 2016 Swampies
12/01/16 11:45am

Yesterday we opened up 2 more categories for the  Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. So far we’ve got Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition, the “Where Are They Now?” Award, and Best Industrial Incident. Category number 5, opening this morning for nominations, is the Swamplot Award for Special Achievement in Parking. 

What has advanced the culture of parking in Houston? Has a game-changing garage or surface lot made waves on the scene? Or maybe you’ve noticed some less tangible contributions — perhaps serving to inspire new approaches to vehicle accommodation, or encapsulating a particular Houston parking zeitgeist.  Feel free to give this category any twists you think it deserves — just be sure to explain yourself when you send your picks our way.

To submit your nominees for this category, give us the what and why in the comments below. Or you can email us, instead— just do it by midnight this Thursday, December 8. More guidance on how to nominate can be found here.

The 2016 Swampies
11/30/16 2:30pm

Earlier today we introduced a new category for this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. There are a total of 3 so far: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition and a newbie: the “Where Are They Now?” Award. Now we’ll open up nominations for another category making its debut this year: Best Industrial Incident.

Time for some flash and bang! Houston’s lack of zoning and particular economic mish-mash make for some interesting neighbors; sometimes those neighborly relationships heat up, or get a little smelly. What was the best chemicals-meet-the-cute-little-neighborhood-next-door story this year? Most interesting unintentional send-off by land, sea, or air? Most dramatic accidental fireworks display? Feel free to creatively misinterpret this category — just be sure to sell your vision as you describe your nominee.

To submit your nominations for the official ballot, tell us about your top choices in the comments section below (along with as good a description as you can muster). You can always email it to us, too — just get it in by midnight this Wednesday, December 7. More guidelines can be found here.

The 2016 Swampies