Comments on: The Great Houston Strip Club Crackdown

By: John Doe

John Doe — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 04:54:46 +0000

I recently visited a couple of strip clubs in houston while in town for my job. I do n ot wnat to disapoint naybody but these were the most boring excuses I have ever seen for “strip clubs”. Give it up folks. The right wing conservative power prudes that be have won in houston.

By: Jerry Norman

Jerry Norman — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:27:13 +0000

As a strip club player, I think it is disgusting Houston would mess with the strip clubs. These places are a pleasant relief for business travelers and men in dull, boring marriages. I for one don’t believe in monogamy. Prostitution should be legal in Houston and Galveston. I would like to see Bikini Girl Call Girls allowed to operate on Sewall Boulevard. My dream is a sex enjoymnet amusement park / casino complex in Galveston where prostitution was allowed to operate openly. Think of all the sexy gals that would then flock to Galveston to work. It would literally be a paradise on Earth!

By: RWB

RWB — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:35:18 +0000

“Gee, the city really cares about “protecting neighborhoods” from those mean-old strip clubs now that the land they are sitting on near the Galleria is worth $175/sq. ft.”

There is no doubt that there is a financial aspect to this. (That was certainly in Guiliani’s mind when he cleaned up Times Square.) But I don’t think it is as simple as you say. If it were, they would be going after Treasures or Onyx, both of which which are closer to the actual Galleria than All Stars.

The licensing/zoning law was created in 1997, but was appealed by strip clubs. It wasn’t until August 2007 that the city could enforce the law. Even then, the clubs tried to appeal up to the Supreme Court (which may have deterred the city from acting). The Supremes declined to hear the case in March of 2008.

It took until December 2008 for the city to shut down the Penthouse Club, the first victim of the 1997 law. But since then it has also shut down the El Rondo Motor Lodge (which apparently was a prostitute hotel) which was definitely nowhere near the Galleria.

I’m sure the city believes that removing SOBs will increase property values and thus increase tax revenues. But it doesn’t look like they have been timing the enforcement of this law–they seem to be acting deliberately and only going after open-and-shut cases.

By: Cynical Land Grab

Cynical Land Grab — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:00:26 +0000

Gee, the city really cares about “protecting neighborhoods” from those mean-old strip clubs now that the land they are sitting on near the Galleria is worth $175/sq. ft.

Apparently they weren’t a problem five years ago when the land was only trading for about $70/sq. ft.

By: RWB

RWB — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:50:52 +0000

The city seems to be acting fairly slowly on this (perhaps the right word is methodically). I wonder where these places will migrate to… Unincorporated parts of Harris County? Industrial areas, far from residents, churches, and schools? It seems unlikely that they’ll just disappear.

By: EMME

EMME — Wed, 27 May 2009 20:54:18 +0000

Guess I’d better keep my day job.