‘WHERE’S OUR SHADE?’ 
Shade, Houston Chronicle columnist Lisa Gray writes, is “cheap, efficient, and delicious.” Spurning the air-conditioned tunnels on a walk Downtown, Gray stops to cool off beneath “the deep sheltered walkway in front of the Post Rice Lofts,” she writes, and starts to heat up with questions: “If Houston knew how to create such excellent, pedestrian-friendly shade in 1912, when the Rice Hotel was built, why don’t we make more shady places like that a hundred years later? Where are new buildings’ sheltered walkways, their canopies and loggias, their arcades and awnings? . . . Why do we make do with little patio umbrellas, scrawny canvas awnings over doorways, narrow overhangs that work only if you hug the building at noon?” [Houston Chronicle ($)] Photo: Finding Camelot
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the closed down Macy’s has shaded eve. This is why the vagrants like it so much. why beg in the sun when you can lay around in the shade
My old office building had a large awning. Every night a very friendly, polite, homeless gentleman would set up camp under the awning and stay until we opened the next day. He never caused conflict, but I wonder if less amiable squatters are a factor in the lack of outdoor sheltered space.
Setback requirements. I do not think you can build an awning like the Rice Hotel anymore without giving up sq ft.
There are no setback requirements in downtown. You cannot intrude into the air space above the public right of way, however.
I think you can get a variance granted… but nobody wants to deal with that. This is something I would very much like to see become commonplace. If you have ever been to South Beach, nearly every building has a canopy cover out front for dining that extends out over the sidewalk. A lot of those are the huge cantilevered square umbrellas. I would think the wind would be similar there to downtown Houston so I can’t understand why we don’t see any of those. (they could even be closed when the business is closed to prevent people from camping under them).
Paging John Denver – anyone want to plant a tree?
I was in Singapore several times this past year, and there are awnings built on almost all the buildings. It was a great relief from the tropical heat and surprise rain showers.
I know of several building owners that have foregone attached awnings because it legally adds square footage to the building.
Sadly the only place that has been done in modern times is the rice U campus.