Though I'm sorry to see the Heights Village project go under, I've often wondered about the spate of construction close to - in some cases, right next to - the freight train line that parallels Washington Avenue and Center Street. I live a mile and a half away from the tracks, and I can hear the train whistles from inside my house, so I can only imagine what it must be like for those who have this in their back yards. (I didn't blog about it, but I commented on it in a couple of photos I took of one such residential development in 2007.)

As the area has gotten denser and more populated, the issue has gotten a higher profile. A coalition of neighborhood associations and activists have been pushing for the Washington corridor to be designated as a quiet zone, which would forbid the trains from sounding their whistles in that area. This article from the Houston Association of Realtors has a good discussion of what quiet zones are all about. They've got a website, WashingtonQuietZone.com, to support their efforts. If you care about this issue and want to help, check it out and see what you can do to help. I wish these folks good luck with this.