Tag Archives: density

Coliving

I’m fascinated by this. In one of Montrose’s newest residential projects opening next year, renters will be able to walk into fully furnished spaces stocked with basic supplies, paying rents below market rate in one of Houston’s trendiest neighborhoods. Rent … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ashby 2.0 gets sued

Let’s party like it’s 2007, baby! Just when the 16-year battle over the proposed Ashby high-rise site in Boulevard Oaks appeared to drawing to a close, opponents have filed a lawsuit that again puts the fate of the project into … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

How much downtown parking do we need?

I don’t know the answer to that, but this is how much we have. Downtown Houston dedicates more than a quarter of its land to parking spaces, surpassing the percentages in most major U.S. cities, a new report shows. A photo from … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ashby 2.0 cleared for groundbreaking

It’s actually happening. Along-embattled residential high-rise project in Boulevard Oaks is set to move forward, with one Houston City Council member calling the news “terrible.” The Langley , a new luxury rental community jointly developed by El Paso-based Hunt Companies, … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ashby Highrise 2.0 gets a permit

It’s happening! For years a controversial proposal to build a high rise in the wealthy enclave of Boulevard Oaks appeared to be dead — a lesson in how land-use battles can erupt even in a city with virtually no zoning. … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The slow but steady march of Houston’s non-car transportation infrastructure

Good story. When he arrived in Houston two years ago, what David Fields saw belied what he had heard. The nation’s fourth-largest city has long been known as car-centric and geared toward commuting, with a web of wide freeways that … Continue reading

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The slow but steady march of Houston’s non-car transportation infrastructure

West 11th construction is about to start

Get ready, here it comes. City staffers are finalizing a plan to add protected bike lanes along 11th Street in the Heights and reduce the number of driving lanes, despite pushback from some residents in the area. Crews will begin … Continue reading

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

More on A Tale Of Two Bridges

After I wrote about the effort to get two new bike and pedestrian bridges built in the Heights area, with the intent of making some new connections across the White Oak Bayou and to the existing White Oak Bayou Trail, … Continue reading

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on More on A Tale Of Two Bridges

Yes, let’s build more bike trail bridges

It’s all about connectivity. Stopping for a water break on the normal blistering-hot Houston day, bicyclist Reagan Smithers, 33, can see the tops of the trees along her street from the White Oak Bayou Trail. As the grackle flies – … Continue reading

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Yeah, we’re still talking about West 11th Street

We can’t help it, sorry. When Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner assured concerned Heights residents he’d take “a closer look” at plans to reduce 11th Street to one lane in each direction, he likely didn’t expect a sightseeing tour to give … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Yeah, we’re still talking about West 11th Street

Ashby Highrise 2.0

It’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Since a judge sided with developers of the so-called Ashby high-rise in 2016, the grassy lot at the center of one of the most closely watched land-use battles in Houston’s history has sat untouched, surrounded by chain-link fencing. … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

More on the 11th Street project

The Chron editorial board mostly approves of the city’s plans for 11th Street in the Heights. Ever since Mayor Sylvester Turner unveiled his Vision Zero Action Plan — an ambitious program to end traffic fatalities by 2030 — the city … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on More on the 11th Street project

The 11th Street makeover

Gonna be interesting to see how this turns out. A main thoroughfare through Houston’s Heights is the latest street where city officials are preparing for fewer car lanes, in an effort to consider more ways that people get around. The … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

More fourplexes

I am in favor of this. Houston is mulling changes to its planning rules that could encourage a broader variety of housing types, such as triplexes and fourplexes, that developers and the city say could create more affordable options and … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Big Tex Storage

I’m strangely almost nostalgic for a controversy like this. A group of Heights residents are lobbying legislators to protest the development of a storage facility at the site of the former Stude Theater, which was demolished after the property was … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

In which Houston becomes more walkable

It’s a start. On 19th Street, one of Houston’s most enduring strips of shops and restaurants, there is a vacant lot tucked between two stores, about a block from the landmark “Heights” sign. When developers recently expressed interest in putting … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston, Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The coronavirus doesn’t care about your rugged individualism

Put a pin in this story, and let’s see how things are in a week, and in two weeks. Reports of COVID-19 cases might not be as prevalent outside of the metropolitan areas, and official actions have been slower and … Continue reading

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

The autonomous cars/mass transit debate

Seems to me this should be a “both-and” rather than an “either-or”, but you know how I get. Autonomous vehicles that will outperform buses, cost less than Uber and travel faster than cars stuck in traffic today are two years … Continue reading

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Kinder Houston Area Survey 2017

Here’s the press release. The majority of area residents don’t just feel okay about living in Houston – they would choose to stay in the Bayou City even if given a choice to move, according to the 2017 Kinder Houston … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Kinder Houston Area Survey 2017

As go gas prices, so goes interest in transit

It is what it is. Cheap gasoline has Texans driving more, indicating that efforts to promote mass transit or bicycle commuting are falling short, a new statewide poll suggests. As folks hit the road, though, they are increasingly supportive of … Continue reading

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

MUDs and debt

Another story about the least-understood form of debt and taxation in Texas. In Houston’s conservative suburbs, where local governments are loath to raise taxes, the thankless task of hiking revenues has fallen to hundreds of so-called municipal utility districts created … Continue reading

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Who’s willing to pay for more flood mitigation?

I have three things to say about this. Harris county’s four commissioners said Wednesday they could support either a property tax increase or reallocation of funds in the county budget to better fund flood control projects after a series of … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

What makes transit successful?

It’s pretty basic, as this report lays out. A new report released [Tuesday] by TransitCenter, a foundation dedicated to improving urban mobility, finds that developing transit in walkable areas and offering frequent, fast bus and rail service is the key … Continue reading

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Appeals court reverses Ashby damages award

It’s kind of amazing to me that the Ashby Highrise saga is still a newsmaker. In a major ruling that could stymie future legal challenges against developers, a state appellate court has reversed a key portion of the 2014 judgment … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Appeals court reverses Ashby damages award

Reimagining Lower Westheimer

This ought to be interesting. Lower Westheimer is one of Houston’s most well-known streets, but on some fronts its reputation isn’t a positive one. Narrow and bumpy, the street is both a hub of retail and recreation activity and also … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Turner reiterates the need to rethink transportation

New audience, same theme. Houston’s transportation future – and perhaps its economic vitality – relies on more options than new freeway lanes to make room for more cars, Mayor Sylvester Turner said Tuesday. “The solution is to increasingly take advantage … Continue reading

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Will the Ashby highrise ever get built?

Who knows? Penelope Loughhead’s house in the leafy neighborhood near Rice University abuts the land where, nearly a decade ago, a proposed high-rise sparked a land-use battle that resonated citywide and throughout the local development community. This week marks two … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Ashby legacy

What hath it wrought? The plot of land where developers promised the so-called Ashby high-rise would be built in an affluent neighborhood still sits empty. Yet the 1.6-acre lot at 1717 Bissonnet, which in 2007 sparked a battle that came … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Ashby legacy

The reverse Ashby

You have to admit, this is kind of clever. A Houston developer has filed a pre-emptive strike against the owners of a luxury high-rise near the Galleria to head off an “inevitable lawsuit” over its plans to build a tower … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Uptown living

It’s a thing that is happening. Home to the city’s glittering epicenter of retail, with a dramatic skyline dominated by the towering Williams Tower and other office buildings, Uptown Houston is best known for the places where people work and … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Woodlands versus its neighbors

I have three things to say about this. The Woodlands prides itself on being the best-planned community around, with tree-studded neighborhoods, miles of trails, sprawling parks and a town center with a distinctly urban feel. Across Montgomery County, however, some … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

One way to lower speed limits

Purple City makes an interesting observation. One of the quieter actions of the late Parker administration has been to slowly alter speed limits from 35 or 40mph to 30mph. These reductions aren’t based on an engineering study or field measurements, … Continue reading

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

2015 Mayoral manifesto: Quality of life and other issues

Preliminaries Transportation Public safety A few quick hits on topics that didn’t fit elsewhere. Making Houston affordable again Remember when Houston was an inexpensive place to live? If you haven’t been here at least a decade – more like two … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2015 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

From industrial to residential

More changes coming to my neck of the woods. Some of the old warehouses lining a stretch of Sawyer Street across Interstate 10 from the Heights are being primed for new development, as this First Ward area continues to morph … Continue reading

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on From industrial to residential