Tag Archives: Montrose

Ismaili Center construction milestone

Cool. Houston’s new Ismaili Center is set to reach its tallest point in construction in the coming days, marking a milestone celebrated by dignitaries and local officials during a topping-off ceremony Monday at the cultural landmark’s site in the Montrose … Continue reading

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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

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Stalking Coco, the food delivery robot

A delightful tale by Chron food editor Emma Balter, who was determined to prove to herself that Coco the food delivery robot actually worked as advertised, even on Houston’s notoriously un-pedestrian (and presumably food-delivery-robot) streets. It took a couple of … Continue reading

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Here’s a look at that long-awaited Ismaili Center

Looks really nice. Designs for Houston’s the Ismaili Center Houston were unveiled Monday afternoon, revealing architecture and gardens likely to set a new bar in a city increasingly devoted to modern design and lush green spaces. With a structure designed … Continue reading

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KPFT station for sale

Not cheap, I’m sure. A mainstay of Montrose, public radio station KPFT, could be headed elsewhere in Houston, signaling to some a changing of the guard in one of Houston’s most eclectic enclaves. In an email to members, Pacifica Foundation, … Continue reading

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Your Super Bowl AirBnB dream probably did not come true

Alas. Vacation rental websites like Airbnb and Home Away still have pages of listings available for this weekend. Many are asking well over $1,000 per night for, in some cases, run-of-the-mill two-bedroom apartments. Data from Airbnb Thursday show the typical … Continue reading

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Now is the time to rent out your house

If it was your plan to do that, anyway. The teams playing in next month’s Super Bowl [are now set] and the final rush for last-minute lodging will be in full swing. That also means more house and apartment rentals … Continue reading

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Next B-Cycle expansion approved

Good. Expansion of Houston’s bike sharing system is pretty much in high gear after City Council on Wednesday signed off on a $4.1 million plan to roughly triple the number of bikes and kiosks. With the agreement in place, local … Continue reading

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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

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UberEats expands

Good news for those of you who like having food delivered. A larger section of metro Houston now can use Uber’s meal delivery service seven days a week and with more dining options through a new app. A new UberEats … Continue reading

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The draft bike plan is out

Here it is, in all its glory. I encourage you to look at the draft plan and play with the interactive map. Then, when you start to feel overwhelmed and wish someone would explain it all to you, go read … Continue reading

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Hey look, a Regent Square update

Sometimes I forget this is still a thing. In 2007, longtime urbanites said goodbye to the Allen House Apartments, a decades-old complex along Dunlavy just south of Allen Parkway. The multiblock property was a Houston institution, housing hundreds of college … Continue reading

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So can we call the Metro bus system reimagining a success yet?

If no news is good news, then Metro is swimming in good news, because I haven’t seen much coverage of its new bus system rollout since the opening days. Perhaps all that concern (expressed by one person) about disaster and … Continue reading

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Revisiting the historic preservation ordinance

This sort of thing is always fun. Houstonians who live in historic districts, including the Old Sixth Ward, the Heights and the High First Ward, weighed in this week on proposed updates to the city’s rules that create areas preserved … Continue reading

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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

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De-industrialization update

The transformation of the Montrose/Heights border area will soon be complete. After 100 years on Washington Avenue, the Detering Co. has sold all of its prime near-downtown property and relocated to north Houston. The Houston-based building materials supply company had … Continue reading

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Economic segregation in cities

From Wonkblog: Concentrated poverty is one of the biggest problems facing cities today, as more of the urban poor become isolated in neighborhoods where the people around them are poor, too. Growing economic segregation across cities, though, is also shaped … Continue reading

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Robinson Warehouse, eight years after

From the Free Press Houston Worst of 2014: WORST WASTE OF SPACE: CORNER OF ALLEN PARKWAY AND MONTROSE In 2006, The Aga Khan Foundation purchased the massive swath of land at the Southeast corner of Allen Parkway and Montrose. This … Continue reading

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Redefining residential streets

Streets are about more than just cars. Where the rubber will meet the road on this, as it were, is on busy residential streets like Dunlavy in Montrose, where new city planning codes will have an effect. Dunlavy is, at … Continue reading

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Six new B-Cycle locations announced

From the B-Cycle monthly newsletter: 6 NEW B-stations coming this month! We are happy to announce our new locations! When we launched our pilot program in May of 2012 we were anxious and excited to see how Houston would respond … Continue reading

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Parking Panda

Interesting Parking Panda, an online parking reservation system, launches Tuesday in Houston and Dallas. The site’s already up and running, taking reservations for lots around many area venues, including Minute Maid Park, Reliant Stadium and the Toyota Center. The concept … Continue reading

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What’s in a neighborhood name?

Keep Houston Houston has had enough of “fake” neighborhood names. “Lower Westheimer” – This does not actually exist, it’s just Montrose. Or “The Montrose” if you wish to rebel against popular linguistic conventions without going full retard. “Neartown” – This … Continue reading

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The townhomes are indeed coming

I have three things to say about this Lisa Gray column. “So the bad stuff we’re going to see today,” I asked, “it’ll be a cautionary tale for the suburbs?” I was driving west from downtown on what I thought … Continue reading

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Don’t expect B-Cycle in the Heights anytime soon

I know there are a lot of people in the Heights that would like to see some bike share kiosks here, but as The Leader News reports, it will be awhile before that happens. Although running through arguably the most … Continue reading

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New bike share kiosks now open

Woo hoo! Organizers of Houston’s bike-sharing program are excited about an increase in use of the community bicycles since 18 new kiosks around downtown and Midtown opened. After slow-going last year for the B-Cycle program, use of the bikes increased … Continue reading

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Alamo Drafthouse at Regent Square

This is an interesting development. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, which is opening its second area location Thursday in Vintage Park Shopping Village, just announced that it will open a third location in the Inner Loop mixed-use project Regent Square, where it … Continue reading

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Houston Bike Share set to expand

Cool The plan has always been to expand the program, and Laura Spanjian, Mayor Annise Parker’s sustainability director, first alluded to a search for new locations in early June. “We’re going to have about 20 new kiosks and about 205 new bikes,” Spanjian now tells … Continue reading

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Apartment boom coming

I have many things to say about this. High occupancies and rising rents for apartments are driving a new wave of development in Houston’s high-end urban neighborhoods. More than 3,500 units in a dozen complexes are under construction primarily inside … Continue reading

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Infill growth

Anyone who’s been watching Washington Avenue has seen this. From downtown through midtown and along Washington Avenue, a population growth spurt has taken off since 2000. One buzz word to describe what’s going on is “infill,” said Jerry Wood, previously … Continue reading

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Why HEB is not like Wal-Mart

I read this story about how residents near the old Wilshire Village Apartments site, where HEB plans to build a new store, will be voting on possible designs for that new store, and I wondered what might have been. Residents … Continue reading

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What if they built it someplace else?

For better or worse, the argument against the Washington Heights Wal-Mart mostly boils down to the fact that it’s an inappropriate location for a suburban-style big-box store. There are also concerns about traffic, and about the nature of Wal-Mart, both … Continue reading

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The HEB and the Wal-Mart

As we know, the site of the old Wilshire Village Apartments was bought by HEB a few months ago. Some area residents were not terribly thrilled at the idea of a new supermarket at that location and organized to have … Continue reading

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“HEB with a Montrose feel”

The West U Examiner gives us an update on the plans for an HEB where the Wilshire Village Apartments used to be. Having recently closed its land deal for the property at Dunlavy and Alabama streets, H-E-B will be putting … Continue reading

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A Montrose/Studemont walkability update

Back in 2008, I put together a photo essay on density and walkability in Montrose, in particular on Montrose/Studemont between West Gray and Washington. It included this photo, taken in front of what was then the old Ed Sacks Waste … Continue reading

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