Over the past year, I've looked to Mike Snyder for consistent follow-up on post-Hurricane Ike reconstruction efforts in Shoreacres and Galveston. His most recent report lays out available data on the thousands of people who remain homeless or in shelters. For a story that is a little less depressing, try this one about the birdwatchers shown above counting chimney swifts living in unused rice dryers. I suppose if there is a theme to be drawn through so many days of headlines, it would be about making do with the shelter that's available. But if you really want a happy ending to travail, this interview of James Surls on the founding of Lawndale Art Center is excellent.
Friday September 11
HURRICANE IKE : ONE YEAR LATER UNSETTLED CLAIMS, UNSETTLED LIVES Many homeowners still find themselves wading in red tape, whether their houses were damaged by flooding or wind [Houston Chronicle]
Thursday September 10
Ancient campsite uncovered on Cypress Creek: 1,000-year-old artifacts found by an erosion survey [Houston Chronicle]
Hurricane Ike: A year later - the good, the bad, and the ugly [Houston Chronicle]
All of the public housing in the city has been demolished to make way for new lower-density, mid-rise units.
The cost of the new developments is about $65 million, with $25 million earmarked from the city of Galveston in community development block grants funds, and the remainder hopefully coming from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Ray Lewis, a Galveston Housing Authority commissioner.
Construction on the new housing units could begin as early as next spring and would take 18 to 24 months to complete, Lewis said.
HURRICANE IKE: ONE YEAR LATER Thousands along Gulf still wait to go home: Repairs to many houses are far from finished [Houston Chronicle] "Today, 2,180 families remain in mobile homes or other temporary housing provided by FEMA, mostly in Galveston or in the Beaumont-Port Arthur area. An additional 10,595 households are participating in the federal Disaster Housing Assistance Program, which provides temporary rent subsidies for qualified families affected by Ike."
Tuesday September 8
Refugee students adjust to new lives: 700 are new to the area, mostly from Iraq, Bhutan and Myanmar [Houston Chronicle] "Now, more than two-thirds of Harris County's 1,978 refugees come from Iraq, Myanmar and Bhutan. Just seven years ago, the top countries of origin were Bosnia, Cuba, Vietnam and Sudan."
Monday September 7
Ten transportation opportunities for the next mayor [Intermodality] Christof Spieler's recommendations are bold and straightforward. They include planning more light rail, building commuter rail, and improving bus service. The whole post is written in his characteristically bold style, but his rapid-fire way of upending unconsidered conventions really comes out in the "rethink parking" section where he asks, "Why is Downtown parking free when it’s in highest demand and paid when there’s no demand? Why is it cheaper to park on the street instead of in a garage when street parking is more convenient? Why are parking requirements the same in Midtown as on FM1960? Why isn’t the city using the property it owns around Washington to build off-street lots? "
Sunday September 6
Architects sue for payment Houston firm says it did design work on hospital in west Houston's Chinatown [Houston Chronicle] "Page Southerland Page said it was never paid by Universal Building Group and an affiliate, Alliance Development Group or Aegis Funds Management for $813,386 in labor and architectural services it provided on the Chinatown development."
Also, in the same piece, there was some news regarding the Ashby highrise:
Even after receiving a permit to build a 23-story tower near Rice University, the developers of what became known as the "Ashby high-rise" aren't quite ready to start shoveling dirt.
Buckhead Investment Partners said they still want to build the project as originally designed.
The newly issued permit, approved by the city more than a week ago after 11th attempts by the developers, clears the way for the tower to go up with the same number of stories but without a small retail store, a wellness spa and some private offices. A pedestrian plaza also was replaced with a driveway.
Is God good at politics? Plan rejected by county officials [Houston Chronicle] "According to an analysis by Gulf Coast Interfaith, a respected Galveston community organization, ORCA's approach puts Ike's damage factor in Chambers County at higher than either Galveston or Harris counties. Yet Galveston County had 10 times more documented damaged homes than Chambers, and Harris County had 36 times more. The analysis indicated money available to homes with more than $8,000 in damage would average $27,111 in the Houston/Galveston area but $237,047 in deep East Texas."
Friday September 4
LOST JOBS AND HOMES Having lost her stable life to the recession, one mother is shocked to find her family homeless for the first time Strangers to the shelters [Houston Chronicle] "Torn by the increasing demand for beds - up 20 percent in the past year - and a simultaneous decrease in funding, shelter administrators have opened up their lobbies as a stopgap. 'We won't turn anyone away,' says Hank Rush, Star of Hope's president. With three shelters in Houston, his agency regularly houses 1,000 of the roughly 10,000 people who would otherwise sleep on the streets. Houston's rising unemployment is compounding the problem. In July, the unemployment rate here surged to 8.4 percent - higher than the state's average of 8.2 percent, although lower than the 9.4 percent average on the national level."
What's the rush? Use of TIRZs to fund city-county projects is a questionable maneuver [Houston Chronicle] "For starters, we'd like to know exactly what the county plans to do with the Astrodome before committing to a diversion of future city tax revenues to help underwrite the project."
Completion of renovation after fire means Gallery Furniture back at full speed [Houston Chronicle] "It also has an expanded aviary and a monkey habitat, including two capuchin monkeys named Tidwell and Parker."
Thursday September 3
Visionary style: An eclectic treasure trove in Victoria [Houston Chronicle] "An artful rainbow lives on the south end of this sleepy South Texas town. Native daughter Ann O'Connor Harithas says she didn't plan it, but here they are: six colorful early 1900s bungalows she's updated over 20 years and transformed into architectural expressions of her love of collage."
GALVESTON Experts: Use Ike lessons to get better prepared: Speakers at forum say much was learned in storm's aftermath [Houston Chronicle] This is a brief report on the recent Rice Design Alliance civic forum.
Wednesday September 2
I-45 congested? Yeah, no kidding [Houston Chronicle]
NRG seeks funds for CO2 project: System would trap emissions at area plant [Houston Chronicle] "The proposed system would strip CO2 from the flue gas after coal has been burned at the plant but before it goes up the smokestack. Once captured, the CO2 would be injected into oil formations to push more oil out."
Tuesday September 1
SEEKING A CLEAR ROUTE ECONOMIC CROSSROADS Houston's vast rail system is city's backbone of commerce but a headache for drivers: Commuter rail is intimately tied to problem [Houston Chronicle]
Although it is done elsewhere, Union Pacific, which owns most of the tracks in Houston, would prefer not to share its tracks with commuter trains. "We would have concerns about the safety of commingling commuter and freight operations," said Joe Adams, a vice president for public affairs. "And we have concerns about losing present and future freight rail capacity."
That means that commuter rail along U.S. 90A is scarcely a possibility right now. That route, which would serve commuters in Sugar Land and other Fort Bend areas, is a critical Union Pacific route, bringing in containers full of Asian-produced goods from ports in California.
But two other freight lines have less traffic, and Union Pacific is working with government planners to free them up for commuter trains. One runs out the U.S. 290 corridor and one runs along Texas 3 to Galveston. TxDOT is considering granting $2 million in stimulus funds for two engineering studies on those routes.
"My goal is to have trains running in three years," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.
The engineering studies will design routes that bring suburban commuters to the 610 Loop, but no farther. The freight traffic inside the Loop is still too busy, and although there is an abandoned rail line, it runs right through the Heights - a politically vocal neighborhood.
"That's not something I want to take on," said Emmett.
The compromise is to build some commuter lines now, connect them to light rail or bus lines, and figure out later how to get them inside the Loop, to downtown.
Sunday August 30
NaturaL Gas, the New OIL: As the age of fossil fuels enters a time of efficiency, Houston has the opportunity to keep its leading role oil [Houston Chronicle] "The abundance of natural gas near the city helped fuel the growth of industries along the Houston Ship Channel after World War II. An extensive national pipeline network emanated from the area, bringing the fuel to both coasts. The companies that build the pipelines historically have been in Houston, as have the researchers who improve on the technologies to extract, process and move the fuel."
TIRZ financing method for Dome, jail and stadium adds new twist to city-county talks [Houston Chronicle] "If successful, the months-long negotiations between the city and Harris County could provide a solution for problems that have vexed both sides for years, including redevelopment of the Reliant Astrodome, construction of a new jail and a new professional soccer stadium. But that could be a very big if, according to numerous city and county officials. All the factors that led the two bodies to disagree before are still at play, as well as a new wrinkle: that the success of the plans would depend on the use of tax increment reinvestment zones, or TIRZs, a financing vehicle typically used more to generate economic development than pay for major capital projects."
It's one massive makeover 30-story El Paso Corp. headquarters being remodeled [Houston Chronicle] "One of downtown's largest corporate office renovations is under way at El Paso Corp.'s 30-story headquarters at 1001 Louisiana. The company is revamping its interiors, upgrading mechanical systems and spiffing up the building's facade...The Gensler-designed space is expected to achieve LEED certification."
Saturday August 29
1928 ALAN KIEPPER 2009 --- Transit leader boosted bus system [Houston Chronicle] "Kiepper was general manager of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County from 1982 to 1989. He lost two battles to build a rail system, but was widely praised for revivifying a bus system notorious for breakdowns, lateness, and accident-prone, poorly trained drivers."
Liberty County birdwatchers gather weekly at some empty rice dryers to admire winged visitors from South America [Houston Chronicle] "The [American Rice Growers] dryers, at the intersection of FM 1960 and Texas 321 in Dayton, have stood empty for five years as development gobbled up area farmland. Now the towers have found a second life as a protective home for chimney swifts, which authorities say have been on the decline."
Saving the skin isn't the same as saving the building. But at least it's something. [Houston Chronicle, Editorial] "Yet another Art Deco building, from Houston's small and dwindling supply, turned up on the demolition-permit list recently: The old Sterling Laundry & Cleaning Company at 4819 Harrisburg."
Friday August 28
Judge backs rock-crushing ordinance: Ruling leaves Sunnyside area ‘on cloud nine' [Houston Chronicle]
Thursday August 27
Taxable property along Texas 99 has increased Parkway opened 15 years ago between Katy, Sugar Land [Houston Chronicle] "Environmental groups save their harshest criticism for other sections of the larger Grand Parkway plan. But they dispute the notion that "Segment D" anticipated - rather than caused - suburban growth."
UH fire lights the way for Lawndale's beginning: James Surls helped start space dedicated to local artists [Houston Chronicle] "When we got moved over to the warehouse on Lawndale, I swear, I walked in with the dean and the chairman, and they were apologizing, saying how sorry they were that they had to move us over there, and I was the happiest man on the planet."
Water district sets temporary ban on amenity lakes: Moratorium aimed at conserving water supplies [Houston Chronicle]
Wednesday August 26
Child prostitution ring busted 6 are accused of holding girls captive, beatings [Houston Chronicle] "The investigation unveiled Tuesday was worked in cooperation with HPD and the Texas attorney general and was dubbed 'Operation Total Exposure.' Johnson said the accused operated from three area businesses: Taboo Modeling Studio North, Total Pleasures in Houston and Paris of Katy."
It's baaaack! City OK for controversial Ashby high-rise shows need for new regulatory tools. [Houston Chronicle, Editorial] "The Stop Ashby High Rise Task Force issued a statement pledging to continue the campaign to prevent the project from being built: 'There are many steps between obtaining a site work and foundation permit and actually constructing a project, and we will have opportunities to continue our fight in many forums.'"
No fit for inner-city ‘suburb': Time to redefine ‘inner city' [Houston Chronicle, Rick Casey]
On the edge of downtown, West Gray offers several blocks of urban sensibility with high-density apartments and condos above sidewalk bars, cafes and shops. And being Houston, even some outlying areas (most notably The Woodlands) are offering newly built neighborhoods integrated with walkable shopping and office areas.
But to be truly urban, such neighborhoods should be tied into mass transit, to provide the joy of not getting into a car for everything you need.
That, as new urbanist David Crossley points out, is a major reason the Ashby high-rise does not belong on Bissonnet.
