Creative Houston

Gulf Coast Institute becomes Houston Tomorrow

Houston Tomorrow: The Gulf Coast Institute has become Houston Tomorrow. Our mission remains to improve the quality of life in the Houston region, but we will be bringing in a wider pool of thought from across the Houston region as well as reaching out to all Houstonians with a new website and other publicly accessible materials.

Conservatives Need Not Carry the Cost of Sprawl

The American Prospect: The Conservative Case for Urbanism, 2008-Sep-5, by Dana Goldstein: Policies in favor of dense development shouldn't be viewed on a left-right spectrum and certainly needn't be filtered through culture-war rhetoric, the University of Minnesota panelists said. In fact, one doesn't have to be concerned about climate change at all in order to support such policies; values of fiscal conservatism and localism, both key to Republican ideology, can be better realized through population-dense development than through sprawl. Tom Darden, a developer of urban and close-in suburban properties, said Wednesday, "I'm a Republican and have been my whole life. I consider myself a very conservative person. But it never made sense to me why we would tax ordinary people in order to subsidize this form of development, sprawl."

Houston's First Solar-Powered Community

Houston Chronicle: Green houses in new development, 2008-Jul-17, by Lisa Gray: It's the Prius of new developments: Discovery at Spring Trails, in Montgomery County just north of Spring. Discovery's developer, Land Tejas, calls it "Houston's first solar-powered hybrid community." ... But only a few weeks after Discovery put itself on the market, and without even a finished house that would-be buyers can tour, most of the lots ready for building have been optioned, and the developer is scrambling to make more available fast. ...Lobel, who has worked on green developments across the country, says that if Discovery continues to flourish, its success will resonate across the country. You expect solar power and ecoconsciousness to appeal in California, a state full of upscale, tree-hugging locavores. But in Texas? "We're an oil-and-gas state," Lobel crowed. "If this kind of development can succeed here, it can make it anywhere in the nation."

In Houston, We're Reordering the Way We Live

National Public Radio, Morning Edition: Houston Mayor Gauges Impact of Traffic, 2008-Jun-20, interview by Steve Inskeep: We need to reorder the way we live. ... Our problem is compounded by growth. ... Mass transit is critical... tremendous demand to live along the tranist lines... Our tools are infrastructure and building codes ... more and more demand for mixed use areas...

New Style of Housing for Sugar Land

Houston Business Journal: Housing design for Imperial tract goes down unique alley, 2008-May-30, by Jennifer Dawson: Jim Cheney, vice president of corporate communications for Southern Land, says the housing component will be similar to what the firm is doing in a project called Westhaven that is currently being developed in Nashville. The company is proposing a high-density neighborhood design with alleys behind the houses for garage access. "You don't drive down the street and see garage after garage after garage," Cheney says. "These are commonplace in Boston and New York City, but we're going to put them into suburban Houston. It's different from most everything that's out there now." With garages tucked away, the street view includes homes, front porches and heavily landscaped, yet small, front yards as well as sidewalks. In another unique design feature, Southern Land will not allow repetition of a home façade in any given neighborhood section, so in a group of about 65 homes, no two houses would look exactly alike.

Great Houston Homes Past and Future

Although not yet available online, Houston Home & Garden has two richly illustrated articles: "The Splendid Houses of John F. Staub: Tour six houses in Houston this month by an architect considered the finest of his generation in Texas" and "The $99K House" which presents all five finalists in the competition to design an afford Gulf-Coast home for the future--in their own words and with their renderings and floor plans. The Staub article is excerpted from Rice University professor Stephen Fox's new book, The Country Houses of John F. Staub.

Discovery Green Planned to Attract Diverse Users

Houston Chronicle: Park mojo, 2008-Mar-9, by Lisa Gray: "Urban parks are hard to get right," admits Guy Hagstette, president of the nonprofit Discovery Green Conservancy. "It's not just 'If you build it, they will come.'...For help, Hagstette turned to Project for Public Spaces...Project for Public Spaces argues that to be successful, a big urban park like Discovery Green needs to pack in activities that will attract lots of different kinds of people, because those people will attract other people.

Back to the Street

Swamplot: Memorial Heights Apartments: Washington Fences Will Stay, 2008-Feb-25: Archstone still isn’t saying much about its plans to redevelop the Memorial Heights Apartments at Studemont and Washington, but the Houston Business Journal’s Allison Wollam digs up a little more detail: "While members of SuperNeighborhood 22 support the redevelopment, they are concerned that the project’s suburban design — which calls for the back of the residential components to face Washington Avenue — is hurting efforts to transform the avenue into a walkable, pedestrian-friendly destination."

Houston 2nd in Green Buildings

Houston Business Journal: Houston buildings earn 'green' star, 2008-Feb-25, by Jennifer Dawson: Houston ranks second in the number of LEED and Energy Star buildings, the report stated, with a total of 46 buildings consisting of 21.1 million square feet....Houston numbers are expected to be higher next year, as more new buildings strive for LEED certification....Los Angeles [was] No. 1 nationwide, with 100 energy-efficient buildings consisting of 26.2 million square feet.

Houston Most Accessible for Disabled

Houston Business Journal: Houston tops list of most accessible for disabled, 2008-Feb 15, by Allison Wollam:The National Organization on Disability has named Houston as the most accessible city in the country for people with disabilities. In receiving the honor, the city was heralded as a national model for its focus on disability issues and successful design of programs, services and facilities that are accessible for citizens and visitors who have disabilities.

Designing Ideal House for Gulf Coast

Two of the five finalists in the 99K Houston Competition, sponsored by the Houston AIA and Rice Design Alliance, are from Houston: Stephanie Eugster and Murphy Mears Architects. the 99K House Competition: Five finalists were selected from 182 entrants proposing a sustainable, affordable house that addresses the needs of a low-income family in the Gulf Coast region. The five finalists will each receive a $5,000 award and the competition will move forward to Stage II.

Rice Students enter Solar Decathlon

Houston Business Journal: Rice tapped to build solar-powered row house for DOE competition. 2008-Jan-29, by Ford Gunter: The U.S. Department of Energy accepted the Rice team's application to design, build and operate a solar-powered home using $100,000 in DOE money. About 20 students from Rice's engineering and architecture departments make up the team. Instead of building a standard house, though, the Rice team will design and build a house for Project Row Houses, a Houston neighborhood art and cultural organization in the Third Ward.

Housing Costs and Rules

Houston Chronicle: Would more housing rules raise Houston costs?. 2008-Jan-26, by Mike Snyder: Robinson, a caterer and event planner, has great affection for both cities. But while he acknowledges that his Portland house would have cost far less in Houston, he considers the money well spent. "The urban growth boundary keeps the city compact," Robinson said. "The neighborhoods have remained vibrant — I can walk to a movie theater, I can walk to the grocery store. Downtown doesn't clear out after dark and become a ghost town."

Houston Ranks 21st in Walkability

Houston Chronicle: Pedestrian-friendly Houston walks the walk, 2007-Dec-4, by Sarah Karush of Associated Press: Christopher B. Leinberger, a real estate developer and visiting fellow at Brookings, set out to quantify the walkability trend by counting the number of "regional-serving walkable urban places" in each of the 30 biggest metropolitan areas in the country. "Regional-serving" means the place is not just a bedroom community, but has jobs, retail or cultural institutions that bring in people who don't live there. Leinberger, who also teaches urban planning at the University of Michigan, counted 157 such "walkable places" — including the Houston area's Sugar Land Town Square, one of many built-from-scratch "lifestyle centers" to make the list.

Renovating for Restaurants

Cleverley.com: Wheeler Rescues Hisotric Buildings 2007-Nov-10: Rhea Wheeler and his partners have formed a company and they are buying historically significant properties inside the loop in Houston. They will be turning them into restaurants. They've been working on this for the past two years and have purchased three properties so far. Right now they are getting bids from architectural and construction companies for renovating the acquired properties. Wheeler is working on the three new restaurants simultaneously and he hopes to have them all open by the end of 2008.

Green Home Design Cited by Dwell

Dwell magazine: Houston, We’ve Solved a Problem, 2007-Nov, by Amara Holstein: Matt and Tina Ford have been building [in Houston] for years with their firm Esplanade Homes. Recently they decided to create a series of affordable townhomes aimed at buyers who couldn’t afford ground-up construction, yet still craved earth-friendly elements. Under the auspices of their new company, Shade House Development, the Fords bought, designed, and built on a lot in an historic neighborhood called the Heights.

Old 6th Ward Buildings Protected

Houston Chronicle: Old Sixth Ward residents celebrate landmark status. 2007-Aug-9, by Jennifer Friedberg: Houston City Council passed an ordinance Aug. 1 designating their neighborhood as a protected historic district. The protected district offers true protection from demolition and creates guidelines for renovations and new construction so all new additions must fit in with the character of the largely Victorian neighborhood. Learn more about the neighborhood's efforts, which included YouTube videos, at Houston Business Journal: What worked for Sixth Ward: Education, awareness-building, 2007-Aug-17, by Nicole Bradford. (Subscription required.)

Sustainable Home for Hedges

Daniel and Adele Hedges have commissioned a completely self-sustaining home to be built for them in Upper Kirby. The 5000-sq-ft, the first of its kind in Houston, will use solar panels and a rainwater collection and treatment system. Joe and Gail Adams are the architects. Learn more at the Houston Business Journal: X-treme green dream home, 2007-Aug-3, by Casey Wooten.