Good morning, Houston. Sure, the national economy may be going to hell in a handbasket, but look on the bright side: Houston's housing market is remaining pretty strong, so at least you homeowners have something of value! According to a new report, the median home value in Houston fell just $500 between the end of the third quarter 2007 and the end of the year, to $119,300 from $119,800 — still a gain of more than $4,000 over the 2006 year-end average of $115,700. Oh, one other thing: People from more expensive markets are apparently discovering that things are cheaper here. "Areas in Texas, which we have long characterized as undervalued, are now attracting significant migration at the expense of much higher-cost metros of California or Florida," the report said. Oh, .
Results tagged “eastloop”
So, in case you haven't noticed, it's hot. Exactly how hot? It was 102 yesterday afternoon, tying the record set in 1962. On Friday, the heat index reached as high as 111 in some parts of town. Highs have been over 95 since last Monday, and it looks like they'll continue that way until the end of this week. Good lord. Looks like it's time to invest in a giant bag of ice and a...
Good morning, Houston. Are you feeling particularly crunk today? Maybe you should be: Crunk is among the words added to Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary this year. Also among the 100 new words are DVR, IED, gray literature and smackdown. But we think we'll get the most use out of crunk, which M-W defines as a style of Southern rap music but which has a variety of definitions in the Urban Dictionary. Which brings us to...
Police are still trying to piece together the events that led to a shooting on the East Loop yesterday morning, possibly the result of a case of road rage. The victim was 47-year-old Carlos Berdegues, who was found slumped over in his truck after the vehicle crashed into a roadside wall near Market Street between 6 and 7 a.m. Witnesses saw the truck weaving in traffic before it hit the wall, and that — not...
Good morning, Houston. If you're like Houstonist, you've watched those TV specials about the University of Tennessee's body farm with morbid interest — and you were morbidly interested when you heard that a similar facility was being planned for Texas State in San Marcos. But the plan keeps running into roadblocks, the latest of which is a concern that the buzzards the body farm would attract could affect airplanes on their way to the...
Good morning, Houston. Ever been to Podunk, Texas? You have if you've ever visited the east Houston neighborhood of Denver Harbor, which was affectionately called Podunk during the Great Depression because it was then far enough east to seem semi-rural. And as of yesterday, thanks to a state House resolution, Podunk is the Official Mythical Town of Texas. Grady got the resolution passed by gathering 700 signatures on a petition and persuading the area's...
Three bodies have been found in the search of an East Loop office building damaged by fire yesterday afternoon, and a few firefighters and civilians — one of them in critical condition — are still recovering from injuries and smoke inhalation connected with the blaze. Details of the fire are still unclear, but we know that it began at about 5:15 p.m. on the fifth floor of the building at 9343 North Loop East. Smoke...
Good morning, Houston. We hope you're recovering from your President's Day festivities — if you need something to take the edge off, we suggest one of President William Howard Taft's favorites, the Bronx Cocktail (and in case you wondered, there is precedent for drinking them at this hour — just don't indulge too much or you could end up more like Taft than you'd want to be). Cocktail or no, we all know nothing...
Houstonist is starting to feel like we live in 19th century London: There's a heavy fog over the city this morning, delaying flights and reducing visibility to an eighth of a mile in some spots. [video from KHOU] Though the fog is starting to dissapate — it reached its peak just before the sun came up at about 6:55 a.m. — it already caused at least two traffic accidents. On the East Loop at Clinton...
HPD investigators say 11 Katrina evacuees have been linked to a string of violent crimes in Houston; eight are in custody, but police are still looking for the other three A wrecker driver who crashed into a car on the East Loop on Wednesday, killing its driver, may not have been headed to a Safe Clear call, investigators say Houston-based Halliburton said it will spin off a minority stake in controversial subsidiary KBR, which has...
A deadly accident on the East Loop involving a Safe Clear wrecker yesterday has drawn criticism of the city's mandatory towing program and calls for investigations of all drivers in city programs. "We need a thorough investigation of not only this driver but all drivers who are involved in city programs who are then involved in accidents," said Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, a critic of Mayor Bill White's mandatory freeway towing program, which cost the city $3...
Gov. Rick Perry made a surprise trip to visit Texas troops in Iraq, urging Americans to remain patient through the difficult rebuilding process there Police found more than $500,000 worth of stolen construction equipment in the back yard of a northeast Houston home, including bulldozers and other heavy machinery; neighbors said they had no idea it was there Enron's dynamic duo, Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, have appealed a judge's decision not to move their...
Several construction projects on the Loop that may cause traffic tie-ups: The connector ramp from the East Loop northbound to I-10 (East Freeway) east- and westbound will be closed from 9 a.m. tonight until 2 a.m. Wednesday. Alternate route: exit Wallisville and U-turn. Exit ramps from the East Loop northbound to the Port of Houston and Clinton Drive will also be closed from 9 p.m. tonight until 2 a.m. Wednesday. On the South Loop, the...