::Land Use in Houston: Two Different Approaches:: As demand for more residential and commercial building in Houston continues, the question of how to develop (and how to preserve) becomes more and more important. Houstonians for Responsible Growth is sponsoring a free public forum tonight about land use decisions under consideration of City Hall. Houstonians for Responsible Growth appear to support market- and consumer-driven growth of the city, as opposed to land use regulations and......

The Chron picked this up a few days ago, but we feel it's worth a second mention. The Rice Design Alliance in conjunction with the Houston Chapter of the AIA announced two Houston architects, Murphy Mears Architects, (Kirby Mears, Walter Murphy, Kyle Humphries, Jamie Miller, and Gina Lyons) and Stephanie Eugster as finalists in the recent 99K House Competition. The finalists were selected out of 182 entrants proposing a sustainable, affordable house that addresses......

We have a confession to make. Merely two weeks into our low cholesterol diet, we've fallen off the low cholesterol wagon and dove into the chow wagon. But it wasn't our fault! We were tempted by an evil and sinister force: oysters. More specifically, Danton oysters. So, you understand, right? Right? Confession aside, let's get to the nitty gritty--these oysters are anything but gritty. We walked into the place with full intentions to abide by......

Remember when you were a little bitty Houstonist and someone would read to you at night and you could just lose yourself in the story, abandoning all other thoughts of the day? Well you can still do it now, you know. In fact, you might be all the more eager to shed your quotidian annoyances now that you're grown. Here are a few places to hear some stellar writers read from their work: Friday......

Dammit, Houston *is* a literary town! Here's a slew of readings happening this week, from the hilarious David Sedaris to the wry Nick Hornby and the unbalanced Lisa Belkin. Her word choice, not ours. We love books. Wednesday, October 24th at 7:30PM William Henry Lewis and Justin Cronin at DiverseWorks 1117 East Freeway, *FREE* Two heavy-hitting writers with a bucket of awards apiece. Lewis is the author of In the Arms of Our Elders......

::Maurice Manning and Emily Fox Gordon Poetry Reading at Diverseworks:: Giving Houstonians a chance to hear tomorrow’s great writers today. The Inprint Studio Series, presented by Inprint in association with the University of Houston Creative Writing Program and Diverseworks, features some of the best young writers in the country, as well as alumni from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program and leading local authors. Now in its second season, the 2007-2008 Inprint Studio Series,......

Houstonist recently kept you abreast of the “Humberto Incident”, where a low pressure system in the Gulf strengthened in less than 24 hours and slammed ashore, with sustainable wind gusts of 85 mph as a Category 1 hurricane, near High Island, causing power outages, localized flooding and wind damage. When storms give you little warning – the choice is already made for you to shelter in place. The media here is rife with preparedness information......

Good morning, Houston. In case you didn't hear yesterday, we'll soon see the end of an era in air travel: Beginning Oct. 2, Southwest Airlines will assign passengers a place in line based on the order in which they check in. That means no more of the airline's (in)famous "cattle call" boarding process, which means there's no longer any point in arriving at the airport 16 hours early to get in the A group......

Good morning, Houston. These days, when everyone and their dog has a computer, it's getting harder to remember the days when all "official" writing was done on typewriters. The practical modern typewriter was invented in 1868 by an engineer named Christopher Latham Sholes, but it wasn't until 121 years ago today — Sept. 14, 1886 — that George K. Anderson of Memphis got a patent for the typewriter ribbon. They were originally made of......

Unless you've been hiding under a rock out in the suburbs (no judgment!) you probably have already heard about this Saturday's 11th Annual Museum District Day. If you haven't, well look at us telling you something you don't know about! Yep, folks, that's what we're here for. Here's your chance to view gallery upon gallery of Houston's finest art, all for the low, low price of FREE. Saturday, August 18th, from 10am-5pm, 14 Houston museums......

We knew there had to be some history behind Houston's opening its doors to hurricane evacuees from New Orleans a couple of summers ago — and now, thanks to the Chronicle's addictive Bayou City History blog, we know what it was: Early in 1949, the Houston City Council annexed the city of New Orleans. So, hey, all you transplanted New Orleanians: Welcome home! It all started Dec. 31, 1948, when Houston annexed more than......

Meet David Purdie, a true AstroWorld fan: When he heard that the park was going to close, Purdie decided to capture its last days on film. With a hand-held video camera, he visited AstroWorld every weekend in October 2005, filming everything he could — from the drive down Kirby to the walk over the pedestrian bridge to the slow climb up the first incline on the Texas Cyclone. And then, when cranes and bulldozers moved......

Good morning, Houston. If you've ever dreamed of designing a neighborhood marker, now's your chance: The Sixth Ward Property Owners group is looking for someone to come up with a sign to mark the historic area. "Right now we have markers in the neighborhood and they're in bad shape," Maria Isabel of the SWPO said. "It would be great to redo those." The design specs seem pretty open — the location and materials are......

Friday night is upon us and it feels like what Spring feels like in non-Gulf Coast cities; which means low humidity, cool temperatures. And you know, you’ll feel guilty spending the night sitting on your ass in front of the tube again. That’s where your friends at Houstonist come in. We have a pair of tickets to tonight’s Ghostland Observatory concert at Warehouse Live. If you don’t know about this band, shame on you. Coming......

Opening Reception: Surviving Katrina and Rita in Houston - Who We Are Art League Houston is pleased to announce the opening of its first micro exhibit, Surviving Katrina and Rita in Houston: Who We Are, an installation of photographs and stories featuring Houston-based evacuees and survivors of the hurricanes, with photographs by Alice McNamara, April 30 – June 15, 2007. Surviving Katrina and Rita in Houston: Who We Are is part of a much larger......

Out of curiosity, have you tried to book a hotel anywhere in Houston this week? Checked out the prices? Wondered why all rooms have gone up by a hundred dollars or so? If you don't know what we're getting on about, then you probably don't work in the energy industry, and you probably don't know that the OTC (Offshore Technology Conference) is going on this week. The convention is currently taking up the entire......

Good morning, Houston. In case you haven't heard, Channel 11 has a new anchor to replace Lisa Foronda: She's Lucy Noland, a native of Saigon who's leaving a job as co-anchor of the WNYW morning show in New York City for the job here. "It's time for me to put down roots, to have a house and home," Noland told the Chronicle. "This nomadic lifestyle has been fun. It's taken me far and wide,......

Sure, we had it easy during the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season — not one hurricane made landfall in the U.S. last year — but things might be a little more complicated this year. Colorado State University forecaster William Gray is expecting 17 named storms in the Atlantic this year, with a pretty strong chance that one of them will hit the U.S. Better start buying that plywood and bottled water now. According to Gray's team's......

The easiest way to give back, or pay it forward, as well as the least expensive, is to give some of yourself and your time to a good cause. We have apprised you of the International Festival's need for bodies to make the festival a success. Now, we have a little environmental action for you, and it's educational, in addition to the warm fuzzy you'll get. Much of the litter that makes it's way......

If there's one thing we've never heard Galveston compared to, it's The Hamptons. Houston's Clear Thinkers was equally surprised when they encountered this comparison in a New York Times article. We guess it makes sense, since there has been a boom in beach-house building and buying among Houstonians in the past several years. Has the world finally "discovered the Gulf Coast?" We'll see. This blog says that we'd be better off watching for hurricanes, not......

Looks like we won't be able to catch a rocket ship to outer space in Houston's back yard anytime soon: Earlier this week, the Brazoria County Commissioners Court voted to dissolve a nonprofit corporation that was formed to build a commercial spaceport. The group, called the Gulf Coast Regional Spaceport Development Corp., was formed in 2000 to build a port for spacecraft to deliver commercial satellite into orbit; an initial proposal was to develop the......

Houstonist grew up in this city (for the most part), and we think we turned out fine. Right? Well, our shortcomings and hangups aside, it's dangerous to be a kid in Houston these days, according to Children at Risk President Robert Sanborn. Sanborn spoke to a group of child advocates at a summit at the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast yesterday. This is what he had to say about the state of affairs......

Dragon Boat Team Hosts Kick-off Party If you are like most Houstonians, and most of us at Houstonist (wow, that's a scary thought) then you probably are not too familiar with Dragon Boat Racing, or even realize that Houston has it's own team. No worries. That's why we are here. Dragon Boat Racing, sometimes called Dragonboating (kinda a stretch, huh?) is a 2,500 year-old Chinese sport that has recenlty become a global phenomenon with......

"Galveston, oh Galveston, I can see your sea cans shining." In a move that may result in the Island becoming a big player in the containerized cargo business (or "sea cans", as Houstonist likes to call them), the Port of Houston Authority voted to return control of the Pier 10 container terminal to Galveston managers. The Port of Galveston and Galveston City Council will meet Thursday to discuss the impact of this move on public......

With the rising fuel costs this past year, it’s not surprising to see 34 energy companies on Forbes' annual ranking of the countries fastest-growing companies. Houston-based Vaalco Energy tops the list, where profits have increased 150 percent each year for the past three years, and the stock return is at 900 percent. Vaalco Energy explores, acquires, and produces crude oil and natural gas. Their drilling rigs are located in the Texas Gulf Coast and......

With tomorrow’s one-year anniversary of Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast, Houstonians are well aware of the effect that it had on our neighbors. Many of these neighbors have now become neighbors, literally. Non-profit organization Share Our Strength has teamed up with American Express to sponsor Restaurants for Relief 2. On Tuesday, if you dine at one of the participating restaurants, a portion of your bill will go to help feed those affected by Hurricane Katrina.......

Well, we got our first official tropical scare of the year this week. Hurr...er...Tropical Storm Ernesto (his friends call him Ernie) has been blustering across the Caribbean since the middle of the weak. But, Ernie clearly has his sights set on Florida, so we can breathe a sigh of relief, that is IF we can breathe in the stifling heat and humidity. Monday Through Thursday A weak Canadian frontal boundry has been lingering across......

Houstonist digs roller derby — the Houston Roller Derby, to be specific. The final bout of the season will be held Sunday at the Arabia Shrine Temple, 2900 N. Braeswood. Doors will open at 6 p.m., with the action beginning at 7 p.m. Proceeds of this bout will benefit the Lupus Foundation of America-Texas Gulf Coast Chapter. The championship bout will be held in September; Houstonist will scoop you when the time is right. Lupus......

While Houstonist believes in preparedness and Tropical Storm Chris continues to churn in the Atlantic, it isn't time to start boarding up just yet. That having been said, the National Hurricane Center continues to monitor Chris and has yet to downgrade him to a tropical depression as had earlier been predicted. Chris continues to survive depsite many estimations and is aiming directly for Cuba with winds currently around 40mph. Current forecast models keep Chris on......

So it's been nearly a year since tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents were displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and through a variety of deadline extensions, several thousand of them are still relying on federal housing aid. But not for that much longer — maybe — because FEMA said ">the next housing deadlines won't be pushed back — perhaps. Mayor Bill White urged evacuees to meet the coming deadlines: Aug. 31 for about......