Shepherd and Durham
Commentary recently put out a take on a possible HISD bond campaign this November. The Houston Landing has a story on an HISD bond campaign possibility and here is a part:
While Houston-area voters have generally supported recent bond proposals, it’s unclear whether they would back one this year in HISD.
According to a recent survey by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, roughly two-thirds of HISD residents polled would support a bond if it does not raise property taxes by more than $25 per year. However, only one-third of respondents said they’d back a bond if property taxes rose by $100 per year or more. Nearly 3,000 people living in HISD boundaries participated in the survey.
Meanwhile, many community members have signaled they would not support a bond as long the district is run by Miles and HISD’s board of managers, who replaced the district’s superintendent and elected school board in June 2023 as part of state sanctions. At a board meeting in April, several residents repeated the phrase “no trust, no bond” during a public comment period.
HISD has explored a bond twice in the past decade, but district leaders ultimately abandoned the effort largely due to negative perceptions of the district, infighting among board members and the prospect of the imminent state takeover.
Here is the entire read: HISD bond election likely would target old elementary schools (houstonlanding.org).
I really don’t know what HISD is thinking about a bond campaign. It is fixing to be May, and they will need to gear up. Stay tuned.
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Commentary is going to go out on a limb and say my neighborhood, the Heights, is probably the most passionate about their streets than any other in the City of H-Town. I have mentioned the 11th Street redo and the 14th Street and Yale Street lane change redesigns. Folks in my neighborhood get riled up on changes – pro and con.
Here is the latest from the Chron that has some in my neighborhood worked up:
Houston city officials have put the brakes on the middle piece of a planned redesign of Shepherd and Durham along the edge of the Heights, a decision that community officials and others say puts millions of dollars destined for the city at risk.
Rumored for weeks, and predicted by critics of Mayor John Whitmire’s transportation policies, the city’s decision to not support any plan that removes lanes along the parallel, four-lane-wide corridors is likely to leave a gap in bicycle lanes along the streets between Interstate 10 and 15th Street.
For the segment from near White Oak Bayou to north of 14th Street, it may also mean that no repairs other than routine maintenance happen in the coming months or years.
“The potential exists for the project to be canceled entirely and for its associated federal funding to be reallocated somewhere else in the region,” Anne Lents, chairwoman of the Memorial Heights Redevelopment Authority, told board members, according to a printed copy of a monthly report she delivered Thursday. “At this point, this is out of our direct control as a redevelopment authority. Ultimately, we are an entity of the city and are reliant on the (mayoral) administration and city permitting and approvals to advance projects.”
Marlene Gafrick, a senior adviser to Whitmire and former city planning department director, confirmed she told the redevelopment authority, which is building the project with local and federal funds, it would only receive city support – and permits – if it redesigned the project.
The two criteria Gafrick gave the redevelopment authority, which also operates a tax increment reinvestment zone of the city, is that the project “maintain the original lane widths and number of lanes” and maintain only six-foot sidewalks.
Here is the entire read: Houston city officials halt key part of Shepherd-Durham redesign (houstonchronicle.com).
I really have not been a fan of what has been going on here on Durham and Shepherd other than it has been a pain in the arse. I wasn’t part of the conversation when they decided on this redesign. It is a pretty busy thoroughfare at certain times of the day. I wasn’t convinced reducing lanes solved any problems.
I am pretty sure the mayor and his team have a good explanation of the direction they are taking.
Some folks in these parts think they own the argument on this. We will see.
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From Tags:
Joey Loperfido, the hot-hitting prospect who slugged his Minor League-leading 13th homer of the season on Sunday for Triple-A Sugar Land, will join the Astros on Tuesday at Minute Maid Park.
Loperfido said Space Cowboys manager Mickey Storey informed the team in a meeting following Sunday’s 10-5 win at Reno that Houston’s sixth-ranked prospect was headed to the big leagues.
Loperfido is slashing .287/.393/.713 in 101 at-bats for Sugar Land, with 37 strikeouts and 16 walks. He went 2-for-3 with a homer and two walks on Sunday as the starting center fielder. He’s started 15 games in center, three in left and seven at first base.
I wonder who is being sent down.
The featured photo kind of pays homage to the two-game sweep in Mexico City this past weekend. We needed it. I will wear the featured gear to The Yard tomorrow evening on Dollar Dog Night.
