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THURSDAY | December 27, 2012 | Vol. 59 | No. 9 | www.theleadernews.com | @heightsleader
THE BRIEFS.
R.G. MUSGROVE
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Half of Houston home sales right here Take the time to read Section B of The Leader today. In our monthly real estate section, Leader Listings, HAR presents statistics that say of all the homes sold in Houston in the month of November, nearly half of them were in the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest and North Houston. Among other real estate milestones in November: • Single-family home sales increased 27.3 percent year-over-year, accounting for the market’s 18th consecutive monthly increase; • Total dollar volume jumped 41.2 percent, increasing from $926 million to $1.3 billion on a year-over-year basis; • At $228,275, the single-family home average price reached the highest level for a November in Houston; • At $167,000, the single-family home median price also reached an historic high for a November in Houston; • 4.1 months inventory of singlefamily homes is the lowest level in 12 years (December 2000).
From Yale Street concerns, to school bonds, to a new, controversial Walmart, to improving healthcare at our hospitals, the growth of 2012 set the stage for a prosperous – though uncertain – 2013.
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2012 a year of bridges
We’re looking for the 5 cutest pets in the area On Page 9B, we announce a contest that is sure to get the competitive juices flowing all across this area. With the publication of the Jan. 3 edition of The Leader, we will launch a contest that selects the five cutest pets in our neighborhoods, and rewards those pets with all kinds of gifts from local businesses. Check out the story.
by Charlotte Aguilar charlotte@theleadernews.com
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THE INDEX. Public Safety Hipstrict Topics Obituaries Coupons Puzzles Sports Classifieds
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hose who live, work and own businesses in Leader neighborhoods like to talk about small-town charm – but there’s no escaping that we’re urban. We’re part of the inner city in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. And that becomes evident when refl ecting at year’s end about the events that shaped the previous 12 months. G rowth and change – with resulting rewards and problems – are the main themes. And throughout, from healthcare to education to development, 2012 literally was a year of bridges – bridging our growth with our way of life. We don’t rank stories 1-to-10, but here are 10 that we think stood out in random order. We welcome your emails, letters and postings to our website to turn this into a dialog. What impacted you most? The year 2012 was, for the most part, the best of times. And it has set events in motion that promise to make 2013 even more interesting, challenging and uplifting.
YALE STREET BRIDGE C ity offi cials repeat “it’s safe, it’s safe,” like a mantra, but the reality is that this 81-year-old
bridge that connects the H eights with points south over White O ak Bayou has been deemed “functionally obsolete” and in 2012 became off-limits to 18-wheelers, school buses and even some SU Vs and pickup trucks. This year saw the bridge downgraded during two routine state inspections, and with the boom in retail in the area and higher density housing bringing more traffi c, doing something about its worsening condition became a priority. Working with community activists, the city of H ouston, state and county were able to secure fast-track funding – but that only means the bridge will be rebuilt in fi ve years. In the meantime, load limits have been reduced, traffi c has been diverted to the safer H eights Boulevard Bridge, and short-term fi xes are being performed to minimize wear-and-tear and keep the bridge safe and functioning.
WALMART OPENS D espite a loud and angry “Stop Walmart H eights” movement that mirrored those in other cities that object to the retailer’s size and practices, Walmart’s Supercenter wasn’t stopped after two years of controversy. It opened in November at 111 Yale St. – not in the H eights proper, but a former industrial area between I-10 and Washington Avenue.
The giant brought with it more than 300 jobs (for which thousands applied), and a wild upturn in development of strip centers along Yale and H eights Boulevard – along with city tax breaks for developers. Will the retail giant and its stepchildren spell the end of small businesses in the H eights area? Will Starbucks supplant nearby favorites such as Antidote, Waldo’s and Java Java? Will Smashburger overpower Hubcap G rill and Taco C abana slay Taqueria Laredo and Andy’s? So far, there’s no evidence that the doomsayers were right. But to use the oldest cliché in the news business, “only time will tell.” The “Stop Walmart” folks, including Responsible Urban D evelopment for H ouston, which was deeply involved in the Yale Street Bridge issue, have now turned its focus to a splashy “Keep the H eights Local – Shop H omegrown Texas Businesses” movement.
WASHINGTON AVENUE DEVELOPMENT Where do we go after Walmart? Let’s stay in the neighborhood. Washington Avenue itself continues to change, with a revolving door of clubs and growing number of restaurants and high density liv-
see 2012 • Page 7A