Park Update

Hello everyone!

Just a quick update on the Park...

As promised in an earlier post, the initial dramatic progress in the park with all the big trucks moving lots of dirt has slowed to (what appears to be) a crawl. With the road partially in and buildings going up, it seems like we are getting very close. And we are...

Just to let you know a little bit of what's been going on:

1. The rough grading for the park has been completed. This was the first step because we had to get a place for all the excess water to go. The only thing that's holding us up on getting the drainage completely on line is the lack of power to the site. There are a couple of big pumps that will get the water out of the detention basin into Cotton Bayou, but since there's no power yet we need to wait. One step at a time, and all that...

2. Roads, parking lots, and some of the paths have been constructed. There is some finish work that needs to take place on the roads and sidewalks, including decorative pavers and other nice touches that typically wait until the end so that they don't get wrecked by heavy equipment.

3. Bridges have been installed. Despite the "bridge to nowhere" jokes, these bridges are an integral part of the park's pathway scheme. They are also quite beautiful in their own right.

4. Structures have begun to go up. These are essentially steel frame buildings with concrete block walls. They include restrooms, pavillions, concessions areas, etc. As with the park in general, the initial construction is fairly rapid, but the detailed finish work takes a while to complete. Progress may seem slow but it is inexorably moving towards completion. One of the things that needs completion is the panel room for distribution of power. This is the essential link in getting power to the site (ball field lighting, parking lot lights, lights in the bathrooms, etc) and especially to the pumps mentioned above.

5. Landscaping has begun to be installed. This is actually a good time of year to plant. Since the trees are dormant, there's no big shock to their system from being uprooted and transplanted at a time when they are actively growing. Sod and other plants are a little less transplant-tolerant, so that will have to wait until further site improvements are accomplished (including finish grading).

So there you have it. There is, of course, much more that is taking place. Some decisions still need to be made, including pathway wayfinding signage, etc. But all in all, we are still looking at a completion date of late summer 2010. Stay tuned! More to come...

An interesting article

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/slumburbia/

This is a very interesting article regarding the potential future of over-speculated areas. There are a couple of things that come to mind when reading this article:

1. This kind of thing has been predicted for some time. While land speculation has been going on for as long as people had money to invest in land, the boom/bust cycle of housing speculation has taken on a new and interesting twist. Until the early 1980s, it seemed that real estate was one of the more safe places to put one's money - that land values were relatively stable and secure and generally moved higher in value. That all changed when people became interested in finding alternative places to invest. The oil industry was in recession, successive energy crises lead people to move away from manufacturing and other more stable industrial-type investments, and the government was getting out of the housing sector, moving to public/private partnerships to allow for affordable housing. The idea was simple - make government subsidies available for housing rather than make housing available. This encourages lending and speculation, knowing that the government would help cover debts and hedges. There were hiccups in the mid-80s and 90s, but nothing on the scale we are seeing now. It demonstrates what some think of as a fundamental flaw in the policy of excessive government spending and speculation by developers who are subsidized by that spending. In short, it was hubris for us to think that the bubble would never pop.

We here in Texas could learn from this lesson. Relatively immune from the recession and depressed home market elsewhere, we also rose on less of a bubble. This does not mean it could not happen here - it can and may. Steps taken now to proactively ensure the continued steady (not excessive) growth will help alleviate the kinds of ups and downs that have plagued other parts of the country. These steps include appropriate regulation, diversity of housing type (increases housing choice), and architectural guidelines. Further, the improvement of the business environment helps with the residential side as well.

2. The problems associated with inner-city slums are becoming the problems of the suburb and exurb areas as well. Gangs, violence, boarded-up homes and businesses, and attracting higher-rent businesses are problems that inner-cities have faced for decades. These problems are shifting to the outskirts as the property values decrease. It is also a result of gentrification in the inner-city areas of most metropolitan areas - as property values in these areas increases those with less ability to meet these challenges are pushed to the fringes (figuratively and literally). This is a problem because not only do they face displacement and social-network issues, they also face longer commute times where there is less public transportation option availability. It also places burdens on infrastructure - lower property values mean less tax revenue to address road, water, and sewer maintenance. These things are not as big of a concern in the inner-city areas, where infrastructure has less distance to travel.

As we look to the future (as we must) we are wise to learn from the past. Let's learn from these kinds of things so we can make our community better. Let's put appropriate regulation in place now to help alleviate pressures from similar bubbles.