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How The Amazon-Whole Foods Combination Will Impact DFW’s ‘Big Game’ In Grocery Shopping
While it’s hard to say exactly what an Amazon-owned Whole Foods shopping experience will be like, you can be sure that all eyes will be on the effects of this proposed retail combination. The dust is now settling after Amazon’s June 16 announcement that it wants to buy Austin-based Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion. And, with Amazon fulfillment centers located in Dallas, Coppell, Haslet, and Fort Worth—together with 13 Whole Foods Market stores in North Texas—Dallas-Fort Worth will be a key proving ground for the combined companies.
Ward Kampf, who’s president of Northwood Retail—the company that leases and manages The Shops at Park Lane, where Whole Foods Market is an anchor tenant—views the acquisition as a positive. “I think there’s a bit of excitement around this transaction,” he said. “I think we’re optimistic about this and very curious at the same time. I think that’s globally the feeling.”
When it comes to picking up groceries in Dallas, residents have plenty of options because of the number of grocers with operations in North Texas. In addition to Whole Foods Market, companies including Kroger, Natural Grocers, Tom Thumb, Sprouts, Walmart, H-E-B and its Central Market brand all have a presence in Dallas, among other cities here. “The grocery market in Dallas is very competitive—as competitive as anywhere in the country,” Kampf said. Read More >
A Defense Of Houston: Local Experts Say Land Use Not to Blame For Harvey.
During Hurricane Harvey, the Houston area was pounded with an entire year’s worth of rain, 27 trillion gallons, in just four days. Despite rainfall that shattered every record, many outside experts and national news media organizations are lobbing severe criticisms toward the city for its decades-long expansion. The Atlantic’s Ian Bogost is calling Houston’s flooding a “design problem.” The Washington Post’s editorial board claims “Houston is paying the price for public officials’ ignorance.” Not everyone agrees. Flooded and frustrated, local experts are wondering how they could have managed the unmanageable.
“Houston hasn’t seen anything like this type of rainfall, especially over such a large area,” said Patrick Beecher, outgoing president of Houston’s chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. “It rained so much that no amount of prevention could’ve prevented flooding.” It is important to understand Harvey produced a truly unbelievable amount of water: 27 trillion gallons fell over Texas and Louisiana. That is 1 million gallons of water for nearly every person who lives in Texas. The consequences were catastrophic. At least 46 are dead, and nearly 40,000 homes have been destroyed. The cost of recovery could top $150B and it will take years. Vox’s stunning, almost cartoonish visualizations show the sheer scale of the water that flooded the region. “[It’s] off the charts by many measures,” Mark Fischetti wrote in Scientific American. Read More >
New Texas Law May Make It ‘Almost Impossible’ For Cities To Annex Land
A new law went into effect Friday that requires Texas cities to get voter approval before annexing an area
POSTED DECEMBER 1, 2017, 5:23 PM Houston Public Media
Pearland is one of several Texas cities that appeared to quickly annex areas in their extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ, right before a new law established by Senate Bill 6 took effect.
The law requires cities to seek voter approval before annexing land.
“Those areas have been in the ETJ for probably close to 50 years and subject to being incorporated into the city,” Pearland City Manager Clay Pearson said. “And so that should be no real surprise.”
But residents of those annexed areas are not happy.
Yes, they’ll get more city services, but they’ll also have to pay city property taxes now.
And that’s why James Thurmond, director of the University of Houston’s public administration program, thinks the law will make it almost impossible for cities to annex land in the future.
“Citizens that live outside the city, if they can get free city services and use city facilities and everything and get them free, why should they pay for them?” said Thurmond, who has managed different cities in the past. “So they’re usually not going to vote to be annexed.”
The new law only applies to cities in counties with at least 500,000 people.
Solar Farm Divides a Ranching Community
A proposed 1,100-acre solar farm with as many as 450,000 solar panels has divided residents in Van Zandt County. Some local land owners welcome the thought of receiving $450 per acre rent for forty years, while others see the project as an eyesore.
Solar is the fastest growing source of electricity in Texas, with its share of power generation expected to double to 2 percent this year and more than double again to 5 percent in 2021, according to the Texas Solar Power Association, a trade group. Solar projects are under development in about 80, or nearly one-third, of the state’s 254 counties.
Read the full story Solar Farm Divides a Ranching Community (Houston Chronicle subscription required)