A True Southern Treasure.... GALVESTON

urbanactivist · #1 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 5:23 PM**

I love Galveston, and come here every chance I get. The city really has its own strange feel that is uncharacteristic of anywhere else in Texas. The island is on a true city grid, even in the residential neighborhoods. Most of the city's downtown was built during the Victorian era, and the general character feels much more like a "mini New Orleans" than anything directly associated with Texas. I tried to cover more than just the Strand, but left a lot to still be seen. Hope you enjoy.

The water is looking better and better each time I visit. Texas has become serious about cleaning up the Gulf.

This is the city's newest condo development, recently completed on East Beach. More are to follow.

And now... the good and not so always good... Galveston neighborhood tour!

As I mentioned before, every street in Galveston is gridded with back alleyways. Eventhough your standard single family homes are here today, you just have to close your eyes and imagine what it would have looked like 110 years ago. Such great infrastructure for a southern/southwestern city.

New home construction (and IMO SMART home construction)

Best restaurant name EVER

Now for the developers out there... check out these potential goldmines!!

Let's cross Broadway Ave. and tour the Galveston Historic District

wow... compare these to the single shotgun from earlier... what a difference a little TLC makes!

Bishop's Palace

Downtown. For a Labor Day weekend, it was quite empty (probably due to Hurricane Gustav). Oh well... less people to get in my way!

nice to see that it's still around... unlike certain bulldozer-happy cities (who shall remain nameless)

All this amazing historic architecture in this town, and you choose to live HERE????

no streetcars today, just the busses

And to conclude our tour... The Strand

That's enough for today

CTBill · #2 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 5:32 PM**

Great shots- Thanks for the tour.

jodelli · #3 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 5:39 PM**

Nice looking burg. You're right about it looking more like Louisiana or maybe even Mississippi.

Rusty van Reddick · #4 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 5:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jodelli

Nice looking burg. You're right about it looking more like Louisiana or maybe even Mississippi.

I'm seeing a lot of similarities to Mobile, too.

TinChelseaNYC · #5 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 6:29 PM**

Great extensive tour! Looks really sweet!

Texas Tuff · #6 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 7:16 PM**

Very nice pics! It seems like Galveston has done a good job of preserving their historic buildings. Those new twin condos out on East Beach came out pretty nice as well.

Samwill89 · #7 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 8:36 PM**

Great pics of my favorite Houston suburb

j/k

ColDayMan · #8 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 10:25 PM**

Thanks!

Ex-Ithacan · #9 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 11:02 PM**

Wonderful tour. The CBD looks bigger than I thought it would. Great housing too.

The neighbors must be so proud.

TXLove · #10 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 11:13 PM**

thanks for the tour! Galveston is looking good!

NYC4Life · #11 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 11:15 PM**

What a beautiful seaside city.

stepper77 · #12 Posted **Sep 3, 2008, 11:52 PM**

Galveston is beautiful!! Thanks for sharing!!

kcexpress69 · #13 Posted **Sep 4, 2008, 1:49 AM**

Thanks so much for the great tour, UA!!

Sometimes, it's not about the highrises that line the beach. It's the history, the beautiful houses, new and old, small and big, gritty and renovated, that makes a city what it is!! I hope to visit Galveston someday!!

Dan Denson · #14 Posted **Sep 4, 2008, 2:19 AM**

Haven't ever seen that aspect of Galveston. Just like so many people, all I've seen is the commercial strip and hotels along the beach. Didn't know what I was missing. The historic looking homes (Victorian?) remind me of the Heights in Houston or King William district of San Antonio. Does Charleston look that way? That's how I've always pictured Charleston in my mind.

KevinFromTexas · #15 Posted **Sep 4, 2008, 2:56 AM**

Good to see Galveston. Thanks.

Boris · #16 Posted **Sep 4, 2008, 3:43 AM**

That was a great tour. Thx for the time and effort.

urbanactivist · #17 Posted **Sep 16, 2008, 3:16 PM**

Wow, I don't know what to think about these now!!

Just an update on the Historic areas of Galveston...

Of the appox. 7,000 historic structures on the island, 1,500 of them recieved significant damage, but most of it was just broken windows and street-level flooding. Obviously the island won't be up and running again for a while, but there is hope for it to open up to tourism in a few months.

Here's a news article on the historic Galveston from abc13.com

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?se...ane&id=6393200

denveraztec · #18 Posted **Sep 16, 2008, 3:46 PM**

Thanks for the update, not sure how I missed this the first time. I need to get to Galvaston once it is back up and running. I am always in Houston and have even been to Kehma, now I will make the trip! Thanks for the post.

Dan Denson · #19 Posted **Sep 17, 2008, 4:10 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by denveraztec

Thanks for the update, not sure how I missed this the first time. I need to get to Galvaston once it is back up and running. I am always in Houston and have even been to Kehma, now I will make the trip! Thanks for the post.

I don't think there's much left of Kemah at this point.

Glad to hear that the historic district in Galveston will survive. Unfortunately, a fair amount of Galveston is destroyed, including the Balinese Room built over the water (something like 70 years old). The Balinese Room hosted many big events and famous people (Sinatra, Bob Hope, etc.) many years ago. Can't believe it's gone.

Thundertubs · #20 Posted **Sep 17, 2008, 5:27 AM**

Great tour. Best wishes to the city.