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As far as I can tell, this hasn't been reported in Houston media outlets. But yesterday afternoon my family and I noticed four local LEO cars (Harris County Constables in our case) racing through our normally quiet suburban neighborhood. We live way out in the Fairfield subdivision of Cypress, near 290 and 99. Anyway, later my daughter tells me that a neighbor boy told her that, per one of the LEOs, they were chasing some suspects who had robbed several nearby stores. These suspects were then hanging out at the local Cy-Fair middle school. Assuming this is all true (word of mouth from tweens), it just goes to show that you can never tell when you may be visited by bad hombres, regardless of how nice you think your neighborhood is.

Haven't seen anything in the media about this, either. But I have to wonder if it isn't a direct, inevitable result of mobility and expansion.

A few years ago, a perp wanting to cause mischief in the Fairfield area was in a poor tactical position: 290 was the only fast-through access; it narrowed from freeway to highway not much farther northwest; you had to go four miles the other direction to get to the next significant intersection; and you had to go 10 miles southeast to get to Highway 6. Houston Premium Outlets was the only real retail theft target in the vicinity, and was/is less likely to be a target for store robberies than parking lot snatch-and-grabs.

Then the I-10 to 290 segment of the Grand Parkway opened in late 2013; the 290 to I-45 segment opened last February. Good for property values, and great for folks living in Fairfield who have to commute toward I-10 or 249 or I-45 or the Hardy.

But also good for bad guys who want to expand their territories and look for fresh pickins'. If you wanted to get to Fairfield circa early 2013, the only real choice was 290. Now, in the time it takes you to fight 290 from the Beltway to Fairfield, you can drive from I-45 or the Hardy Toll Road, or from the Westpark Tollway to the south. And if you make a reasonably clean getaway, your options are now all over three-quarters of the compass.

Kingwood, Atascocita, Greatwood, and Sienna Plantation will feel the same impact next.