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From Monday December 23rd:

This is just amazing, ever since i was little, i always wondered what that beautiful building was, and finally today i search for it. I spent a good amount of time reading this thread and going though all those pictures. Like most, the clock is what got my attention. I am very, very grateful that the new owner took the initiative and started something awesome with this. I do believe once this whole thing is done and over with, all of us will look back and think about how cool and interesting the building was before this happened. It funny that the new generation will see this building and say it's a new one and will never know that it was some random old building.

I walked by this area last night and it has a completely different feel. Once this, plus Alliance, plus Holiday Inn is ready, we will have a nice walking avenue from downtown to Midtown. It is not perfect, but it no longer feels like a no man's land. Also, I think the renovation of Central Square Plaza will help boost security on the Midtown side. All of the surface lots right along Main that are not being taken up by these developments have been resurfaced and the sidewalk maintains a wide walking path with lush landscaping. Additionally, new train lines going in will make this place more accessible and more useful. I'm really liking what is happening to this part of downtown. Finally, Midtown along main street has lots of development coming with Q1 2014 starts or already under construction. Heading north to south: - Central Square Plaza (not directly on Main but close) - 6 Story Alliance Apartments on former Fire Museum Site - Park + Retail + 7 Story Camden Apartments on Superblock - Renovation of 3001 Main Street (Crime Stoppers Location) - Cafe Helene across from HCC Main Building and Next to 3001 Main - The MATCH - Independent Arts Collaborative - Mid Main - Apartments + 30,000 sq ft retail - Alliance Residential next to Continental Club Main street is coming up.

I used 1/20th on the low end. I said any closer and you would encounter road too often. What I noticed too is that older cities have long but narrow blocks. Even Manhattan was reworked on that configuration with the average blocks there being about 900 ft long and 200 ft wide. That's equivalent to three Houston blocks long but not as wide. I noticed that Asian and Canadian older cities follow the long and narrow pattern too. The newer cities, many of which are west of the Mississippi, have the shorter but thicker blocks.

To be fair, I don't know if you can google earth, "more interesting areas."

The woodlands is in the boonies.

I'm not taking the time to post links, you can google earth them. Modern urbanists are trying to return to the principles that made classic urbanism so successful. If you read some of the literature on this I think you'll find they've taken a lot of the considerations we discuss into account (the short answer by the way is that while there are more streets to cross with small blocks there is more directional freedom and meeting points). Start with Jane Jacobs. For a convenient comparison of larger and smaller block sizes, take Houston and Dallas. Downtown Dallas has larger blocks, and the feel is more deadening vs. livelier in Houston, even when no one is actually on the street. By the way, your ideal 1/20th mile interval would be 264 feet - actually smaller than downtown Houston at 300 ft, a very small block size indeed!

Boonies.

The woodlands is very far from everything except itself.

All these residential projects are all getting off the ground at the same time, from Midtown to Downtown, its gonna be neat to see how they all kind of come together in the next couple of years. I see more foot traffic and more basic amenities such as your typical coffee shops, dry cleaners, etc. I think many of our visitors for the Super Bowl are going to have a better experience in this city.

I think I forgot to post this back on Dec 17th.

It might be the word that Chevron recruiters will use for it.

I disagree with this part if your post. I think you have it completely reversed. Thinking of London, Paris, Berlin, Prague, even Philadelphia, Boston, etc... all I remember is long blocks and narrow streets. I think you are confusing long blocks with long streets. Long streets like those in Houston don't create a strong urban experience but long blocks do. A 30 Mike westheimer is hard to urbanize. 500-1000 feet blocks all squeezed together gives you a more closed in and urban environment. Houston has many no nos that mange it hard on pedestrians. It has a higher than average percentage of road to architecture. Wide streets, long streets, thin blocks. Think of it this way, which would you think would be easier for a walker? Having 10 store fronts between each pair of streets or having to cross five lanes of traffic after every two stores? Pedestrians have a more leisurely walk when the number if streets they have to cross are less. I am not for closing major thoroughfares in the middle of downtown, but I am not worried at all about smaller streets in the more sleepy parts of downtown. Closing Louisiana or Smith would be a nightmare. Closing Prairie one block from its end...hardly an issue with me. London: http://www.london-attractions.info/images/attractions/oxford-street.jpg Prague: http://www.europeancastlestours.com/tours/imperial/gallery/Prague_Street.jpg Philadelphia: http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/broad-street-facing-philadelphia-city-hall-in-sepia-bill-cannon.jpg Boston: http://bostoncompletestreets.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Broad-St_1.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jcviAgRYitk/Tu44JBLotuI/AAAAAAAAJbQ/_kSKFVk57u0/s1600/Ferrara1.jpg Baltimore: http://www.pps.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Baltimore_Market_Street_WEB.jpg New Orleans: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Orleans.bourbon.arp.750pix.jpg The area in Contrast looks like this: http://d16wm5mxkuw2qn.cloudfront.net/images/13547.png http://d16wm5mxkuw2qn.cloudfront.net/images/13543.png

I took it Sunday and grabbed a few phone pics. IMAG0148 by Not.Larry.Dierker, on Flickr IMAG0150 by Not.Larry.Dierker, on Flickr IMAG0164 by Not.Larry.Dierker, on Flickr IMAG0131 by Not.Larry.Dierker, on Flickr IMAG0117 by Not.Larry.Dierker, on Flickr IMAG0137 by Not.Larry.Dierker, on Flickr IMAG0142 by Not.Larry.Dierker, on Flickr

Shots from today. Sorry about the last picture, didn't get to frame it as it disappeared behind the B pillar

Good point.Also, if no one actually smokes crack, then no one gets high or has their lives ruined, therefore crack is harmless.

Yeah there are three more planned a few blocks away: the ten floor one next to the Church (one block across and one down from Houston House) and the two phase 12 floor project a few blocks away near Root Square (3 blocks from Houston House).

going to be a nice little residential corner there. 3 apartment buildings each with 200 units plus+