Jeebus

As far as I can tell NRG has the largest parking lot in the world but doesn't get credit for it.

http://nrgpark.com/parking-specs

26,000 spaces is greater than Disney World's 23,000 spaces; Universal Studios 20,000 spaces and West Edmonton Mall's 20,000 spaces.

http://www.valetonly.com/blog/5-of-the-largest-parking-lots-on-the-planet/

http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/10/parking-automobiles-retail-biz-logistics-cx_ew_0410parking_slide_11.html

http://www.wdwmagic.com/facts!.htm

We ate there Friday night. Got there around 8, only took 10 minutes for a table to open up. The beer selection was nice. The food was good as well. We ordered about half of the menu between the four of us to share and sample. Everything tasted like it had been slowly and meticulously made with care, and not just grabbed from the freezer and nuked before plating. The gator fritters stole the show. We ended up having to order extra of those. The burger was advertised as ground fresh daily, and it certainly tasted that way.

No d-bags to be found. Mostly young couples doubled up (like us), a few bottom-end corporate parties (think cubicle farm crews), and hipsters. Lots and lots of hipsters!

Ziegler Cooper does some outstanding and high profile religious architecture, the new Cathedral being one example. I wonder which church this structure is being built for.

Not sure what you're asking. You did look at the link?

Pare de Sufrir

The Worship Place Studio of Ziegler Cooper Architects was recently hired to design a 46,000 square foot worship center with a stylistic design that is appealing from the busy southwest freeway as it crosses over Westpark just outside the 610 loop. The overall design image is modernist with a substantial glass entry and lobby that will provide a nice visual sign board for those passing by on the adjacent freeway. Strong lines and bold colors reflect not only the spirit of the design, but also attempt to reflect the spirit of the church.

The new church building will consist of a 1,100-seat main worship center, with a smaller 200-seat chapel and teaching room. Support areas include administrative staff offices, children´s classroom spaces, and an 11-bedroom apartment complex for ministers and ministers in training. A dormitory accommodating twenty is also included to house young men in training and under mentorship of established pastors. A unique design feature of the complex is the in-house television studio which will allow the opportunity for the church to be broadcast in the Houston Area.

Does the city even care one way or the other about Greyhound being in Midtown ?

Just seems like to me, Midtown (the mgmt group and the residents) will get a lot more out of it if Greyhound decides to move than the City does.... and since the city is going to have to be the one to fork over the incentives..... does the city win?

I thought the Midtown TIRZ falls under the city, which is also who I thought we were talking about.

BUT.. since this game is already being played..... I think access to the rail network and a Metro TC is much more important than freeway access. If your typical Greyhound user had a car, he wouldn't be needing a bus in the first place. Freeways are mostly used for express busses to bypass the local streets, if you look at the system map, you have essentially one bus crossing 10 at almost every major exit and no local buses running parallel. For any given site on 10, you'd only have access to 1 bus line.

I-10 was intended to be more convenient to Greyhound, but I understand your point.

Also.. where's the incentive for the city here? Wherever Greyhound moves, there will still be increased crime. They'd just be moving responsibility for monitoring it from one police district to another. Midtown ( the mgmt group and the residents ) and the City are two different groups. Would it be financially worth it to the city to appease one group by moving a problem elsewhere ?

Is either group appeased now?

What prerequisites are you trying to get for the station?

Perhaps a 200 yard buffer from the nearest neighborhood?

Not sure. Just throwing out ideas. It seems that the one common complaint from everyone when talking about Midtown is that bus station.

Overly zealous cops are at it again. Was that guy a danger to anyone? Not until the cops got involved. How many folks on a typical Houston street are carrying guns? Quite a few. We will all be in the most danger when the cops are the only ones with the guns.

So, apparently you didn't even bother to read the original post, in that the man was wanted for assault charges in a triple shooting in San Francisco, had no CHL, and was carrying a firearm in a bus station?

Is there no area along I-10 that is mostly commercial in nature that would allow for both easy access to the station and to a major highway, as well as being removed from any residential neighborhoods?

Here's the story:

HOUSTON—A man opened fire on two police officers Saturday, injuring them as part of a two-hour episode that began at a downtown Houston bus station and ended with the suspect found dead in a parking garage three blocks away, officials said.

Link: http://www.khou.com/news/local/2-officers-shot-in-downtown-Houston-121444819.html

Now.. here's the raw footage of it happening:

I had a fireman tell me one time that if there is nothing else going on dispatchers will send all the locally available units out regardless of the reported size of the fire. A few years ago we had three trucks show up to a small trailer filled with remodeling debris next door. They put it out with fire extinguishers. I guess the thought is you never know how bad it can be or could get so better to send too much than too little.

For the city of Houston all 911 calls are received by civilian call takers who determine the emergency, input basic information, then route the information to either HFD or HPD where the call is finally dispatched.

HPD dispatches calls by placing low priority calls in a que for available officers to select from on their mobile computer. High priority calls are automatically assigned. If no one has taken a low priority call after a certain amount of time, it is automatically assigned to the closest available officer.

HFD dispatches using an established algorithm designed to send the most appropriate units immediately. E.g. Ambulance and Fire Truck to a chest pain call, or a pre-determined number of fire trucks to a fire. Dispatchers can only add additional units if a near by unit requests to be added, if they get updated notes from the 911 caller, or if at the incident the officer requests more resources.

HFD doesn't get to pick and choose low priority calls. If you call for an ambulance for a heart attack or a stubbed toe, they will come immediately with lights and sirens every time.

Basically they're making it into a giant strip center instead of the outdoor mall layout like before.

There was another thread about plans to do this somewhere...

Whatever pays the rent. Anything would be better than that dark ally that's there now.

They could limit their renovations to just the removal of those foul "Fowl Ball" Chick-fil-a advertisements on the foul ball poles, and I would be happy!

I have a quick "late to the game" kind of question..

A common excuse why not to build is that the Silber location is "better". Why is that? Is this strictly opinion based or have any of the groups against the Walmart shown any data to prove this statement?

Sorry if this question was answered on page 6 of this thread, I just can't bear to read through all the pages of anti-walmart rhetoric. I'm just looking for real data to support this claim.

If you look at it, there are only four buildings that make up that "downtown" urban environment you're taking delight in. You could probably still find places to recreate that scene through out the 3rd ward today. Like the other poster said, the location was staged for the scene. Fresh paint, signs, and people!

We don't want uber-riche people building McMansions in the Heights, forcing out the middle class.

We'd rather have high priced 'mom and pops' for our middle class residents to enjoy.

Apparently I'm not middle class, like I had previously though.

What mom & pops? This is Houston - the 4th largest city in the nation and the 6th largest metro (soon to be 5th) area in the nation. This is one of the most interior neighborhoods of the city as well.

So what exactly is going to be preserved that as mentioned above hasn't already been closed down by Target, CVS, Walgreens, or Kroger if a Walmart isn't built there?

Thanks for posting.

No, they have a new executive director who was the former director of the Denver firefighter museum. She's currently in the process of renovating the existing museum before starting on the new one.

I would think "least liked", versus "most hated".

What's the timeline for Westbury square? I shopped at the cigar shop until it closed after Hurricane Ike. I don't think there's any tenants left there now.

This term sure is popular lately. I've heard it more in the past 6 months than ever before.

Several times on the Chron Lost blog....I think I heard it on House... plus today I saw someone use "Occam's Norelco" on a sports blog talking about the Big X expansion.

That's crazy. I actually wrote out the accepted definition of the term before realizing what I had done. It was then I decided to drop the definition and instead just go with the term.

Whooda thunk it.

Whether such a thing would be legal or not, it's not politically feasible. First of all, the Texas Medical Center, Inc. likes having the park there. Secondly, the TMC is expanding southward, beyond its traditional boundaries, and has another couple thousand of acres that it can develop/redevelop.

Occam's razor.

You are correct. I engaged in the same off the cuff, pull it out of my ass guessing in that reply that I was mocking in Tory's remarks. My only redemption is that I did not have an agenda in mind when I engaged in my ass-pulling.

To not have an agenda is an agenda in of itself. And by your post-for-post replies, I'd say you definitely have one.

I applaude Tory for remaining polite however, in the face of your rude replies.

Back on topic.. I'm curious how many we would have if we DID have traditional zoning laws, a much smaller city and many incorporated communities surrounding us.

Went to happy hour at RA Friday then strolled around the grounds. Its very nice. I think come this time next year it will really be something to see, with all the shops open for business.

Oh, parking was a bear - but we got lucky and caught a parallel spot right in front of RA!

Its amazing all the good that has come from cancer, in this town.