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HoustonIsHome

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Posts posted by HoustonIsHome

  1. On 1/25/2020 at 2:31 PM, Avossos said:


    most wouldn’t survive being removed and the labor cost to get them out would be high. It’s a nice idea though... some things would have a better chance at surviving than others. These materials are best grounded up and used as mulch.

    Not necessarily true. At this time of year just about everything I stick in the ground or transplant does exceedly well. Even 15 foot trees transplant very well this time of year.

     

    Anyway this is a long overdue facelift for this area.  It's too visible an an area to look so unattractive. Sad to see all the memories torn down but new ones will be made in construction that is more uplifting for the area.

    • Like 2
    • Confused 1
  2. Houston is still a very spread out City. Just because the immediate area is walkable doesn't mean that everyone will be ok with being 100% carless. 

     

    In other words just because residents can live carless doesn't mean that they will want to. 

     

    Work and groceries might be the top places that residents go to, and they would definitely be able to do that without a car on this area but there are other things that people do. Who knows, there might be some that need to go to the airport regularly and doing that on the bus is possible but still not all that convenient. Others might have family spread across the city and need to drive to those places. Downtown has good food, but not all the great good places are downtown.

     

    So although a fine existence is possible at that spot without a car, it might not be a good enough existence for everyone

    • Like 7
  3. 26 minutes ago, MarathonMan said:

    I don’t disagree.  I just think the lighting scheme in the picture looks unfinished.  If you’re going to have the light shining into the upper floors, why not the lower?

    I thought the same. I thought it looked unfinished. I was expecting to see it extend all the way down the next couple of days

  4. On 7/1/2019 at 9:31 AM, bobruss said:

    Unfortunately some developers just don't get it. This is a project that should be happening in downtown near Minute Maid and the Convention center.

     

     

    Then they wonder why some projects fail.

    In my dream world this would be best Main Street square. Maybe across from forever 21 on that corner of Dallas and Main (Food store).  Near Root square would be good too. Extend the activity further south. 

     

    For someone who spent tons of freetime in and around the galleria, I unfortunately don't get excited about new things there anymore. The vehicular congestion on Westheimer and post oak blunts the excitement for me. I don't want to drive there and don't want to take a bus there. Walking across the street there is out of the question. Easy highway access? Ha!!

    • Like 5
  5. 2 hours ago, MarathonMan said:

    To me, Lovett is trying to make a quick buck by doing a quick-turnaround, relatively cheap warehouse makeover and selling it as a state-of-the-art pushing-the-envelop urban space.  It is typical for Houston developers.  Safe, unimaginative, and unmemorable.  I think it’s comical (or sad, depending on how you look at it) that the most aggressive innovator in this city is from Australia!  

    How I see it is safe keeps the lights on.

    Houston got to how it is over 200 years; it is not going to be how many of us want it to be over 20 years. Give it time. If this phase takes off we can definitely go further.

     

    Sometimes we have to think big and other times we have to think smart. A development like Greenstreet did neither.

     

    In these times a downtown doesn't mean the same as it did when cities were cities. We have a constant population density 20+ miles in every direction from this thing. A fraction of the population will ever do more than drive past it on the highway. Yes more people are moving to downtown and around it, but we don't have that active core that we all dream about.

     

    We need more of a collaboration of developers and encouragement from the city to tie it all together. Hoping that one developer gets out and the others follow is a risk that is kind of unfair to expect one developer to carry. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Let's hope that that Australian is super successful. 

    • Like 2
  6. How do the blocks downtown compare in size to other cities? I kinda like rectangular blocks over square ones. Imo our blocks are not long enough but a bit too wide.

     

    The way they are now make for a very neat and regular core. But I'm a fan of irregular and chaos. That's my favorite thing about a set up like say Boston. 

     

    Are the blocks downtown smaller than uptown Nola? I think the narrower streets there change the whole feel.

     

    In Houston with the order you know exactly what to expect when you turn the corner. I guess you are right, the super blocks in midtown at least mixes things up a bit, but downtown is a bit too orderly for me. You can move a lot more people in and out quicker, but maybe those people should be staying around for awhile. 

    • Like 3
  7. I agree Triton. I pulled up my lawn and planted a forest around my house. Sunday I found a praying mantis and a walking-stick bug in my bathroom. Creepy, but that's a small price to pay for enjoying my food forest. 

     

    Luminare great photos. I wish they would do that with the old Exxon/ Humble Oil building downtown

    • Like 6
    • Haha 1
  8. 3 hours ago, houstontexasjack said:

    Or the proposed University Line BRT down Wheeler as well. 🙂 

    I am still holding out hope for a light rail line. 

    I take the bus on Bellaire a couple times a year and the quickline to me doesn't make that much of a difference and I only usually see one or two other people on there.

     

    Granted I don't think I have ever gotten on during rush hour so I might be underestimating it.

     

    Any idea where the stops will be? There used to be a Westheimer bus that got unto 59 and got off at Greenway and went down Richmond. That was a little bit quicker than the Richmond bus regularly but during rush hour there wasn't much of a difference. 

     

    The volume of traffic on our east - west streets and on 59 warrants something more. 

     

    I don't want to focus on public transportation in this thread, but this development just adds to the wealth of amenities and the number of people that will be traversing Richmond/wheeler so I'm hoping that light rail on this corridor is revisited

    • Like 3
  9. In relation to the article, I think she is looking at it in terms of the past and present and not what The project can do for the area in the future. Yes there is only a Jack in the Box note but what options would the district bring in the future? 

     

    Yes there is loads of stuff right now in uptown but pound for pound how much effect would this have in uptown compared to the effect on this area? 

     

    In Houston terms uptown is getting kinda overbuilt. This area is a prime location in no man's land. Uptown right now could probably supply all the food needs of the entire district without having to solicit new options. Building in this area would definitely attract new options.

     

    The way I see it markets attract markets; jobs attract jobs; services attract services. 

     

    Another thing, when I was at UH I participated in programs that were a collaboration with Rice and Baylor. This thing is close to all three. In fact it is close to all major colleges except Houston Baptist. Uptown isn't as well located in relation to the universities. 

     

    In terms of location I think this is the best in the state. The only two locations that come close are Southeastern downtown and east downtown.

     

    Midtown is on its way up while uptown is already up. I just down see opportunities in uptown with as much land in an area that convenient. There are sure to be more ROD type developments in Uptown, but shopping districts are self sustaining. This project will be deeply integrated with the schools, TMC and Downtown.

     

    One final thought. Houston has never been one to cluster all dense developments in one area. Houston builds in an area and then the market reacts. We build in pockets and over time the pockets connect. Rice knows what they are doing. They do not need to overpay for amenities when the amenities are converging in that direction already. This project will only speed the merging treck of Downtown and TMC to each other. That's not even considering UH's new medical center development on Wheeler. 

     

    • Like 8
  10. I am kinda disappointed that the new building looks like it's going to be strikingly different from the original, however I do like that rendering and I'm very happy that this was at least an upgrade rather than a complete tear down.

     

    It has me wondering what the completely new buildings will look like. If the bottoms of all the buildings are similarly matched then this is going to be an excellent area for pedestrian activity. Bring on the blue line.

    • Like 5
  11. Rice done took over the neighborhood.

    But look at the size of that surface parking that that church has right on Main. This is soon to be one of the most primestest (it's a word, look it up on the urban dictionary) intersection in Texas. There should be stipulations to Tax exempt statuses. 

  12. On 10/23/2018 at 4:58 PM, swtsig said:

     

    you mean having a building referred to by its address confuses you?

    Yes. Yes it does.

    I mean if I'm going there I can just look up the address. But in haif if someone says Chase, BOA, Wells Fargo, I know exactly what building they are taking about. Tell me 600 Travis and I have to break out the Google maps

    • Like 2
  13. On 10/9/2018 at 9:43 AM, j_cuevas713 said:

    Think about the level of density the city will have from the TMC to Downtown if the city approves no parking minimums for Midtown and Eado! The area is already rather dense as it is having that restriction. 

    The Red line is going to be even more popular. It's a shame TMC is not on the same axis as the Blue line. That intersection (red and blue if it crossed in TMC) would be something. 

     

    I still think McGowan is going to need done transportation upgrades very soon

  14. On 9/18/2018 at 1:31 PM, Brooklyn173 said:

    I wonder how long Randalls will last here. With Whole Foods coming and the very limited size of the grocery and their larger corporate issues, I don't think this Randalls is long for the world. I read a while back about Golds Gym (and the other gyms part of that company) looking to expand into vacant retail spaces. I think that would be a nice addition to the community.

    Randalls is cheaper than whole Foods and 

    A bit closer to all the new downtown residents than whole foods. When I worked downtown I went to Randalls a few times a week because it was a convenient walk. I doubt I would have bothered to go to WF if the Randalls was not there. Whole Foods is a start; I welcome the addition, but it's just not my thing and I doubt Randalls will lose much if any business due to whole foods. I doubt fiesta would either.

     

    Now a full service HEB would be a different story. Whole foods, Central Market would put a nearby Phoenicia out of business but not a Randalls.

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