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WesternGulf

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  1. If it's truly from the 80's, it's funny how accurate the proposals for the arena and Finger's apartment building are....and I agree with Howard with the illuminated red station design.
  2. Just a reactionary passive way for him to revive a topic out of his curiosity.
  3. You're right; that is another term for cities developed in a certain era, but those cities also have timeless qualities that are effective in restoring or preserving a city's urban fabric. Is it silly for Houston to adapt such qualities in an agenda to make Downtown Houston more active and more of a self-sufficient neighborhood and not a desert for so many everyday amenities in an urban context? I'm not saying Downtown Houston is not safe, I am simply saying having more eyes on the street with having mixed activity happening downtown is more safe than being a sole pedestrian walking in a "dead zone" of non-activity. That's the case for a highrise district or a commercial street lined with single story storefronts. Whose statement in this thread are you referring to that highrises are unsafe?
  4. I do not think GFR is appropriate everywhere but it should be advocated for most buildings downtown. Traditional built cities commercial avenues or main corridors usually meet downtown. One would not advocate for every high density project in Houston to have "GFR" but it is imperative for commercial corridors and centers of activity in certain neighborhoods so there are no dead zones and transit can serve these routes of mixed activity. What makes a downtown a downtown is the concentration of businesses on almost every street and not on a few corridors like you may find in a more residential neighborhood. There are tens of thousands of workers that work on Louisiana and Smith Streets downtown but the activity of the street would not tell you that because of the single use office towers on those corridors. Almost every one of those landmark towers have some type of private plaza on the ground level that makes the whole street have an office park effect. If you do not work at these places there is no reason to be on those "private" streets. If that trend is carbon copied all over downtown, we will continue to have the dead zones that intermingle with other dead zones. Doesn't make for the safest downtown after hours anyway.
  5. Damn! My only hope is something else takes up the rest of the lot that blocks most of this structure.
  6. Is the remaining parcel of land owned by the hotel for possible parking? If so the utilization of this land was pretty stupid and a bad move fiscally speaking.
  7. Simply not true. I can tell you that the T-Third Street and J-Church trains in San Francisco cross in the same intersection in San Francisco's Mission Bay at 4th and King streets.
  8. Its cheap and downtown right now is too much of a sacrifice to live in although you may be closer to your job. Yeah one can name all of the cultural amenities downtown has but what about everyday necessities? edit: and niche, just because most people do not take the trains in Boston, atleast they have the option. Houston has no choice but to sit in traffic as far as commutes.
  9. From the same study citizen posted, here is a prime example how traditionally built cities, that usually tend to inevitably have higher densities than decentralized cities like Houston, are more commuter friendly: Varying population densities and development patterns in the nation's cities make gaging efficiency difficult. In Boston, for example, jobs are mostly concentrated in and around the city center. In Los Angeles, offices are more spread out. That means Boston's commuter rail and "T" systems, part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, are better able to put area commuters closer to their jobs than an identical train system could do for Los Angeles commuters. Source: http://www.forbesautos.com/news/headlines/...ter-cities.html
  10. As far as density, density works when the infrastructure is there. Houston still has worse traffic and gridlock than cities with higher densities.
  11. Around 200,000 people work downtown. In any case, the city does not provide an environment in the central business district where people would want to live close to work because task such as shopping and other necessities cannot be done. I believe I mentioned Houston being quite the doughnut of a city as far as activity not too long ago. I rather shop somewhere that is self-sufficient supported by a community that supports the centralization of a city rather than a mall on the fringes of the metropolitan area that will probably close down in a few decades and become another Greenspoint, Northline, Almeda, etc. I agree with desirous. It is a vicious cycle. Malls that anchor new suburban communities do nothing but decentralize cities even more.
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