webdude

They will always be guys who find hairy chicks attractive. Same thing with billboards, utility poles and blight. Don't take that away.

That's because the rest of America isn't lucky enough to have lived here. Citykid, I think Atlanta is a S#!TThole, and I would never live there, does it mean I am right ?

If people are going judge a place by it's airport, then more power to them, but thankfully they won't come here to try and dumbdown the rest of us.

BTW, The Republican thing is not an "act", it is the only way to truly have freedom. You can go conform all you like in Georgia, just don't try to infect us with your Socialist politics.

LOL, at 'its the only way to truly have freedom', I think the last 7 years speak for themselves with republicans holding so much power (ok 6yrs). Look at the crap we are in now. I hope these idiots learn their lesson that the country is not only about jesus christ usa issues, and start using their brains a little more this time round before voting.

We should have both types to choose from. You folks say it as if one has to be exclusive of the other.

When ppl hope for density, they don't want it for the whole area, they are just hoping for a few more pockets of density, or just a few areas to get denser, so stop dramatizing it as if the whole 610 is going to get filled up, government taking over, prices going through the roof. Just want some choices of really dense areas, which is kind of lacking. It is kind of impossible to fill up the inner loop anyway.

I wonder if the same stores going in La Centerra will be opening up in The Grand. I also wonder what kind of grocery store they will put in. Maybe a Whole Foods? That would do well with the Cinco crowd. I like the layout much better than many of the other suburban centers going up.

I can't see the map clearly to know whether a grocery store will be in there. Is there an area slated for grocery? Whole Foods will be awesome, and yes a perfect fit.

Well, speaking of promoting downtown retail... I would imagine that if this is successful, it would be a big step and heating things back up.

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/sto...25/daily57.html

It'd be nice if they got crackin' on the Sakowitz Bldg. redevelopment, too.

Interesting name for a sneaker store, the exact same name as the title of the popular book.

Recently, I went house hunting in River Oaks with my wife who happens to be African American. We have just relocated from the WE HO area of LA a very integrated and forward thinking area. When I arrived first and started to look for homes on my own with my chosen agent everything was nice and polite and the agent was virtually kicking in doors of homes that were not "officially" on the market when she was informed this was going to be a cash sale and my price range was in the 7 figures. When my wife joined me to complete our house hunting all those not "officially" on the market homes disappeared, my agent wanted us to look at homes in Royal Oaks, Riverside Terrace, Braes wood , Meyer land. All of a sudden the homes that were of interest to us in River Oaks were being described as old,needing lots of updates,or owners reconsidering selling. I am fully aware that we were being discouraged from living here, when it was discovered that an interracial couple wanted to move in. We finally decided on a new home in Sienna Plantation. I would never step foot in this "hood" ever again. They are racist, but very nice!

No kidding? I mean, logic would dictate green wins all other colors or whatever the color combination.

Houston is very diverse, but interracial couples are rarer here compare to LA and west coast for that matter. Makes one wonder why, especially for such a diverse place.

But in your case, maybe its just the agent?

Looks like gambling won't happen..The bills were defeated as announced in the Galveston Daily News last Sunday:

Lawmakers know when to fold on gambling

By Mark Collette

The Daily News Published June 3, 2007

It wasn't exactly a roll of the dice.

When State Sen. Rodney Ellis sat down for a two-hour subcommittee hearing on his gambling bills, he knew no one was taking bets. The bills had no chance. They never even went to the full State Affairs Committee for a hearing.

Yet there are signs that, two to four years from now, things could change.

Bills that would have given voters a chance to decide on the expansion of gambling in Texas sat dead in the water in the 80th Legislature, despite the Texas license plates that fill parking lots at racetracks and casinos in neighboring states, carrying with them billions of dollars.

The bills were dead, despite an about-face from major gaming companies, which have decided that more gambling in Texas is a good thing, even if it initially steals revenue from their casinos in Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

That sucks. They are the ones stealing revenue from Texas.

It is possible to clean the beach sand, but is it humanly possible to clean the water?

What would be required? Like building something to stop the churning or collect sediments somewhere, how would it work? Has it work anywhere else before? Any examples so I can dream of it also happening to Galveston's water?

I was there yesterday and it was pretty dead except for ppl having coffee. Most likely because not much restaurants yet. Its seems the only walkable areas in these parts. Also, the villagio area will be good to walk a too.

I would actually like to see a united states post office here in la centerra. I don't know why. just like that thought

Whenever houston floods, we get twice the bright lights, from the reflection that is, (actually four times more if you include the lighting strikes like yesterday), so its all good.

Well, better than nothing.

Is that George Michaels parked in that white truck ?

no, its someone visiting from texas, he could be visiting george though

Well, "prettying up" the water would involve damming up the Mississippi or reversing the prevailing currrent in the Gulf of Mexico.

I doubt either is a weekend project.

Would it help just to dam up the Mississippi without reversing the current? The current just prevents the stuff from the Mississippi river from flowing out or does the current also bring crap in?

Well the so called "fake" beaches are so much more beautiful to look at and more comfortable to lay out on, too... just my opinion.

Anyway, which one would be easier to pretty up, the sand or the water? I am sure its not asking too much to have at least one of them not suck.

How much work would be involved to do either one?

Why not put it in our parks. cost less to transport

The reason I compare Houston to Montreal and Toronto is those are the only other cities I've lived in (besides the small suburban place where I grew up), and therefore that's my perspective. I know it may be apples to oranges, but I'm always going to compare with where I've been in the past.

Seeing abandoned buildings is still a relatively new thing to me. And if I stay here long term (a good chance), I'm going to want to see less abandoned buildings because no matter where you come from, they are ugly. So that's why I'm hoping HP will make downtown nicer.

By the way, I'm a Rice grad student studying physics. I was never interested in urban planning until I moved to Houston, probably because the places where I lived previously were planned fairly well. Now that I live here, and I see things like abandoned storefronts right next to a popular restaurant, it makes me wonder what went wrong, it makes me do research, and it makes me wonder if it might get better in the future.

That's how I ended up here.

I'm sure if I live in NYC in the future, I will compare it with Houston and whine about how expensive apartments are and how dirty it is. That's just how the human brain works, I guess. I think comparison is a natural thing to do. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm constantly comparing things, I probably wouldn't have become interested in urban planning at all.

Ouch, coming from such a beautiful and clean place, you must have been shocked at the ugliness and dirtiness here huh. unfortunately yeah, there's empty buildings, also parking lots, hanging wires, strip malls and flatness.

And how do you ever cope with the humidity. At least its not cold.

The thing you have to remember is, people tend to want to live in towers when there is something to look at. Chicago has a big nice lake, and LA has hills and an ocean. Miami (just to throw in another city) has an ocean. If you had the money to live in a tower, where would you want to live?

The other factor, and this especially applies to LA and New York, is that once you run out of space, people tend to be MORE likely to build towers. Houston's great strength is that we have limitless land (but nothing special to look at), which pretty much makes us a great city for tract homes. At the end of the day, that's where we'll stand out.

There are beautiful views of cars and parking lots.

Maybe they can provide a golf cart with one of them what to do booklets. It is pretty spread out.

But the other downtown (Uptown) is booming during the day.

The 50K of us downtown keep our noses to the grindstone.

Or they could be in their offices surfing the web and visiting forums.

Maybe people are actually working instead of milling about? I've always found that interesting when you see so many people out on the road and or streets during business hours. Get a job...

Not everyone works a M-F 9-5 kind of job.

For comparable sized cities, houston downtown is very very quiet.

Maybe its because other comparable cities has some tourist element built in.

Now you're saying that UH is as corupt as TSU? Give us some proof or retract your statement. Playing the race card at UH doesn't work since UH is the MOST diverse Major University in the US if not the world.

That is interesting to know. A lot of schools are claiming that though.

Diversity.

Lots of folks are proud of it, but that are many out there who doesn't seem to mind the lack of diversity in their schools, even when the schools are located in very diverse cities.

Thank you for those pics, they are nice.