mike1

If you don't want a Wal-Mart next door, then stay inside the loop. High land prices scare them off. Target is another story. If you don't want a Target next door, then choose not to live next to freeways or large tracts of old warehouses. Is due diligence too much to ask of home buyers?

Personal due diligence story: I was looking at a lot in a really "rustic" nook of 3rd Ward. I came very close to buying it. I envisioned a tall narrow structure built of unpainted windowless concrete cinder blocks and a rooftop terrace. The character of the neighborhood was still completely intact, unaffected by any new development for at least a few decades. The juxtaposition of this structure in this particular neighborhood would have been awe inspiring. I'd probably have had to install bulletproof and tinted glass on my car, but that'd be worth it considering the low cost of construction. Before buying the lot, I looked through as much material about the neighborhood as I possibly could, only to find that a nearby street had become the most likely alignment for the next light rail line. Bad news. That meant that within a few years, I'd have developers disrupting my perfect little nook with faux-style structures, also completely out of context with the neighborhood. And my local landmark would simply become another ugly townhome, only the worst of the mix because it'd no longer be unique and would be judged in the context of its newer neighbors. This is an outcome that I did not desire, so my plans changed. I'm now considering completely different in a completely different location.

Such is Houston. If you are short on ideas, perhaps it does make sense for the government to tell you how to run your life. If you're creative and can come up with plans A through Z, not getting too emotionally attached to any one concept, then you can live life as a king.

As for landmarks, they weren't built for you or I. They were built for the tenants that would pay for them. If the tenants no longer exist, and you or a group of like-minded people aren't willing to pay for them, then they have no one to exist for...except of course the Harris County Tax Collector or the wrecking ball. Only the one or the other.

Would love to live inside to loop but can't yet afford it. I still don't think that in densely-populated areas, there's anything wrong with preventing people from doing things on their property that creates a nuisance or grossly affects property values for others in the immediate area. Also, due diligence is not the same thing as prescience, and at least zoning gives the home buyer some idea of what type of development to expect in a given area over time. In a way, I guess you could say that zoning empowers the buyer's choice because it enables potential buyers to determine exactly what will be the nature of development in a given area over time before deciding to buy there. I also think there are certain properties worth preserving as part of our cultural and historical heritage even if the market response would be to demolish them.

Sorry, I guess I just don't buy into the whole libertarian thing. People who do go in for that sort of thing ought to live out in the mountains somewhere where the effects of their actions won't impact anyone else. In such cases, by all means people should be free to do what they like!

I personally like the notion of adaptive reuse, but I'd hate to live in a place as restrictive as New York.

What do people want in a home? A nice place to live and plenty of time to enjoy it, right? Houston's free markets are a vast experiment in which individuals are allowed to reveal their preferences. And if individuals desire to be located near their place of employment, that's reasonable. And if individuals would prefer to spend less money by buying a 3,000sf corrugated steel box than they would have had to spend to restore a 1,200sf bungalow, well that's reasonable too. And if individuals would prefer to have homes that aren't in constant need of repair and landscaping, that's reasonable. And if individuals would like to express themselves artistically by, say, repainting an older home or designing and building something entirely unique, isn't that reasonable as well?

Non-Houstonians seem to have all these romantic notions of how cities can 'live'. I submit to everyone here that a city's capacity to live is determined by its citizenry's freedom to live as the citizenry sees fit. Cities don't have a beating heart, people do. In Houston, if you want a steel cube, you can live in a steel cube. If you want an old bungalow, you can have it. If you want a highrise condo unit, you can have that too. And you can have all of those things everywhere at once, all mixed together, precisely as the populous determines. And if you don't like it, well then move to The Woodlands or don't even bother coming here--we don't need another outsider voting for the subjugation of Houston's local culture into an era of zoned predictability.

We need bumper stickers that read "Keep Houston Weird". Austin lost its battle--look at it--its just a cheap yuppified corporatized knockoff of San Francisco...boring.

On the one hand, I wouldn't want to go through zoning boards to have to pick my paint color, but on the other hand it would be nice to have assurances that a Walmart SuperCenter isn't about to locate next to my house or that I'm not going to have some tacky billboard built across the street from me. Also, it would be nice to have reasonable assurances that 100 year-old landmarks won't be destroyed with little or no public warning.

I don't think most other cities lack for choices in living arrangements and a modicum of control wouldn

and then there's always Galveston.

Yeah..I kind of like Gaveston!!

An excellent question, sohomod. Browse through the posts in HAIF and you'll find that (some) Houstonians are asking the same thing.

I've been here for 25 years, and still marvel that words like 'ambience' and 'quaint' are met with blank looks or giggles. The concept simply doesn't exist to many Houstonians. Part of the local charactor is a fierce opposition to regulation and even fiercer defense of property rights. Having moved from a neighborhood (in Rochester NY) where repainting ones front door involved going before a committee and several weeks of discussion, I was initially appalled by the slap-dash approach to urban development one sees in Houston. I still am, sometimes. A little thought and cooperation could do wonders. The local market supports the idea that bigger and newer is better; architectural or historical significance decidedly takes a back seat.

Yet, this is part and parcel of the messy vitality which is one of the city's chief charms - a boomtown mentality which places more importance on the present than the future or past, and on the individual than the common good. People tend to be more pragmatic than idealistic: imagine, that one can own a huge new townhome in Houston for half of what a cramped apartment would cost in Manhattan! And if you have to tear down something small and old, who cares? Many people prefer to have a new townhome because (presumably) they're trouble-free and require little maintenance. By the time major repairs are needed, they will have moved on to greener pastures anyway. People are more attracted to the opportunities in Houston than its physical qualities. They come here to live well, make a buck or two, and spend them as they damn well please.

(disclaimer: these are broad, general observations and exceptions abound.)

Hey dbigtx, I'm from Rochester too!! I actually grew up in Fairport. What part of town are you from?

In line with what you are saying, Rochester now has (or at least used to have) some of the strongest preservation ordinances in the country. It came about in the '50's and '60s when the city destroyed an entire section of downtown that connected to Corn Hill in order to build the Inner Loop/490 interchange, the Civic Center, and the War Memorial. I wish Houston would take some of the same lessons from its own teardowns.

One thing I miss about that area is the tight-knit sense of community that developed in city neighborhoods such as around Park Ave., and around the surrounding historic towns and village centers. Houston, on the other hand, can sometimes seem like one massive suburb with little character or distinction between the various communities. I mean Katy pretty much looks like Kingwood, which looks like Pearland etc... Houston needs to work harder at developing a sense of place and community, and cookie-cutter town homes and fakey "town center" developments just don't cut it.

We should have just made fun of ourselves as a city. Then nobody would care. I still like...

Houston It's Worth Its

Houston Strip Maulers

Houston Pollution

Houston Flood

Houston Storm Refuge

Houston Evacuees

How about The Houston Smog! No logo, just haze gray...

...thought of another one... how about The RoadRagers! It's got kind of an aggressive edge to it!

The only people upset are the "professional minorities" --those who make a living out of playing the racial/ethnic divide--and other sour-puss lefty types. Who cares what people like that think anyway?

This will pass soon enough, especially if they end up being a winning team! Besides, in today's political climate, who could possibly come up with a name that woudn't be offensive to somebody?

Positive news for this project. According to the Houston Business Journal, the developer has secured financing and will begin consructing the first of the two proposed towers within the next three months. Here's the link to the story:

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/sto.../23/daily6.html

...also, I just noticed that the Chronicle picked up on this as well:

Project near the park

Last week, a development group got the go-ahead to start building a 28-story apartment tower on Almeda Road across from Hermann Park.

Raleigh, N.C.-based Phillips Development & Realty and Wood Partners of Atlanta said they received $101 million in funding to start the first building of Mosaic, a twin tower high-rise rental and condominium project. The plans for the buildings call for 788 units and shops on the ground level.

"Mosaic will be the first high-rise residence built in this area in two decades," said the general contractor on the project, Peter Doyle, chairman and chief executive of J.E. Dunn of Texas.

Rents will average around $2 per square foot or roughly $1,100 for a small one-bedroom apartment.

Located at 5925 Almeda Road near the Museum District and the Medical Center, the project should be completed by the end of next year, according to the developers.

The second building, however, will take more time to get off the ground.

That's because it's a condominium tower. Lenders often require developers to pre-sell half of the units before writing a check for construction. But so far, only five sales reservations have been made for the condos, and the group marketing the project is no longer involved.

The developer said it pulled back on marketing the building because it's trying to get financing without

pre-sales.

When the project was announced last summer, the developer said the units would be less than 1,000 square feet on average. He said they would be on the smaller side to keep prices down and attract younger buyers that work in the area. He said units would start in the $180,000s.

"This profile buyer generally doesn't have $25,000 to $50,000 to put down and sit on for two years," said Brad Minsley, a partner with Phillips Development & Realty.

Minsley said lenders financed an Atlanta condo building for Wood Partners on a speculative basis, and he's hoping the Houston project can be financed the same way.

But it will take convincing.

"Houston has sort of an unproven past with condominiums, but people are very bullish on the medical center and its growth," he

said.

....and lets not forget that no new development along any Houston freeway would be complete without adding the always-popular giant inflatable King Kong blow up on top:

I believe I heard that the Texas Cyclone can't be relocated due to it being such a complex wooden roller coaster. So it seems like this is the end of the road for it. So it's anyone's guess on how they would deal with all that wood.

Not cool!!! Too bad they couldn't incorporate it into whatever big box, strip center, car lot, or monster billboard development that ends up going in over there. It'll probably be tacky enough anyway, so why not add in a roller coaster?!!

That area doesn't look too promising based on what's already along the freeway around there. Aside from the stadium itself, it's mostly junk. By the way, does anyone know what they're going to do with the Texas Cyclone? That thing was practically a landmark!

I lived out in San Diego for a few years and was always impressed with Horton Plaza. Of course, almost all of the malls in Southern California are outside, sometimes constructed in a park-like setting. I'm glad to see that at least from the plans, the new Pavillions will look a lot like Horton. Too bad they couldn't take out the skylights and walls to make The Park Shops into more of an outdoor plaza as well. It would certainly be more integrated into surrounding area. Weather might be an issue, though.

Check out this picture on this link:

http://www.photohome.com/photos/california...on-plaza-1.html

The first renovation stages did address this, and you can enter Jos. A. Bank Clothiers and the Twisted Fork restaurant directly from the sidewalk on San Jacinto St. as well as from inside the mall.

A lot of the issue with this problem is the building's basic design that has the vast majority of the retail space elevated above ground level, with all the utilities and physcial plant facilities underneath at street level. That presents a big challenge to opening up more street-level retail. But they have done what they could given these restraints.

I believe there is some unleased ground-level retail space on the back side of the building along Austin St. as well.

Agreed. From the outside, the building feel like a fortress instead of a retail center. It feels as if they want to keep people out instead of inviting them in to shop! Not very inviting.

Hey, it's a (somewhat) free country. For those of you that want the "less is more" approach to parks, there is Market Square Park, with virtually nothing more than grass. For those of us that want business, maybe the GRB park will satisfy us.

Agreed...and it would also nice for those of us who would like to have a place downtown to take our children. While a Zen meditation space might be a good idea, try keeping a 2-yr old entertained and out of trouble on an empty plot of grass and trees. Besides, most of us in the 'burbs already have empty green serene spaces in our own back yards--no reason to go downtown for that!

I agree with MidtownCoog that this park seems a little busy on paper, but if it draws families, children, and others who will actually spend money downtown, it will lead to development. In that case, I'm all for it, flaws and all!

I see the tunnels as a very considerate feature. The simple truth is that there is a large number of us who are very sensitive to the elements (today, in fact, I had a lady say that it was a bit too nippy for her to walk over to Jason's Deli--this at a very enjoyable, IMO, 64 degrees). So given that, the tunnels serve a distinct and faithful clientelle.

OTOH, in providing for the sensitivities of one group, developers/planners may have gone overboard and to the detriment to traditional street retail. I think the best balance is to find a way to provide better linkage between street level and tunnel access. A pretty good example is the McKinney Garage Entrance on Main Street. You can grab a donut a Krispy Kreme or stop by CVS for whatever and then head down to Rajin' Cajun. Imagine if you then added a higher profile retailer like Old Navy or TJ Max to one of the Main Street Square parcels?

In this, I hope the new park and parking garage will provide a prototype--linking underground Houston with street level Houston in a not-before-seen harmony.

I can agree with this point. Not every challenge is the same, and different developments require different plans depending on the desired outcome. A tunnel is a great solution for certain types of development but may be inappropriate in other instances. Its hard to speak about this in general terms.

In the meanwhile, I agree to let everyone else on this site have their own daily routines as long as they agree to let me have mine.

And FYI - I avoid the tunnels like the plague. I may grab a sandwich down there, but that's about it.

There are some nice sections (like under Reliant Energy Plaza), but for the most part, they creep me out.

And I get to work at 8:00, and you can still walk to work without getting too hot. And after work, who cares if you break a sweat while walking to the parking garage?

I think we agreed to leave the "tunnel good...tunnel bad" debate for another time and place. We're never going to convince each other and its not really on point with the topic at hand. I admit to going outside when the weather is nice, and I assume you'll admit that the tunnels are convenient at least for some people some of the time...

The Site Activity Plan is a rather generalized conceptual plan. I think they are indicating a general area that include both a dog park and a picnic area, not necessarily combined into one. From the plan: "There will be fenced in 'dog runs' for downtown residents and their pets and nearby picnic tables and benches."

Hope so! My comment was more in jest, as the previous post conjured up a funny image in my mind... Sorry, no more bad humor!

The Dog Run/Picnic combo is perhaps the worse idea I have EVER heard of. This is new to the plan since the last time I read it.

I love my toy poodle, but do we REALLY need to cram a dog run in the park, too.

And the POND? Good grief. That's almost as bad as having to use the consultants from NYC to build a simple park.

Good point about the dog run/picnic area. Nothing like getting a good Fido leg-humping while trying to eat your burger! Not to mention all of those little doggie mines that will be all over the place! Kinda reminds me of Cousin Eddie's dog under the table in Christmas Vacation!

I? yes, the ideas do sound Kemah-ish, but what is so wrong with that?

Poor Tillman....

....in his defense I will say that I know people who will drive over an hour and a half to get to Kemah but won't spend less than half the time and distance going downtown. He must be doing something right over there in Kemah...that place is packed almost 24-7! Can we say the same about downtown?

Exhibit #1:

Site activity plan for the new park

An 11 acre park with 10 distinct areas, one of which is a 2 acre pond. The only thing this park is missing is a ferris wheel. Tilman Fertitta would be proud. Don't people know by now that trying to be all things to all people usually ends up being a mess?

Does look like they're trying to do a little too much given the size of the area...and, yes, the putting green is a little over the top. Hopefully, they'll scale back a little before they actually start moving dirt. Other than that, it looks like it would be a nice place to take children, at least.

mike, there ARE tunnels connecting the entire County building complex, including the County Administration Building, less than 100 feet from my office. The only time I go into the County tunnels is when the metal detectors at the courthouse entrance are overcrowded. I know a shortcut through the tunnels to bypass it. However, these are REAL tunnels, similar to catacombs.

The reason I don't use the tunnels, nor my friends, is because we like getting outside. Even in the heat, it is better than staying indoors all day. That might not be a big deal for you, at least not to the point of suffering the streets. It just is for me.

I do, in fact, admit to doing both. I'll normally walk on street level at lunch and at quittin' time, but I'll use the tunnels for appointments and when I'm in a rush. Kind of like using the expressway versus taking the scenic route. I was in the courthouse tunnel system one time, as part of a jury pool: "Catacombs" is an apt description!

Unfortunately, I just recently moved from downtown out to the Westchase area. Trying to navigate Westheimer at lunchtime makes even the tunnels feel like a leisurely weekend stroll around the block!

Been Downtown for 10 years. Not only can I count on one hand the number of times I have been in the tunnels, I question your 70% figure, as well as when it has ever been 110 degrees in Houston.

I park at Market Square Garage, office on Main Street, and go to both the County Courthouse on Franklin and the US Courthouse on Rusk. I walk to all of them, sometimes walking from Franklin to Rusk for court settings. I wear a suit and tie, carry a briefcase...the whole 9 yards. I do it in the middle of the summer, and last month when it got ALL the way to 33 degrees. There are a few days a year when it is so hot AND humid that I cannot cool down...less than 10. There are many days where it is hot enough that I walk on the side of the street where the shade is. But, it has NEVER been so cold or hot that I couldn't or wouldn't do it.

There are those who drive around parking lots until a space next to the store opens up. I don't think government should plan it's infrastructure to accomodate them.

As for subways within 2-3 blocks of every downtown office...you need to look at your maps closer.

Good for you, but I bet if the tunnel system did connect to the courthouse (which is something that desperately need to happen) most people who work there would use it. I guess that explains the lack of newer commercial development in that area too.

You all can debate my subjective level of comfort and relative laziness in getting around downtown, but you still can't challenge my point that most people prefer to use the tunnels when given an option to do so and that tunnels can be used to help spur downtown development.

mike1, i'm not knocking the tunnel system, i think its great, and if i worked downtown in a building with access, i know i would use them. i didn't even know they existed until over a year after i moved back here...

i still think downtown should accommodate those on a leisurely Saturday stroll as well. if i'm going to a show or game, i'm not going to go into the tunnels to find a place to eat or grab a drink, that's just not appealing. they're good for what they were built for.

what does this have to do with an underground garage again?

Absolutely, I agree with you on that one: downtown can be made to accommodate a variety of different needs and uses. One person's vision for downtown need not preclude someone else's ...and yes the topic has drifted severely! I think it started when someone made the connection between underground garages and the underground tunnel system, but I'm not really sure at this point.

I guess I stepped in a world of sh** by piping up on this topic!!

I agree, I have never understood the whole heat thing. It gets just as hot in NYC on a given summer day as it does here, only difference being that it's August when that occurs, not necessarily April or October.

On the flipside, in Boston, Chicago, and other northern cities, the temp can dip below 0 degrees on occasion, and can stay below freezing for weeks on end. I don't think they have built extended tunnel systems in Boston to get them out of the cold.

They did build tunnel systems

i don't work downtown, but i spend a lot of time there in the evenings and weekends. and i've been in the tunnels once, because they are never open when i'm there.

so no, i don't find myself using them, because i can't. but i do find myself walking the streets of downtown often, and wish there was more activity.

and i don't know how different the weather is in downtown, but that 70% doesn't make sense to me. i'm sure the number of days a year that its "bearable" to walk outside in houston is similar to chicago or new york. but i guess that depends on your definition of bearable.

Sure

Agree 100%

And for all you "urbanists" in love with pedestrian activity, why discourage it by building an undgerground parking garage connected to the GRB and Hotel. We alreday despise the tunnel system.

There is plenty of parking on the lots towards St. Joe's & the Engine Room, and street parking all over the place.

Is four or five blocks too far to walk?

But don't you see? That's exactly the problem...everyone is so terribly concerned with preserving some urban vision that they have for downtown that they neglect the things that actual people might want to have down there. I've worked downtown for over 5 years and can personally attest that despite all of the grumblings on this site about how much the tunnel system sucks, it's certainly better than walking street-level in the middle of the 110 degree August heat or in the middle of one of Houston's monsoons. Additionally, the tunnels certainly seem more economically viable than almost anything that's on street level. Downtown would be unbearable about 70% of the year if it weren't for the ability to get from one place to another without having to go out into the heat and the elements. Instead of fighting what is an obvious preference for almost everyone who lives, works, or owns a shop or restaurant downtown, why shouldn't the city develop plans to incorporate its benefits? Why continue to kick against the goads?

Be honest, those of you who actually work and live downtown: for all of the complaining that goes on about the tunnel system, how many times do you find yourself actually using it? (I'll bet it's more than you would care to admit on this site!) It might feel good to complain about people being too lazy to walk outside, but where does it get you when you ignore what most people obviously want? It goes back to the point that no matter what you decide to build down there, it better meet people's wants and needs, or else it WILL fail...

I know that most of you will hate me for saying this but I just can't get to excited about a park. I mean come on! there is already a really big park in front of downtown. Besides this is a very small space. It would have been even nicer to see a mixed use project there. But since you guys are happy, I'm happy.

To each his own, but parks raise land values and with increased land values also comes the type of development that you would like to see. I've heard the same sentiments that we already have a park from others, which I find really funny because a common complaint in other areas of this site is exactly that Houston doesn't have enough "green space" (read that to mean "parks")! I think a good mix of parks, transportation improvements, sports, and entertainment venues like we are seeing on the eastern edge of downtown will ultimately draw developers who are willing to invest in mixed use development. Conversely, acres of parking lot space and intimidating no man's land will lead precisely to what we've gotten for the last 20 years--nothing!

Let's think about this rationally--if you were a developer, would you rather place your multimillion dollar high rise, mixed-use, investment in the middle of an endless asphalt moonscape, or would you rather bet on an up-and-coming area with amenities such as parks and entertainment venues? If you were an apartment buyer or a store owner, in which type of area would you rather locate your business or residence? The park is important because it leads to investment and development.