Jump to content

HouTXRanger

Full Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    141

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by HouTXRanger

  1. HouTXRanger
    No mention of ground floor retail, although that render makes it look like it'd be perfect for a little cafe or something.
  2. HouTXRanger
    Is he . . . even allowed to disclose this? I feel like his boss would be pissed if he knew he was just giving out info about clients . . . Either way, I agree with some of the guys in the reddit thread. The B-Cycles are alright, a dockless ride share program sounds terrible.
  3. HouTXRanger
    I've gone ahead and grabbed the relevant section on projects from the study for everyone's convenience, and fun speculation 😁 These are pages 97 and 102-111, including Projects by Others and Short-Term Projects, excluding Long-Term Projects. On page 109, item 7, the Waugh and Commonwealth bikeways are listed as "Currently in Design," the only project to be listed as such. Especially considering Geoff Carlton's company's just done a bunch of bikeways, I think it's safe to assume that's the imminent project. I'd assume the Westheimer project would be right behind it due to how important it's rated, but as we all know the funding just got pulled so . . .
  4. HouTXRanger
    That is good news! Those guys also did the Austin bikeway I believe.
  5. HouTXRanger
    Well, j_cuevas has a point. It's a great plan and study, but I won't hold my breath until the ground breaks. With covid as it is, there's no telling when any of these changes will actually take place. At this rate I think Richmond might get improvements before anyone else for the BRT.
  6. HouTXRanger
    That is SO pretty! I barely recognize Houston in some of these skyline photos everyone's doing. I've got a new profile background . . . .
  7. HouTXRanger
    The study doesn't spend 200 pages to find out that the neighborhood isn't walkable. They started with that assumption. The study identifies, to the individual lot level, what the condition of sidewalks and crossings are in the neighborhood. Then, they worked with a transportation agency and neighborhood meetings to identify where major multimodal arterials can or should be built, using a variety of standards for walkable, bikeable, or neighborhood streets. THEN, the study organizes the most important improvements to be made, divided between short and long term projects. It also identifies likely sources of funding so the TIRZ knows what they can afford and what they need to seek grants for. If you take the time to at least read the abstract, you'd find the study was a pretty good use of time and money. It's incredibly granular, had good outreach, and attacks Montrose's walkability head-on instead of trying to dress up a turd . . . which would have been easy for Montrose to do, it's already the "most walkable neighborhood in Houston," if they wanted to sweep this under the rug they probably could have. Makes me want to move to Montrose personally.
  8. HouTXRanger
    Hmm, I always thought market based parking was just a different, reduced set of parking requirements. Turns out it's just a renaming for getting rid of parking minimums at all. Nice!
  9. HouTXRanger
    Although I really, really, really loathe the fact that this building is over 50% parking by square footage . . . they did a really good job of covering it. It's the best parking garage disguise I've ever seen honestly, I'd even say its beautiful with the hedge balconies and all. Hopefully this tower has enough parking for the next phase?
  10. HouTXRanger
    Very nice! I hope the Montrose TIRZ applies for Walkable Places designation soon, it'll really improve all the development they're trying to do on Westheimer (like the place that just bought the old Half Price Books stripcenter)
  11. HouTXRanger
    I'm not sure if that's 100% right either, but I sure as hell like the idea of ZERO required parking on a TOD main street. That's fantastic!
  12. HouTXRanger
    Not really, unfortunately. I'm thinking of rows of townhouses, more or less as they exist now, but instead of garages they have a tiny little retail space. Not really possible, or at least economical, if there are any off-street parking requirements at all, and TOD only reduces them, not eliminates them. IIRC Walkable Places is the one that applies market based parking. TOD is a blanket ~50% reduction for everything.
  13. HouTXRanger
    I suppose . . . the area is going through some tough times, from an infrastructure standpoint. The funds to rebuild lower Westheimer just got bumped, we'll be lucky if construction starts by 2030. Last thing the area needs is even more car traffic, but there aren't any good multimodal transportation options until Metro does the 82 line improvements and whenever the Montrose TIRZ finishes improving their walk/bike network . . . but who knows how long all that will take? I'd happily dump the parking for redone sidewalks along Westheimer but that's just me 🤷‍♂️
  14. HouTXRanger
    Is there a reason that, despite Houston's lack of zoning and lot splitting, building "townhomes" with ground floor retail hasn't taken off anywhere? I feel like little pop-ups like that would work great in some of Montrose's back streets. I'd love to see some pedestrian corridors like that. edit: Ah, just thought of it. Parking requirements. No way you could make that work without zero min parking or market based parking.
  15. HouTXRanger
    Is it just me, or is that parking garage oversized? Did they do more parking than they needed, or am I just seeing things?
  16. HouTXRanger
    Looks like we might hear more about this soon: https://twitter.com/salliealcorn/status/1291405418577764353?s=20
  17. HouTXRanger
    Unanimously???? Fantastic! I'm going to buy a cake or something to celebrate!
  18. HouTXRanger
    Great idea! We could even ditch the flimsy rubber tires for wheels that'll fit right on the rail, for a smoother ride. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before??
  19. HouTXRanger
    So, I haven't heard anything else on this, but I thought the vote was supposed to be this week. Anyone know when we'll hear if it all got approved? Still confused on how exactly the city council votes and such.
  20. HouTXRanger
    Yeah, there was some pretty clear misniformation/misunderstanding for most of the Museum Park people. They act like this is going to cause more development around them, but it really won't, mainly just on the main transit corridor. And most of the neighborhood is exempt from regulations too. I don't get it. It feels like they were just being obstinate because they weren't getting what they wanted out of wholly separate buffering ordinances. Which this isn't meant to touch, so why are they trying to just stop it in its tracks? Seems silly to me. As always, the anti-prop people are drastically overrepresented. I couldn't speak because I couldn't connect in the city's number, it kept dropping. On the bright side, it seemed like the Mayor and most of the Councillors were in favor of the proposal. Does anyone know how exactly voting works on the city council? Do they need a simple majority, or super majority? Does the mayor have any powers voting for or against the proposal?
  21. HouTXRanger
    Thanks for keeping us updated with the pics OP. What business is at that address? Are they closed while the roof is getting fixed? When was the roof damaged, and how? I'm assuming rain.
  22. HouTXRanger
    Are they? Do we know what the developer has planned or are we just speculating?
  23. HouTXRanger
    Yeah, that's super smart. Not that I thought there was a serious chance of the lower courts ruling being overturned by the Texas Supreme court, but this is a massive blow to the opposition. If i didn't know better I'd say the case is pretty much open and shut now. Now if they could only secure the rest of the funding . . .
  24. HouTXRanger
    Those pics are awesome! I love how they're trying to recreate the native coastal prairie ecosystem, that's pretty damn unique for a "city" park, that I know of. Reminds me of the little slice of the Midtown park that attempts to recreate a bayou feeder stream.
×
×
  • Create New...