dbigtex56

Has this bar closed?
Chairs are stacked, and a sign directs people to a different location for a planned event.

Almost 40 years ago, 'Repo Man'  got it right.
"The more you drive, the less intelligent you are."

1 hour ago, Ross said:

The worse traffic inside the Loop on I-10 is most likely due to the giant increase in capacity outside the Loop.

In other words, Inner Loopers are being accosted by suburban cars' traffic.
And pollution. And need to permanently kill off acres of land to provide 50 hours a week for parking.
The Katy Freeway expansion displaced a functioning railroad track which could have been converted to commuter rail.
But, this is Texas, and that's commie talk.

Please tell me that this will not become a parking lot. 
Lie, if you have to.

On 12/24/2022 at 10:36 PM, j_cuevas713 said:

Does anyone know if the lots the city cleans up are owned by the city or are they owned by a private entity? 

My understanding is, both.
The city maintains its property, and if private property becomes grossly overgrown the city (supposedly) comes in and trims the offending vegetation.
I believe they charge the landowner, either by a separate billing or adding the bill to the property taxes. 
If someone has more accurate information, feel free to correct me.

5 hours ago, hindesky said:

Outside patio with a door and window to order and serve food.

 

and a commanding view of the dumpster?

Just last night I waited for almost 25 minutes (about 5pm) for an 82. During peak hours they're supposed to run every 6 minutes, off-peak every 10 minutes.
I asked the bus driver about the delay, and he just shrugged and said 'Traffic." No. Houston had traffic when they set up those routes and schedules.
The service has deteriorated over the past couple of years, largely because of COVID. It caused a real shakeup in the workforce, and I suspect many bus drivers found better paying jobs. METRO frequently advertises that they need drivers, and they're accepting less than the cream of the crop. 
I actually had a bus driver hit me and tell me to keep moving when I attempted to scan my pass (the scanner was broken). My understanding is that some drivers aren't even METRO employees, they're contract workers. 
The combination of a shortage of drivers and the utter lack of accountability has had a devastating effect on their service.

4 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I take the 82 all the time to get around town and I wish they would add more buses to the route. Rush hour from about 4:30pm to 8:30pm the bus is always delayed by more than 10 minutes. 

Does anyone know if Metro cuts service during the weekends? 

6 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

The city's bike plan calls for dedicated on-street bike lanes on Montrose/Studemont from Memorial to White Oak.

The Studemont bridge over White Oak bayou is such a source of frustration. What WERE they thinking? If they had made it a bit wider, it could have had sidewalks and bike paths. I guess those were not priorities when it was built. 
It's a real bottleneck. I wonder if it's feasible to retrofit another 15' or so to its width.

I wonder what they do with retired light rail cars. Do people convert them to Tiny Houses?

1 hour ago, Jay123 said:

What metro needs to do is make the metro rail and bus more secure.Ive been harrased by panhandlers for money and they wreak of urine and beer.Hopefully metro takes serious measures after these serious incidents these past months.

I agree that METRO should perform some power-washing more frequently.
Panhandlers? Not much METRO can do about that. Once I learned to say 'No' like I mean it, the panhandlers don't bother me as much. No excuses, apologies, or judgments are needed. 
Just say no.

8 hours ago, 004n063 said:

I am afraid I don't share your optimism. I think this will greatly improve the pedestrian experience on Montrose Blvd, but other than the MUP from the south side of Allen Parkway to W. Dallas (and keep in mind, the W. Dallas lanes don't start until Waugh), I didn't see any bike infrastructure in the plan?

I am all for the pedestrian improvements, and providing (preferably a few) comfortable bike routes from Montrose to the Heights would be fantastic, but I just don't see that in this project...

The combination of a wide bayou flanked on either side by highway-lite arterials (hiways?), and (particularly north of the bayou between Jackson Hill and Sawyer are (in my opinion) the main issues with Heights-Montrose connectivity, and I don't see how this fixes that...

I saw a bit of the presentation explaining the updates, and have the impression that bike lanes will be provided on streets that run parallel to Montrose (such as Stanford).

On 12/16/2022 at 8:13 PM, Brooklyn173 said:

Sidewalk and plantings going in.

Among other things. 
I was very disappointed when I walked past the southeast corner of the building today. In typical Houston fashion, a giant silver utility box has been installed, which  is encroaching on the sidewalk.
Why?  It's as if mucking up sidewalks and inconveniencing pedestrians is a sacred ritual that must be observed.

On 12/16/2022 at 8:41 AM, trymahjong said:

oh my, but I do love my " sky's-the-limit-endless-budget-everyone-will-agree-with-me urban oasis daydreams!  

"You may say I'm a dreamer...but I'm not the only one."

On 12/16/2022 at 5:22 AM, IntheKnowHouston said:

According to a recent alcohol permit filing, there's a new tenant opening soon at 1120 Dennis St. The name listed on the permits is Ruined. 

Based on the permits the business applied for, Ruined will probably be a club or a bar.

It would be an unfortunate name for a dry-cleaner.

On 12/9/2022 at 11:51 AM, shasta said:

How long before we hear the Kroger lot will be completely redeveloped?

 

(shudder!) I'm still reeling over the loss of Disco Kroger. The inconvenience of losing Snooty RO Kroger might be more than I can bear.
The market supposedly corrects itself, but what happens when all of the supermarkets have been torn down to build luxury apartments?
I guess they'll starve. But, at least it will be in luxury.

10 hours ago, trymahjong said:

Hmmmm so lincoln?  I wonder what the back story of naming that particular street was? It seems a name like Lincoln would be bestowed on a large Blvd.

Considering that it was named less then fifty years after the Civil War, I'm surprised they used that name at all.
The large blvd.s (at least downtown) pretty much stuck to Confederate generals and early Texas heroes. Lincoln might not have felt comfortable there.

I wonder how they'll fit a 6' sidewalk between the trees and the townhouse.
How did this place ever get built? 

The city ordinance says that riding bicycles on sidewalks in a business district is illegal. 
It's legal to ride on sidewalks outside those districts but they must yield pedestrians the right of way.
Unfortunately many cyclists seem to be unaware that they can injure pedestrians.
I walk on the sidewalk and several times speeding bicycles barely missed me. It was sheer dumb luck that I wasn't hit.

17 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Yeah but I still find it's the worst option. I do have friends who were politely told not to ride the sidewalk from police. 

8 hours ago, phillip_white said:

The fence has been taken down.

It was blocking a bus stop. Perhaps someone complained to the city. ;)

On 11/26/2022 at 9:17 PM, Ross said:

What would you do with the traffic that uses Spur 527? It doesn't go away, even if Brazos and Bagby weren't reconnected.

Well gee. I don't know. I mean, the 527 inbound and outbound lanes were closed for what, a couple of years?
And the cars just disappeared into a vacuum. Most alarming. I wonder if they're still out there somewhere, like Flight 19 in the Bermuda Triangle. 

The construction fence has been removed, and (except for a small area on the north side of the building) the siding and windows have been installed. 
It's a more attractive building than I had expected it to be.

On 11/25/2022 at 11:30 AM, hindesky said:

There is a track hoe still here, it doesn't have any indication that it belongs to Cherry Companies which leads me to believe it might be from a different company about to do some other type of work.

 

Sheer speculation, but the property owner is known for being a Midtown booster. Could it be developed into a quasi-park while awaiting a firm deal from a developer?

On 11/25/2022 at 1:47 PM, 004n063 said:

If businesses weren't forced to own enormous properties to accommodate an enormous number of cars, they wouldn't need to think about ease of access for suburnanites in the first place.

I agree, but some of our Civic Leaders are stubbornly defensive of this mindset. The most noxious example must be the rebuilding of Spur 527, which serves a few suburban people and inconveniences many more people who actually live here. 
Thanks Mayor Turner, and don't let the door hit you on your way out.

On 11/17/2022 at 11:02 PM, trymahjong said:

drove by today

The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be.....

On 11/16/2022 at 1:28 PM, Houston19514 said:

Wasn't it the election workers' job to make sure he/she was given the correct ballot?

Yes and no. We can direct voters to the contests they attest to, but if it's a matter of the voter actually declaring that he had just voted in the run-offs for a party with which he wasn't affiliated that it became a case of the voter misstating his intentions.