largeTEXAS

I'm the only one with access to view who's signed it. The online petition still only has a few signatures so viewing them wouldn't really tell you that much. C2H, yes, I have contacted Central Houston and have spoken with them about the petition. They are probably not the right organization to handle the issue, though. If you would, please take it to a City Council meeting. It would be great to get the word out. PS. It's never too late to sign this petition!

I'm sorry. I have never received a PM from you C2H. I cannot say the petition was a success. I asked if anyone on the forum would help distribute the petition if I were to write it. I received some decent feedback but no offers for help in any way. I gave two updates asking again if anyone would please help distribute the petition. In two months on the board the petition received 14 signatures. I ended up taking the petition around myself and recieved a modest 609 signatures. I have spoken with Central Houston about the problem with lighting and have gotten some good feedback on the petition. This brings an issue about this forum, however. This is a discussion forum so the expectations for posters taking action should be low, I understand. But with the fervor which many feel towards some of the issues raised, I would hope more action could take place. Many of the city officials have no idea that there are residents that actually care about certain issues. We have a powerful tool here with this board. We all seem to have similar beliefs about the way in which we'd like to see the city progress. Every once in a while it would be nice if we could take action. Again, here's the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/Better_Lighting/ PS If anyone has links to photos for various buildings downtown I would like to include them in the petition. Aslo, any skyline photos at night would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Great idea, tw2ntyse7en! Best idea yet, by far!

I'm mixed about this development. I think it's going to be fantastic for the area and for the New Urbanist movement in Houston. But, like many have said, this takes some steam away from inner city projects, especially in downtown. All of this urban retail development outside of the urban core might really be doing an injustice to the city. I believe our shopping and gathering center should be centralized. Downtown is that place. It needs to be babied for a little while until it gets nursed back to health, but before long it could be THE place for everyone to go. It has the urban infrastructure unlike Memorial City. It is home to our sports teams, it's where the city began, it's where one can walk around easily. But, big "urban" projects in the 'burbs steal some of the momentum. We can only have so much retail in the city. If it's all focused on the fringes, we'll just continue to make it harder and harder to succeed downtown. On another note, no matter how nice this project is, the San Felipe/Post Oak project will be nicer. The types of tenants and design should be first-rate (not to mention Ed Wulfe is the MAN). Not that Memorial City won't get its share of good tenants and good design, but, believe me, there's no place like San Felipe/Post Oak.

A megaplex downtown would be like 10 theatres

The Park Shops are terrible. No one wants to battle traffic to go downtown so they can shop at a depressing, outdated mediocre mall. The whole point of downtown retail is to get away from the mall. It's all about the street. Cute little shops, outdoor dining, a little breeze are all why people want to shop in a downtown environment. In my opinion the owners of the Park Shops should convert the whole thing into a megaplex movie theater. It's already enclosed, let's take advantage of that....

Uptown more than anything needs to become more walkable. For such a dense area, it is virtually impossible to walk around. It's a total shame how neglected the pedestrian is there.

I heard Tillman bought it.

Never mind... http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/b...sarnoff/2962741 Living in Greenway With more than 12 million square feet of office space, Greenway Plaza is one of Houston's busiest commercial districts. So it's surprising that apartment developers have leapfrogged the area in their recent building boom. But that's soon to change. Morgan Group is tearing down a small office building at the corner of Edloe and Richmond to develop a high-end apartment complex. When completed in 2006, the project will have 295 units with rents averaging $1.40 per square foot, about $1,400 a month for a 1,000-foot unit. Camden Property Trust is also planning an apartment complex on vacant land adjacent to the former Compaq Center (aka Lakewood Church). And farther down the road, Morgan Group will build even more apartments in the area at the site of HISD's administrative headquarters. Morgan and Trammell Crow Co. are paying more than $38 million to buy the 24-acre tract on Richmond from the school district. "We'll have a major stake in Greenway," said Stan Levy, chief operating officer of Morgan Group. The company has had success in the area before. In 1989, it built a complex called the Inverness, which is 95 percent leased. That's quite a feat in a market where apartment occupancies have plummeted as renters have opted to buy homes while mortgage rates are low. In the third quarter, the vacancy rate for apartments in Houston was about 12 percent, according to O'Connor & Associates. The real estate research firm said more than 14,000 new apartments will be completed this year and 15,000 more are under construction. nancy.sarnoff@chron.com

Right now on the norteast corner od Richmond and Edloe there's a building being torn down. It was a pretty nondescript late modern office building. I've hear the site will become residential. Anyone know anything? This would be a phenomenal site for high-density, non-townhome housing.

There is a developer trying to build a project similar to the Marq'e, but of much higher quality on Main Street downtown. It would be almost as big and should tie into the street more. I think he'll pull it off. Nancy Sarnoff did a story a few weeks ago about the proposal.

You can email James Koch, TXDOT's roadway designer who's currently designing the viaduct. His email is: jkoch@dot.state.tx.us

Great ices! The custard and ice combo is topnotch. The owner is also a very nice man, I just wish he weren't in that crappy center.

I know no one wants to get their hopes up just to be disappointed later. But, before the Pavillions were built in Denver, everyone was saying IT would never happen. We'll have to wait and see, but Denton is pretty sure about this thing. Frankly, it would be just the thing downtown would need to jump start its retail renaissance - I hope it does happen.

I think you're right, dbigtex56. The better-made apartment buildings have a good chance of undergoing the conversion to condos. Houston might even see the co-op phenomenon someday. A "co-op," just for reference, is a building in which many parties have part ownership. Every unit is essentially borrowed for a specified amount of time. Every decision to alter a unit in any way has to go through the co-op board. So, it's basically ownership without the freedom. A condo means complete ownership of a specified unit and the freedom to alter it in any way desired. 3333 Allen Parkway might soon be transformed from an apartment to condos. Here's the story: http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...p?showtopic=697

The term "apartment" is being used incorrectly in this thread. Here's what Webster had to say: a

Some examples of his previous museums

The project is actually going to be really nice. It will have some ground floor retail, plaza and park space, and will hide the parking garage. I fought for the park and still would love if the land were made into a park, but Camden will do a great job on this project. We might even see parks popping up around the superblock...

Apartments sure spelled DOOM for New York...and Chicago...and San Francisco...and Vancouver... not to mention Madrid, London, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, Stockholm and Amsterdam...

It's not just that rail is supposed to ease current traffic problems around the city. Rail is meant to have long-term effects. With the trend of build-more-suburbs-farther-and-farther-out becomming ridiculous, the rail will hopefully lure some of the would-be suburbanites to inner city neighborhoods designed around rail. THIS will help relieve congestion. Right now there is so much land that is underutilized in the city's core. If that land was developed with transit in mind instead of more suburban houses way out in the boonies, then that would ease a whole hell of a lot of the car traffic. The rail isn't just about solving our traffic problems now, it's about slowly changing the culture of travel in the city. Who knows, maybe some day the kids that are born now will, when they are older, be so used to light rail that they will have learned to prefer it over the car. They'll talk about how backwards their parents and grandparents are that insist on taking their cars everywhere.

Here's the document from Central Houston: http://www.houstondowntown.com/Home/Breaki...Downtownin2025/

The rendering I was talking about is just a preliminary drawing of the type of park they expect to build. I'll have to scan it at work next week, so it'll take a few days at least. Central Houston gave out booklets at the meeting last week. In it were renderings of the park and other projects around downtown. Call Central Houston and ask them to send you the booklet of the entitled Houston Downtown Development Framework.

I agree 100%

The renderings of the park are great. I'll try to post them soon. Actually, the city has bought the land and has the money to build the park (as per Mayor White). This is very different from years past when so many groups had so many plans and almost none were implemented. During his speech to Central Houston, Mayor White alluded to ideas being a dime a dozen in this town. I think he's stepping up and will get this park done in 2-3 years. My problem is that I think the park is poorly placed. A park by a convention center doesn't draw a lot of residents in my opinion. McGowen Green would have been better served as a useful neighborhood park.