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skwatra

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Everything posted by skwatra

  1. Somewhat off topic, but I noticed a proposed north-south path along the Union Pacific tracks from Bellaire up to Memorial Park. Anyone have info on how serious that proposal is? You could effectively get safely (dedicated) and easily from Hermann Park to Memorial Park with that connection (without having to go all the way east of downtown).
  2. I was curious about this. Looking at Harris County - in 2018 Beto beat Cruz by almost 17 points. In 2022, he beat Abbott but under 10 points. Both midterm elections. That doesn't necessarily mean there was a shift. He's less popular now, probably didn't bring out the same number of voters. But other county wide margins did seem lower for the Dems (though maybe i'm comparing to the generals with Trump on the ballot which adds a lot to consider).
  3. Whatever happened with Leven Bakery? don't see any info on their proposed location at Southside Commons...
  4. Richard Linklater's (Houston native) Apollo 10 1/2 was released on Netflix last week. Lots of great Houston 'scenes' and references, half the movie is a historical timeline and what it was like to live around NASA and in Houston in the late 60's. Though I grew up in Clear Lake in a different decade, I definitely felt a huge nostalgia factor watching this. I was hoping for more NASA adventure aspects (for the fictional part of the movie), but it was still really interesting especially for Houston natives. Hadn't seen it mentioned on HAIF, figure plenty of people here would be interested in the film and portrayal.
  5. From Hermann Park you can (for a long time now) go south and access Brays Bayou and get straight to Columbia Tap to get to East downtown. What I am hoping is doable is getting from Hermann Park to northeast Midtown (Bagby and Gray) direct quickly and safely. I've taken Caroline and Austin before, but haven't attempted Gray since they added the bike path. How far south does that extend?
  6. These homes off West Pierce and Stanford that were abandoned partially through constructions have been discussed on this forum several times. I used to live on this street and got this from my old neighbor: https://www.change.org/p/mayor-sylvester-turner-keep-our-neighbors-safe-and-our-community-clean
  7. calm down. I honestly thought you meant that the measure "barely passed". in that context, i took it to mean: 1. only just; almost not. 2. in a simple and sparse way. When you called me out for now knowing how to read, I thought you meant how to read election results. If you barely pass 5th grade or barely win an election but most common meaning is that passed with marginal results. I thought it was important to note (given how i read your post), that the measure passed by a large margin.
  8. i read pretty good. https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/elections/city-of-houston-election-results/285-0c86c7af-0461-4ddd-b058-d7d3c9960aef https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2019/11/06/election-results-houstons-mayoral-race-heads-to.html
  9. The referendum passed 68% to 32%. That is pretty overwhelming.
  10. I noticed the same in Tokyo and some of the smaller cities we went to. I haven't been to China but based on a few quick searches they have a lot of homeless. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_homeless_population
  11. Here's a picture from this morning, haven't seen much progress but this is the first time I have seen the construction entrance open in a while (maybe months?).
  12. They have beyond gutted it, there is almost nothing left of the original building. Hard to get a pic with the fencing up, but it appears like there are just a few vertical posts left. Anyone have details on the latest plan for this? Did something change?
  13. That was the Doc's location and I thought that salad place was going there? This article is from December so maybe things have changed, i haven't been by in a while... https://houston.eater.com/2018/12/19/18148653/sweetgreen-salads-bowls-montrose-houston Edit: I misread Crockpot's post, and thought the list of "previous locations" were all new upcoming locations! Disregard the Doc's/Sweetgreen comment...
  14. I used to go to WF (W Dallas) for fresh food/salads on occasion or specialty items, but would never imagine shopping their regularly. The other day I went to the one on Bellaire (moved out there a year ago, its 5 minutes from my house but my go to place is the new Bellaire HEB) for the first time, and saw some amazing Prime member deals. Then I get 10% off with the app, and another 5% on my amazon credit card. I still don't think I will go there for full shopping regularly, but I am going to start going there more often given the prices and deals I saw. As for midtown, I'm hoping they do well and attract walkers/bikers. When I lived on the other side of midtown I would go to Randall's solely due to location and lack of options. Though if I was going to jump in my car I would just drive over to disco Kroger. Now hopefully Whole Foods will be a good option and include enough reasonable deals on items to attract those who think they can't afford it. Another item that may attract people, hopefully they will have a good tap selection. I also discovered good prices for growler fills at WF and some unique beers.
  15. Yes, i read the discussion. the fact you keep pointing out is not relevant to the intent of this thread. i'm looking forward to having an accessible shake shake downtown.
  16. https://torchystacos.com/locations/ MMP is not listed. When I'm downtown looking for a meal, buying an astros ticket isn't on my list. anyways, i hope Shake Shack is open 7 days a week late in to the night.
  17. I just spent a week in Oakland where my brother recently moved from SF. He's within a mile of a BART station and the 'last mile' scooters were everywhere. I never used them as I had my young ones with me and we just walked everywhere we needed to go. I honestly didn't run in to riders much, but the littered scooters were somewhat annoying especially when they were left on sidewalks and I was trying to walk by with my stroller, and ended up on the street to get around them. From a quick external view, they seemed enjoyable, somewhat annoying, and not cost effective (for the company that gathers them up and recharges them and the users). In Houston, I am guessing they would be less enjoyable, more annoying, and less cost effective.
  18. Interesting data. Looks to be from 2000, and I assume it is mileage by lane so Houston has had a lot of expansion since then. The stats I find most interesting which I've never come across before are "% of Travel Served by Freeways" and "Daily Vehicle Miles Per Capita". The % of travel i assume is % of car/bus vehicle travel (based on the NYC and SF numbers, can't be all modes of travel). Any thoughts on the Daily vehicle travel of 36.9 miles per capita for Houston, and if that number has gone up or down?
  19. Its not their data. and no one has highly accurate data, just studies and surveys that point to a trend- things are getting worse. new study from HomeArea.com A recent survey by the Rice Kinder Institute for Urban Research shows Houston-area residents continue to assert that traffic congestion is getting worse, and in an area that adds nearly 100,000 people annually, that’s probably no surprise. Solo drivers take 25.8 minutes to reach the office, according to a new analysis by the Associated Press.
  20. 1. Houston commute times relative to other cities is not relative to my argument and I know we have to look at other models to compare, but what is important is Houston's commute times relative to 10 years ago and what to expect 10 years from now. 2. Chron article from 2018 states "Houston drivers traveled an average of 27.3 minutes to work" and from 2015 a Chron article states "Solo drivers take 25.8 minutes to reach the office". An almost 6% increase in 3 years. Of course I wouldn't count this as evidence, as they are two different studies and they likely use variables which could be altered to give you very different numbers, or they surveyed some ridiculous sample size like 100 people which is just as good as my "anecdotal evidence" which includes how all the real Houstonians I know that live and work around the city have been impacted by transportation and traffic. 3. If you have the actual source data from your visualcapitalist commute data that would be interesting, but I can't find anything. I don't think any facts have actually been presented in this discussion.
  21. posting a story about the most densely populated region in the country and their subway woes is misleading. And one graphic based on some census sample that's not defined is misleading too. My further discussion was what life is like getting around Houston and how congested and slow things have gotten in the last decade. LA is a better example, and I feel like that now - rush 'hour' has expanded and the reverse commute has faded. No matter where you are or what direction you're going between 3-8pm its crowded and slow and I would like more options.
  22. I don't see the value of comparing Houston and NYC. we've been down that path many times on this forum and nothing really comes out of it. I know I did respond as such, i couldn't help it... But when i used to spend a lot of time in new york, i only took the subway to get to certain special destinations, day to day stuff everything i could possibly need was within a 10-15 minute walk. To your question on taking a private vehicle and the advantages - yes i do like having that option in Houston. But I would like other options as well. I used to live in Montrose and would bike everywhere. Being able to take the bayou downtown and feel safe doing so even with my toddlers in a trailer was amazing. Walking to the red line and taking it to Reliant and not having to worry about parking, being able to have a few beers, and get out with no traffic was amazing. Walking to Dallas St and taking a single bus to an Astros game with my kid who loves to ride was amazing. I only drove to work (Clear Lake, the park and ride would have taken 1+ hour to go against traffic and I would still have needed my bike when I got to Bay Area) and it was amazing. BTW when I did live by work and was taking grad school classes at UH I did take the park and ride and walked to campus twice a week, for that 4-5:30 class. Coming back was much nicer in a bus where i could read and not have to worry about the gulf freeway. now we moved to Bellaire, still inside the loop. To get downtown on a single bus to the med center, then the train would take an hour. To go 8 miles. And I picked a destination right on the rail line. 40 minutes to get to Reliant, 4.5 miles away. There are better ways to move around more efficiently, and it will take a combination of smart methods that should ideally relieve traffic and congestion, reduce emissions, and provide multiple options for residents.
  23. you could make the same slideshow called "Tales of Highway Hell" in Houston and have equivalent scenes and stats.
  24. Is your Japanese Blueberry in the Montrose median? I used to own on the block just south and was a regular at Khun Kay through when she retired (food went downhill after that IMO though some items were still good). It does seem like a small block to fit this size in but as far as the area, but this is the direction things are going. Every apartment going up or proposed in the area are in the 8 story range. I for one look forward to the density.
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