skwatra

On 4/9/2024 at 6:22 PM, OkieEric said:

To be honest, I don't understand the rationale behind this pedestrian bridge.  Both Stella Link (rehabbed bridge) and Buffalo Speedway (new bridge) have decently wide sidewalks.  However, to the east (where you'd anticipate more traffic due to TMC proximity) the sidewalks along Kirby and Main are ridiculously narrow and along much more heavily traveled streets.

I was wondering the same thing. I regular access the bayou trail coming from Newcastle, so I just cross at Stella Link (with young kids, no issue since they re-did it with wider sidewalks). It seems this new ped bridge serves a small community. The only other use I could think of us eventual continuity to avoid road bridges altogether. Are they going to extend the trail on the north side of the bayou west of Buffalo Speedway? If so you could stay on that trail, then cross over at this new pedestrian bridge to the south side which they are working on to continue further west.

But even then (as an avid user of such trails), i don't see the overall value relative to other improvements/connectivity that could make an big impact.

2 hours ago, samagon said:

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/john-whitmire-mayor-houston/

quote of the article has to be "Whitemire, with a mischievous grin and a personality crustier than a day-old baguette"

On 9/15/2023 at 7:16 AM, IntheKnowHouston said:

The sports bar chain is expanding into the Houston market at 1201 San Jacinto St., Ste 161 / 1201 Caroline St, Ste 161.

According to Tom's Watch Bar's Houston location Instagram, it's looking to open this month.

Their website says they are opening on 10/29

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).

1 hour ago, s3mh said:

Not sure whether there is a shift back to the right in Harris County or turnout for Dems was lackluster because of little enthusiasm (or hope) for Beto. 

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).

Whatever happened with Leven Bakery? don't see any info on their proposed location at Southside Commons...

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.

1 hour ago, X.R. said:

So from Hermann park you can take either Caroline or La Branch (both have generally slow traffic, easy to be on the road with cars), take a right on Cleburne, take Hutchins to Gray and then access East Downtown via the Columbia Tap. On mostly high-comfort bike lanes. Thats amazing considering where Houston was 10 years ago. 

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?

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

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.

4 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

You clearly read that wrong. 

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

On 11/11/2019 at 8:58 PM, j_cuevas713 said:

They aren’t going to bring up something like that this early after they just barely passed one of the biggest transit initiatives this city has seen in over a decade.

The referendum passed 68% to 32%. That is pretty overwhelming.

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

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?).

On 9/11/2018 at 12:36 PM, CrockpotandGravel said:

“Out of all of the uses our team explored during the redevelopment process, the best, and not necessarily most economical, was to preserve the building"

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?

4 hours ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

Der Wienerschnitzel (Houston) 1303 Westheimer Rd

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...

16 hours ago, X.R. said:

Gonna be reaaaal interesting to see how busy that WF gets. WF is generally too expensive for my blood, but their hot food to go can be had for under 10 dollars a plate, which would make it a decent option for a quick dinner or something. I wonder if the foot traffic in that area will expand or not.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

24 minutes ago, 102IAHexpress said:

I stopped reading after you said Chron article. Wikipedia is more accurate than chron.com

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.

9 hours ago, 102IAHexpress said:

You are entitled to your anecdotal evidence. And I'm not suggesting you should ignore your personal observations. However, the fact is Houston's commute time relative to other cities, has actually gotten faster not slower. If you have facts that suggest otherwise, then please post them. 

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.

35 minutes ago, 102IAHexpress said:

 

You could. But it would be misleading. NYC commuters have the longest commute time in the Country. Houston does not. But nice try. 

 

A nice visual aid of the facts: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/average-commute-time-by-state.html

 

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.