sowanome
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Posts posted by sowanome
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Why not let Downtown have some of the action then? Already started with Minute Maid Park, then Toyota Center, etc., etc. Downtown should have more to do. Let there be a financial district Downtown for business people to do their thing.
A financial district is nice if it's attractive, but the only issue is that in NYC, Chicago, San fran..the financial districts are ghost towns after closing (around 5:30 EST)....Maybe you'll find MusicMan there after 6 trying to reclaim his..
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Probably well in excess of a Billion dollars just currently. Probaly over $5 Billion in the last 10 years.. How much is being spent in that 20 square mile area you just tried to compare to the 1.67 square mile downtown?
YOu called it..but w/o the stadiums and arenas, how does downtown compare to uptown? Where's the $ now..
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Can knowone accept the idea that Downtown will not be the "IT" area for at least another 15 years? Seriously, Houston is an emerging market right now and will be for the next 5 to 7 years, but look at where all of the money is going>> West of Downtown1
How much capital is being spent on Dtown projects vs. Uptown/Surrounding River Oaks area?
Those areas will make Houston unique..It's Okay to accept the truth...It's OK. I mean who wants to go to Downtowns in these areas: Miami, LA, Houston, Phoenix, etc... ..Even the true Downtown area (aka "The Loop") of Chicago is similar to Houston at night.
But LA has west LA (b.hills, santa monica, malibu, etc), Miami has South Beach, Atlanta has Buckhead, Phoenix has Scottsdale...and on and on..
bye the way..The people who ahven't been to houston, view everything as the same, being that we are "Bush country"...The only city that rings out to people is "Austin", bc they keep it weird.
Hopefully Midtown, East End, 6th ward and Washington Avenue will hold up the slack for downtown...
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IMHO, Houston won't ever become a fashionable city. It doesn't matter what we do because people who have never been here will think oil (evil), Enron (crooks), humidity (bad hair days), sprawl (hard to get around), Bush (with his Pappa around, people still equate Houston with GWB), mothers who drown their multiple kids in bathtubs, etc...
I agree w/Kinkaid about people's perception about Houston....The one thing that I can say, is that everytime someone visits from out of town, they are surprised...usually in a good way. I guess everyone expects to see horses and tumble weeds...People are also envious of our weather, believe it or not. Having been transplanted into the Midwest for a number of years, I can't count how many times people have asked me..Why are you here, why did you leave the weather? However, we are still known as Bush Country... I cant wait until November.
Keep Raising Gas Prices....(Kill Suburban Sprawl)
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JAX I Agree with everything that you are saying!!! Great job, because a few weeks ago, while I was walking around Chicago freezing (Late April and a high of 45 degrees) and I just thought about how angry I was, but I crossed the river at Michigan Ave and was in awe of the architectual beauty and the sight of hundreds of tourists (Tourists kill this one specific area of Chicago 85% of the time. Just one area.)walking around freezing. The cold weather gets ridiculous up here at times (I've lived between chicago and wisconsin for a few years..I know cold weather and people talk about weather here, bc it's the biggest negative to the City. "Hey its freezing " a Chicagoans response " But the summers are nice", yet its June 1st and the last cold front is swinging thru with a high of 63 and low of 50??) doesn't this sound like "hey, its humid" .."but the real estate is cheap and the winters are nice"
Pick your poison, but remember it gets colder in most places (-5 w.chill -20) than it gets hotter in houston (95 index 108, but it' also 90 everywhere else).
So in response to people not liking houston...tell me a city that they love and I can find people that are miserable there..The winters bring about depression, not the summer. People just dont wake up angry in the summer like they do in the winter.
Every city has a glaring negative and if you live somewhere long enough, you will find many of them.However, when I crossed the river it clicked to me that Houston does not have that one glaring positive(that the Superstar Cities (NY,San Fran, Boston and LA) have. However, I wanted to point out that there is a second wave of cities that are up and coming(Houston, Charlotte and Austin(Austin actually has a well known San Fran like buzz about it nationally...a really good thing for Houston)
So, I wanted to start a thread on here about the same issue that everyone is angry about:
A)Why Downtown Houston continues to struggle, but will soon change
B)Why Houston (being one of the largest cities) does not have the "IT" Factor (Hate to put words in your mouth JAX)
Here's my explanation:
A)Why Downtown Houston continues to struggle, but will soon change
-Suburban sprawl
*The Galleria Area= (#1 "IT" area) Think about the Chrome Light Fixtures, scenery and # of tourists. There are more tourists in this area than in Downtown any day of the week and one time when someone from Chicago visited they asked when approaching "Is this downtown". Think about all of the condos and shopping in that area and also how well landscaped it is.
*The Medical Center/Museum District= (#2 "IT" area)....Really nice, but yet unaccessible by a train or a short cab ride from our #1 "IT" area. Let's not forget that it isn't walking distance from downtown.
* WEST HOUSTON ...(ALL of it, including Washington Ave, the Heights, Montrose,West U and River Oaks all the way to the energy corridor) This maybe one of the biggest culprits of them all behind the Galleria, which is also West! Here's the list and maybe if downtown was located in Highland village, we wouldn't be having this discussion. Here's the list of all the potential $$ that could've gone into downtown or that one it area:
- 2727 Kirby, West Ave, Regent Square, everything on wash ave(not to mention, but wash ave may potentially be the next urban street, but closer in and more upscale than lower westheimer), the other river oaks mixed use project, the other galleria project that houses Hermes, highland village, uptown park, memorial city.....I don't have time to continue and attempt to name out everything, so just check out "GOING UP"
- Let's envision Memorial and Allen Parkway, leaving out of downtown, 10 years from now...This maybe the Skyline that connects downtown to uptown??? That's an actual positive, but we will get to that later...
- So what does downtown get? A park and H.Pavillions....
B)Why Houston (being one of the largest cities) does not have the "IT" Factor (Hate to put words in your mouth JAX)
* B/C of the 90's
* B/C of suburban sprawl
* B/C of TMC, Galleria and west Houston
* B/C it will have the "IT" affect when in less than 10 years from now (purely economic)
PART II. (Education and the positives of Houston being at the bottom for so long, that it will thrive in the future)
* economics and real estate (and the thing that connects the two)== MONEY
1) The average american is currently being priced out of the superstar cities...where do they migrate? Usually somewhere more affordable
2) The average american college grad making over 45k/yr is priced out of the s.star city...where do they migrate? Usually somewhere more affordable and that provides career opportunities
3) The young married couple with a combined income of greater than 120K...that's priced out of the nicer areas of the s.star ? they go to the gentrified areas and push up the price of land in the s.star cities to astronmical rates....
4) Oh by the way, gas prices are seeming high for america, but not as high across the board internationally...We still have a ways to go! http://www.endofsuburbia.com/
5) Oh by the way, how why does houston have the 2nd highest number of fortune 500 co's now? Cost of doing business is cheaper in Texas and...there's no state income tax
6) food for thought..the average american family is worse off now than in the 70's..the middle class is waving "bye, bye"
* What this means for houston
1) People and businesses are relocating here bc it's a better financial environment...period
2) Perfect example...You'd be shock to know that personal fitness trainers make more money in Houston than in southern Cal..Why so? the company has to pay for its real estate, the customer has to pay for their real estate, and the trainer is caught in the middle of it. In houston, people tend to have more discretionary income...you think the average person has discretionary income to just throw around in NY or SF...(assuming they dont work in finance, etc)
3) Houston has been the place that's saved up its capital and resources while providing for the average person...10 years from now, the western inner loop of houston and the galleria area will have over inflated real estate prices and you will all be happy for the density that's been created. The reason I choose the western inner loop is b/c of this:
*Manhattan
*San Fran proper (7x7 sq miles)
*Boston
*Downtown Chicago
*west LA (b.hills, santa monica,etc...our closest city in resemblence)
4) Increased Gas prices are actually assisting houston in 2 ways and I hope they keep going up.... http://www.endofsuburbia.com/
* The higher the gas, the less people want to drive, the more they gravitate to the city circle..this pushes up the demand of areas that surround places of business (downtown, galleria and energy corridor)
* Historically speaking, suburban sprawl is a new phenom that wont last much longer and it's is dying out....the lifestyle is just unsubstainable to human nature.
* The more money the oil co's make, the more it drives capital back into houston
* People will actually want to work, live and play in the same area and not be dependent on cars....This is exactly why so much money is being put into Houston right now...Sprawl killed houston along with the american dream of moving out to the burbs...Just imagine life in California, and believe me, everything you here about a cost of living adjustment for relocating is false. If you make 50k in houston, you will make 55k in chicago and maybe 58k in New York...Businesses are into making and keeping money, not handing it out to employees who want to relocate!
Sorry, but in closing the people on this board are building houston one $ at a time...just invest in houston and don't expect things to change overnight. It's impossible that sprawl will continue to kill this city, just think about how wash ave will one day be walked into downtown by pedestrians that live in 6th ward, midtown or east end. We just have to hope that our neighbors accept mixed use, bc that will provide our "IT" Factor..
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I think if you look back you'll see that I said video screens were not the solution. But yes, it would be cool to get the indigenous Amazoneans to visit Houston.
Toronto is as flat as Houston and uncomfortably cold more months than Houston is uncomfortably hot, yet it has appeal. Miami hotter and just as flat and it has appeal (okay so Miami has the ocean). Montreal is even colder than Toronto for even longer (6+ months of uncomfortable cold) and has a few hills (which don't impress me) yet it is considered desirable. I don't know about Chicago but I always considered it flat and cold. Dubai is in the middle of a desert, hotter than Houston and sandy, and it has appeal.
My point is, it isn't about the climate or the flatness as much as it is about how a city is designed and planned. Did I say planned? Now I am in trouble...
JAX I Agree with everything that you are saying!!! Great job, because a few weeks ago, while I was walking around Chicago freezing (Late April and a high of 45 degrees) ... off, I just thought about how angry I was, but I crossed the river at Michigan Ave and was in awe of the architectual beauty and the sight of hundreds of tourists (Tourists kill this one specific area of Chicago 85% of the time. Just one area.) walking around freezing. The cold weather gets ridiculous up here at times (I've lived between chicago and wisconsin for a few years..I know cold weather and people talk about weather here, bc it's the biggest negative to the City. "Hey its freezing " a Chicagoans response " Hey, but the summers are nice", yet its June 1st and the last cold front is swinging thru with a high of 63 and low of 50??) So in response to people not liking houston...tell me a city that they love and I can find people that are miserable there..The winters bring about depression, not the summer. People just dont wake up angry in the summer like they do in the winter.
Every city has a glaring negative and if you live somewhere long enough, you will find many of them. However, when I crossed the river it clicked to me that Houston does not have that one glaring positive (that the Superstar Cities (NY, San Fran, Boston and LA) have, no chicago didn't make the list with this group of economists. However, I wanted to point out that there is a second wave of cities that are up and coming (Houston, Charlotte and Austin(Austin actually has a well known San Fran like buzz about it nationally...a really good thing for Houston). So, I wanted to start a thread on here about the same issue that everyone is angry about:
A)Why Downtown Houston continues to struggle, but will soon change
B)Why Houston (being one of the largest cities) does not have the "IT" Factor (Hate to put words in your mouth JAX)
Here's my explanation:
A)Why Downtown Houston continues to struggle, but will soon change
-Suburban sprawl
*The Galleria Area= (#1 "IT" area) Think about the Chrome Light Fixtures, scenery and # of tourists. There are more tourists in this area than Downtown any day of the week and one time when someone from Chicago visited they asked when approaching "Is this downtown". Think about all of the condos and shopping in that area and also how well landscaped it is.
*The Medical Center/Museum District= (#2 "IT" area)....Really nice, but yet unaccessible by a train or a short cab ride from our #1 "IT" area. Let's not
forget that it isn't walking distance from downtown.
* WEST HOUSTON ...(ALL of it, including Washington Ave, the Heights, Montrose,West U and River Oaks all the way to the energy corridor) This maybe one of the biggest culprits of them all behind the Galleria, which is also West! Here's the list and maybe if downtown was located in Highland village, we wouldn't be having this discussion. Here's the list of all the potential $$ that could've gone into downtown or that one it area:
- 2727 Kirby, West Ave, Regent Square, everything on wash ave, the other river oaks mixed use project, the other galleria project that houses Hermes, highland village, uptown park, memorial city.....I don't have time to continue and attempt to name out everything..
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I was currently working on a new thread for the Heights/Washington Ave Section and I came across this site that has various photos (Have Fun):
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For what it's worth : http://recenter.tamu.edu/mnews/newsSearch....S&CID=41151
108 Condo owners eyeing vintage complex's sale
(Multifamily : Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown) 4/21/2008 (Houston) - A total of 108 condo owners have joined together to sell the 27-year-old Park Memorial Condominium complex. It is situated on 4.85 acres at 5292 Memorial Dr. Located in the Memorial Heights submarket, the complex totals 166,538 sf in a mix of one- and two-bedroom units. Harris Central Appraisal District assessments range from $103 per sf to $106 per sf per unit. Saul Keeton of Colliers International says the costs of deferred maintenance for the owners of the complex had become burdensome, which is one reason they've agreed to bring the asset to market.
And to think, i was under a contract to purchase one of those places at the end of November 2007, what a deal that I missed!!! The places were really rare for the area, they were really large and I dont think there were any units that were less than 875 sq. ft in size....Great Location (Walking distance to Memorial, Spotts, Cleveland Park, Washington Avenue and Regent Square) and everyone knew once the Caceres (http://www.caceresliving.com/) project started that these apartments wouldn't last bc of the superior location, views and mini park area in front of it!! "Memorial drive between downtown and memorial park" is really stepping it up and it's already a somewhat upscale area....Only if the Orion would've made it, and let's not forget that the entire lot that Otto's encompasses will be gone shortly. This should really do wonders for keeping Washington Avenue unique, because Memorial drive will hold the upscale title in that area....Any ideas what they will do with this site(High rise condos, etc)?
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Thanks Niche!
This is a surprise for such a young complex, but I guess with all of the nationwide investment coming to Houston and specifically this area, something like this should've been expected. This will be a 7 minute walk to Regent Square and a 3 minute walk to the new development taking place between Yale and Heights. This should be interesting....Maybe this topic can be merged into the Washington Ave. Renderings section?
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Hello everyone,
I'm about 2 weeks from closing on my new home(first time buyer). I've started furniture shopping, basically from scratch, with the exception of bedroom furniture.
I've been a little stumped when it comes to furniture selection. Can someone give me advice as to where to look?
I've been to Eurway, Ikea, Danish Inspiration, Star, Dillards, Z Gallerie, and some other small places. I'm on a tight budget, as I have to pay closing costs. So looking for some modern style furniture at a reasonable price.... any suggestions?
Thanks in advance for any info,
btw, I'm located in West/Southwest Houston.
Try Bo Concept in the highland village area, They have some reasonably priced things that are different than you see at every furniture store around houston.
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Surprised I'm the first to post this revelation (at least I think I am), but the Allen House is slated to be re-developed. Notices were on the doors of 3535 and 3505 Dallas and 3601 Allen Pkwy. June 1 closing.
Mixed used development planned...kind of explains all of the recent structure torn down in the area.
Surely the Chronicle will be on this news.
As for me, well its been home for a bunch of years...
Regent Square will do wonders for The Royalton or will it?
Downtown Condominium Market
in Downtown
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Wow Boa, just had that last week and you're right about the State Street area near the Depaul downtown campus...but I will say that area reminds me of what downtown houston may look like in the future if downtown houston doesn't attract residents/homeowners.
I agree...