texasboy

I think the city has done plenty enough for downtown.  Don't you see all the rebuilt streets and the infrastructure under them that was put into place?

The city has played the key role in setting downtown up for growth.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes but let us just hope that events such as this do not mark a stopping point for Downtown's development for a long period of time. The approval has put a huge smile on my face that I still cannot wipe off eventhough I read the news about 20 minutes ago, but I hope the best for downtown Houston as far as future developments. This will be a huge step though. It could have been just one block but it is enough to almost be considered another Entertainment Distict. I am grateful for this project and hope many more will come in the near future, but we are still waiting for the day for ground breaking of course.

Lets just hope that since the city officials who have approved this plan do not think they have done enough for downtown. Keep the downtown revitalization coming.

Wow. It truly looks like no man's land. I bet this was considered sprawl back then when we think about how much this area has developed since then.

^^ Ha. That ride does look interesting in that picture but it aint about ____. Try Titan at Six Flags Arlington.

That place is more for little kids, Houston needs a place like Paramont Parks. I would like to see two new parks though, why settle for one?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You'r being unrealistic again. The same reason why we should've settled for one business district.

I think Galveston is the ideal location for an amusement park to replace AstroWorld.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Galveston is becoming touristy enough and soon enough people will forget about the character of the city. I can see Galveston becoming another San Diego if this condo boom keeps up.

The impact it'll have on Houston, I think it should be built near downtown or uptown maybe near downtown they could tear down those rundown houses.

Just my thoughts

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Never ever run for mayor. Please.

a more updated image

i beleive real estate development will be located there for the fannin station of the rail line. goodness 610 is not going to look the same.

Eventhough it was not the most detailed rendering I thought it was pretty bland compared to the renderings posted above. And the fact that renderings usually exaggerate what the building being built will truly look like scares me even more.

I cannot honestly say I am excited about this. Houston has too many edge cities to possibly compete with the center city, specifically downtown. I am not even that excited when I hear of urban projects coming to the Galleria area.

Check out the website and the video.

http://theempirehouston.com/

Please tell me that EDI isnt doing the pavilions now? 

I want  the Laguarda Low design!

http://www.ediarchitecture.com/Projects%20...oard/index.html

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

LOL. Maybe EDI saw this forum, because the rendering is not there anymore.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are these the Laguarda Low designs or are they the ones on the link?

Please tell me that EDI isnt doing the pavilions now? 

I want  the Laguarda Low design!

http://www.ediarchitecture.com/Projects%20...oard/index.html

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah damn.

I'm ready for HAIF to go back to normal.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

amen.

Just look at what Houston has removed from this city. Damn, if only Downtown will ever have that many people again.

I found this posted in the Houston Construction thread on SSP. Anybody have news on this? It looks like a restoration for a mixed use property. Located near the old Central Square Building in Midtown.

We are going to have alot of clothing stores when this place is built.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank goodness. I can spend a whole day in downtown with some clothing stores, a bowling alley, and atleast some decent restaurants.

Look for a major announcement in two weeks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You shouldn've said that. Now I can't wait that long.

I don't think that a lot of this can be attributed to Houston following its own spirit.  There is not a whole to Houston that I have seen that it can be said that this city has that others do not.  A thriving downtown on the bayou where trade occurred and the residents lived used to be this city.  I do not think talking about enacting zoning and learning from other cities causes this city to lose its trailblazing spirit.  Rather, I think Houston has lost that cutting edge spirit.  I go to other cities and see so many more places that are unique to that city and form part of what it means to live in that city...Houston, not so much.

I really want Houston to succeed, but I do not think Philip Johnson would decry zoning.  How is Houston more unique by having suburbs extending 50 miles away and  16 lane highways and traffic all hours of the day because you have to drive everywhere.

Houston was the city of the 20th century.  My fear, and due to the anathema to zoning fed by developers who want to the suburbs and easy and quick turnaround on their investment, is that Houston will become more of symbol of mistakes and missed chances.  There are some in this city who want to change this.  I think Mayor Lee Brown (and I am not usually a fan of his) hit it head on when he said that the city has to consider planning, increasng quality of life, and creating an urban alternative because young college graduates and other more educated persons through out the country do not want to come to Houston. 

I loved growing up here.  I hate that my wife and I consider moving elsewhere because of the flaws here in Houston and the fact that they seem to get worse.  For example widening I45 through the Heights.  The city needs to fight battles to keep Houston from being more and more eaten up by highway with less and less housing in the inner core, lest the only trailblazing this city sees is a greater exodus to further and further suburbs.

Projects like this give me hope that, at least in some areas, Houston is getting its act together and seeing that a strong urban core builds a city, builds its identity, and allows for more than one lifestyle choice in this city.

Suzerain

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

amen

Dude, with you, it seems that if Dallas has it/is getting it, then Houston must have one, too.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Exactly. It gets annoying after awhile.

I thought They where trying to change that by adding new stuff to the park. Whats that park by the medical center? Do they have one? If not it would be a good idea.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hermann Park which pretty much has everything. It is just more spread out, that is why it looks like there are not that many pedestrians in the area.

Yes I have, about 2 years ago was the last time.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well you should know that it is something you would not draw on a blueprint but something that comes into its own style over a period of years.

Why not? If I had the money??? Say I was Bill Gates with billions of dollars, I sure would develope an area like this in Houston, and a smaller in my home town Bryan/College Station. You can't say because of zoning, because Houston does not have it. Just imagine developing an area in the style of old rowhouses with big windows displaying whats in side. It would be very cool. I would also try to get high end stores that are not in the Galleria to come to my development. I am telling you this could work! What I want to know is how do developers get the money to fund projects like this? Because this is exactly what I want to do with my life be a developer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I guess you have never been to Newbury Street in Boston. Places like that evolve and are not built overnight. The way you are speaking, you sound like you would build an Atlantic Station type development which is something I was looking to see the outcome of but looks very sterile and one of those built overnight communities. Retail along Newbury Street was incorporated into actual neighborhoods that were already there, kind of like what downtown Houston is doing now, not built at one time to make for a generic, souless, cookie cutter type atmosphere. That's why I am sometimes afraid of what you want to see done in Houston sometimes, because it may not be the outcome that you are looking for.