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HeightsGuy

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Everything posted by HeightsGuy

  1. HeightsGuy
    Well, I for one hate the walk Continental makes you take now that terminals C&E share the same baggage and car lot pickup. Making people take a 15 minute walk from a brand-new gate through a maze of walkways, escalators and construction after a full work day in another city and 3 hour flight does not make for a happy customer.
  2. HeightsGuy
    There was an article about this a few months ago in the Chronicle. It's retail. I drive by there every day. Looks like they are building a bank drive-thru on one side of it.
  3. HeightsGuy
    Gary, you're using present tense in your sentiment. My friends from Austin typically use the past tense, as in they hate what happened to the City. Austin was one of my stomping grounds back in the 80's. It lost it's small college-town charm long ago. As much as I still love the city, you couldn't make me live there at twice my current salary. The traffic will only continue to get worse, unlike Houston you can't simply draw a line between two points and build a road. They are pretty locked in to the West, and have no other alternatives for north-south corridors. I think eventually Guadalupe Street will have to be widened, which will be a kick in the teeth for the old hippie part of the city I love.
  4. HeightsGuy
    Like I said, some statistics are better left to experts to decipher, and I believe the hospital study cited at the beginning is one of them, but the below study on immunization rates is a dfferent story. Unlike a study that takes samples of data that is volunteered, this one is cold stark numbers: For 2004, city rates near bottom in baseline shots for toddlers in urban areas 713 to 214, if you want to talk about something health-wise not going good in Houston, here's your chance.
  5. HeightsGuy
    Read what I said 713_to_214, I said "some" statistics are better left to experts to decifer, not "all". Since you believe this study shows how bad the med center is, why don't you tell us the reasons you believe this study shows a weakness in Houston's hospitals?
  6. HeightsGuy
    713 to 214, Boston is ranked 30th when it comes to pneunmonia. Using your line of reasoning, does that mean Harvard Medical Center sucks too? Some statistics are better left to experts to decipher, and I believe this is true here. Many statistics on hospitals are dubious unless you dig a little further. For example, MD Anderson has a high death rate when compared to other hospitals. Sounds shocking since it's a world-renowned hospital until you consider its area of excellence is treating cancer. People around the world with nothing left to lose go there as a last hope. [Edit] When you treat the sickest of the sick (as the med center does), of course the statistics are going to show you in a bad light unless you dig deeper. [Edit] Lastly, since you're post seems to be more a dig on Houston than anything else, I'll add that now you're in Dallas, maybe you should be more concerned with the rate of complications in cosmetic surgery and leave the real medicine to us.
  7. HeightsGuy
    Thanks Hizzy, fixed it, now everyone is wondering what we are talking about.... (meant for that smiley face)
  8. HeightsGuy
    Um, if someone called me out of the blue that is either a) not one of my customers, or b ) not one of my potential customers, and starts asking me questions about the direction the company I work for is going to take regarding potential projects, I am quite certian I would be a very rude person to talk with as well........
  9. HeightsGuy
    The Park Shops (and Foleys) will benefit tremendously by this. Neither currently are destination retail centers, rather they are convenience retail centers, meaning people already in downtown (mostly because of work) go there. People do not leave their house to go downtown to Foleys/Park Shops. Add this place, and both Foleys and The Park Shops will benefit due to it being a "destination" retail area, meaning people will come to the Pavilions to shop, but once they are parked and shopping there is a good chance they will continue their shopping experience by strolling over to Foleys. Think of Dillards next to the Galleria. Without the Galleria, Dillards would get much less business.
  10. HeightsGuy
    Another Houston Visionary: The guys that founded Trees for Houston. I don't know the history (perhaps someone can give us a quick recap), but I do know that they have planted a whole lot of trees.
  11. HeightsGuy
    Another thing to remember is that the people you may think of as Houston's historic visionaries, such as MD Anderson, Roy Cullen, The Hoggs, Jesse Jones, and Esperson were all fabulously rich. We don't have as many of those types around in Houston these days, and the ones we do have aren't quite ready to be immortalized. Give Tilman and Matress Mac a few more decades. A lot of people didn't like Roy Cullen in his time either, now half of UH is named after him. I don't think we've heard the last of the de Menils either. Didn't one of them just sell the most expensive house in the US in The Hamptons?
  12. HeightsGuy
    That's the sad part in all this. Maybe it didn't suit their needs anymore, but the building on Richmond would have become a historic structure in due time if given the chance to grow old. I hurt for the mid-century buildings that line Richmond from Kirby to Greenway, I think within the next 10 years or so most will be gone. It's a shame. There's a whole lot of people out there that would feint at the mere mention of a 19th century building being torn down, but would hand you a hammer when it comes to destroying mid-century structures such as the current HISD HQ. (sorry to take a right turn from the original topic)
  13. HeightsGuy
    I've changed my mind on this a few times, but now I'm in favor of retro-fitting Delmar: 1. Much cheaper than retro-fitting Astrodome 2. 20,000 sounds just right to start with 3. Reliant has proved itself to be a wonderful venue for soccer when 70k seats are needed, it's there whenever you need it 4. If MLS explodes here and 20,000 isn't enough, it can always be moved to Reliant
  14. HeightsGuy
    It's the new HISD headquarters: HISD HQ
  15. HeightsGuy
    Oh, and yes, I remember it well. During the 80's and early 90's, it was one of the few places in Houston that offered decent live music. It was the Pig and Whistle for a long time, then reopened for a while as The Pig Live. It had a pretty happening scene, lot's of college kids, good music. The crowd I ran with would barhop between there, The Alehouse and Gingerman. You would run into the basically the same demographic at all three. It kinda died just as all the clubs started opening in shepherd plaza and never reopened to take advantage of the influx of nightclub goers.
  16. HeightsGuy
    hmm, the pig finally met the wrecking ball.... I always thought the owner of the place really lost a bundle during the shepherd plaza heyday since it sat there the entire time while all the other buildings packed them in. Oh well, the whole area ought to be a great example for downtown boosters as what happened at shepherd plaza could happen downtown. That 20's-30's crowd is fickle, they like to go there now but they can change their mind the minute a new area starts to sprout trendy nightclubs.
  17. HeightsGuy
    Dream, there's only 12 federal reserve banks (aka districts) in the country. It's the way it's set up. Our area (roughly Texas, parts of NM and LA) is one of the 12. Dallas was the largest city in the approximate geographic center of the district when it was set up. Hence Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. If I'm not mistaken all this was set up close to 100 years ago back when Houston was just a speck of a city anyway and wouldn't have had any chance of getting it. Galveston probably would have had a better shot as a port city.
  18. HeightsGuy
    JT, the park is 12 acres, not 1200. I don't think a jogging trail is going to do much good. OK, I may have been a little harsh yesterday, but I still feel too much money is going to be pumped into this little patch that could be better served elswhere. It's not like we have a bottomless pot of gold to spend on parks in HTown. Half our parks are neglected, and park funding seems to get smaller every budget. I do remember times I spent there, I remember a Bob Marley fest or two, and some other events. I think to make this park shine, "less-is-more" should be the operating word. Lots of green space, less concrete, not too much shrubery, a gazebo, some park benches, with a few tables. basically, we need to hire MidtownCoog for the design.
  19. HeightsGuy
    KJB, I can't argue 100% with you because I don't know the facts, but I live in Shady Acres, and there is some definite activity going on at the old KMart, contractor trailers, etc. I could understand if we were talking new development, but that site is already built out and was just looking for tenents to rent out the space. I don't think the city or flood district can prevent that.
  20. HeightsGuy
    Midtown, I am about as "Green" as you can get, but have to agree with you on this one. A whole lot of public money is being (and going to be) spent in this little area being hailed as the future "jewel" of DT parks. Have we already forgotten the hundreds of acres of land between Allen Parway and Memorial? I am all for parks and such, but it all seems a little smarmy to me, what and who is gaining here?
  21. HeightsGuy
    And, being a resident of Shady Acres, it excites me knowing that one day I could ride my bike down a dedicated trail from my house to the area and on to downtown for work.
  22. HeightsGuy
    The rails-to-trails for that ROW is discussed here: http://www.publicworks.cityofhouston.gov/b...ailtotrails.htm The page says the design phase is scheduled for completion in June.
  23. HeightsGuy
    I am one of the target lovers that looks at this plat and says "why?", but they haven't come close to breaking ground, a lot can change in the eventual design between now and then even if the big pieces are set. One thing is for sure though, there is a lot more land around this site that could potentially be flipped from light industrial to other uses. I predict a lot of activity in that area over the next 10 years, and I think it could become the natural choice for a concentrated retail center ala Rice Village. Before you laugh me off take a look at demographic shift in the general area: Heights has always been there and has starved for this for a long time indeed, plus the activity in the 6th ward, West End, etc. and you start to see why Target is going in in the 1st place.
  24. HeightsGuy
  25. HeightsGuy
    I keep going back and forth on the issue of what to do with the space. I am a preservationist at heart, but I do realize there are significant issues to preserving the 'Dome. I love the 'Dome the way it is, I loved it before and after they added the people movers, and I am still mad about the whole scoreboard thing (which, contrary to popular opinion, was not entirely Bud Adam's doing). Any idea for re-purposing the structure may significantly change it. Be it a hotel, museum, whatever; whoever takes it over would probably paint the thing bright orange or something else to ruin the outward appearance. I understand the need to renovate the interior space, but please leave the outside as little changed as possible. To accomodate that, I think the only thing that makes sense is for the city to keep it and turn it into a parking garage. That way, it still "looks" like the 'Dome. Think about the structure across from Foley's downtown. Right now it's a garage, but from a distance you would never know. And for most people, the 'Dome is known by it's outward appearance, like a statue, not for the colorful seats and plastic grass.
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