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The Great Hizzy!

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  1. The Great Hizzy!
    I buy 'em food rather than give 'em money, and I'm "happy" to say that most of the guys/women appreciate the food. The rare few who don't won't see anything from me again. Simple.
  2. The Great Hizzy!
    At the risk of REALLY getting off topic, I'll repeat that I don't think METRO should have anything to do with road building/repairs unless it ties directly into one of their capital projects (such as a new park & ride lot, transit center or rail line). Speaking of which, the West Loop Park & Ride lot in Meyerland has, at times, had an issue with flooding. I thought the redesign of the lot was supposed to fix this--or was the previous lot so flood proned that what exists now really IS an upgrade?
  3. The Great Hizzy!
    A lot o glass--probably too much--but I like the non-traditional styling, and the rooftop affects are charming, IMO. I'm hoping that the lower half isn't actually grayish in color, though.
  4. The Great Hizzy!
    I think Meyerland is the antithesis of that older first rung rule, though. Retail has been reborn, people are moving INTO the area and changing/renovating homes rather than the inverse and the homeowner association is strong. Not much is cast in stone for eternity but I don't think Meyerland's in any immediate danger.
  5. The Great Hizzy!
    The new pop-up ads are obviously paying off nicely.
  6. The Great Hizzy!
    I know people will cringe at the sound of this but I'm surpised this hasn't been talked about more or pushed in the past, especially with the success of similar projects on FM 1960 at SH 249 and I-45. The biggest contributor to traffic in Uptown is the poor light synchronization at Post Oak and at I-610, and especially at I610. If you adjust the lighting time for one you inexorably ruin it for the other. The problem with building a "super street" on Westheimer @ 610 is a matter of space--unless you're talking about gutting the parking lot near Dillards and nixing the Shell station. As for Westheimer @ Chimney Rock, I don't think it's necessary. The traffic volume isn't nearly as high.
  7. The Great Hizzy!
    LOL! That's an interesting way of putting it, and I don't entirely disagree.
  8. The Great Hizzy!
    Frankly, other than the N-C in Dallas and the trenched part of the SW Freeway (and maybe the completed section of the West Loop renovation from the SW Freeway to Braeswood), TXDot has screwed most of the state with regard to freeway design and asthetics.
  9. The Great Hizzy!
    I've heard the same, TNJ, but it's been a while since any kind of work has been done on the building. It's pretty much been sitting dormant with that construction fencing around it for close to two years, I believe.
  10. The Great Hizzy!
    I'm not sure if cheap is the reason entirely. I think someone posted a while back that there was an ordinance passed some years ago that limited what could be put on downtown highrises in terms of lighting and marquees. This may not entirely be the reason why there is lighting on Houston's central skyscrapers compared to some others but I think that it's played a part in it. I think the lighting on BOA tower is more a case of being a bit too understated rather than not having ANY lighting. There is lighting in the niches of the corners at the higher elevations but the lighting is very subdued. Stronger lighting in those areas would bring that building out. As for the former Enron Towers, the newer tower should have more consistently strong lighting now that it has a legitimate, longterm owner. I think the biggest calamity is the absence of lighting on the Texaco Heritage Tower, Chase Tower and Chevron Towers. Their heights and positioning within the skyline screams for enhanced lighting at night. If the Chevron Tower were lit in the same fashion as the new 5 Houston Center, I think that alone would improve the skyline's night visibility. As for the topic at hand, I have to believe that the dome will be lit in some fashion but the question for me is will it be modest like most of the other buildings downtown or will it be a bit more extravagant?
  11. The Great Hizzy!
    I like the building's design (given it's purpose and its function) and I like its proximity to the lake but the parking lot looks scatterbrained, even for a parking lot. I'm also thinking that the western portion of the complex could've done with a parking structure to help maximize space. That way, you could have a green feature in front of the building (due to the reduced parking space) that makes the complex look more appealing overall.
  12. The Great Hizzy!
    ^^^^ LOL
  13. The Great Hizzy!
    I can verify that the Midtown Randall's does pretty good business during the middle of the day (saym, 9:00 AM to about 5:00 PM). Lots of downtown and Midtown workers go there for lunch and surprisingly, a lot of the local residents choose that time to do their shopping. They also appear to be fairly busy on Saturday afternoons. Frankly, from what I've seen, there are a lot of grocery stores that are pretty empty after nine o'clock in the evening. There's a Randall's near my cousin's off Fry Road in Katy and that place is almost always empty. Same with the Fiesta on Hwy 6 @ Clay Road near my girlfriend's place.
  14. The Great Hizzy!
    On one end of Main Street, you've got people breathing scented oxygen, on the other end you've got people tasting flavored tobacco through a straw. Trendy, trendy, trendy...
  15. The Great Hizzy!
    There sure is. And I think 27 makes a good point. Psychologically, people tend to shut off additions if they're hidden behind an established structure or unit. If you're just browsing, you may not think enough to keep moving through a store and around display cases, registers and whatnot. You may just decide that the mall is "over" and turn back around. I think you could still do it but you would probably need to change the configuration of Neiman Marcus as well.
  16. The Great Hizzy!
    Jefe sucks. People I've talked to who go there say that they don't ever feel like it's set up to have any staying power. It's like the owner runs a name out there six months to a year, does some "light" renovations to the interior and then closes up only to change again with a new gimmick and name (which might explain why they never do any work to the upstairs or put up any longterm signange/marquees).
  17. The Great Hizzy!
    I agree. Unless the lighting and sheetmetal are provocative, the building isn't all that distinguishable. But I didn't expect the design to be eccentric anyway, which, overall is probably a good thing.
  18. The Great Hizzy!
    The fact that it is a finalist is a good thing, regardless. Say that Tampa or Atlanta were to be chosen, that would give Houston a stronger stake in the 2010 or 2011 game. However, 2009 has been stated as a likely date for the game to return to Houston. The Chronicle's John McClain (the Chron's lead NFL journalist) has stated this repeatedly since the SB ended earlier this year.
  19. The Great Hizzy!
    At a minimum, I like the speculation for the property, and the location is great. Talk about developing an actual "retail district." The idea for Main Street Square is to make it a central retail/public gathering space. If you can make the adjacent blocks come alive with retail space and services, then you truly have an opportunity to make MSSq what it was intended to be. I always envisioned a pair of 850-950 foot towers with spires connected by a parking structure (with retail) for those three blocks in question but this is great, too.
  20. The Great Hizzy!
    I agree with Mancuso. If there's room enough for the tigers to "breathe," so to speak, then I'm fine with everything.
  21. The Great Hizzy!
    Heh. Although, I think that's become an issue as well. More than a few people think that some of the early success is staring to get to the Texans players this year, including David Carr, who seemed to welcome all the attention that his "hair" received to start the season. And I do think the Texans have issues with playcalling. Meanwhile, it's pretty cool that every TV announcer who comes to Reliant Stadium to call a Texans game starts the broadcast off with something like, "Welcome to beautiful Reliant Stadium" or "Welcome to the brand new showpiece of the NFL, ladies & gentlement, the magnificent Reliant Stadium." It would really be nice if they said that during a Texans playoff game. Heh.
  22. The Great Hizzy!
    Unfortunately, it speaks to the lack of responsible tenants on that block who would not allow people to loiter and who would be around to clean up during off-business hours. That's a key reason why I can't wait for renovation of the West Bldg to commence in some form so that more responsible tenants are in place.
  23. The Great Hizzy!
    A couple of Patriots fans that I talked with SB week said that the facade to Grasshopper was one of the more charming things on Main Street. I've personally felt that it was trying too hard to look Irish/Scottish but apparently it's not as obnoxious in its intent as some other "attempts" around the country. Thoughts?
  24. The Great Hizzy!
    I walk past Jefe at least once a week and every time I just shake my head. While renovations are going on to buildings next to and across from it, the painted over plywood looks more and more rag-tag. At the very least, they could've spurng for an actual sign with lighting like what's up at Suede. It's also sad that they've done ZERO work on the building's second level. To more sophisticated customers, this speaks to the quality of the bar in general, and that's not good for business when you've got several more options downtown.
  25. The Great Hizzy!
    Here's a specific criticism: We changed a blocking scheme from a traditional straight-on style to what's called a zone blocking scheme. The problem is, in order to be a good zone blocking team, you need to have quick, agile offensive linemen. We don't have that. We were better at straight-on blocking. As a result, we're not running the ball as well.
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