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Texasota

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Everything posted by Texasota

  1. Texasota
    Eh, there's no need even for that. More than half the block is a surface parking lot; a well thought-out infill building could slot in there nicely without touching either the church or the apartment building.
  2. Texasota
    Most developers are (understandably) conservative and tend to continue doing what has worked for them in the past, which, in Houston, generally was not mixed-use.
  3. Texasota
    Mark Davis' first sentence freaked me out, but overall this at least *sounds* good so far.
  4. Texasota
    Maybe they should pay taxes if they don't want public input on what they do.
  5. Texasota
    They also could have kept the Clayton facade and built something completely new behind it. Or, hey, just build something new that isn't hideously ugly. The idea that this monstrosity was their best option is absurd.
  6. Texasota
    I mean, these are intended to be relatively affordable. And maybe let's hold off on rendering a final aesthetic judgement until they're actually finished. Finish materials, signage, etc, especially for the GFR (!) will likely make a huge difference.
  7. Texasota
    For some reason I find this comment funny coming from someone with "Tuscany" in their name. At least we seem to be mostly past the whole "Tuscan" phase...mostly...
  8. Texasota
    honestly i would argue for widened sidewalks instead.
  9. Texasota
    That is fantastic!
  10. Texasota
    They could have at least saved and braced the facade, and then just built whatever they wanted behind it.
  11. Texasota
    ew
  12. Texasota
    Well, yes, but it's not downtown... (To be clear, I do still like it, but more as a catalyst for the area in which its proposed)
  13. Texasota
    Huh? It's a great area. Right on the edge of Montrose, in the more built-up part of Midtown, walking distance to the red line... It's a pretty fantastic location.
  14. Texasota
    No ire dude. I just happened to notice the garage in that picture right after posting in the other thread. But speaking to mollusk's point, a school is very different from an industrial operator. Why did HSPVA *just* start building downtown despite the high cost of land? Why are there any public schools in any CBDs anywhere? I'm not going to say that UHD absolutely won't sell this lot, but I would be very surprised.
  15. Texasota
    Yeah, the annual membership makes a huge difference, and, again, it's hard to get a feel for what these systems are really like from the Houston BCycle system as it exists now. There just aren't nearly enough stations for it to be terribly convenient.
  16. Texasota
    I wasn't mimicking anybody - I was referencing the Lyric Center garage thread. And no, I don't really see UH Downtown selling - that building is not very old and their location is increasingly going to be marketable to students for them.
  17. Texasota
    Um, I don't think those classrooms are going anywhere. Oh hey, there's a standalone garage with retail. And it's terrible.
  18. Texasota
    That's giving a *lot* of credit to parking garages, and it's really only true of a few of them. It's more true really of towers with integrated parking garage bases than of standalone or after-the-fact garages. And of course, the best street presence downtown is Main Street, largely because it has the largest collection of historic buildings with street-facing storefronts. Even the newer buildings either have integrated garages or, like the Skyhausen, pushed their garages to the back. The only exception I can think of is the standalone garage at Main and Rusk.
  19. Texasota
    Why not both? I actually think it's useful to think of bikeshare as somewhat distinct from having your own bike, though they both benefit from the same infrastructure. Bikeshare, at least when it's fully built-out, has one big advantage: no planning ahead is required. You just hop on, drop it off, and never worry about that particular bike being messed with or stolen, or where to lock it up, or having it with you whenever you need it. It's really not a replacement for owning your own bike; it's another option for short to medium distance trips (like Uber, bus, light rail, or potentially even walking) that you can take advantage of without having to plan ahead. And yes, it can also integrate incredibly well with longer-distance transit. Maybe you take park-and-ride in from somewhere in the greater suburban hellscape, but the bus drops you off a mile from your office. You jump on a BCycle and you're there in no time. Again, this is all predicated on there being enough station density that you never have to wonder where the nearest station is or worry that there won't be a station close enough to your destination, but, assuming that level of density, bikeshare can be incredibly convenient.
  20. Texasota
    What exactly do they sell? Over-privileged ennui?
  21. Texasota
    For some reason I immediately envisioned an actual little girl covered in soot, urchin-style.
  22. Texasota
    Monarch does love his palm trees.
  23. Texasota
    Again, regardless of whether you like the final result, this is not a restoration of a historic building. All that's left of the old building is the basic structure. Everything else- exterior details, window pattern, brickwork- everything else is not just brand new but noticeably different. That's not to judge whether that choice was right or wrong; it's just worth clarifying that this is no longer a historic building.
  24. Texasota
    There are a few very nice historic buildings with balconies, and it can totally be done well. I think the real rule should don't put tacked-on looking balconies on...well, anything really.
  25. Texasota
    Woo! Let's match our ugliest building!
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