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The Pragmatist

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Posts posted by The Pragmatist

  1. With so many of you on the "Progressive" side of the spectrum, I suppose my opinions on LBJ, the collective interpretation of LBJ's legacy, and the sentiment expressed by intencity77 would be much-maligned here. That said, while I'm certainly no fan of Johnson, I don't see how a privately-funded statue, particularly of a president, is something out of the ordinary.

  2. 2 hours ago, Triton said:

     

    You actually surprised me. Usually you're the one that posts the facts or at least reasonable statements here on this forum. It has to be fair that mass transit has at least helped alleviate congestion by reducing the amount of extra cars being on the highways, right? Travelling around the country and taking mass transit where I go, I just can't imagine how much more hectic the Bay Area would be without their subway system, the DC metro without MetroRail or even the extra taxis there would be going from Denver International to downtown Denver. In each case when we are going to each respective city during the morning commute, I've seen hundreds of workers hoping aboard to go to work downtown. I mean, say the year is 2050... is the alternative to have 30 lane highways inside of 610 that carry people, out to say the next Katyville... somewhere out in Columbus, Texas? Seriously, who knows how sprawling the city will be in 2050... can mass transit seriously not be a factor in this city when we see how to actually execute it well in so many different cities just within our own nation?

     

    I don't necessarily think that's true. I think there's a maximum level of traffic and commute time that the average commuter is willing to tolerate. The congestion will generally reach that point, and there will be a break-even point where any inflows of traffic would be balanced by diminutions due to avoidance of the congestion. I think that, once roadways reach capacity, the inbound destinations would have lessened growth without added capacity, with outlying areas tending to take that growth. Mass transit just allows for added capacity to move people into the central destination. As opposed to, let's say 700,000 people going into Manhattan on a given work day with only the option of automobiles, we get 1.5 million (just making up numbers here merely for illustrative purposes) people going into Manhattan. The average commute gets to that upper bound and then the inbound commuting population levels off. The commute time issue applies to mass transit as well. The average person isn't going to wait for an hour in line to get onto overcrowded trains. They'll just find something closer to where they live or relocate to somewhere where their desired commute can be achieved. If you don't provide the additional options for inbound commuting, suburban job growth will occur to respond to the demand for lower commute times. 

     

    Shortened version: I think the line that mass transit alleviates congestion isn't actually true. Mass transit just allows for added capacity to permit additional growth of certain areas.

    • Like 1
  3. 2 hours ago, mfastx said:

     

    Chicago's urban area might not be growing as fast as Houston's, but it is not losing population.  It was at 8.5 mil in 2010 and is at about 9.2 mil in 2017.  Houston's is about 5 mil.  Official city limit populations are arbitrary and therefore meaningless if that's what you're going by.  

     

    I'm not here to argue about the transit systems. I just wanted to correct your assertion that Chicagoland isn't seeing a population decline.

     

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-census-population-loss-met-20170322-story.html

     

    Quote

    The Chicago metropolitan area as a whole lost 19,570 residents in 2016, registering the greatest loss of any metropolitan area in the country. It's the area's second consecutive year of population loss: In 2015, the region saw its first decline since at least 1990, losing 11,324 people.

    By most estimates, the Chicago area's population will continue to decline in the coming years. Over the past year, the Tribune surveyed dozens of former residents who've packed up in recent years and they cited a variety of reasons: high taxes, the state budget stalemate, crime, the unemployment rate and weather. Census data released Thursday suggests the root of the problem is in the city of Chicago and Cook County: The county in 2016 had the largest loss of any county nationwide, losing 21,324 residents.

    Experts say the pattern goes beyond just the Chicago region. For the third consecutive year, Illinois lost more residents than any other state in 2016, losing 37,508 people, according to U.S. census data released in December.

     

  4. 17 minutes ago, Montrose1100 said:

     

    It makes absolute sense to have these type of eateries in the convention area. Tourist hot spots cater to the stereotypical tourist. Why pay twice as much for an Olive Garden meal in Times Square or waste your time in a Ripley's? I cannot answer that, but people like it, and good for them. If there's going to be a place for that, might as well be Downtown, and might as well be by the GRB.

     

    If someone wants "better" options or where us locals will go, they will turn to the internet and find it. Unless they know someone whom lives here.

     

    But for the love of all that is holy stop chanting for an Observation Tower.

    What about a restaurant-filled observation tower shaped like the Oilers logo with a driving range all on top of the convention center? (Oh...and the observation tower has a skywalk from a new Ritz-Carlton on the site of a newly-razed Embassy Suites)

    • Like 9
  5. Heh. Maybe they should just use the Hermann Park golf course for an amusement park. It's about 125 acres in a centralized location with great access to transit. ;) Slightly more on topic, the good news for redevelopment of this lot is that Clinton Drive may be repaved to where it doesn't feel like a 4x4 Wrangler is a necessity.

    • Like 3
  6. I don't mind the grass strip if it has those orderly-looking trees planted in it. In five or so years, as they get larger, they will provide a far more valuable thing: shade for both the sidewalk and the street, something that cannot be understated in its importance during a Houston summer.

    • Like 4
  7. 3 minutes ago, art vandelay said:

    I applied to be a crane operator for this building, but they wouldn't hire me because I'm afraid of heights...talk about picky.

    I can't think that the Art Vandelay would be afraid of anything.

  8. There used to be an observation deck on the 51st floor that faced towards the west. It was later closed to the public, and I think the space has been leased out. The only observation deck I can think of around town isn't really even in the city: the San Jacinto Monument.

    • Like 1
  9. From an email I got this morning:

     

    Quote

    Texas A&M University is planning to create an innovative engineering medical school at Houston Methodist Hospital to educate a new kind of doctor, pending appropriate approvals, who will invent transformational technology for health care, officials announced today.

    Fifty physician engineers would begin their studies in Fall 2017 at the new Texas A&M University Engineering Medicine School (EnMed) at Houston Methodist Hospital. EnMed would be an integrated educational and research medical school with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship and a part of the Texas A&M College of Medicine’s MD program and the College of Engineering. EnMed would initially hire 25 faculty members and utilize 75,000 square feet of instructional and research space in the Texas Medical Center.

     

    “The medicine of tomorrow will not be practiced in the way that it is today. Medicine is not just about biology, it requires technology development,” said John Sharp, Chancellor of The Texas A&M University System. “This school would not only train doctors, but allow them to invent new products and take their inventions to the marketplace. EnMed would expand the health care technology market at the Texas Medical Center. The potential economic impact to the region would be huge.

     

    • Like 1
  10. 1 hour ago, Montrose1100 said:

    The one cool, family friendly thing to do Downtown... 

     

    Oh well, Wells Fargo is still accessible. Could always pretend to be interested in booking an event on top of 1 Shell Plaza for a "tour" and sneak some pics.

    http://www.chron.com/homes/commercial/article/Some-of-Houston-s-best-views-are-going-private-4735971.php

    Quote

    At Wells Fargo Plaza, 1000 Louisiana, two-story "sky lobbies" on the 34/35th and 57/58th floors are no longer open to the public.

    Did they reverse course on that?

    • Like 1
  11. 13 minutes ago, cspwal said:

    Maybe they don't understand why anyone would ever want to go to Dallas and would prefer it to go to Austin instead :P

    If TCR can gain some traction with this, it would be interesting to see them branch a line off in the future from the Dallas-Houston line's jaunt down 290 and have it go on out to Austin. The biggest hurdles going in that direction would be getting through Brenham, Giddings, and east Austin. It would certainly be nice to have a connection out that way. Put a Fairfield-area station for switching between the lines and to get the western and northern suburbs connected (due to the proximity of 99), and you're golden.

    • Like 1
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