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The Pragmatist

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  1. The Pragmatist
    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.
  2. The Pragmatist
    I am in the group of people who never knew nor saw that these lit up. Granted, I was young and was never around this area when these bridges were first built. It would look nice to see them lit up though.
  3. The Pragmatist
    Always good to look back and compare using Google Maps. Tried to get a similar perspective to the one in the pictures above.
  4. The Pragmatist
    Having had a class in that depression bunker this semester reinforces my support for this sentiment.
  5. The Pragmatist
    Reminds me of the album art for Kanye's Graduation. (way after the fact here...lol)
  6. The Pragmatist
    In all honesty, it would be nice to have Sam Houston Park relocated to the southern side of downtown. Also, instead of the oddly sprawling layout of the park, it would be more interesting to have all of those houses situated along a park "boulevard" or sorts to make it feel like an old neighborhood. Then, the land around the main drag could be used as a lawn with nice trees. The way it sits now, SH Park looks somewhat haphazardly laid out.
  7. The Pragmatist
    Despite the insane construction time, this turned out pretty nice.
  8. The Pragmatist
    A shot from earlier.
  9. The Pragmatist
    Don't you know? In a leap year, you celebrate it on the 6th.
  10. The Pragmatist
    Oh man, I forgot which on this was. I was afraid it was that 1980's post modern-meets-Tim Burton tower that was posted a while back.
  11. The Pragmatist
    You should've been on it 45 minutes ago. It took 25 minutes to get from I-45 @ Cullen to Heights Blvd @ I-10. You would've had all the time in the world to marvel at (or maybe even start to hate) the downtown skyline. The joy of Tuesday afternoon.
  12. The Pragmatist
    Despite the logistical and expense nightmare associated with this idea, couldn't one trench or tunnel 59 and then build an elevated set of lanes for 45 directly above 59 to eliminate widening onto open blocks?
  13. The Pragmatist
    A bit off topic, but I kinda wish they would get rid of the golf course at Hermann Park. That space could be more useful to a greater number of people if it was repurposed. The park would also benefit by combining all of the various surface lots into garages with smaller footprints. Of course, all of this is pie-in-the-sky thinking in a world with a limitless supply of money.
  14. The Pragmatist
    Houston sure loves its districts.
  15. The Pragmatist
    Put primer down?
  16. The Pragmatist
    Thanks, urb, for actually getting the article quoted. Doing it on my cell phone was too much while walking down the street. (I'm liable to be the guy who texts his way in front of a high-speed bus)
  17. The Pragmatist
    http://swamplot.com/source-united-airlines-preparing-for-7-mile-flight-to-new-609-main-tower-downtown/2016-02-25/
  18. The Pragmatist
    To an extent, you can call that a problem. However, one must also consider the fact that the main goal of state-funded universities is to service the populace of the state. You can question the merits of the 10% rule, but you shouldn't speak badly of it and then encourage state universities to try to attract out-of-state students over in-state students. One of the main draws for those northeastern states (and California) for out-of-state students is the large number of prestigious private institutions located in their borders. For New York, you have schools such as NYU and Columbia. In Massachusetts, you have Harvard, Boston College, Boston University, MIT, and others. California has Stanford, Caltech, and the Claremont Colleges. Pennsylvania has schools such as Penn, Bryn Mawr, and Carnegie Mellon. The private schools in Texas don't have as much of a draw for out-of-state students. Rice enters into that tier, but few others have as much academic clout in the state. You see, private universities aren't as concerned (nor should they be) with relegating themselves to only the students of the state in which they reside. I'm not saying that the state universities for these states don't also attract higher numbers of out-of-state students, but I'd wager that a larger segment of students leaving the state for college aren't leaving to head to public universities.
  19. The Pragmatist
    I wouldn't be shocked as I am a student at UH right now. I also park off campus down Alabama (hate paying for parking passes), or I ride my bike from the Heights into class through the Second Ward/East Downtown area, so I don't think you're going to give me some giant revelation. I am not trying to disparage the university as I have an interest in it. I am telling it like it is. There is a large group of students who do have parents who care and worry about the safety of their children. It is a concern. There are students living in the Third Ward, sure, and there are students living down Cullen and Lockwood in the Eastwood/Second Ward area, but saying that doesn't mean that there isn't an elevated rate of crime in the area surrounding the university. For this reason, a lot of parents would rather their children live at home with them if they cannot live on campus. When you receive quite a few number of emails of students being robbed at gunpoint or physically assaulted while being robbed, it becomes disconcerting for parents. Beyond all of this, I was addressing the reason why there is a perception of the university as a commuter school, first and foremost. I'm not trying to argue with you about things I know firsthand.
  20. The Pragmatist
    Even with the bevy of on-campus options, UH still gets a "commuter" rap because the area around campus doesn't offer much in the way of student residential options that parents would consider safe given the crime rate in the adjacent areas. It makes it feel less like a community once you step past the edge of campus. With A&M, probably 95% of students live within 10 or 15 minutes of the campus. With UT, there are a host of housing options for students just off campus, particularly on its western edge. For UH, I wouldn't be surprised if fewer than 50% of students are within a 15 minute driving radius of the university, mainly because a lot of students are from Houston and would rather save the money on housing and instead live with their parents. I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing. To be true, the university will undoubtedly see expansion of on-campus and campus-adjacent living options in the near future, especially if the adjoining area can be redeveloped. Redevelopment of Scott Street is a must. Same with the areas along Holman, Alabama, and Elgin up through at least the Rail Trail. Additionally, almost the entire area between 45, Scott, Cullen, and Elgin would need some sort of redevelopment. If some of these planned off campus projects can get started, like the one on the corner of Elgin and Scott, it will be cool to see, and it could spur a clean-up of the areas immediately surrounding the university. If something can develop along Scott that can be likened to Northgate in College Station or the Drag in Austin, it would be most beneficial in creating a college vibe that could benefit both UH and TSU.
  21. The Pragmatist
    Hey, at least Galveston is closer to the CS campus than the other branch campus in Qatar.
  22. The Pragmatist
    According to Wikipedia:
  23. The Pragmatist
    There's no real force that pushes them to go taller. While I'm not in the real estate development trade, there must be a sweet spot with the return on investment for residential towers near 40 floors.
  24. The Pragmatist
    http://on.khou.com/1Xh9mDW Just another story on the HSR line. The comments on their Facebook post for the story are entertaining, to say the least.
  25. The Pragmatist
    Engineering Building Edit: not sure why it rotated, but you get the point
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