arrodiii
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Posts posted by arrodiii
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NoDo? Are you kidding me?
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The windows are still boarded up at Macondo.
Did they replace the door at Hearsay?
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...why certain businesses downtown have failed because there is nothing creating competition to fight for a place in the market. ...
So, this is why Logan's bar closed down and why the Fying Saucer has been able to stay around? Or even why Ziggy's failed in their DT location, because there wasn't enough options?
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What does this all mean??????????????
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I have lived in downtown since around 2002-2003 and a simple "No" or a shake of the head usually suffices for being an answer to panhandlers or just plain ignore them and continue walking. I really dont think that I have ever had one continue on after I do any of these. Sure they may curse me out or call me a liar, but I am also still going to where I was going in the first place. If you really are intent on getting by without geting "bummed" or asked to help someone out with bus fare, food, drink, etc., it's not hard to, especially if you are used to living in a real urban environment.
And yes, I walk everywhere (gave up my car back in 2000); no there are no "real" grocery stores in downtown proper; the tunnels were made for commuting from one end of dt to the other in the summer without getting heat stroke, and dt should not have two movie theaters without the proper number of residents living in downtown to be able to sustain both.
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I'm on the fence about that...I would prefer a retailer get the space as opposed to another movie theater in downtown
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As for the drinks, for happy hour prices they are barely acceptable, for regular prices they certainly are not.
What were the HH prices? Not the $3 Wells, $3 beer, $5 Wine mentioned earlier? What was so unacceptable about their regular prices?
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That somewhat misstates the news. They have announced a new locatino in Regent Square, but not as a replacement for the the Louisiana location. The article says they are still committed to the Midtown market as well.
I wouldn't say that it's a misstatement:
"Alamo Drafthouse had previously announced plans for a Midtown location at a proposed development on Louisiana, but Michaelsen said his group now is "reviewing alternate sites in Midtown for an Alamo and is committed to bringing the concept to that market."
And earlier in the article:
"...just announced that it will open a third location in the Inner Loop mixed-use project Regent Square, where it will also show outdoor movies in a park there."
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Apparently its no longer going to be on Louisiana but will now be in Regent Square
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Tmobile - decent service on 38th and 45th floors. Very spotty in the tunnels
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I find bums to be less of an inconvenience than groups of people who walk side-by-side and block 90% of the sidewalk, even when others are trying to get by. I bet there will be more of those people using this park than bums.
This is so true - especially on the weekends at DG when I am trying to walk my dog.
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Good deal - its a nice location - hope they can make it
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I was passing through downtown today. Did Redcat re-open off Franklin over there by where Pink Monkey used to be? I never heard of them opening.
I tried to go in but it was locked. I couldn't tell if they were in the process of re-opening or if they were just closed outside of regular business hours.
Yes, they reopened there a while ago - was at Brewey Tap a couple nights ago and people where in and out of there
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Well, there is that Subway located next to the Shipley Donuts underneath the IBC at MckInney and Main
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The Houston Chronicle's article on it - for those who don't have a subscription to the paid articles:
Landmark Store Leaves Rich Legacy By David Kaplan
January 4, 2013
Traveling by car and bus, people rich and poor came to visit the department store at 1110 Main. They'd shop, eat, explore and take in the buzz of a city.
But Houston's way of life has changed and the store - originally Foley's and now Macy's - is no longer a hub of activity. The city's vast retail landscape now includes malls, shopping centers and big-box stores scattered everywhere. Other Macy's around town do far better business.
Now, the once-celebrated downtown department store may meet the wrecking ball. Its parent company announced Thursday that it will shutter the store and five others nationwide.
If the building is demolished, it will leave behind a rich legacy.
In decades past, "retail shopping was the glue that held downtown together," said Bruce C. Webb, professor at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston.
National attention
Going to a downtown department store was "a bigger deal" than shopping in a mall is today, Webb said. It involved "seeing everything in the world" in the store, eating, possibly taking in a movie nearby, walking around downtown and looking in other store windows, he said.
And Webb recalls that the Foley's windows "were wonderful at Christmas."
Micheal Boddy, HP Staff Houston Post files
11/19/1984 - Foley's brings back animated windows for the Christmas season. Pedestrians pass by the "Land of Snow" scene from the Nutcracker Ballet. Each of the four windows on Main Street displays a different stage set with animated characters from the Nutcracker Ballet. Micheal Boddy / Houston Post
"The thought of it being torn down is scandalous to me, considering the quality of the building and its cultural history," Webb said. Noted architect Kenneth Franzheim designed the building and worked with legendary designer Raymond Loewy.
When it opened in 1947, the downtown Foley's got the nation's attention. Some 200,000 people showed up for the grand opening, an event covered by national media from the New Yorker to Popular Science.
"The downtown Foley's was considered a futuristic store that would reshape downtown retail merchandising," said Rice University history professor John Boles.
A modern marvel
People marveled at a windowless, air- conditioned structure with conveyer belts running throughout the store and into the parking garage, he said.
"It was so large and innovative and people were stunned it would be built in a city they didn't know much about," Boles said. "It was Houston's first big iconic building and helped shape an image of Houston as a bigger, bolder, futuristic kind of city."
The Shamrock Hotel and Astrodome would reinforce that image, he said.
Beginning in 1950, Santa would land at Union Station and ride his sleigh to the downtown Foley's building to kick off the Foley's Thanksgiving Parade, a 44-year-long tradition.
The downtown store, like the city around it, would be affected by social change. For example, in 1970 a group of women marched to Foley's to protest its male-only Men's Grill, one of several eateries in the store.
'It's terrible'
On Thursday, customers were disappointed to hear of the store's closing. "It's terrible," said Sherry Gross, an executive assistant who lives in the suburbs but works downtown. "I think it's sad a city this large is losing its only big retail store downtown - the only place for the downtown worker to shop, unless you're Forever 21."
Retiree Gladys Redmond began shopping in Foley's decades ago when she'd ride to downtown to transfer buses for her job. She is still a customer.
"This is where I go," she said. "I'll just find it in Macy's." Redmond uses MetroLift for transportation now, and isn't sure which Macy's she'll try next.
She was at the store looking out the window with her great-granddaughter. "I used to take her father here, too," Redmond recalled.
Lost landmarks
Five Houston landmarks that fell to the wrecking ball:
Metropolitan Theater, 1973: One of downtown's grand, 1920s-style movie houses, the Metropolitan had an Egyptian theme.
Shamrock Hotel, 1987: Oilman Glenn McCarthy's hotel brought Hollywood star power to the city, but financial problems proved insurmountable.
Fourth Ward, 1990s: Shotgun-style houses in this traditionally African-American neighborhood west of downtown yielded to upscale townhomes and apartments over a period of time.
AstroWorld, 2005: Houstonians of a certain age still lament the demolition of this amusement park that operated off the South Loop for 37 years.
Prudential Building, 2012: Stylish 1950s-era office building featured curved walls paneled with tropical wood, copious amounts of Chiaro marble and an Olympic-size swimming pool.
Source: Chronicle archives, architectural historian Stephen Fox, Greater Houston Preservation Alliance's book, "Houston Deco"
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Apparently they want to put an office building there
http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2013/01/downtown-macys-to-close/
Sorry if you all knew that - I didn't remember reading that the first time
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Hopefully they will stick to downtown proper, but for some reason I doubt that they will.
And if they do, I really, really hope they do not neglect the new store like they have done with this Macy's - it's sad to think that they thought they will be able to meet any sort of expectations by neglecting the store
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Does anyone have any pictures of the site now? I was down there for the demo, but I ran from the dust and haven't had a chance to see what was left.
Here is one that I took immediately after the dust cleared. I meant to take some yesterday but forgot on my way home. I can try and get some if you want - I walk past it every morning/afternoon on the way to and from work.
And Purdueenginerd - I think that it may be because Norton Rose and Fulbright & Jaworski merged to create a very huge law firm. Only specualtion but that is the only reason I can think as to why the Mail would cover it
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Here's my video, for good measure:
I was to the left of you near the intersection. Were you the one with the tripod?
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Northbound Traffic is closed on Crawford to Preston and Southbound traffic is closed on LaBranch starting at Congress. In front of the white builiding (forgot the name) in betwen Crawford and LaBranch on Preston is where I will be to watch
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I see that a few cops have been outside the Inn at the Ballpark since this morning. I'm going to walk my dog around there in about half an hour and see if they will let me know what the perimeter will be. I'll be heading out there around 1215-ish, probably wearing an old Eagles shirt and some shorts
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I might be with dog in tow or by with some friends. I was thinking of the same parking lot sevfiv, though I was thinking off of Crawford since MMP area mught be accessible (the diamond with the statues of Bagwell and Biggio)
As for identifying markers for us, I might be game
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I will be there too!
*Edit* just saw the Chronicle article stating the time
Springhill Suites Hotel At 914 Dallas St.
in Downtown
Posted
This sucks...kind of hard to bring new residents to downtown when there are no apartments/lofts for them to live.
GL Daniel - let us know what they do with the remainder of your lease