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11 hours ago, por favor gracias said:

 

LOL just got back home after literally sitting on Franklin St for 25 minutes trying to get to 59 North this evening.

 

Not that I won't vote for Metro's plan, and it will absolutely help considering the lack of alternatives, but I know I'm not the only Houstonian who would like to see a less intrusive, faster service transit system here that can really move people. It would have to be either elevated or submerged to be that efficient, and I'm not sure how feasible a subway network around, say, the inner loop area would work, but we do already have a mini-sized one at IAH, plus lots of other underground development in downtown and of course the Galleria. Is that "as far as we can dig?" I'm all for more light rail, I just hate how much our version of it interferes with street/pedestrian traffic. It creates almost as much automobile traffic as it alleviates. If subways aren't feasible, then elevate it. There's going to be 8 million people here in the next 7-8 years and 10 million by 2040....and I really don't want to imagine what traffic is going to be like if we still don't have these kinds of alternatives by then, much less moving forward.

 

Sorry for staying off topic.

I think part of what makes Metros plan great is they focused on making it affordable and they made routes that they felt could be permanent and took advantage of having rail run straight to Hobby. And best of all the way they focused on paying for it allows the city to build quickly with no affect to tax payers. That’s a huge deal. The rest of the system is upgradeable. From that point I think Houston will be more accepting for commuter rail to the burbs. What’s interesting is the suburbs, areas that at one time fought public transit, are wanting service. This is a good time to be a Houstonian and see this city develop .

Edited by j_cuevas713
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7 hours ago, por favor gracias said:

 

LOL just got back home after literally sitting on Franklin St for 25 minutes trying to get to 59 North this evening.

 

Not that I won't vote for Metro's plan, and it will absolutely help considering the lack of alternatives, but I know I'm not the only Houstonian who would like to see a less intrusive, faster service transit system here that can really move people. It would have to be either elevated or submerged to be that efficient, and I'm not sure how feasible a subway network around, say, the inner loop area would work, but we do already have a mini-sized one at IAH, plus lots of other underground development in downtown and of course the Galleria. Is that "as far as we can dig?" I'm all for more light rail, I just hate how much our version of it interferes with street/pedestrian traffic. It creates almost as much automobile traffic as it alleviates. If subways aren't feasible, then elevate it. There's going to be 8 million people here in the next 7-8 years and 10 million by 2040....and I really don't want to imagine what traffic is going to be like if we still don't have these kinds of alternatives by then, much less moving forward.

 

 

We don't necessarily need grade-separated transit to reduce traffic. Every park-and-ride bus into the CBD represents 40 cars that aren't on the freeway. And having transit is only one piece of the puzzle. People have to actually choose to take it, and this will only happen when alternatives to single-occupany vehicles are either cheaper, faster, or a better experience. Adding MaX lanes on freeways, and more high-comfort buses (with wi-fi, etc.) can help with two of those, but the third (cheaper) needs to come from how we prioritize development in the city. You can't design everything for cars, and then be shocked and dismayed that people use cars to get around. Basically, it needs to be more expensive to park cars (or we need congestion pricing to drive on or inside 610).

 

If we eliminate parking minimums, and encourage an environment in which people EXPECT to pay for parking (which is the case in the areas of the city without mandatory minimums), you get less land area devoted to parking, higher taxable value per square mile and lower vehicle miles traveled per capita (since things are closer together). The higher density will allow some people to live close enough to walk, bike or take local transit (bus, light rail) to work, and pricing parking at the cost it requires to provide it ($200-300/month) encourages transit and carpooling, which in turn reduce the number of vehicles on the freeways.

 

Eventually, you may even get to a level of activity density to justify grade-separated transit.

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

BisNow: Coworking Options Headed To Midway's CityCentre And GreenStreet

 

Quote

..The Amsterdam-based company inked a 63K SF lease at GreenStreet in Downtown and 60K SF at CityCentre in West Houston. 

The GreenStreet location will serve as a launchpad for innovative, nimble and collaborative companies seeking to take advantage of Houston's emerging Innovation District, Lionstone Investments Vice President Fernando Urrutia said in a release. Fast-growth companies seek the flexibility and collaborative environment curated at Spaces, he said.   

The Innovation District is a 4-mile district from Downtown to the Texas Medical Center. Last week, Rice University revealed design plans for the former Sears building, dubbed The Ion, which will anchor the district. GreenStreet signed an office lease with MassChallenge, a startup accelerator program...

 

 

Edited by kdog08
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  • 3 weeks later...
2 minutes ago, cspwal said:

So they're keeping the surface lot?  I thought they would replace it with a garage

 

From what it seems like it will be in the next phase. They have enough surface parking to forestall construction of one. My guess is that they want to put another building where the existing parking lot right next to the building.

Edited by Luminare
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I've been musing as to whether a "Gateway" style project, as is being discussed over the Metro TMC transit center, could work at the Wheeler Transit Center nearby to this along with the vacant lots to the south of I-69 abutting the lightrail tracks.  I reckon it'll take completion of a number of other structures after the Ion to promote the kind of density needed to justify such a structure.  

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  • 3 weeks later...
3 hours ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

**************

Guys and gals, let's try to not to hotlink images from news sites and other websites. 


Upload them through Imgur or another site or screenshot and upload. I screenshot and upload when I post.

**********************


Back to our regularly scheduled program.
 

Right, because stealing copyrighted material is always fun. 

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According to a Rice representative’s presentation to the Museum Park NA, the Ion is to open 4th quarter 2020. However, that will be followed by “Phase 1 of the Innovation District” in 2023.

 

Unfortunately, I only have the slides to the presentation and couldn’t make the live version to ask questions. 

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On 4/8/2019 at 8:21 PM, houstontexasjack said:

According to a Rice representative’s presentation to the Museum Park NA, the Ion is to open 4th quarter 2020. However, that will be followed by “Phase 1 of the Innovation District” in 2023.

 

Unfortunately, I only have the slides to the presentation and couldn’t make the live version to ask questions. 

 

Mind posting the presentation here?

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2 hours ago, CaptainJilliams said:

Even though BRT won't be quite as nice as light rail would, any rebuild of Richmond is a win. I can't tell you what a pain it is commuting just 1/2 mile down that road.

 

I'm pretty sure the fields of Verdun in 1916 had less holes than Richmond. 

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2 hours ago, jmitch94 said:

 

I'm pretty sure the fields of Verdun in 1916 had less holes than Richmond. 

Can confirm!  Been to Verdun (circa 2007).  Routinely travel down Richmond.  Richmond has more holes!  More a**holes too!

 

In all seriousness Verdun, France is really impressive and immensely somber to visit.  Well worth the detour from what might be a more common travel path from Paris to better known provinces.

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4 hours ago, CaptainJilliams said:

Even though BRT won't be quite as nice as light rail would, any rebuild of Richmond is a win. I can't tell you what a pain it is commuting just 1/2 mile down that road.

BRT will be largely automated in the next decade (same with rail), and will be efficient and maneuverable in ways LR isn’t.  If traffic is bad busses will re-route thru designated streets, and avoid crashes/obstacles on the routes where possible.  Don’t get me wrong I think we need more LR, but the busses will do the job.  I do think the rail should serve as a spin with the busses as limbs extending forth..  maybe Station Houston will be the home to the autoBus startup that’ll change things?

Edited by arche_757
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Will self 5G driving vehicles swerve to avoid our spectacular collection of potholes or navigate Houston’s embarrassingly broken, third world quality roadways?  I mean really...How will this situation and damaged resulting from vehicles be managed? Let alone the occupants. 

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