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What would make our city 'better'?


Simbha

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Some good suggestions so far.

I'd add to them: Condemn and raze the mini-cities of crummy apartments on the southwest side. Re-develop the areas into single-family homes with mixed-use on the edges (retail, restaurants, etc.) The southwest side is composed either of areas out of most peoples' price range (Bellaire, Meyerland, West U... nice areas with good public schools), or ghetto-like areas composed primarily of apartments with terrible public schools and high crime. Not much in between. There are no options for middle-upper class families who are a highly educated, relatively affluent demographic, but looking to spend $300k on a home rather than $700k+. And people wonder why places like Sugar Land are so popular... this is one reason why.

And where exactly should those residents go?

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No Metro.

Good. We can keep them all in one place. No public transport can work for teh poorz like an invisible fence does for a dog.
No apartments.
We can partition all those nice six bedroom houses. The apartment that gets the living room with the vaulted ceiling will obviously rent for the most money.
Not enough liquor stores or drug dealers.
They'll follow teh poorz wherever they go. Additionally, all the dry-cleaners will turn into laundromats, jewelry stores will turn into pawn shops and the TGIFridays will turn into an all-nude strip club.
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Yeah, but the Peirce Elevated service a purpose. I agree, it seems out of place and it would improve the area if it was gone, but it have to be replaced somewhere. I think tunneling it would be best, or at least submerge it with street level streets crossing over it.

I'm not so sure submerging the highways would be such a good idea. Unless you mean that literally...

TS_Allison_Texas_flooding.jpg

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  • Walkable cultural centers like a China Town, or a Little Italy.
  • Rapid transit
  • Less miles and miles of the same old strip centers filled with nail shops, cleaners, dollar store etc.
  • Less feeder roads. Place businesses along feeder roads in walkable business districts
  • Tree lined freeways
  • Dense walkable mixed use neighborhoods
  • A theme park NOW!
  • Major attractions downtown such as a huge NASA Activity center/museum. (be creative)
  • Houston's own Street version of Rodeo Drive, or 5th Ave.
  • Zoning!

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[The SE side - Threat or Menace?]

That's OK, such perceptions will keep the property values affordable for those of us who appreciate character.

If by "character" you mean "chickens in the front yard, goats out back, random gunshots, and trash in the street," then please count this girl as unappreciative.

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If by "character" you mean "chickens in the front yard, goats out back, random gunshots, and trash in the street," then please count this girl as unappreciative.

You may want to get out of Sugarland now before it turns into Liberia West.

Because it's coming, oh it's coming.

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I'm not so sure submerging the highways would be such a good idea. Unless you mean that literally...

Better a flooded freeway than your flooded living room. The water has to go somewhere.

You may want to get out of Sugarland now before it turns into Liberia West.

Because it's coming, oh it's coming.

Probably not so much Liberia West as Missouri City, but yeah...the slow march of entropy continues.

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Better a flooded freeway than your flooded living room. The water has to go somewhere.

That's an interesting idea. Put all the highways below grade and then use them as spillways in the event of major flooding? Not sure anyone would go for it, but still an interesting idea.

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What we need is a giant glass dome that keeps the entire inner loop at 72 degrees year round. If the original residents of Riverside Terrace were correct, lack of air conditioning promotes crime :rolleyes:, so this will lower crime within the domed area. It will also need some kickass racing stripes going down the sides of it, racing stripes make everything cool! :lol:

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Does anybody remember the plan to build a series of flood canals throughout Houston? This was to be in addition to existing bayous. The idea was that they would be constructed such that they would increase property values/development nearby and also help alleviate flood concerns. There was a Chronicle article about this that I like to post every year or two but I can't find it anymore.

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I don't want to see Sugar Land become a low-income wasteland, but I think Sugar Land could use some downgrading. Not so much that it's no longer nice, but more to the extent bringing it closer to the blue-collar sugar-manufacturing land it once was. Waco has the Mars candy factories, though...

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That's an interesting idea. Put all the highways below grade and then use them as spillways in the event of major flooding? Not sure anyone would go for it, but still an interesting idea.

It's been policy for decades. That's the primary reason that so many of our freeways are submerged, particularly I-10 and SH 288. And for new subdivisions, the stormwater detention capacity that is created by grading the land to make streets flood can allow developers to cut back on detention ponds by half or more.

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I don't want to see Sugar Land become a low-income wasteland, but I think Sugar Land could use some downgrading. Not so much that it's no longer nice, but more to the extent bringing it closer to the blue-collar sugar-manufacturing land it once was. Waco has the Mars candy factories, though...

Same could be said about Bellaire, West U and several other areas. 

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Does anyone think its possible the city could do away with feeder roads one day

I don't know, but I think that it would be a good idea though. It would clear the blight. I think the I-10 widening helped to clear out a lot of the old strip centers along that freeway.

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I don't know, but I think that it would be a good idea though. It would clear the blight. I think the I-10 widening helped to clear out a lot of the old strip centers along that freeway.

It's a terrible idea. With only cloverleafs and flyovers (and limited ones at that), it would be difficult to exit and enter the freeway. Miss an exit and you're doomed. Things along the freeway have no access to anything, and instead of thriving with commercial and whatnot, everything withers. Land value drops along the freeway, and the city becomes rather unattractive. See: New Orleans, Baton Rouge, other areas like that

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I don't know, but I think that it would be a good idea though. It would clear the blight. I think the I-10 widening helped to clear out a lot of the old strip centers along that freeway.

It looks no better now. What with the new Home Depot compound, and the acres of beige crap surrounding the HEB at Bunker Hill. The old and tatty was just replaced with new and ugly. And a lot more of it. And what's with that sad multi-color little place over on the south side of the freeway across from Ikea? It's been empty for a few years now.

I do agree that feeder road development Texas-style looks like ass. It's so nice to get out of state where the highways are at least bordered by green and you have to do a exit loop or two before you're assaulted by shopping center generica.

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It's a terrible idea. With only cloverleafs and flyovers (and limited ones at that), it would be difficult to exit and enter the freeway. Miss an exit and you're doomed. Things along the freeway have no access to anything, and instead of thriving with commercial and whatnot, everything withers. Land value drops along the freeway, and the city becomes rather unattractive. See: New Orleans, Baton Rouge, other areas like that

That seems to overstate things a tad. People in the rest of the US, and what I've seen of the world for that matter, seem to get by without feeders. You're not 'doomed' if you miss an exit. Every lunkhead knows to go to get off the next exit and return.

I guess that a bigger problem with feeders than generating ugly sprawl is that they could contribute to freeway traffic. The interstates were intended to facilitate longer trips, not local commutes and shopping trips. By letting vast amounts of development accumulate along freeways, feeders drag in more traffic than would otherwise be the case. I'd rather development be spread along arterial roads.

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That seems to overstate things a tad. People in the rest of the US, and what I've seen of the world for that matter, seem to get by without feeders. You're not 'doomed' if you miss an exit. Every lunkhead knows to go to get off the next exit and return.

I guess that a bigger problem with feeders than generating ugly sprawl is that they could contribute to freeway traffic. The interstates were intended to facilitate longer trips, not local commutes and shopping trips. By letting vast amounts of development accumulate along freeways, feeders drag in more traffic than would otherwise be the case. I'd rather development be spread along arterial roads.

I agree, the only place in town where I don't think the feeder roads look so bad is the uptown area.

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