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Energy Corridor Master Plan


TowerSpotter

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  • 8 months later...

i think the idea of pedestrian bridges spanning that part of i-10 is neat, and if done right (hopefully not that odd design in the conceptual rendering), could look very nice. but ill reserve my judgement until we see close up/detailed renderings of the bridge(s).

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  • 4 weeks later...

The bridge looks ok to me. But I do love that whole Memorial City Memorial Hermann complex. And, the rendering looks similar in design. Around Eldridge... What is the larger road in the lower part of the pic. Beltway?

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That would be a pretty long bridge - not like those spanning downtown or medical center streets. Someone such as myself would certainly appreciate moving sidewalks. Then I could text while standing still. Texting and walking has not worked well for me in the past. :blink:

 

I would suppose TxDOT would have a lot to say about the whole venture. I wonder if small shops could be located along the bridge (one might need refreshments along the journey) like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

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Yeah I was wondering about shops along the bridge too. I seemed to recall some other old European bridge with a similar set up (didn't think the one I was thinking of was in Florence?).

 

I would think there are bound to be others. I can't think of any in particular off-hand. Other HAIFers can you help? The Ponte Vecchio is rather famous probably because it is in Florence which is another architect's candy store.

 

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I feel like theres a pedestrian bridge across a highway somewhere that has integrated retail (mcdonalds).

Cant remember where though...Indiana maybe? 

 

 I think what you are thinking of is the McDonalds at Vinita, Oklahoma.  It's not really retail integrated into a bridge, per se,  in that it's purpose is not to get either people or cars from one side to the other.  Kinda more like the other way around, I guess... a bridge integrated into a retail structure. 

 

The building hosting the McDonald's restaurant was originally built when the turnpike opened in 1957 as one of the Glass House restaurants, owned by the now-defunct Interstate Hosts company. Because of this heritage, it is also known as the "Glass House McDonald's" and the "McDonald's Glass House Restaurant". Later, the building also operated as a Howard Johnson's restaurant.

 

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11683

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Rogers_Turnpike#Vinita_service_plaza

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 I think what you are thinking of is the McDonalds at Vinita, Oklahoma.  It's not really retail integrated into a bridge, per se,  in that it's purpose is not to get either people or cars from one side to the other.  Kinda more like the other way around, I guess... a bridge integrated into a retail structure. 

 

The building hosting the McDonald's restaurant was originally built when the turnpike opened in 1957 as one of the Glass House restaurants, owned by the now-defunct Interstate Hosts company. Because of this heritage, it is also known as the "Glass House McDonald's" and the "McDonald's Glass House Restaurant". Later, the building also operated as a Howard Johnson's restaurant.

 

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11683

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Rogers_Turnpike#Vinita_service_plaza

 

That's not it. It might the one near Chicago; i'd have been more likely to drive under it.

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I would think there are bound to be others. I can't think of any in particular off-hand. Other HAIFers can you help? The Ponte Vecchio is rather famous probably because it is in Florence which is another architect's candy store.

Old London Bridge

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I still find this "area" nothing more than a real estate term. It is hardly a district. I guess it is good that the powers that be are trying to make it more of one?

But if it becomes a district, then all the people who came to the Energy Corridor to escape urban life will have to leapfrog out further. Brookshire? Sealy? Columbus?

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^Columbus is pretty cool.  If it added 5-10,000 new residents that city would really take off.  Same with Brenham.  Bay City might have potential as well.  All of those towns are just big enough that they're completely self sufficient, and adding a few thousand new people would make them more so with new services and retail required for the added masses.

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^Columbus is pretty cool.  If it added 5-10,000 new residents that city would really take off.  Same with Brenham.  Bay City might have potential as well.  All of those towns are just big enough that they're completely self sufficient, and adding a few thousand new people would make them more so with new services and retail required for the added masses.

 

I don't know about Columbus, but Brenham already has a lot of the basic retail already in place.  They built a starbucks there a few years ago, just off the inbound (towards Houston) lanes of 290 (which has just been nicely expanded through there).  Makes me think there are a lot of people there who commute to the outskirts of Houston for work.

 

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Brenham is still somewhat of a smallish town, Columbus is the same.  Both would do well adding 5,000 new residents, as the demanded services would be more than just a Starbucks.  Think new grocers, new schools, new office spaces, new hospitals... it would be a boon for both of those towns.  Add in their historic charm and locations along/near scenic areas and they would boom.

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I still find this "area" nothing more than a real estate term.  It is hardly a district.  I guess it is good that the powers that be are trying to make it more of one?

 

It's a district in the sense that there is a group (of developers, local businesses, oil companies?) that advocates for improvements to the area centering around Eldridge and I10, extending east and west a bit and south on Eldridge to near Westheimer.  They've been able to pull some things together, most notably improvents to sidewalks and connections to and from Terry Hershey park.  Plus they've gotten Metro to run a circulator up and down Eldridge.  They must be collecting money from somewhere as they have their own police patrols using off-duty HPD officers and have put up signage around the area.  It's very much like the Westchase district.

 

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Brenham is still somewhat of a smallish town, Columbus is the same.  Both would do well adding 5,000 new residents, as the demanded services would be more than just a Starbucks.  Think new grocers, new schools, new office spaces, new hospitals... it would be a boon for both of those towns.  Add in their historic charm and locations along/near scenic areas and they would boom.

 

I'm sure that's coming as companies move further out of the core.  I'd think Columbus might see it first with it being a straight shot down I10 to the energy corridor.  I don't know if there is an equivalent job center on 290 for Brenham-based workers yet so they may be making longer hauls further into town.

 

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It's a district in the sense that there is a group (of developers, local businesses, oil companies?) that advocates for improvements to the area centering around Eldridge and I10, extending east and west a bit and south on Eldridge to near Westheimer.  They've been able to pull some things together, most notably improvents to sidewalks and connections to and from Terry Hershey park.  Plus they've gotten Metro to run a circulator up and down Eldridge.  They must be collecting money from somewhere as they have their own police patrols using off-duty HPD officers and have put up signage around the area.  It's very much like the Westchase district.

 

Don't get me wrong I'm certainly glad the area is improving.  I just don't much care for the linear "Energy Corridor"

 

I'm sure that's coming as companies move further out of the core.  I'd think Columbus might see it first with it being a straight shot down I10 to the energy corridor.  I don't know if there is an equivalent job center on 290 for Brenham-based workers yet so they may be making longer hauls further into town.

 

Brenham is the larger town (I think).  If not, it feels larger.  It also has a college and is sort of a reasonable distance between Houston and College Station.  I like both towns and know that eventually they'll have their fair share of Houston commuters who drive in to Cypress/Cy-Fair or Westchase/Energy Corridor/Katy.  Its coming.

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Don't get me wrong I'm certainly glad the area is improving.  I just don't much care for the linear "Energy Corridor"

 

Brenham is the larger town (I think).  If not, it feels larger.  It also has a college and is sort of a reasonable distance between Houston and College Station.  I like both towns and know that eventually they'll have their fair share of Houston commuters who drive in to Cypress/Cy-Fair or Westchase/Energy Corridor/Katy.  Its coming.

 

In retrospect, I had forgotten about the new grand parkway connection between 290 and I10.  That puts commuters from Brenham in the energy corridor pretty easily.

 

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  • 3 months later...

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