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Buffalo Bayou Master Plan


crunchtastic

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Yea, was surprised not one of my friends gave up their tickets. Had fancy pants and, with less shade this year, I am so glad I got them. As others have said, I thought it was going to be just awful when I heard we would be walking around on parking lot the entire time. But I gotta admit, it was pretty good and the choice of hosting it there wasn't that bad at all. I mainly went to the EDM shows (Skrillex, ML, Steve Angello, etc.)... next year I hope they have more high profile and indie rock bands, IMO. And yes, they need to keep it at Eleanor Tinsley. Much more photogenic. 

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Yea, was surprised not one of my friends gave up their tickets. Had fancy pants and, with less shade this year, I am so glad I got them. As others have said, I thought it was going to be just awful when I heard we would be walking around on parking lot the entire time. But I gotta admit, it was pretty good and the choice of hosting it there wasn't that bad at all. I mainly went to the EDM shows (Skrillex, ML, Steve Angello, etc.)... next year I hope they have more high profile and indie rock bands, IMO. And yes, they need to keep it at Eleanor Tinsley. Much more photogenic.

Triton confirmed for tripping balls at FPSF
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I live 1.5 miles from Tinsley Park and have gone to all 7 FPSF. I ride my bicycle to the event at Tinsley as it's the easiest to access and exit the event. I was about to sell my tickets this year with the move but decided to help support our local hometown promoters and all they have done for the local music scene. I was expecting the worst and was surprised how well it turned out. I took the light rail both days and it was packed to the gills with other fest goers. But I hope they move back to the Tinsley park next year. They will have access to the new concert pavilion over the cistern next year and it should help but they need to stop using Allen Parkway for some of the smaller stages as it makes the already narrow road too congested.

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They have booths (food, drinks, etc) set up along the east bound side. Some small stages right along the main lanes. Then areas of port-a-poties or other amenities. And its really the only east-west corrider since the hills and grass have the big stages and all the people camped out. So yes the last two years ('13 and '14) Allen Parkway felt quite narrow with the number of concert goers attending. It wasn't bad, but definitely a few bottlenecks every once and a while.

 

At Tinsley we could walk there, so I never bother with Fancy Pants. Being able to go home and get out of the heat in the middle of the afternoon and use the bathroom, grab a few drinks, and head back was key (especially to my wife). I would have still gone this year but our group vetoed and I wasn't that excited about the lineup. Suffers were high on my list. I'll have to catch them some other time...

 

I heard from some kids (maybe teens or young 20s) that the HPD presence was really high. They claim they saw some undercovers arresting a group for smoking pot.

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Eleanor Tinsley just feels like Houston.  You have downtown in the background, you are along a bayou, and it is unique.  I can't think of anywhere that they can have it that would beat that.  The big issue is there is definitely space constraints there and I know they don't want to cap the ticket allotment.

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Yeah I know this was the last year they had a contract with the city for hosting it at Eleanor Tinsley. If they can figure out a way to host it on both sides of the bayou utilizing the new concert pavilion over the cistern then they could resolve some of those capacity issues.

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Yeah I know this was the last year they had a contract with the city for hosting it at Eleanor Tinsley. If they can figure out a way to host it on both sides of the bayou utilizing the new concert pavilion over the cistern then they could resolve some of those capacity issues.

Why would the new concert pavilion be built if not for something like FPSF? They could alternate set times between the two stages on it and do away with some of the congestion created by the stages on the Allen Parkway. Close off half of Sabine St so the people living at the lofts could get in and out.  Continue to move east toward Sam Houston Park and Bagby St. like they did last year and for the NYE concert they did in 2013.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I can't quite make out all of the far end of the lake on the second photo, but is it fed by a storm drain, or just stand alone?

 

I don't know how it's going to work when everything is done....but you can see the terraced area at the far end of the water....it looks like it might be fed from there.....there is also the big round "tube" in the first pic...not sure how it's all going to work...

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I don't know how it's going to work when everything is done....but you can see the terraced area at the far end of the water....it looks like it might be fed from there.....there is also the big round "tube" in the first pic...not sure how it's all going to work...

 

I figured the round tube would be for overflow, which would run through to other side of the curved wall. 

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I figured the round tube would be for overflow, which would run through to other side of the curved wall. 

 

You're probably right about that - when I was taking pictures last weekend there was a ladder in the tube, so it goes down quite a ways...probably to the curved wall like you said..

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They put up a new "sign" or display piece that says "Buffalo Bayou is back!" with flower cutouts all around it, lots of bright colors and pretty big. Its on the sidewalk railing at the corner of Taft and Allen facing south. Looks like it was either done by the city or a talented 10 year old girl with some resources. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow, it snuck up on me this morning. 

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Thinking more about the Buffalo Bayou Master Plan....if they are able to complete a full scale park and trail restoration from Shepherd all the way to the turning basin on the East Side of downtown, complete with new residential along the park, how would it compare to other urban parks around the US?  My view is that it would be truly unique in its scale and connectivity, but I'm admittedly limited in my awareness of comparable urban parks.  

 

long story short, I hope it happens, and I hope it is awesome.

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Yeah that's pretty much the only option unless someone got creative with a bayou boardwalk trail (way more appealing surroundings, immersed in nature, but you'd have to skip back and forth across the banks a few times to avoid private residences, and constructing such a thing down in the bayou area would be tricky without prefabricating everything and flying it in in sections with a helicopter, making it a logistics nightmare). Maybe they can pave an additional lane along the south side of Memorial and make it a separated bike lane like the downtown/Lamar route? Or maybe an elevated bike lane like Copenhagen did with the Bicycle Snake(?) bridge.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Which segment of Buffalo Bayou do you wish had "elevated walking areas"? I'm not sure I'm understanding you because I consider the current/new sidewalks along the banks of Sabine to Shepherd to fit the descriptions you listed.

I agree though, it would be cool to see planked boardwalks along major bodies of water in the Houston area.. Specifically Clear Lake and the areas around Stewart Beach where the sea wall/road curves slightly away from the shore and there is more room for a boardwalk alongside sand and attractions.

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I wish they would have made the banks of 'lost lake' more like those of disco green. more natural, less sterile. Maybe I need to wait until it's done and open, but it just looks too sterile for the rest of buffalo bayou park, where, for the most part, it all appears to fit with the nature of the place.

 

Thinking more about the Buffalo Bayou Master Plan....if they are able to complete a full scale park and trail restoration from Shepherd all the way to the turning basin on the East Side of downtown, complete with new residential along the park, how would it compare to other urban parks around the US?  My view is that it would be truly unique in its scale and connectivity, but I'm admittedly limited in my awareness of comparable urban parks.  

 

long story short, I hope it happens, and I hope it is awesome.

 

They need to figure out a way to get a hike/bike trail from the turning basin down to brays bayou. There's plenty of removed railroad tracks that would be good use for this near/at turning basin. It wouldn't be perfect, as a path along the bayou that goes to the convergence of brays and buffalo would be best, but industry gets in the way of this.

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Some pictures of the trail link between Sesquicentennial park and Allen's Landing. Like most projects downtown, it's progressing slow and steady

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1470_zpslugmyyfx.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cool.  Now that the Donnellan crypt is going to be accessible, are there any plans to put up a plaque or something?  I think it's a pretty interesting relic.

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Cool.  Now that the Donnellan crypt is going to be accessible, are there any plans to put up a plaque or something?  I think it's a pretty interesting relic.

 

I've posed that question to them before via email and  their response was "Yes, these historical elements are being incorporated into the design and we will have interpretive info." 

 

So that is fairly encouraging.

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