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Buffalo Bayou Master Plan


crunchtastic

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I agree, being a native I have never seen Houston so vibrant.  Beautiful parks, bike trails, the best restaurants in the country.  I'm so mad because I had to work yesterday. Today Washington Ave. will be closed for Walk Houston.  So I will ride my bike everywhere and intake everything!  I'm so proud of our city and thanks for the pictures.

Incredible job hindesky!

 

 

Let me just start off by saying, I think we need to remember this month, October of 2015. I truly believe it marks the start of a new future for this city, especially the inner-loop. No longer is this city only functional... no longer is it just a business climate where one goes to work, drives in congestion all day and then goes home. I feel like we have taken this city to the next level, as we not only saw with the grand opening of the River Oaks District but also with the opening of the complete makeover of the Buffalo Bayou. I biked around all day today and I realized that I feel like I live in a different city than even 5 years ago, though I have lived here all my life. There have been so many talked about restaurants opening up, so many places to go and see now. With seeing all this residential development around me, who gives a f*** about this oil drop. I truly believe there is no going back now.... call it whatever you want... the Austinization of Houston... I don't care. Even the little thing I saw today like the kayak and canoe docking area, reminding me so much of Barton Springs in Austin.  I go to so many festivals now and events that simply did not exist 5 years ago, and some of them occur in areas such as the East End or in the warehouses near Sawyer that would have never happened just a few years ago. Pat yourself on the back Houston, we've gotten there.

 

 

 

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Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

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Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21736640009_cab3f501e8_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21736616839_e9d5d96e91_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21933236191_b381a5862b_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21735434500_61a94ee451_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21300759794_11a3ab4f3b_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21897340206_6fd328735c_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21736628489_6fa2e8ea7c_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21300770674_a83f53b344_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21911485902_e4d885b034_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21933233751_eb7096bf8a_h.jpg
Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

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Walked most of Buffalo Bayou Park yesterday. Almost 11 miles & 27,000 steps. I was really impressed with end result. In fact, it's like Houston's version of Central Park, DF's Chapultepec Park or Tokyo's Imperial Gardens. It feels like it has everything to suit everyone or any event. Just really great urban park!

Some pis I took from yesterday

Eleanor Tinsley Park

https://twitter.com/thachadwick/status/650404552433266689

Kayaking shot with skyline.

https://twitter.com/thachadwick/status/650417726373040128

Some woodsy parts of Kinder Trail

https://twitter.com/thachadwick/status/650428173167935488

Lost Lake

https://twitter.com/thachadwick/status/650434733256536068

Another skyline shot by HPD Memorial

https://twitter.com/thachadwick/status/650442636801667072

Edited by tigereye
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I guess I'll add some of my photos from yesterday.  Had a great time walking all over the place with my daughter taking in all the sights.  See if you can tell who the local celebrity was we ran into at Lost Lake....

 

PoetrySlam_zpsifoidggy.jpg

 

DogPark_zpsdgz1u6gn.jpg

 

LL1_zpsqhczpctq.jpg

 

BridgeBW_zpstbvhll8f.jpg

 

DS_zpsjbophh3z.jpg

She was actually incredibly nice and down to earth in person

 

LL2_zps1jkj9mmz.jpg

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...and the color of the water this weekend? It's Green. Nowhere near muddy. Or "poopy".

Totally agree. We live in North Montrose and are at the Bayou every weekend. The water looks green as much as brown. I'm assuming it is based upon current lighting conditions but just generalizing that it is always brown just isn't correct (not that there is anything wrong with brown!)...

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Tritan get out of my head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What you posted is exactly how i would have worded my post! You really are awesome and what you said was right on...

this weekend was just amazing...i took the sunroof off my jeep and drove all over our beautiful city...friday night to ROD, then Saturday all over town for a photoshoot in the morning, then the bayou event saturday late afternoon until the awesome fireworks, then sunday discovery green in the morning and then later afternoon laid on the lawn of midtown park and enjoyed Rico's-Morning-Noon-Night .,,it was an absolutely beautiful weekend in our beautiful city and man i felt lucky to live here! 

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all you people who don't like the water color, NEVER, ever go to the Rhine valley in west Germany, or the Netherlands. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful place, lots of castles and history, beautiful scenery.

 

However... the water is brown.

 

Maybe skip the trip to NYC, dat hudson doe.

 

New Orleans? I can't think of a browner river. Well, maybe the Amazon, or the Nile, or the Yellow river (which is brown). 

 

You need to go up to Colorado, or into the Alps, or other limestone mountain ranges to see other colors, but then instead of brown silt suspended in the river, it's greenish, and just because you can see to the bottom it doesn't mean that there isn't all sorts of stuff suspended in it that you can't see.

 

Don't forget the red river, that has lots of red clay silt hanging around.

 

Personally, I'll take the brown of buffalo bayou over whatever is in the hudson any day, but there are more visitors to NYC than Houston, so disgusting water as an argument really falls on its face. 

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all you people who don't like the water color, NEVER, ever go to the Rhine valley in west Germany, or the Netherlands. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful place, lots of castles and history, beautiful scenery.

 

However... the water is brown.

 

Maybe skip the trip to NYC, dat hudson doe.

 

New Orleans? I can't think of a browner river. Well, maybe the Amazon, or the Nile, or the Yellow river (which is brown). 

 

You need to go up to Colorado, or into the Alps, or other limestone mountain ranges to see other colors, but then instead of brown silt suspended in the river, it's greenish, and just because you can see to the bottom it doesn't mean that there isn't all sorts of stuff suspended in it that you can't see.

 

Don't forget the red river, that has lots of red clay silt hanging around.

 

Personally, I'll take the brown of buffalo bayou over whatever is in the hudson any day, but there are more visitors to NYC than Houston, so disgusting water as an argument really falls on its face. 

 

tumblr_mrucl41rFK1sngrz3o1_400.gif

 

FIFY

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I'm no tributary expert, but I assume the water color has to do with flow volume and sediment. There hasn't been measurable rainfall for a while so the water is still and the sediment settles. This weekend, most Texas rivers and bayous are greener/bluer than usual.

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Incredible job hindesky!

 

 

Let me just start off by saying, I think we need to remember this month, October of 2015. I truly believe it marks the start of a new future for this city, especially the inner-loop. No longer is this city only functional... no longer is it just a business climate where one goes to work, drives in congestion all day and then goes home. I feel like we have taken this city to the next level, as we not only saw with the grand opening of the River Oaks District but also with the opening of the complete makeover of the Buffalo Bayou. I biked around all day today and I realized that I feel like I live in a different city than even 5 years ago, though I have lived here all my life. There have been so many talked about restaurants opening up, so many places to go and see now. With seeing all this residential development around me, who gives a f*** about this oil drop. I truly believe there is no going back now.... call it whatever you want... the Austinization of Houston... I don't care. Even the little thing I saw today like the kayak and canoe docking area, reminding me so much of Barton Springs in Austin.  I go to so many festivals now and events that simply did not exist 5 years ago, and some of them occur in areas such as the East End or in the warehouses near Sawyer that would have never happened just a few years ago. Pat yourself on the back Houston, we've gotten there.

 

 

 

21302389703_52ddc96cbf_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21735639438_38a573e722_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21736640009_cab3f501e8_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21736616839_e9d5d96e91_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21933236191_b381a5862b_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21735434500_61a94ee451_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21300759794_11a3ab4f3b_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21897340206_6fd328735c_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21736628489_6fa2e8ea7c_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21300770674_a83f53b344_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21911485902_e4d885b034_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

21933233751_eb7096bf8a_h.jpg

Buffalo Bayou by Marc longoria, on Flickr

 

I agree! I was in Houston over the weekend and man does it feel so much more different than even a year ago before I left. The city has life something that lacked while I grew up in Houston. I'm back in Ann Arbor now but I cant wait to go back later this year and eventually go back for good!

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I'll make one final comment about the colors of rivers, mainly cause it's cool to see, and you don't have to go far to see it.

 

rivers of different colors mixing into one, new color as the river continues downstream.

 

go to the confluence of white oak and buffalo. white oak is much darker, and buffalo is much lighter, but the confluence and eddy currents are neat to watch.

 

if you want to see it in full effect (quicker currents), go to Koblenz, Germany. This is the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine, there's an old military installation you can go to on top of a hill to the east of town, and look down upon the confluence of these two rivers from a few hundred feet. It's very impressive. Additionally, there's a statue on the point of the two rivers, and you can look out from there too. Really worth the stop, if you're in that area of Germany anyway.

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koblenz germany is my most favorite place i have ever been in my life!!! i bought an amazing cuckoo clock there handmade at a little quaint shop then did the dinner cruise along the rhine river alongside castles all lit up with torches as the sun was setting...omg it was just incredible...

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

One crazy thought, since the Bayous span out all over Houston, would it be conceivable to start using them as a means of transportation via water taxis? I think it would be cool to jump on a taxi downtown and ride it out to the Galleria, although you'd have to use some other form of transportation to take you where you need to go. Some considerations:

 

1. Are the bayous navigable throughout Houston?

2. Would the "commute" time be reasonable compared to other available forms of transportation (my guess is no)?

3. Would it be cost efficient?

 

I wouldn't consider this to be a major transportation option, but would it be reasonable to have a small fleet running throughout the week?

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I've always thought if they can develop the KBR site into a neat bayou oriented development or really just anything mixed use with a large residential component that it would be cool if they could have water taxis going from downtown to KBR. It would probably be a quicker means of transportation than trying to find a parking spot downtown in your car.. Allens Landing is right next to UH-D and their light rail station. But yeah, beyond that segment of Buffalo Bayou I don't think there's enough water in any bayous for water taxis.

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I've always thought if they can develop the KBR site into a neat bayou oriented development or really just anything mixed use with a large residential component that it would be cool if they could have water taxis going from downtown to KBR. It would probably be a quicker means of transportation than trying to find a parking spot downtown in your car.. Allens Landing is right next to UH-D and their light rail station. But yeah, beyond that segment of Buffalo Bayou I don't think there's enough water in any bayous for water taxis.

 

Again cloud Why aren't you a developer? Or what have you been smoking? It's clearly doing wonders for your imagination! 

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Believe me, I'm working on it! I'm still fairly young (in my 20s), but have struggled with conforming to the college environment, so I still don't have a degree. Hopefully in a couple years I'll have that piece of paper and employers will be more likely to give me a chance.

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The idea of Water Taxis have occurred to me as well.  It really isn't a matter of how much water is in the bayou, it is a matter of controlling the level of the water that is there, with locks, dams and leaves...to maintain a steady depth/level.  Think San Antonio River walk.  However, there still would likely be flooding issues from time to time.  These control methods would not control the water when waterflow is high and the bayous spill out of their banks. 

 

It is a cool idea, though.  But, over a significant distance (downtown to Uptown for instance), it would require highspeed water craft, which isn't very possible in a narrow waterway, like a bayou. 

Edited by Naviguessor
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I've always hoped for water taxis or maybe duck boats to take people from downtown out to the San Jacinto Monument.  I don't know if it would just take too long that way or if it's in any way feasible.

 

Or how about boat rides from downtown to the Kemah Boardwalk?  If there's anyone who could make it happen, it's Tilman.

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Or how about boat rides from downtown to the Kemah Boardwalk? If there's anyone who could make it happen, it's Tilman.

A Tilman shuttle boat service from the Aquarium to Pleasure Pier, with a stop at Kemah.. Hit up (most) all of his local waterfront attractions.

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It would take many hours to go from downtown to Kemah and Galveston via any type of water taxi. Port of Houston is one of the busiest port in the nation and it's use by individuals or recreational services take a back seat to the working port. Recreational/pleasure vessels used to go up and down the ship channel before 9/11 but they aren't allowed anymore. http://www.uscg.mil/vtshouston/docs/SECZONE8_5x14.pdf

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It would take many hours to go from downtown to Kemah and Galveston via any type of water taxi. Port of Houston is one of the busiest port in the nation and it's use by individuals or recreational services take a back seat to the working port. Recreational/pleasure vessels used to go up and down the ship channel before 9/11 but they aren't allowed anymore. http://www.uscg.mil/vtshouston/docs/SECZONE8_5x14.pdf

Yeahh, I was being sarcastic.. But if the maritime museum gets built at the turning basin it would be cool to get a boat shuttle from Allens landing out to the maritime museum to join up with the ship channel boat tour launch.

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Believe me, I'm working on it! I'm still fairly young (in my 20s), but have struggled with conforming to the college environment, so I still don't have a degree. Hopefully in a couple years I'll have that piece of paper and employers will be more likely to give me a chance.

 

all you need: personalmba.com

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The ebook is available on the major torrent sites. i just checked. But no audio book, so it's no good for me.

 

My friend checked the book out at the public library. If you've never signed up for audible.com you can get the trial and listen to it free. His book is only the introduction to the system. Plus, if you just read his entire blog you'll basically get the gist of his book anyway.

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Big Feet totally of the topic.  Get out of the house! LOL! 

I expect it reads something like,"First, you get people to join our program and sell our products, then those people recruit people to sell, and so on so forth! It's like you're a boss with a sprawling root-like diagram of employees! A triangular form, if you will. Perhaps Egyptian?"

 

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  • 1 month later...

I live about a mile off of Brays bayou, and a bicycle offers much better connectivity to everything that isn't on the bayou. I can be at the zoo in 15 minutes and not have to mess about with parking, even on their busiest day. some friends and I rode our bikes to the buffalo bayou grand opening, we had no issues getting in/out, and we stopped by that burger place in midtown that's in that park on bagby and gray. can't do that on a boat ;-)

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  • 4 weeks later...

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