Buffalo Bayou Master Plan

[Moore713]

21 minutes ago, MexAmerican_Moose said:

same here, the city is very green, the strip developments ruin it....

Exactly!! It has it spots , but so many poor development decisions in the past  damaged it .... Now we are working backwards to reverse the damages.

[Triton]

Drove down McKee St over Buffalo Bayou today. They're building some structure which is already on its 2nd floor... it's on the north bank next to McKee.. anyone know what that is?

[HoustonBoy]

I love Houston's greenery and our urban landscape. There are very few cities in the US that legitimately have four full-scale skylines. 

[JBTX]

29 minutes ago, Triton said:

Drove down McKee St over Buffalo Bayou today. They're building some structure which is already on its 2nd floor... it's on the north bank next to McKee.. anyone know what that is?

McKee City Living perhaps?
 

 

[Triton]

1 hour ago, JBTX said:

McKee City Living perhaps?
 

 

That'a definitely it. Very cool, thanks.

[H-Town Man]

20 hours ago, hindesky said:

(There will sadly not be one long contiguous waterfront trail à la Buffalo Bayou Park, but, on the plus side, there could be a water taxi). 

 

Ummm... didn't know that. 😞 Does anyone know where the gap(s) will be?

 

[hindesky]

[ljchou]

11 hours ago, hindesky said:

/that three way bridge!!!

[Houston19514]

I'm not detecting a gap in the waterfront trails in that rendering.

Of course, one should not take the writings of a Houston journalist too seriously.  Apparently the Houston stylebook requires something negative to be included in a story, even if it's made up.  After taking a look at the East Sector master plan, yes, there is a gap of about 7/10ths of one mile on one side of the bayou. There are bridges planned on both ends of that gap, plus bike lanes on nearby streets to get around the industrial property that requires the gap.  

Where did the Houstonia writer get the idea that "There will sadly not be one long contiguous waterfront trail à la Buffalo Bayou Park".? That is plainly false.  (Plus, it's significantly longer than Buffalo Bayou Park,  so there will actually be a far longer contiguous waterfront trail than in Buffalo Bayou Park.)

 

 

Edited March 14, 2021 by Houston19514

[hindesky]

[ArtNsf]

On 12/9/2020 at 11:40 PM, pablog said:

Houston is a looker in my eyes 😍

 

Yes, and thank you pablog !  Perspective has a lot to do with the feeling Houstonians and the popular media has about this area.  Most of it has been very unfair and false over the decades.  But, perhaps, we are finally breaking through all the negative propaganda (I won't mention which cities and areas in the country are the most guilty of that.  We can all guess pretty accurately anyway.)  There really is so much natural beauty - both "flat and contoured" that surrounds this mega multi-county area of the U.S. and Houston.  The Bayous (which a few are actually really rivers - I vote to rename the big one "Buffalo River", but I know that will never happen), the wildlife, birds mammals reptiles and the flora, trees, native flowers grasses, insects, butterflies.  All of this and more are what make the natural beauty of this area very much worth protecting and even enhancing and celebrating as a source of major civic pride.  We already know how incredible our tall skyscrapers are and most are works of architectural wonder and art, with many more on the horizon.  But, lets never forget mother nature in this area CAN and does work well with us humans as long as we respect her and just take a little more time with each building project, to figure out the best way to replace any greenery and wildlife and waterway damaged, with native natural beauty, the way that most developers are "required" to offset the ground absorption displacement by having holding ponds/reservoirs installed on each project, to minimize any added flooding caused by the finished product.  Also, so what if we are a marshy swampland (which btw is only in certain far eastern and southeastern parts of the county?)  These parts of our area are a paradise of life at it's most diverse and finest in America.  It is worth noting that several other great American cities, albeit much smaller, have the same climate and swamp lands surrounding their fair cities, yet you rarely hear them complain to the rest of America. These would be cities like Miami, New Orleans, Corpus Christi, Savannah, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, and indeed, many more famous smaller yet significant cities in the Gulf Coast and Southern Atlantic regions of the lower 48.   So, I feel it is high time for Houston to offer up it's natural beauty and diversity of plant/tree and animal life, and diversity of species as yet one more great reason to visit and enjoy this part of our shared American treasure, which is known as Houston.  Oh yeah, did I mention how bad the mosquitoes are in these other cities ?  Like WAY WORSE at times than Houston's ever thought about being.

 

[pablog]

1 hour ago, ArtNsf said:

 

Yes, and thank you pablog !  Perspective has a lot to do with the feeling Houstonians and the popular media has about this area.  Most of it has been very unfair and false over the decades.  But, perhaps, we are finally breaking through all the negative propaganda (I won't mention which cities and areas in the country are the most guilty of that.  We can all guess pretty accurately anyway.)  There really is so much natural beauty - both "flat and contoured" that surrounds this mega multi-county area of the U.S. and Houston.  The Bayous (which a few are actually really rivers - I vote to rename the big one "Buffalo River", but I know that will never happen), the wildlife, birds mammals reptiles and the flora, trees, native flowers grasses, insects, butterflies.  All of this and more are what make the natural beauty of this area very much worth protecting and even enhancing and celebrating as a source of major civic pride.  We already know how incredible our tall skyscrapers are and most are works of architectural wonder and art, with many more on the horizon.  But, lets never forget mother nature in this area CAN and does work well with us humans as long as we respect her and just take a little more time with each building project, to figure out the best way to replace any greenery and wildlife and waterway damaged, with native natural beauty, the way that most developers are "required" to offset the ground absorption displacement by having holding ponds/reservoirs installed on each project, to minimize any added flooding caused by the finished product.  Also, so what if we are a marshy swampland (which btw is only in certain far eastern and southeastern parts of the county?)  These parts of our area are a paradise of life at it's most diverse and finest in America.  It is worth noting that several other great American cities, albeit much smaller, have the same climate and swamp lands surrounding their fair cities, yet you rarely hear them complain to the rest of America. These would be cities like Miami, New Orleans, Corpus Christi, Savannah, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, and indeed, many more famous smaller yet significant cities in the Gulf Coast and Southern Atlantic regions of the lower 48.   So, I feel it is high time for Houston to offer up it's natural beauty and diversity of plant/tree and animal life, and diversity of species as yet one more great reason to visit and enjoy this part of our shared American treasure, which is known as Houston.  Oh yeah, did I mention how bad the mosquitoes are in these other cities ?  Like WAY WORSE at times than Houston's ever thought about being.

 

Exactly! It is all a matter of perspective. Houston is so beautiful, diverse, and stunning in its way.

 

The reason why we’ve never done well to protect/preserve our environment is because of this negative perception that we aren’t naturally beautiful. 

 

If we want to be more sustainable, greener, and preserve our natural beauty (Prairies, Swamps, Bayous, Forests, Savannahs, etc) , we need to change our way of thinking and appreciate the unique natural beauty that we are blessed with.

 

Our appreciation will lead developers to appreciate nature as well as there is monetary benefits towards doing so.

[j_cuevas713]

1 hour ago, pablog said:

Exactly! It is all a matter of perspective. Houston is so beautiful, diverse, and stunning in its way.

 

The reason why we’ve never done well to protect/preserve our environment is because of this negative perception that we aren’t naturally beautiful. 

 

If we want to be more sustainable, greener, and preserve our natural beauty (Prairies, Swamps, Bayous, Forests, Savannahs, etc) , we need to change our way of thinking and appreciate the unique natural beauty that we are blessed with.

 

Our appreciation will lead developers to appreciate nature as well as there is monetary benefits towards doing so.

Exactly! That's really the root of the issue. If Houston doesn't respect itself, then developers won't care either. This goes deeper than just out natural beauty. It also involves our infrastructure; sidewalks, roads, transit, etc. 

[Moore713]

2 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Exactly! That's really the root of the issue. If Houston doesn't respect itself, then developers won't care either. This goes deeper than just out natural beauty. It also involves our infrastructure; sidewalks, roads, transit, etc. 

Where I kind of have to push back...I don't ever think it was a local thing... I always felt it was those not from Houston that feed alot of the problems.. For the longest time alot of business treated Houston as just a place to make money. There was no real desire to invest in the city.. outside of massive bland Corp campuses in the middle of nowhere.. it feels like only around  early 2000 did they  start to think about  creating  places to live and work. And therefore  put thought into how can we build something that meets are needs but is also pleasing to the eye. 

[gmac]

"middle of nowhere"???

[j_cuevas713]

49 minutes ago, gmac said:

"middle of nowhere"???

Yeah like where HP is building, or look at Greenspoint. It was cheap land for corporations to make money. Nothing else. No real long term vision for the community. 

[Ross]

1 hour ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Yeah like where HP is building, or look at Greenspoint. It was cheap land for corporations to make money. Nothing else. No real long term vision for the community. 

Where else would you have put the Greenspoint development, especially the buildings Exxon built, plus the old Anadarko building? There wasn't any real desire when those were built to put anything Downtown.

 

Are you also saying that economics should never play a part in where corporations put their buildings? Compaq built in the middle of nowhere in the 90's, because it made sense. I'm sure HP did the same thing.

[gmac]

I imagine the corporations that built in Greenspoint and other non-downtown areas had a very different vision from yours. They likely wanted an accessible office complex with somewhat affordable housing potential in the general vicinity. I wouldn't have built anything corporate in a downtown area had I been in a position to do so.

[Moore713]

5 hours ago, gmac said:

"middle of nowhere"???

 Omg ...quite nitpicking every damn thing... 

 

The point was  for a long time alot of  business were fine just setting up shop in Houston and didn't feel a need to engage the community....

 

All of that  and you locked in on a off hand comment about  " middle of nowhere " sheesh

Edited December 15, 2020 by Moore713

[H-Town Man]

12 hours ago, Ross said:

Where else would you have put the Greenspoint development, especially the buildings Exxon built, plus the old Anadarko building? There wasn't any real desire when those were built to put anything Downtown.

 

Are you also saying that economics should never play a part in where corporations put their buildings? Compaq built in the middle of nowhere in the 90's, because it made sense. I'm sure HP did the same thing.

 

Well yes, there wasn't any real desire to put things downtown because people didn't care about the city, like he was saying. They basically wanted to be on virgin land as disconnected from the city as possible, but still be near the city so that they could use the airport and take advantage of the labor pool, as well as have big-city amenities like pro sports teams to help lure employees.

 

[H-Town Man]

On 12/14/2020 at 6:15 PM, Moore713 said:

Where I kind of have to push back...I don't ever think it was a local thing... I always felt it was those not from Houston that feed alot of the problems.. For the longest time alot of business treated Houston as just a place to make money. There was no real desire to invest in the city.. outside of massive bland Corp campuses in the middle of nowhere.. it feels like only around  early 2000 did they  start to think about  creating  places to live and work. And therefore  put thought into how can we build something that meets are needs but is also pleasing to the eye. 

 

You're exactly right, it was in the early 2000's that Houston leaders really started to get serious about enhancing quality of life in the city. There was a Quality of Life Coalition of major business leaders that formed around 2001 or 2002, some major planning initiatives like the Main Street Master Plan in I think 2001 and the Buffalo Bayou Master Plan in 2003, and corporations led by Enron started to give more money to quality of life causes. The Astros and Rockets moving downtown also happened around this time and signaled a renewed interest in the city. City Hall embarked on downtown renovations like the Cotswold project to enhance sidewalks in the historic district and light rail also was led by these same forces.

 

Of course, people had to be dragged along kicking and screaming. Lots of suburban middle-aged folks just couldn't believe you would put a baseball park downtown where there was "nothing but homeless," the traffic would be so bad, no parking, etc., and they laughed similarly at Discovery Green, saying it would be a homeless encampment. Online bloggers like Tory Gattis said that walkable neighborhoods would never work in Houston because it's too hot and humid and there are no "portable air-conditioners" for people to carry around. 

 

People were stuck in a vision that the only good life for successful people was in master-planned suburbs like The Woodlands with big tract homes and uninhabited, purely decorative front yards, places so anti-civic that even their own streets were empty and the inhabitants only gathered on backyard decks if they ever went outside at all, not touching the ground, whereas the city was for society's failures and any enhancement of the city was essentially social welfare. You can still find this view in some places, although it's more quaint and comical now than scary, especially since their own children have grown up and now largely chosen city life.

Edited December 16, 2020 by H-Town Man

[H-Town Man]

dp

Edited December 15, 2020 by H-Town Man

[gmac]

10 hours ago, Moore713 said:

 Omg ...quite nitpicking every damn thing... 

 

The point was  for a long time alot of  business were fine just setting up shop in Houston and didn't feel a need to engage the community....

 

All of that  and you locked in on a off hand comment about  " middle of nowhere " sheesh

 

Be more precise in your writing, then.

 

Businesses engaged with the community by providing jobs, many of them paying pretty well.

[Montrose1100]

I'd like for you all to note that it was the 1990s that really sparked what we're seeing today. Mayor Lee Brown, despite the negative things I've heard of him when I was younger, really envisioned what is still happening today.

 

Don't forget all those shiny new towers Downtown are all connected to an highly desirable, air conditioned, underground network of tunnels to avoid the streets. Or they have above ground skywalks. Very, very, few interact with the street. We're only seeing a toe being dipped in the pool with stuff like the Houston Center reno, Allen Center, 600 Travis, Bank of America, and the Texas Tower. We've got a long way to go.

 

We're making a good move in the right direction and progress takes time. Just like the Buffalo Bayou Master Plan.

[77011transplant]

 

 

Be more precise in your writing, then.

 

Businesses engaged with the community by providing jobs, many of them paying pretty well.

 

I respectfully disagree. Businesses may provide jobs, but think of all the folks who commute, especially when you build an office campus somewhere like Greenspoint that have been historically and currently neglected. Those workers probably take the majority of their wages and spend them in other places.

 

I applaud businesses and developers that are willing to work and listen to the communities they plan to move into and provide a thoughtful approach with how to work with communities to improve the surrounding neighborhood.

[X.R.]

A lot of this historical discussion about Houston and it being primarily driven, development-wise, by business interests, and the utilization of land outside the city for these corporate campuses, is covered in Prophetic City: Houston on the Cusp of a Changing America by Stephen L. Klineberg. Its a great book, I never knew the origins of Houston or why it developed the way it did. One of the primary points of the book is that Houston was always a town where business interests came first, and it just so happened that for various times in Houston's history, the interests of the city also aligned with it. 

 

I primarily picked it up because I was inspired by discussions like these on HAIF. 

[samagon]

17 hours ago, Moore713 said:

Where I kind of have to push back...I don't ever think it was a local thing... I always felt it was those not from Houston that feed alot of the problems.. For the longest time alot of business treated Houston as just a place to make money. There was no real desire to invest in the city.. outside of massive bland Corp campuses in the middle of nowhere.. it feels like only around  early 2000 did they  start to think about  creating  places to live and work. And therefore  put thought into how can we build something that meets are needs but is also pleasing to the eye. 

 

17 hours ago, gmac said:

"middle of nowhere"???

 

12 hours ago, Moore713 said:

 Omg ...quite nitpicking every damn thing... 

 

The point was  for a long time alot of  business were fine just setting up shop in Houston and didn't feel a need to engage the community....

 

All of that  and you locked in on a off hand comment about  " middle of nowhere " sheesh

 

I'd say middle of nowhere is actually pretty accurate, historically.

 

when Schlumberger purchased their land out in Sugarland, it was pastures that they bought. 

 

when Compaq built their HQ out off 249, 249 was a 2 lane road. I think Louetta had a stop sign at 249 way back then.

 

the Texas Instruments facility out on 249, don't know who owns/uses it now, but when built, 249 was nothing.

 

certainly these are three of the bigger examples Houston has to offer, but there's a reason the 'energy corridor' is where it is, someone decided to move their offices to Dairy Ashford and I-10, and someone followed.

 

why is there so much industry out on Brittmoore? 

 

these (and many more) may be 'somewhere' now, but once upon a time, when the facilities were built, they were 'the middle of nowhere'.

 

today, it can't be said that Exxon building their campus where they did is the 'middle of nowhere', I'm sure they paid a hefty premium for that location, but it was probably cheaper than figuring out how to consolidate in their downtown office (and offer all the amenities they have out there), and is closer to nowhere than the spaces in Houston that they vacated. but then no where is relative, isn't it? it's closer to IAH, certainly the employees who live in Conroe don't think that's no where, but if you find some random from San Francisco and say "hey, Exxon is near the woodlands!" they'd say "huh?".

17 minutes ago, X.R. said:

A lot of this historical discussion about Houston and it being primarily driven, development-wise, by business interests, and the utilization of land outside the city for these corporate campuses, is covered in Prophetic City: Houston on the Cusp of a Changing America by Stephen L. Klineberg. Its a great book, I never knew the origins of Houston or why it developed the way it did. One of the primary points of the book is that Houston was always a town where business interests came first, and it just so happened that for various times in Houston's history, the interests of the city also aligned with it. 

 

I primarily picked it up because I was inspired by discussions like these on HAIF. 

 

thanks for this! my mom really enjoys reading about Houston history, this has been ordered and is going under the tree this year!

[j_cuevas713]

Not sure what the big fuss about "middle of nowhere" is because a majority of the corporations were/are in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. Yeah it's the "COH" but I'm so tired of labeling downtown as this separate isolated section of the city, when in fact it is the main part of Houston. So yeah I wish we had made a bigger push to get some of the corporations downtown. The biggest change was in the early 2000's. Now we are seeing companies move back in to an urban setting. The Innovation District will be a great example of this.

Edited December 15, 2020 by j_cuevas713

[H-Town Man]

5 hours ago, Montrose1100 said:

I'd like for you all to note that it was the 1990s that really sparked what we're seeing today. Mayor Lee Brown, despite the negative things I've heard of him when I was younger, really envisioned what is still happening today.

 

Don't forget all those shiny new towers Downtown are all connected to an highly desirable, air conditioned, underground network of tunnels to avoid the streets. Or they have above ground skywalks. Very, very, few interact with the street. We're only seeing a toe being dipped in the pool with stuff like the Houston Center reno, Allen Center, 600 Travis, Bank of America, and the Texas Tower. We've got a long way to go.

 

We're making a good move in the right direction and progress takes time. Just like the Buffalo Bayou Master Plan.

 

Some groundwork was definitely laid in the 90's with the beginnings of downtown residential conversions led by Randall Davis, the decision to locate the new ballpark downtown, some early dreaming about downtown revitalization, etc. Some groundwork was laid in the 80's for that matter with Sesquicentennial Park along the bayou, the Wortham Center, the George R. Brown, etc. But I see the early 2000's as the inflection point, when the business community really became aware that "quality of life" was a big deal and you started getting huge donations for things like parks from oil billionaires.

 

[samagon]

23 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Not sure what the big fuss about "middle of nowhere" is because a majority of the corporations were/are in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. Yeah it's the "COH" but I'm so tired of labeling downtown as this separate isolated section of the city, when in fact it is the main part of Houston. So yeah I wish we had made a bigger push to get some of the corporations downtown. The biggest change was in the early 2000's. Now we are seeing companies move back in to an urban setting. The Innovation District will be a great example of this.

 

I think the way things are is just so damned Houston, and is part of what makes it such a great city.

[Montrose1100]

On 12/15/2020 at 3:38 PM, H-Town Man said:

 

Some groundwork was definitely laid in the 90's with the beginnings of downtown residential conversions led by Randall Davis, the decision to locate the new ballpark downtown, some early dreaming about downtown revitalization, etc. Some groundwork was laid in the 80's for that matter with Sesquicentennial Park along the bayou, the Wortham Center, the George R. Brown, etc. But I see the early 2000's as the inflection point, when the business community really became aware that "quality of life" was a big deal and you started getting huge donations for things like parks from oil billionaires.

 

Meh, I wouldn't count the Wortham and Convention Center, they were built with the same fortress mentality. Bayou Music Center has more of human scale/retail components (1997).

 

The inner west loop started gentrifying in the late 1990s and the initial investments for all the things you saw in the early 2000s were from the late 1990s. What was the weird little E-Village rendering we saw floating around, semi hardy yards, semi founders district. Anyway, you might be right with the heavy investments and turn around in the early 2000s, (Hell, even the Galleria Area finally started exploding). However, the Red Line, MMP, Discovery Green (or at least the revitalization of the area in front of the GRB including a Hotel), 1500 Louisiana Street, Toyota Center, were all sparked in the the late 1990s. 

[H-Town Man]

 

moo, I wouldn't count the Wortham and Convention Center, they were built with the same fortress mentality. Bayou Music Center has more of human scale/retail components (1997).

 

The inner west loop started gentrifying in the late 1990s and the initial investments for all the things you saw in the early 2000s were from the late 1990s. What was the weird little E-Village rendering we saw floating around, semi hardy yards, semi founders district. Anyway, you might be right with the heavy investments and turn around in the early 2000s, (Hell, even the Galleria Area finally started exploding). However, the Red Line, MMP, Discovery Green (or at least the revitalization of the area in front of the GRB including a Hotel), 1500 Louisiana Street, Toyota Center, were all sparked in the the late 1990s. 

 

Montrose, the most revitalizing of all is, you joined this forum in the early 2000's.

 

[ADCS]

moo, Houston isn't naturally beautiful. There are plenty of other great cities that don't have much when it comes to nature, either - but they do build up their human environment to make up for it. As noted, Houston hasn't really invested in that until the last 20 years or so - it was a city only an engineer could love. That seems to be changing; Memorial Park in particular is a true vision.

[pablog]

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. In my personal opinion, natural beauty extends far beyond mountains, waterfalls, lakes, etc. Even the desert itself is beautiful in its way. But just how there are people who just like and listen to rap or rock, there will be people who just like a particular terrain and find others inferior.

 

For all of us who do find Houston naturally beautiful, you’re not alone, lol

 

to get back on topic, I can’t wait for the Eastern part of Buffalo Bayou to be completed. I am sure it will be “beautiful”😂

[KinkaidAlum]

I tell you what I missed when I lived in Boston... spring in February. Houston sure looks good with azaleas in bloom and trees budding. You had to wait until May for Spring to hit Boston. 

 

I tell you what I miss living in LA, rain. We've had one day of rain since April. One. It is dirty AF here despite street cleaning efforts. Sure, the mountains look great and the Pacific is there (I live by downtown so it isn't really there) but I miss live oak canopies, the smell of fresh rain, and having mother nature giving the city a good rinse. I also miss the trails along Buffalo and Braes Bayous and being able to traverse much of the inner city without much fear of getting run over by a car. Compare the LA river to Allen Parkway and then tell me again how ugly Houston is.

 

Houston has a lot of potential. I am glad people finally love it enough again to care. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

Rip rap.  https://www.scctx.com/products/rip-rap/

Edited December 27, 2020 by hindesky

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

I guess I was guessing a small park not just rip rap but this does flood often so....rip rap it is.

[hindesky]

No one there on Sunday so I ventured down to check the progress. Sheets of shoring piles.

 

[gene]

On 12/10/2020 at 12:40 AM, pablog said:

Houston is a looker in my eyes 😍

 

thought about this, this weekend when i was looking at my buddy @brijonmang's instagram and how his photography is PROOF that we DO live in a freaking beautiful city.... 

i love Houston

(and to keep this on topic, dang the weather was beautiful for a bike ride yesterday and so amazing to go to Buffalo Bayou AND Memorial Park...we are truly lucky to have all that amazingness in our city!) 

 

Edited February 1, 2021 by gene

[cloud713]

On 1/29/2021 at 5:45 PM, hindesky said:

I guess I was guessing a small park not just rip rap but this does flood often so....rip rap it is.

Probably there to help prevent erosion around the foundation of the bridge during floods, would be my guess. Hopefully its not all rip rap and the rest of the dirt area will be some sort of natural landscaping?

[brijonmang]

5 hours ago, gene said:

 

thought about this, this weekend when i was looking at my buddy @brijonmang's instagram and how his photography is PROOF that we DO live in a freaking beautiful city.... 

i love Houston

(and to keep this on topic, dang the weather was beautiful for a bike ride yesterday and so amazing to go to Buffalo Bayou AND Memorial Park...we are truly lucky to have all that amazingness in our city!) 

 

Thank you, Gene! You've always been one of my biggest supporters and I truly appreciate that! 

[august948]

On 12/18/2020 at 1:52 AM, KinkaidAlum said:

I tell you what I missed when I lived in Boston... spring in February. Houston sure looks good with azaleas in bloom and trees budding. You had to wait until May for Spring to hit Boston. 

 

I tell you what I miss living in LA, rain. We've had one day of rain since April. One. It is dirty AF here despite street cleaning efforts. Sure, the mountains look great and the Pacific is there (I live by downtown so it isn't really there) but I miss live oak canopies, the smell of fresh rain, and having mother nature giving the city a good rinse. I also miss the trails along Buffalo and Braes Bayous and being able to traverse much of the inner city without much fear of getting run over by a car. Compare the LA river to Allen Parkway and then tell me again how ugly Houston is.

 

Houston has a lot of potential. I am glad people finally love it enough again to care. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you can go remote full time, you should try Boston in the summer, Houston in the winter and LA when you absolutely must.

[gene]

19 hours ago, brijonmang said:

Thank you, Gene! You've always been one of my biggest supporters and I truly appreciate that! 

You're the best Bryan!

[H-Town Man]

On 1/31/2021 at 4:16 PM, hindesky said:

 

That is a pretty wide stretch so it looks like they are going to keep going with it. Maybe the rock is just a layer and they'll put soil over it? But no, the black plastic underneath seems designed to prevent weeds from coming up. Sheesh.

 

[samagon]

no better way to exacerbate the heat island effect, as well as ensure local birds and other animals understand they are not allowed (homeless people too, I guess will get the hint).

maybe we can organize a seed bombing.

[hindesky]

On 2/2/2021 at 12:50 PM, H-Town Man said:

That is a pretty wide stretch so it looks like they are going to keep going with it. Maybe the rock is just a layer and they'll put soil over it? But no, the black plastic underneath seems designed to prevent weeds from coming up. Sheesh.

 

They have covered the rip rap with about 8-12" of soil.

[hindesky]

Didn't feel like venturing closer this time so I zoomed in. They have removed part of the concrete beam blocking the future trail.