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Buffalo Bayou Master Plan


houstonfella

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Tiger trail? Sunset coffee building wasn't a part of this park renovation (this is just for the Sabine to Bagby promenade).

 

Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER). Basically connects Sesquicentennial Park to Allen's landing.

 

It might have just been me combining these all into one opening. At one point I remember they all had the same finish date (back in April). I think it would have been cool to have the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Water Works and then been able to wander around and check out these new developments as well. 

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http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/2015/10/with-grand-opening-ahead-buffalo-bayou-park.html

 

Buffalo Bayou Park will host thousands at its grand opening bonanza Oct. 3, but if you ask Anne Olson, president of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, it's time to start planning for part two.

 

The current section of Buffalo Bayou Park extends from Shepherd Drive to Sabine Street and features pavilions, a dog park, miles of trails and lush wildlife. The next segment includes the downtown district, Allen's Landing, as well as east of downtown, where Buffalo Bayou runs through public and private property.

 

"East of downtown, (the partnership) owns 50 acres, but all the rest is in the hands of private owners, the city or county. It will be a different kind of plan," Olson said.

 

The partnership plans to hold community meetings in the next year to hear feedback about what could be done with the eastern stretch of the Buffalo Bayou and how it could connect to the finished west end. Right now, the Rice University Crew Team and the Texas Dragon Boat Association operate on a floating dock near Allen's Landing, but future plans call for a permanent boat house, Olson told the HBJ.

 

"We won't tell people what to do with their property, but hopefully we'll be able to work with property owners collaboratively to show them what we'll be doing with our green space that will benefit them long-term," Olson said.

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You build a park with the river you have, not the river you might wish you had. Buffalo Bayou is a bayou. It is slow-moving and muddy. I will never be blue. If something were done to turn it blue, it would no longer be Buffalo Bayou; it would be some twisted abomination playacting at something it never was. 

 

I'm a little late replying to this, but,

 

This is to be a main attraction built around nasty- looking water?  I always believed that something could be done to reduce the appearance of the brown a little bit. Look at what they have done with Bray's bayou. They cemented the bottom of it and while it doesn't necessarily change the color of the water, it makes it look just a little bit more transparent where it changes with the color of the sky and environs more.

 

This is going to be a main attraction to the city. While I know we shouldn't necessarily care what visitors think, I just don't want our attraction being associated with muddy, poopy, and nasty. I mean the city is spending millions on this park, why not try to put on its best face?

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A real, flowing river is brown. It's because it's churning up dirt. Look at the Mississippi or the Ohio during non drought years - the rivers are brown. If the banks are nicely landscaped no one will care about the color of the water

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You can attack my viewpoint all you want.

 

For example, Ladybird Lake in Austin has a very picturesque setting and the water is blue. That's not to say this Brae's Bayou isn't very picturesque as well and they are doing an excellent job on the park, but that doesn't change the fact that I'd take bluer water over brown. It's just hard to believe that there's nothing that can be done.

Edited by scarface
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You can attack my viewpoint all you want.

For example, Ladybird Lake in Austin has a very picturesque setting and the water is blue. That's not to say this Brae's Bayou isn't very picturesque as well and they are doing an excellent job on the park, but that doesn't change the fact that I'd take bluer water over brown. It's just hard to believe that there's nothing that can be done.

Why not do a little research if there are in fact any natural ways to make the bayou less natural? You know, other than destroying what they have done to get rid of invasive plants and clean up the bayou for the plants and animals that call it home?

Many rivers around the globe that pass through glittering cities are in fact brown. I get you prefer crystal clear Caribbean blue, but trying to make the bayou look like something it's not, should not be the buffalo bayou master plan's goal.

Hopefully you'll come around to liking the brown water. It's here to stay.

On top of that, daming the bayou (like lady bird lake), goes against it's purpose of getting water from the Katy plains into our ship channel and trinity River. So you should probably toss that idea out the window.

Brown is not poopy. Brown is beautiful too. Brown is of the earth. Bayous are usually brown. Houston is on a low lying plain that was swampy before the Allen brothers set foot here.

I would much prefer grass and trees leading up the water than concrete. It's fine if you enjoy the concrete, but let us have this main bayou restored to its natural glory.

Edited by Montrose1100
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You can attack my viewpoint all you want.

 

For example, Ladybird Lake in Austin has a very picturesque setting and the water is blue. That's not to say this Brae's Bayou isn't very picturesque as well and they are doing an excellent job on the park, but that doesn't change the fact that I'd take bluer water over brown. It's just hard to believe that there's nothing that can be done.

 

Town Lake (the real name) flows through a largely limestone area, not through sand and mud. Hosuton's Bayous do not flow through clean rocky areas, but through silty, muddy areas. Short of concreting  the entire length of the bayou, and closing off any feeder streams that carry silt, we are not going to have blue water. This is why we do not have white sand beaches here as well - the rivers dump huge quantities of silt and dirt into the Gulf.

 

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For most folks blue water is certainly more appealing than brown hence the attraction of Pensacola and the Caribbean vs Galveston. That said, to accomplish the same thing for our bayous would involve an enormous sum of money and massive ecological disruption.  We live along a bayou or canal of Lake Houston and love it. Added a little Spanish moss, palms, banana trees, cajun music , Jimmy Buffett, whatever,  and relax. Watch the turtles, birds, ducks, on and on.

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Alright, instead of just complaining about the brown water and ridiculous solutions that go against everything BBP stands for, try offering some reasonable solutions. Here's a few.. They could try phytoremediation along the banks of the bayou in the urban areas of the city that are completely paved over, like downtown, where lots of storm water run off (which carries surface pollutants with it) goes into the bayou. They could even strategically place floating gardens along the waterway for direct phytoremediation of the bayou water as it flows through town. I'm not sure how much they would help, but a big floating garden platform near Allens Landing with the CBD as the backdrop could become a neat place for tourists and photo ops at the very least.

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I'm not concerned with what color the water is in Buffalo Bayou, but what concerns me is the amount of litter that floats down

the bayou from lazy, irresponsible jerks, who can't take the time to throw trash in a trash can or not litter on the streets.

That should be more important. Just like the public service announcement says. Everything that goes down the street drains ends

up in Galveston Bay eventually and thats a real problem.

Thats something that can be improved and all it takes is a citizenry who actually cares about the way this city looks and

what kinds of stewards we are. There is no need to play with dyes or relining the bayou with concrete, which is not only counter productive to moving water but also would destroy the natural beauty of the Bayou.

Next time you go to San Antonio check out the color of the river walk. It's not blue. And quite often in the summer it reeks.

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One last thing. Having moved from up north a long time ago, I found southern bayous and forests to be exotic and mysterious. It may be difficult to imagine but true. Had a cousin from Europe visit, he thought our bayous were fascinating ( the ones which had vegetation).  Many friends and family have said the same thing. They all thought that this environment existed only in Louisana or South Carolina coast. Surprise. Also in Houston. We live in a great place. How many metro areas can claim ecological environments ranging from prairie to cypress swamp lands to coastal maritime? 

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You can attack my viewpoint all you want.

 

For example, Ladybird Lake in Austin has a very picturesque setting and the water is blue. That's not to say this Brae's Bayou isn't very picturesque as well and they are doing an excellent job on the park, but that doesn't change the fact that I'd take bluer water over brown. It's just hard to believe that there's nothing that can be done.

 

You sound like the kind of person that introduces a new invasive species to kill off another species just to see both ruin the natural environment. How about we let mother nature do what she does best and try to stop controlling something we cant. 

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Triton- You nailed it. 

 

Inside the Loop is doing it's own thing. The city feels so much more vibrant. My biggest hope is that trashy people don't liter this park. Hermann Park is so beautiful but by the end of every busy weekend, the place looks like a dump. How f'in hard is it to throw away your stuff properly?!?!?!?

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