ssullivan

The United States will be known as the People's Republic of Bushistan.

I thought it was going to now be called "Jesusland." At least in the red states.

That's the only location directly on Main St. anywhere near McGowen which makes any sense.

Any comment from realtors?

I'm pretty sure that's the building that was shown on the news Friday night when I saw the report on this.

Well, if you want to go to the littletowns... the best airport I ever had the (dis)pleasure to land in, is the International airport in Kalamazoo, MI.

It's one building and easy to navigate.

Ricco

Even better are the airports in places like Laramie and Worland, WY. They are smaller than the house I grew up in (which wasn't all that big) and are basically two or three rooms. Once on a flight that was way behind schedule into Worland we arrived well after midnight and had to wait for someone who was on his way from home to get there to unlock the airport door so we could go insisde. Got to love those essential air service cities in the west that are sometimes way under 10,000 people in population but still get scheduled airline service because they're so remote.

Regarding the meat rack, I'm assuming they're closed down since I rarely see any activity at that bldg.  I'll be thrilled when i see it destroyed.

According to a report on the news the other night, the Meat Rack is the sexually oriented business planning to located on Main near McGowen. Apparently they're planning on relocating over there.

I'm not opposed to such a business existing but I think they need to be someplace else. Choosing a location right on the rail line in an area that's just starting to redevelop does not demonstrate good social responsibility on the part of the club's owners.

If you go by amenities, such as food and retail, IAH imo has to rank towards the bottom.

That is very true, with the exception of Terminal E, and the only reason there are good food and shopping choices there is that Continental managed to convince the city to let them manage the concessions in that terminal since Continental was paying for the building. Choices in the other termainls aren't so great, although they are somewhat better than they used to be. But when compared to the food and retail options in airports like Denver, Pittsburgh, and Minneapolis, we pale in comparison.

Probably my favorite airport in the US is Denver's. The terminals are well designed, attractive, and easy to navigate, there is a good selection of concessions, and they have the coolest interterminal trains.

I refuse to refer to it as "Bush Intercontinental." I still say just "Intercontinental." Same thing with Reagan National in Virigina, which will always be Washington National Airport when I speak of it.

As for IAH being horribly designed, I don't think it's that bad. It's certainly better than many other hub airports in the country I've connected through. It does suffer from having terminals built in four different decades, which has led to a mix of different design concepts. But overall I find it pretty easy to navigate and efficient to get in and out of for an airport of its size.

I don't think it's directly under the Pierce. That would be quite difficult to build, especially considering the high roof that's necessary to accomodate fire trucks. I saw a ladder truck pass under the Pierce on Louisiana a few weeks ago and there was not much clearance between the top of the truck and the bottom of the bridge. To build under the Pierce would require the freeway to be high enough that the fire station's roof structure would be able to fit between the top of the trucks and the bottom of the freeway, and still allow enough clearance for access to the top of the trucks while they're parked inside. I just don't see how that's possible.

I think the reporter is wrong in saying it's "under the Pierce Elevated."

Ralph Bivins wrote that article didn't he use to work for the Houston Chronicle? What happened?

He was. He's been gone for a while and Nancy Sarnoff replaced him. She used to be over at the HBJ. I don't know what the story was on this but since the Chronicle changed editors there's been some turnover of reporters the last couple of years.

I have a question I'd like to toss out to the entire board: where does everyone currently live?

Kirby & North Braeswood. I will be very interested in this new Camden property. Although I just moved and love where I am, in a couple of years it may be a place I seriously consider, given its location. Since moving into town from Westchase, I've become less and less car-dependent, and if I end up working downtown or in the medical center, housing on directly on the rail line would be extremely attractive to me. Not that it takes that long to take the bus to the rail line for me now, but being that much closer would be great.

I really do think this project will be highly successful. This is the first new residential/retail/office development being built directly at a MetroRail stop. I hope it will be a catalyst for further development on the many vacant lots surrounding it.

There's also the possibility that these rental units might eventually be converted to condos, which would stabilize the turnover problem. This has happened here before -- the Renaissance at River Oaks (I think that's the name) on Shepherd just south of San Felipe were rentals owned by Gables when I moved to Houston in 2000. A year or so later they converted to condos. The same thing is happening downtown right now with the St. Germain.

I'm not totally opposed to apartment development, as long as they're well built, which many of the newer properties are, and the management keeps the property up well enough that rents don't start a downward trend. That's when problems start. And I think KinkaidAlum is right. If the rest of the neighborhood around stays stable and people don't perceive a problem with living near one of these complexes, it shouldn't be an issue. I know in my neighborhood, which is situated between Old Braeswood and Braeswood Place, the introduction of apartment complexes to the area ago hasn't been a major problem. There are a couple of complexes here that were built in the 1960s and they are not like what's in the Gulfton Ghetto -- they are still well maintained and occupied by professional people with good jobs. The neighborhood is much more than a few apartment complexes, and I think the comparisons to the Gulfton area are wrong. That neighborhood had nothing but apartments... thousands and thousands and thousands of them. Each of those complexes was much larger in the number of units than any of the ones being built in Midtown. And what was nearby? Not much except for Sharpstown, which never was an expensive, upper end neighborhood, even when it was new. Take a look at the original houses in Sharpstown and around Gulfton versus those in other neighborhoods built at the same time and they are much smaller, with more wood and less brick. I have a hard time seeing townhomes selling in the upper 200s to low 300s turning into a ghetto in the next 20 years. And, maybe apartments priced in a range where young professionals who aren't ready to purchase a home but want to live near downtown it's what's necessary to achieve the kind of critical mass in the area that will spur more high end retail and restaurant development. And keep in mind that not everyone in an apartment is there because they can't afford a house. Some of us don't want a large house and yard to take care of and may be just fine with apartment or condo life for many years to come.

Last I saw, the "superblock" still had no trace of development, while a large block -- or series of them -- along Heiner Street on the east side of Freedmen's Town sported several Camden signs. I'll bet that's where this is going to be.

And anyone who wants to live right on 45, well ... that's their problem.

The superblock on Main at McGowen has Camden signs on it as well advertising a mixed use development coming soon. And the rendering above clearly shows the median on Main St. and the light rail tracks.

This has been mentioned in a couple of other posts on here, but this is the first sign that construction will be starting very soon.

It's a popular ride though. The couple of times I've taken it it's been packed.

I'm an almost daily rider, and have ridden the line at all times of day. It doesn't matter if it's rush hour, mid day, or evening, the trains are usually at least 75% full. With over 30,000 weekday passengers, that's 30,000 cars not on the streets in the Main St. corridor. Sure, some of those people would be on buses if not on the train. But that would mean a few hundred more daily bus trips in that corridor. Like it or not, the rail system is efficiently moving a lot of people around every day of the week, and providing a reasonable alternative to driving for those who live and work near it.

Also during construction part of the internal frame collapsed. 

I think they also had a fire (maybe two) during some of the early construction phases.

And once this current bulge of baby-boomers who enjoy the urbanity of the inner-city exist only in sociology textbooks, will the demographics support all of these residences currently being built intown? Will Starbucks be closing down in record numbers and become thrift shops in say, 2035?

Actually, many of the people moving to Midtown and Downtown are the children of the baby boomers. It's not just empty nesters moving there.

As for your comments on the light rail system, it has helped congestion. Maybe not on the freeways, but along the Main St. corridor and in the Medical Center, it has improved the situation. There are far fewer buses in that corridor, and many people living in the area have abandoned their cars for some trips. I'm one of them. It takes me just as long, and costs more money, to drive downtown, find a parking place, and pay for it, as it does to take MetroRail, with a short transfer on the 4 Beechnut bus to connect to/from the TMC Transit Center. Most people in the inner city don't use the freeways to get to downtown because many times they're impractical. We're often forced to use surface streets to get around. And the rail line competes very effectively with driving in that situation.

Yes, the light rail hasn't done anything to solve traffic in the suburbs and areas outside 610 yet. And once the system has been expanded to places like Greenspoint/IAH, and out Westpark (which will be primarily a commuter, park and ride route), it may not take mass numbers of people out of their cars off the freeways. But as the city grows, every new rider who gets on the rail system for his/her commute is a person not in a car on a freeway. It may not make congestion better, but it certainly provides a method to prevent it from getting worse.

Nit Noi, Thai Cottage (there are also locations on Weslayan at Richmond and in the Clear Lake area), and Patu in Rice Village are my favorites.

Haven't tried the Golden Room but have always heard good things about it. Same thing with Bangkok Place.

I'm really curious to see how this program works out.  Is good that they are excluding bars and clubs, since they may run the risk of impeding residential development.  Also I like that it is targeted at street level vendors.

Same here. And the fact that it's targeted to retailers who will be open on nights and weekends.

The diner was still there on the afternoon of Friday, October 29.

Interesting article (although hard to read). I never knew there was a mall project like that on Main St. Whatever happened with this project? What is in that location now? I can't seem to remember which buildings are referred to in the article.

By the way, the article is actually from the Post, not the Chronicle as the heading on this thread says.

Thanks for the great pictures of downtown Seattle's retail district. It would be wonderful if we had that downtown here, and maybe some day we will. But keep in mind, some of those stores are of such a specialized nature that they will only open one or two locations in a metro area. With well-established high end retail already in The Galleria, Highland Village, and to a lesser extent Town & Country Village, getting some of those places downtown might be difficult. But it's not impossible. But even if our downtown never has Versace, Louis Vuitton, and other stores of that nature, it would be nice to see some mid-range (but not cheap like Payless Shoes) clothing retailers that reach a wider audience.

Keep in mind that downtown retail is demand-driven. The higher demand there is for this type of development retailers perceive, the more likely they are to invest in stores downtown. This demand is something that every single person on this forum who wants to see more downtown retail can have a part in. I personally try to frequent downtown retailers whenever possible; just yesterday on my way home from downtown I stopped in CVS (yes I know how many people here feel about that store) to pick up some items I needed before hopping on the train back home. I try to make purchases at the downtown Foley's whenever possible, and I have shopped at the Shops at Houston Center when I can. Saying you want more downtown retail and then not utilizing the retailers that are there when possible isn't helping create more retail businesses downtown. Do what you can to support the businesses that are already there. It will not only secure their future and keep them downtown, but it will also encourage more development as other retailers see the success of those who took a chance and were downtown early on in the redevelopment process.

I've heard many stories before about that place, including how an upstairs dining room that isn't used often frequently has all of its chairs and tables moved around when closing time comes, even though nobody has been up there. Employees will put the furniture back in order and by closing time the next evening the room will be a mess again. Supposedly a ghost is often seen in one of the restrooms and some employees refuse to go into that restroom.

I've often wondered why Simon never renovated Galleria III with the rest of the mall a year or two ago. I'm glad it's finally happening, as that section of the mall was in horrible shape, and the renovations to the rest of the mall just made Galleria III look that much worse in comparison.

Now if Macy's will just do a renovation to their store. Maybe it's just me, but I find the interior of that store to be so unappealing I can't stand shopping in there.

Another advantage for Netflix - as of November 1, prices are going down several dollars! I just saw this when logging into my account. The standard, 3 at a time plan is going to be $17.99, a $4 reduction in the current price, and $2 cheaper than the plan was before the price increase this summer.

I'll add another point to ricco's excellent post on the advantages of a subway line. The longest a train on the Red Line can be is two cars, due to the length of the downtown blocks. Longer trains would block intersections when the train stops.

However, with a subway line, three car trains can be operated as demand increases.

And of course there's the increased speed between stops in the subway.

As for the flooding issue, let's not forget that much of the existing downtown tunnel system was not flooded during Allison. Yes there were problems, but the majority of the tunnels were not affected. And nobody's screaming "don't build it becuase it will flood!" whenever a downtown developer announces that they are building a new tunnel segment.

Well I'm glad to hear the subway proposals are still alive, because there was a Chronicle article not too long ago that said otherwise (I'll see if I can find it in the archives and post it). I think that's a much better plan than the surface line, as it will provide better connections to places like the GRB, City Hall, and Main St. Square. And, it could connect the existing downtown tunnels to the transit system.