TGM

Other than that, these grassy areas just need to be paved and then there's a workable sidewalk that can be used by pedestrians, handicapped, etc.

The grassy areas, they need a saving not a paving. Without them that spot becomes a concrete heat island devoid of green space. History lost inch by inch, foot by foot at the hands of nazi-uniformed, hipster concrete workers. Save the square if you care.

So your saying we need the abbreviations?

No, I'm saying you don't walk fast enough.

I skateboard everywhere in this city. As long as they have a patio or outdoor seating its all good. Moon Tower is a nice easy destination while on a board (or bike). Heck I skated to juice box one time (awesome fruit w/ shaved ice and condensed milk place) over in chinatown (bellair and beltway 8). There is no doubt that this city is already getting more bikeable... and the more trails they build the better and more used it will get (though cars will always be most peoples choice). I really enjoy using my board to go to the bar though. Skating after a drink or 7 is a way better option than driving.

My hats off to you. Given the condition of the city streets and my age-related center of gravity shift I would end up being a member of the "Broken" Bones Brigade.

NoDo????? LOL! Whats next, MiTo for midtown? How about WestCHA for westchase, MuDi for the Musuem District or RiVi for Rice Village. These hipster abbreviations are so corny and pointless for Houston.

Any city CDB where you can walk from one end to the other in less than 20 minutes does not need the hipster abbreviations.

Disillusion by idealism.

Not everyone wants your version of Utopia.

The Macy's building is very achitecturally interesting... I mean it was built with 39,000 capacity fallout bunker... there is more to architecture than front view aesthetics...

Which is why it pisses me off when taggers refer to themselves as graffiti "artists". Your spray can job is art, but the architecture you painted on is not? I digress.

Maybe that's why they already started on the "unfunded" south bank trail right where they stopped on the north bank. A nice ferry service would be one helluva lot cheaper.

Forget the ferry, you can make it...

I've used my bike/feet to get to tons of places since I moved back. Granted, I don't do it in the heat of the summer unless we're day drinking outside and I'm going to be sweating regardless.

If you're pounding back drinks outdoors in the summer heat, then you probably should walk home.

I guess when your riding a tandem after drinking it does not matter who the designated pedaler is.

I am really tired of the argument that cycling won't happen in Houston because it is hot in the summer. First, riding a bike in the evening during the summer is actually very pleasant. It is the least humid time of day and when you are out of the direct sunlight, it is very pleasant.

It is, which is why I choose my bike, rather than my car to exercise in the evening. If I want to actually go *somewhere* with more dining options (recall the title of this thread) I fire up the internal-combustion engine so I spend the least amount of time commuting to and from the restaurant.

I know that this modern world is painful for those that only use bikes, or envy NYC or DC's metro system, but I value my time and prefer not to bring a change of cloths with me when dining out.

Now, if we're talking drinks only, then skinny jeans, an ironic t-shirt, and vintage 80's Kaepa's are the perfect way of saying eff-you to the man while you ride your fixie to Antidote and then follow it with a growler at the place you've never heard of. When it comes to weaving on the way home, I'm cool with the double standard/benefit cyclists have.

Despite Historic efforts to price the "riff-raff" out the Heights still has hipsters. Hipsters. Hipsters on your front lawns, blocking the alleys, buying up all the cheap beer, having 11pm band practice in the garage apartment they rent from your neighbor, changing their '83 Renault Alliance CV joints on the street. Hipsters.

Things are already changing for the better. Passing Council today was a new exemption to the parking requirements allowing businesses to reduce their parking requirements by 10% by trading 1 car space for 4 bike spaces.

More power to businesses who can reduce their required parking space requirements. However reality is going to dictate that the majority of spaces that will be used by actual bike riders will be at hipster bars, coffee shops, yoga studios. (Or staff) You're not going to see a couple taking their tandem to a $$$+ restaurant in July. This just means more cars in neighborhoods.

Houston's a pedestrian hell because of the commitment to car culture.

Houston is only a pedestrian hell if you belong to the romantised NYC pedestrian mindset that thinks you should be able to walk everywhere. If that is what you desire then you're going to grow old waiting for it to happen here. Move to NYC while you are still young and don't mind the cramped apartment shared by two other room mates.

Most folks here enjoy the autonomy a car gives them, even if that means being stuck in traffic. It's their choice, and they relish having choices.

Just get one of these:

http://for-sale.yakaz.com/real-fire-hydrants-for-sale#lo=4&docid=0002hbdeah6u19vq

What about Skateboarding dads?

There's one dad, he fathered them all Professor.

So to sum things up:

Cyclists, it does not matter how in the right you are, if you get hit by a car you're effed.

Drivers, it does not matter how much of a jerk the cyclist is, if he's folded in-half under your car you're effed.

Skateboarders, your dad just got your report card, you're effed.

Transtar has a historical archive of commute times available here:

http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/hist/historydata.html

I was on the OKCTalk forum and there are a couple of post claiming that Shell could be moving their NA headquarters from Houston to Oklahoma City. Is this really a possibility or is it just rumors and wishful thinking on their part ?

They pointed out that Shell sold their headquarter building last year as if that was proof but Shell never owned the building they are just tenants and in fact I believe they renewed their lease for another 15 years not to long ago.

Wishful thinking on OKC's behalf. Look at the properties that Shell has here vs. elsewhere. One Shell, Two Shell, the information center on OST, Westhollow Technology center, Deer Park refinery, etc. If anything they could choose to consolidate similar to what ExxonMobil is doing in the Woodlands.

There will always be a consistent rumor that Shell is leaving New Orleans (One Shell square), or relocating everything to The Hague, and I guess now, pulling out of Houston.

The last thing we need is another signal light pre-programmed at specific intervals regardless of time of day or traffic conditions. Let's not make the traffic management any dumber than it already is.

I'm convinced that if you placed 3 code-monkeys in a room for an hour with an Arduino kit, webcam, and 4g data card you could a superior system than what exists now.

google maps registers a business in there "Geophysical Pursuit".

finding their website, and going to the 'contact' page shows that they do lease on the second floor.

so while there doesn't appear to be anything in the ground floor retail, they're definitely leasing space.

Hmm, sounds like a CIA or NSA building. They need all that vacant space around them as a buffer for their mind reading machines. Crap! I'm out of aluminum foil!

Churn and burn. (Well sometimes....)

It seems to me that nearly every intersection that the trail crosses currently has a stop sign that allows autos to cross the path without stopping. How crazy is that?

I have yet to encounter a cyclist who voluntarily stops when not forced to by two tons of rolling steel.

The reality is that drivers would be expected to stop, cyclists would feel entitled not to.

Accidents only happen when one party feels that the rules don't apply to them.

oh, that was a good bit down pecore closer to studewood, but yeah still very close. We also had a lady with a giant kitchen knife chasing after a man holding a baby one morning. This sounds almost as if a drug deal gone wrong or something.

Dang...maybe the Historic folks need to focus on banning circumcisions in the Heights.

A sidewalk bar in Midtown, awesome!

Just remember :

We've fed some data into our Neo-Luddite Steampunk mainframe to calculate traffic projections for a post TJ's Washington Ave and it spit out this result:

Join our campaign to stop this madness:

Save the Circle, jerks!

It's actually going to be at 904 Westcott, but that's still close enough to panic, right?

Apparantly historic Memorial Club apartments will fall victim to this devious money-making plot!

I could not sleep last night while laying awake thinking of the traffic impact this will have on the Washington Avenue roundabout. That roundabout is made of bricks and the big Trader Joe's trucks will crush the bricks (and decorative flowers) as they try to circle the roundabout.

http://swamplot.com/a-trader-joes-coming-to-washington-ave/2013-02-01/

Back in the late 1980's the Chevron station that was at Richmond @ Sage offered CNG. I think it was a matter of "too soon" as it was eventually removed from that station.

Another reason to like Wal-Mart.

Sláinte!