nolaboy

This is a neat article that I found linked in Swamplot. It discusses Houston's growth and development. I'm not sure which category this falls into so forgive me if I chose the wrong one. http://www.governing.com/topics/urban/gov-houston-urban-revival.html#next I don't know much about Governing magazine, but being that its contact info is Washington DC, I am assuming this article is from an outsider/national perspective. This article talks about developing the urber core (i.e., Inner Loop) and the problems with sprawl -- issues that many other major cities deal with as well as feelings and beliefs of many HAIFers. I agree that a strong urban core is necessary, as well as less dense sprawl is bad for any metro area therefore needs to be reduced. This formula sounds good for cities that have physical growth constraints (mountains, rivers, lakes, etc) as well as zoning, but Houston is not one of those cities as it has room to grow in all directions. I think it is a healthy for the entire Houston metro area to sprawl beyond its boundaries while taking advantage of its lack of zoning to allow every major surrounding area in each direction to develop its own form of an independent urban core (as we already have in the development of the Woodlands, Galleria, Greenway, Energy Corridor, Sugar Land, TMC, etc). This would imply that the Houston CBD / inner loop would not develop into a larger denser city that many of us (including me) desire, which would compete against the likes of Chicago, L.A., DFW, SF Bay Area, Philly, etc. But given that Houston has always been an automobile/highway dependent city, we would have to go through a drastic overhaul of our transportation system and "mentality" in order to be a city that has one central urban core. So thinking about the future growth of the entire Houston metro area, I feel that it would be better for Houston to use a different formula from what other cities are using, given that the entire area does not share the constraints that other cities have to deal with. By further developing this nodal network of smaller urban cores, I believe that Houston will be able to fill in the sprawl and have the benefits of urbanism on a more local level. This can allow less commuting and movement throughout the metro area, therefore reducing traffic in the inner core, which is only going to get worse as the inner loop continues to develop and grow. I don't intend to be a downer, but my realistic assumption is that a city-wide network of a rail system will not be feasible due to cost (as coverage distance/area would require several spurs of rails in all directions to make it convenient enough to use the rail system) and the stigmas against public transit of the people in the Houston Metro (being unsafe, NIMBYs, increasing crime in surrounding areas, or wanting to drive ones own car, just to name a few). With this assumption I feel that focusing more on growing the inner loop rather than a nodal network of smaller cores will make traffic in as well as to/from the inner loop a nightmare, which will degrade the quality of life for inner loopers. I see alot of pride especially from inner loopers on this forum for the growth and development of the inner loop, and I absolutely respect that. I do not by any means intend for the inner loop to be neglected for the beneift of developing surrounding local cores, so I apologzie in advance if anyone is offended. But just as many of us on this forum, I am trying to think of ways for the overall city to grow and prosper by leveraging the lack of constraints that other cities have to deal with, and to mitigate the problems that we already have and will potentially have with growth/prosperity. I feel that we can grow in a way that only we can and that we can form our own unique city that is far more successful that any other city in the world. I grew up just down the street in New Orleans and have always been facinated/jealous of the success of Houston in the past 50 years. As much as I love NOLA, I had the opportunity to be transplanted to Houston about 2 years ago and have been proud to call it home ever since. So unfortunately I have only really studied the growth and history of Houston for about 2 years and may be a bit naive when giving and forming my own opinion. So please take what I say with a grain of salt, as I am trying to offer an outside perspective with good wishes and intents. But feel free to correct me and educate me where I am wrong, without being offensive.

Drove past this area about half hour ago and ground prep has started. Trees are being cut down and the perimeter is being lined.

Does anyone have any details, road layout, and/or schedule for the extenstion of Mason between Long Meadow Farms and Waterview Estates (south of its intersection with Grand Pkwy). I've seen plans for future sections of LMF and they show Mason hugging the east side of the development, so I assume it will split off of Farmer just south of Oakland Elementary, and become the main thoroughfare up to the intersection of present day Mason/Farmer/Skinner. There is alot of construction work happening in this area and I just got a quick glimpse of it recently while driving through. If I remember correctly, Mason is being widened between Skinner and FM 359. Will Farmer Rd between Oakland Elementary and the entrance to Pecan Grove eventually be closed?

Interstate 45 along Pierce Street, as seen in 2005, is a divider in downtown Houston. Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle Take a step back, or more specifically a step down, and the efforts placed into lifting downtown comes to life. We’ve engineered a way to build infrastructure in an area that otherwise would be fit only for holding flood waters. Whether we’ve paved paradise to put up a parking lot is a discussion for another day. The fact is we did it, and with the exception of a little flooding we’re winning and opening up park space. It’s yet another example of how cities can solve a lot of problems if they’re willing to pay for it. http://blog.chron.com/thehighwayman/2013/08/itd-be-tough-but-houston-could-get-down-with-freeways/

CivCast has a posting for bids to add traffic signals at Grand Pkwy and West Airport Boulevard.

Costco Targegts Katy for New Location -- This is about a week old now, but it looks like Costco is looking to build at the southwest corner of I-10/99, or closer to Katy Mills mall.

Section 11 opened a little over a month ago. Section 13 is complete, and partially barricaded off. Mason was extended south up to Section 13. CivCast has Section 12 out for bid.

Added Dallas with L.A./HOU

Just for kicks I did a similar comparison to Chicago...

I made a quick chart to compare 400ft+ buildings in Houston vs L.A., and realized that Houston has alot more taller buildings. Few observations: -- L.A.'s US Bank Tower is a mere 16ft taller than Houston's tallest JP Morgan Chase. -- Houston has 49 buildings vs 34 in L.A. -- Houston only has 3 buildings shorter than LA's shortest two (+/- 5 ft) -- For each of L.A.'s buildings on this chart, draw a line to the right from the top of each bar, and count how many taller buildings there are in Houston -- this compares buildings within a similar range and shows how many more Houston has. Exceptions: --This list of buildings includes those outside of the immediate downtown area. I am not sure how spread out the buildings in LA are, but a good bit of the Houston buildings are in the Galleria area (i.e., Williams Tower). So this may not be a fair comparison of downtown skylines. Anyone more familiar with Houston/L.A., please advise which buildings are not in the downtown skylines and I can update this chart. Source: Wikipedia Los Angeles Houston

I noticed yesterday that the parking lot of the old Saturn / used car dealership at the location of Energy Tower IV has been cleared. Do this mean that ground clearing is about to begin?

Drove thru this intersection yesterday and the traffic lights are operational now

Here is the Grand Mission Estates land plan. Currently, the roads in sections 9 and 10 are opened and about 20% of the lots have started construction or are nearing completion. S Mason Rd is currently open up to the entrance of Sect. 9 and 10 (Kingsford Trail Ln), and it looks like the ground is being cleared for a southward extension to Ridge Harvest Ln (entrance to Section 13) as was as further south to Beechnut. https://civcastusa.com/projectdetails.aspx?projectid=2811

I-69 signs going up for westloop thru Rosenburg sections Link with video

Does anyone have any information on the office buildings that are going up on the Westbound Katy Fwy feeder at Houston Chronical Blvd (Northeast corner of this intersection)? Looks like two 4-story L-shaped buildings with a parking garage in the back. The pre-casted concrete walls went up rather quickly in the last 3 weeks, as is the rest of the office complex. Does anyone know who the developer is and if there are any tennants yet? Sorry if this topic has already been discussed -- Please merge if it has. Thanks in advance! Map of the area: https://local.google.com/?ll=29.786541,-95.680591&spn=0.00325,0.00471&t=h&z=18

I noticed that the website http://www.houstonfreeways.com/ has been updated for the book's 10th anniversary. Does anybody know if Slotboom is working on a 10-year update/retrospective similar to how he did his 5-yr in 2008? Edit: There are some February 2013 updates added to the 5-year retrospective.

Drove through the intersection of Fry and Center Village today and they were starting to put up the traffic lights.

Grand Mission section 9 has started development (at the terminous of S Mason Rd, about a mile south of Westpark Tollway). Lennar and Westin Homes are more than halfway done with building their model homes. The first two sections have been paved already. Does anyone know when Mason will be extended to Beechnut? Also, it looks like Lakemont is about to open the streets in the southwest end of the development. This includes Lakemont Point Drive, which connects Lakemont Bend Ln to Beechnut. Lakemont Point Drive is open up to about 10 feet away from Beechnut -- I assume this is to allow Beechnut to expand to 4 lanes in the future. Does anyone know when this will happen? 1901-02204_ GRAND MISSION COMBO MAP_11-02-10.pdf Lakemont.pdf

Stripes just opened on that corner a few weeks ago. I noticed some construction work starting along the westbound Westpark Tollway feeder, between Peek Rd and Grand Corners. It looks like they are clearing ground for a new strip mall or offices. Does anyone have any info on who the tennents will be? The only info I was able to find is: http://parkwaylakes.com/Welcome.html I believe its Tract #7 in the "Available Sites" page.

I heard that Greatclips will be opening up in this shopping center. It will be by the same owner of the locations at Grand Pkwy / Bay Hill, and at Grand Pkwy / Mason. The hairstylist told me it should be open in February or March.