JasonDFW

I was reading the Houston Biz Journal online earlier and it said Greater Houston and DFW took the top 2 spots in the nation for non-farm job growth this past year. I would have expected Houston to be up there but with all the predictions of a DFW downturn I expected mediocre results. It's amazing how far behind the California metros were in those measures.

jason

FORT WORTH -- AllianceTexas could soon be an inland port,...

It already was unless you're on HAIF. I guess this whole article is just about a designation from the state. Good to see the state catch up with reality I guess.

jason

was reading and stumbled upon this fact sheet.

Many CFL manufacturers do not recommend using the simpler and less expensive dimmers designed for incandescent lamps, and some strongly discourage it. The harmonic distortion such inexpensive dimmers create can range from 150-3000 percent. High harmonics can negatively impact sensitive electronic equipment (computers, communications, building automation, etc.) that is increasingly common in federal facilities, especially if that equipment is on the same circuit as the lighting.

full article

The harmonics created by the dimmers affect other equipment regardless of whether the load is incandescent or fluorescent. I have an analog 900Mhz phone that can't be run near one of those halogen torchiere lamps when it is at anything less than full brightness. That lamp has since been replaced with one of the 2D 55W CFL dimmable torchiere lamps and the problem is solved. The more sensitve dimmable CFLs are largely off the market now. Walmart was selling an example of them from about 2.5 years ago until about a year ago. The units Home Depot started stocking about 6 months ago don't mind harmonics even in the HF and VHF bands.

Jason

i'm not ready to spend 15-20 for the bulbs....yet. i only use fluorescents in my garage.

I'm not sure how your $15-$20 has been calculated (number of bulbs, price per bulb etc...) but typically if you spend $15-$20 on CFLs you're going to save ~$150 over the life of the bulb in electricity costs. There are definitely places where CFL bulbs aren't ideal, but I can't possibly imagine a house where only having fluorescents in the garage is a sound choice.

Hopefully you have decent ~90lumen/watt fluorescent bulbs in your garage otherwise I'd think about doing an cost/benefit analysis on whether those should be replaced as well.

Jason

This is a TOTAL overreaction. The baby boomers played with giant globs of mercury in school when they were growing up, and it they're still here to tell the tale.

Giant globs are fairly safe. 1 tiny drop being run through a vacuum would do way, way more damage than playing with large amounts.

Jason

don't forget the ballasts either. the older ones (~pre-1980) contained PCB's.

I don't think many CFLs used ballasts with PCBs. I'm not sure any CFLs were released pre-1980.

Jason

And just who is "us"?

D/FW, D/FW Region, Dallas, Ft. Worth and now Grapevine? Whatever tagline works.

"Us" is the same as "Houston", the Houston metro.

Jason

It gets hot there too, just like home, except its the oven-like "dry heat".

Well I wouldn't say "just like home." Many people don't even have AC there, they get by with a swamp cooler. Also, the nights are frigid by east Texas standards. The average low there during July is colder than it has ever gotten in Houston (well, at least the last ~110 years of reliable instrumentation). That allows them to do something unimaginable east of 35 in Texas.... opening windows at night!

Jason

People also seem surprised that Houston is so green. I never knew it wasn't supposed to be green. It's s subtropical climate for goodness sake.

Washington DC is subtropical too, that's not the source of the green. What makes Houston green is the humidity and rainfall.

Jason

It was cold this morning. I heard that there were snow flurries in DFW and Central Texas, too.

Yes, Saturday it was 42

We have passed Miami!

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories...tml?jst=b_ln_hl

Next stop... Philly and DFW!

Philly is just a question of when, but DFW is still pulling away so it'd have to start growing faster before passing. Atlanta is still growing faster than either but they've got a lot of population to make up. By 2030 any of the 3 could be the largest, they all have the potential. I think Atlanta has the biggest opportunity to surprise IMO.

Jason

we jumped from 9th to 6th?

Houston is the 9th largest CMSA, or combined metro, which has not changed. I suspect this is what you're thinking of. This discussion is about the MSA rank, which has moved up to #6.

Jason

I don't know if this has been posted but top 10 counties for growth:

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/real_e...ties/index.html

Harris, Tarrant, Bexar, Collin and Dallas counties made the list. Texas has half the list.

Jason

Okay, so if those numbers are right, does mean the Houston area is now the sixth largest metro in the country? Anybody with good math skills know?

I haven't crunched the numbers but this article says yes!

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/sto...19/daily45.html

I think its dumb to always accuse someone of flaming just becuase they post some information about their city. Some people on this forum need to get off it!

BTW, that is interesting how Atlanta's GDP is higher than Houston's and they aren't larger than Houston (YET). The chart did say that was just for 2005 though!

Atlanta is a powerhouse, I wouldn't be surprised if by 2020 they took off and had the largest GDP in the south.

Jason

i wonder what the new york/new jersey metroplex gdp is, or how about the san antonio/austin metroplex.

You need to check the list, because the New York/New Jersey metro IS on this list. It is number 2. It would be comparatively useless to rate just New York City itself, as its economy and business is closely tied to that of the metro's economy. Houston is no different, they add in all the suburbs of the entire metro, as they should.

Jason

Houston by day, Dallas by night.

Not that my opinion matters much, but I agree.

Jason

The siren in my neighborhood goes off every Wednesday at 10am. I had never heard a tornado/flood/civil defense siren until I moved to Wisconsin in 1997. Now I'm used to them.

The sirens in Dallas go off only on the first Wednesday of the month, which is hard to get used to after growing up in Wisconsin. They're spaced just far enough around here that you forget about them nearly every time!

Back in the Appleton Wisconsin my desk sat a few feet away from one of the siren's test button.... but I was a good kid so no pranks.

Jason

Are you trying to help or hurt your cause?

Do you have some updated figures or something that dispute something I said?

I'll turn the question around. Are you trying to help or hurt whatever your cause is?

Jason

I know, imagine the gall of Dallas actually thinking that its proximity to major north/south, east/west rail and interstate lines, its connections to the POH, POLB, and the POLA, its temperate weather, abundant workforce, and plentiful cheap land, all somehow positions it to be the largest distribution hub in the central US. It is quite shocking how they come up with this stuff. Oh well, I guess where it comes to vision, Dallas has doers and Houston has you.

If you were to read "central" as "inland" ports away from the coasts, then the two existing DFW area ports already have collected enough momentum to push the DFW port district to the be the largest inland port by $ in the US. Not counting Laredo of course, which is even larger than Houston by that measure. If you were to read "central" as in the center of the US then I'd consider Chicago as the king though, which DFW will not pass for quite a while (if ever). We'll see, but I'd think that the DFW area-wide competition would force all our ports to be very attractive to businesses. It'd take some serious planning though to make the south Dallas existing and future facilities dominant in this area. Competition is wonderful anyhow.

Jason

Again, I offer to you the jury that there is no water anywhere to be found for a 250 mile radius.

Gasp. No water within 250 miles??? Isn't Fort Worth within 250 miles? Yet, where are your posts about that port? Isn't San Antonio within 250 miles? Yet no posts about that port?

Jason

This is a moronic post.

^ I wouldn't go that far. I think Houstonfella has been relatively restrained lately. I find it refreshing.

Jason

Speaking of pride... Houston's 55 degrees is so much better than 33 or whatever is up in Dal.

I'm quite happy with the 55 and sunny predicted today. The sunshine (specifically its radiant heating) makes a huge difference as long as the winds are not strong. Hard to quantify, but easily feels warmer than say a 65

Actually i even traveled the area off Highway 114 going into Irving. That area has a little more development, but it's still so sparse and spread out, it feels like a deadspot. Doesn't feel like city between Dallas and Ft. Worth.

I wasn't talking about that area. It is almost as dead as 30, only for different reasons. I believe those areas are yet to infill, unlike most of those areas near 30 which just will never infill because of parkland etc... There are areas not far from 114 that had *nothing* just a few years ago. *IF* it continues to grow like it has in that area since the 70s, it should be all filled in at some point I would expect, and perhaps be a huge area even by Texas standards.

Jason

First coming into Dallas from I-45 south, the town appears to be somewhat ugly. It

With Houston and the surrounding suburbs growing in population each year, It is hard for me to imagine Houston with anymore then the +5,000,000 people already here. Since almost everything outside of the 610 loop is layed out in a traditional "suburban" style (not that there is anything wrong with that), how many people could still continue to move & live here?

I didn't notice anyone respond to your first question, so here's the answers from the Texas Water Development Board:

Houston MSA: 2030 - 7.5 Million

Houston MSA: 2060 - 10.7 Million

The only other MSA I have compiled info for is DFW, but they could all be done if one had time:

DFW MSA: 2030 - 8.9 Million

DFW MSA: 2060 - 12.8 Million

They do already compile numbers for regions which somewhat approximate what we would consider the cities+suburbs, with some exceptions.

It's nice to see they suspect the rural counties to stay rural, so the growth is expected to not be as sprawly as it has been the last couple decades.

Jason

Well good, Willy. I'm glad you're getting the therapy you need. Anyone who has nothing better to do with his time than to write a 400 word post where he himself admits that the comparison of Houston and Dallas is a total waste of time, needs therapy badly.

And don't worry, I never take any of your posts seriously. However, it is a form of light entertainment watching you sad Dallasonians constantly coming down to HAIF to tell Houstonites how envious they are - when it is people like YOU that can't seem to get Houston out of your system. (131 posts are the proof)

Now give us another 300 words about how you are able to rise above the LCD.

I have a particular interest in both Willy's comments and the reactions to his comments (like this one) because I know that Willy is not a Dallasite and have seen his comments in other forums. The combination of a fairly unbiased viewpoint and the reaction to it is pretty interesting.

Jason