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HoustonIsHome

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Everything posted by HoustonIsHome

  1. HoustonIsHome
    Lol, the McDonald's lot is so much bigger. That's suburbanism for you, a business where half the customers don't even exit their cars.
  2. HoustonIsHome
    Lol Exxon employees sitting rumors about Chevron hitting the burbs too so that workers who don't want to make the 6hr trip to work will still trying to jump ship to Chevron. In all seriousness, chevron seemed to have been doing well downtown. Ever expanding, seems an odd time to move. Its not like the burbs all of a sudden got attractive, plus downtown is on the rise. Send they would want to stake out they'd little corner and own it instead if being lost on the woods.
  3. HoustonIsHome
    The "basement" of UHD is actually the 1st floor. Where the light rail stops is the 3rd (main floor).The 1st floor is mainly used for storage. It is not completely built out. Flooding was an issue during Alison, but I think that was a freak storm and with work on the bayou to mitigate flooding, that should not be too much of an issue. I don't think the elevators in the south building go to the first floor but as you said they could build an escalator. It would be nice if the escalator lets you out on the south deck. You get great views of downtown from the south deck. It would be nice if your first view of Houston off that train is a good one as seen from the south deck. A field in the burbs would be a crappy how do you do.
  4. HoustonIsHome
    I agree with cloud. Peyote keep saying the astroworld sure would be perfect and I ask why? Is its an empty spot? What's there? What public transportation options would you transfer to? UHD is an interesting suggestions because the rail tracks go right through the building which gives it a major city feel instead of sine open depot feel like the light rail does. Hardy is a great option too, especially if they create the intermodal station. I also agree on the san Antonio priority with a spur to Austin. I just think that central Texas is growing so quick it needs to be done.
  5. HoustonIsHome
    I don't want to go to Stupid Dallas. I want high speed rail connecting Houston to Galveston, New Orleans, san Antonio and from there north to Austin and South to Corpus and South Padre. Screw Dallas
  6. HoustonIsHome
    Yeah, I went with a large group. We had reserved an area weeks in advance abs yet they were not prepared. The service took hours to get out. They were severely understaffed, but the food was good though. And yes very expensive. I had an excellent burger with guacamole for about $11 I am not surprised they closed.
  7. HoustonIsHome
    I don't have a problem with parking garages. I think a couple more tall ones should go up in downtown and midtown and that new residential buildings in those areas should have limited parking. Especially midtown.
  8. HoustonIsHome
    I don't know if you ever look at population changes per zip code in Houston but the only reason why Houston didn't lose people last census was because the city limits are so damn large and growth in areas offset others. I was surprised that many of the more dense southwest zip codes got less dense. Houston population is migrating to the coffee but also to the burbs. A huge chunk of south Houston blacks left fur Pearland, the Southwest list all around to Katy, Spring, Cypress and Atascosita hollowed out north Houston. Pretty soon there will be 2million (the number was about 1.5m last census) people living outside Houston city limitd but within its jurisdiction. You know what that means don't you? Houston is going to annex huge portions of land to keep its tax base up. Let them keep building campuses in the boonies and 200 Mile loops in empty prairie. Pretty soon Houston will be struggling to provide services to uts 2000 sq Mile city limits when it should have just focused on its 90 sq mile core. Instead of attracting businesses and residents to the core its making it easier for them to flee. Dallas population increased by only 10,000 people last census despite major multifamily developments. That's because a lot of the low income areas were destroyed for more pricier alternatives. Same thing is happening in Houston. The new apartments are nice, but come on Houston, can't you build up those empty lots before you kick out families in older complexes to build new ones? 3rd ward family's are disappearing in favor of singles. Yes the building density is increasing but the family sizes are decreasing. This 20 floor building would be better suited in midtown. Leave Montrose alone till midtown runs out of space.
  9. HoustonIsHome
    I am a skyscraper Dork too and I do want a merged SKYLINE but that will never happen because they are just randomly popping up all over the city.A midtown bridge to TMC is the only feasible link. Greenway and of course Uptown is just too far away. To join those to Downtown we would need some serious density in the loop. To build density we need a better way to move people which is another plus fir the TMC to Downtown link. Look at it this way, there are over 200K workers downtown, over 100K @ TMC and a huge portion spread between at UH, Rice, TSU and HCC throw in the approximately 100K students attending school in the area and you get about 450,000 office workers/ students in the corridor but only about 50,000 actual resudents. Midtown already has the critical mass of workers and students to support the string of towers. It has a great start with the rail to transport people. Midtown should be hands down the densest stretch of land in Texas but instead we are putting up 300 ft towers next to tiny homes in single family homes and building 200 mile loops 40 miles from downtown. Imagine just the office buildings in uptown, the energy corridor and Greenspoint placed between TMC and downtown. That would increase the office space from about 90M sq feet to about 150M sq feet. Throw in the residential towers and Houston would be close to Chicago level. We could be like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/randomwire/3014636207/
  10. HoustonIsHome
    I wouldn't mind strings of hirises down main and Fannin from downtown to the Binz area but what's up with wanting hi rises all over the place in Montrose, River Oaks, the heights etc. Personally, I think it would look and feel better if the towers connect downtown and TMC, then 4 to 8 storey apartments surround the towers. These would extend from midtown to 4th ward, East Downtown and north of it. Around three midrises I would leave the neighborhoods as is. Those would be Montrose, Museum district, Riverside, Riverside Terrace, Washington Terrace, the Heights etc. I would continue to upgrade 3rd ward, the East End, Washington ave, 5th ward etc. I dunno, I just wish we would develop in patterns instead of putting towers randomly all over the city creating zillions of skylines
  11. HoustonIsHome
    I am tacky in this area cause I like pictures of that old gulf sign and Pegasus. I guess it is because it's solitary. I guess if they were packed in I would think it was too much. But a solitary giant glowing gulf sign seems cheesily delicious to me.
  12. HoustonIsHome
    Downtown skyline has a haunting look at night. It is dinner but at the sane time respectable. A little embellishments would not hurt but I think light shows life shine cities do would change the character too much. A relit Wedge would be nice.
  13. HoustonIsHome
    I don't disagree
  14. HoustonIsHome
    Why don't buildings that big have water chillers instead of individual units? I lived in an apartment with a big water chiller AC, that thing worked so well and my electric bill was so low
  15. HoustonIsHome
    Darnit. I hate visitors. Nowhere for them to park is a good thing
  16. HoustonIsHome
    Just because it is new doesn't mean it will be contrived and sterile. Dallas is notorious for overplanning, overdoing and ending up over the top. That area is already flat so anything that goes up in that area will be totally new anyway. I just think it would be nice to steer the development to include more retail. Are you familiar with the area I am taking about? It doesn't give that integrated feel you speak of. creating a district there would integrate it into downtown. Just my opinion, but I think a shopping district would be better on the SE side of downtown. The area around dallas street is too cramped, too established, abd no real incentive to convert those buildings to retail.
  17. HoustonIsHome
    Ah, I must be deluded by the Calais, Pearl Midtown, Camden Midtown, That apartment on Main and Alabama, Post Midtown, Fingers, the zillions of units that went up on Bagby, The Mosaic and it s twin, all the new restaurants, bars in midtown.... I need a doctor I Am seing so many things that are not there. Don't get me started on Reliant Station and Smith lands area. So many things went up in that area that area that may not actually be there. Comeon. The few blocks along the rail did not become dense urban blocks overnight like some expected, but quite a few developments occured. The medical center has been revolutionized. It went from a near universally car dependent employment center into an area where Transportation is overflowing with patrons. This model needs to be copied in other areas south of the med center went from a no mans land to a huge TOD where many people live and hop on the train to TMC. Lots of new residential there and many new restaurants. A new target opened on main. Just because lots remain vacant along main, but that doesn't mean nothing has gone on.
  18. HoustonIsHome
    So they are creating 4 residential complexes on the Red Line? NICE!!! TOD is really taking off
  19. HoustonIsHome
    Yeah if it it's the same as the one north of skyhouse it will look kinda odd being surrounded by skyhouse, Houston House, Arch Diocese buildings, Amergy Bank Tower, Savoy, and Exxon two blocks away. Come-on Alliance, at least 8 floors this time. 12 floors will have me dancing on the ceiling.
  20. HoustonIsHome
    You are looking at things too narrowly to make a judgement. There have been lots of articles on this, but the consensus is that the slower development along the red line was due to a number of interrelated factors but the main one was that speculators expecting skyrocketing land values sat on the land along the rail. Now if developers can't by land how do you expect development to go up? The second factor was parking requirements. The city requires two parking lots per unit. The problem with that is that town homes would be the cheapest to provide parking for but offer less units to make a profit on. High rises would yield the most units for a more profitable land use but building taller is more costly upfront and more of a gamble. A midrise apartment is middle ground between the two that's why most of the development that had occured since 2004 has been 4to 6 floor complexes. And quite a few conpkexes have give up. So no the rail has not hindered development, the true hindrances were 1. Speculators 2. City parking codes 3. Cost of building materials The hope for the new lines is that owners will be more inclined to sell for a lower price and not sit and wait for higher prices like the owners in midtown did. Also building prices are rather low so now it's a good time to build. I hope that as Houston becomes more transit oriented the city becomes less restictive in their parking codes. It would be nice if builders could focus on residential with ground retail for their developments and have separate buildings with paid parking. That would encourage a more pedestrian friendly midtown because it would be cheaper/more profitable for builders and would encourage more residents to take public transportation to avoid parking fees
  21. HoustonIsHome
    Its far from many things important, but it's not really that far from the Houston Urban Area. In fact the Exxon Campus is closer to the city of spring than to The Woodlands CDP. I don't know why the Conroe/ Woodlands UA is separate from Houston UA, because the development seems continuous for a large area. But the Exxon plant will definitely cement the two urban areas together. Houston UA had 4.944M people in 2010, Conroe/Woodlands had .240M, Dallas Fort worth had 5.121M. If the Woodlands was part of Houston Urban area the totsl would be 5.184M which would make the Houston urban area bigger. It would be really odd for Chevron to build head quarters in Conroe. Now that would be out there
  22. HoustonIsHome
    point?
  23. HoustonIsHome
    that's what I've been saying.I like how downtown is compartmentalized. I think the shopping district should be in a fresh area of its own instead of being carved from the convention and skyline districts. Like I said in the Town Square thread. Design a nice square, throw up a fountain and statues of Texas heroes, then throw in retail incentives, attract some major anchors, extend the residential incentive program.... it would seem easier to me to start fresh than to rework a weak retail area.
  24. HoustonIsHome
    I used 1/20th on the low end. I said any closer and you would encounter road too often. What I noticed too is that older cities have long but narrow blocks. Even Manhattan was reworked on that configuration with the average blocks there being about 900 ft long and 200 ft wide. That's equivalent to three Houston blocks long but not as wide. I noticed that Asian and Canadian older cities follow the long and narrow pattern too. The newer cities, many of which are west of the Mississippi, have the shorter but thicker blocks.
  25. HoustonIsHome
    Could you post links to these more interesting areas you mentioned?As for the modern urbanism, I think the original urbanists did a better job of creating lively spaces so I will stand by my opinion that longer blocks (not streets) make for a more urban environment. To me a city with streets at 1/20th a mile intervals would make for a nice human scale environment. Any closer and it seems like your encountering cars to often. On the other side, I think of the blocks are overly long it creates a problem for crossing. But I don't think that is much of an issue with double blocks downtown.
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