mollusk

For those unfamiliar with H-GAC, it "is the regional organization through which local governments consider issues and cooperate in solving area wide problems."  It covers thirteen counties.  It is the home of the Transportation Policy Council; one of its programs for the last 25 years is Commute Solutions; another is the mobility studies BeerNut linked to and discussed above.

So one more time:  Most (if not all) major US metro areas have more than one transit agency.  Sometimes they even overlap (as BART does with Muni / AC Transit / VTA / Caltrain / the ferries / etc., etc.), or CTA and Metra in Chicagoland, MTA, PATH, et al in NYC, etc., etc.

And we already have a regional authority to coordinate transit policy, so blowing up Metro serves no purpose whatsoever.

That is not a reason to blow up Metro.  For one thing, there were practically no suburbs outside of Harris County when Metro was formed, and those that were there were much smaller. 

Like most major US metropolitan areas there is more than one transit agency in greater Houston - of varying quality of course, as happens when you have more than one of just about anything.  In reality, Brazos Valley Transit (which actually extends as far as Nacogdoches) and Woodlands Express coordinate with Metro pretty decently.  To the west and northwest Metro extends to Katy and dang near Prairie View.  The parts of Galveston County that are within commuting distance to Houston are also pretty close to the Clear Lake Park & Ride.  As the political center of gravity moves in Fort Bend and Brazoria their transit options will likely improve as well. 

1 hour ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Its funny how they had a chance to vote for service and then said NO and now they want service and are complaining why Metro doesn't serve them. 

Does anyone know if they've had the opportunity to vote on it again?  The original no vote was 40 years ago... a thing or two might have changed since then.

7 minutes ago, Triton said:

Why do we need to abolish Metro again?

Because a complete transit system that is fully self supporting and fully integrated with the surrounding infrastructure has not suddenly burst forth from a lotus blossom.    Also, Chicago > Houston.

We were in Baton Rouge, and barely got a sprinkle... not that we weren't scared spitless about the prospect of getting hit.  We regained our senses and moved back here two weeks later.

BRT is a bus.  To be blunt, that's what the "B" stands for.  The main distinctions are a dedicated lane, branding, and sometimes priority at traffic lights.  Judging by the renderings, we'll also probably have snazzy wheel spats and a different paint job to make it easier to pretend it's rail.  It would be nice if they were electric (quieter, and one less thing to do to upgrade to rail), but that horse is out of the barn already.

42 minutes ago, cspwal said:

5/30 have or are building a "ball park village" mixed use development.  They are all in the NL for some reason.  Maybe you need more bars for the pitchers to cool off in after grounding out weakly to 1st base?

Heyyyyyy... everyone knows that the DH is a Commie plot. *

*(loyal Astros fan since they were the Colt 45s, who still thinks $elig should have put his daughter's Brewers in the AL if he really wanted to "balance" things)

Let's not make the perfect the enemy of the good.  BRT can be upgraded to rail fairly easily.

Tenure is what gives academics the freedom to rock the boat. 

If you've got someone who's really bad, or likes to grope, or some such, they can still be fired for cause, tenure or none. 

Adjuncts have their place - such as people who have day jobs teaching a class at a professional school in their discipline.  I learned a lot from such adjuncts.  But filling the faculty with them at the cost of tenure to "hold down costs" is just short sighted.

25 minutes ago, gene said:

They need to have at least one large feature ride...maybe a tower ride to see the city or large rocket ride or combine the rocket shaped observation tower with a free fall drop ride and then name the whole area/development Astroworld... #RIP 

🚀

Maybe rebuild the Continental Astroneedle... that'll get two bygone names with one stroke.

To clarify, what got filed was a suit asking to foreclose the mechanic's lien.  The filing looks very routine.

These projects are frequently structured using single purpose entities.  What often happens when they go underwater is that the single purpose entity files for bankruptcy.

2 hours ago, Ross said:

Aren't the armadillos there to provide protected parking for police cars? Every time I go past the 4 Seasons Downtown, it seems like there's a police car parked in the bike lane.

There is a long standing theory that the reason Houston drivers are aggressive, fast, rude, and tend to run into things is because they're just driving the way the cops do.

Wouldn't "high comfort" (and safety) be better served by having the bike lane between the sidewalk and the street parking, separated by curbing (or at least armadillos) like in downtown Austin? 

As it is, the Travis County courthouse functions are spread among a number of buildings ranging over a bunch of blocks.  That gets to be a real PITA after a while - which is why Harris County built several new tall buildings over the last couple decades.  There's also a new, larger family courts building on the horizon; it's sorely needed.

1 minute ago, H-Town Man said:

What was wrong with the current county courthouse? Nice art deco building in a great location.

Short answer:  Austin outgrew it. 

We will know that we've come full circle when we start seeing wallpaper with red flocking on a shiny gold background.

1 minute ago, Luminare said:

Jesus. 60's chic really is just engulfing interior design right now. Not complaining. Its a really fun aesthetic, but wow just all the sudden...boom 60's chic everywhere!

60s chic was considered quite tacky by the 80s.  Maybe it'll be more durable as a retro thing.

Covenant House is zoned to either Lamar or Heights HS (not sure exactly where the boundary lies).  I have friends who could easily afford private schools who send their kids to both - and of course, there are other options for getting to a GED.

That said, the reason most kids are at Covenant House in the first place is because of terrible home situations - not school attendance (or lack thereof).  Not saying they're angels, but NIMBYism and snobbery aren't helpful.

I kinda miss the big public displays of weirdness, like having an interpretive dance emporium named Boobie Rock, the giant neon Holder's cockroach on the Southwest Freeway, and the "OWNER HAS BRAIN DAMAGE!!!" car lot up by IAH. 

700 Louisiana (formerly Bank of America Center, neé NationsBank Center, neé NCNB Center, neé RepublicBank Center, almost neé Houston National Bank Center) is a signature building if national recognition is a criterion.  I can tell people who have never set foot in Houston that it's "the big pink building with all the peaked roofs with spikes on them" and they know exactly what I mean.

Even an extra foot or so would add 20% or so and make a more inviting sidewalk, while leaving plenty of room for greenscape - however, it would also add to the flatwork bill.  That's probably a motivation, since as it is it looks like it barely meets ADA width standards. 

Yikes - closed for two or three months... as if Galleria and Memorial City weren't already packed enough. 

If they would only open one downtown...

Pure speculation here, but... I wouldn't be surprised if there were a significant number of tenants bailing on their own because of the Hines building going up next door, making it a good time to get out and put the money to another project.  Friends who live / lived there frequently complained about the noise from Market Square Tower being built across the street; a bigger building starting inches away certainly wouldn't be a welcoming prospect for sleeping.

A friend who lives there said they're not renewing any leases.

5 hours ago, Luminare said:

 

Project will most likely be on hold indefinitely till they figure this out. Normally the order of investigation goes like this; first test the whole building, then the architect, then the engineers, then the GC, and finally the subs.

My experience is that everybody gets involved in trying to sort out the how and why pretty much immediately.