mollusk

The regionals are generally one or more completely different airlines, sometimes but not always owned by the major, with different employees, contracts, and seniority lists.  They carry the major's colors as part of their code sharing arrangement.

Edit:  FWIW, the MD-80/717 started out as the 70 seat DC-9.

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Correct.  In addition, part of the deal with the Buffalo Bayou park development is pulling out vegetation that doesn't belong there and replacing it with natives.  Once they've got a root system established, they do just fine in floods - shoot, that's part of why river bottomland is so fertile.

That makes sense. The only problem is you can only tell when you hit the bottom of the cycle in hindsight. For all we know, the bottom is a couple of years from now, when all buildinga that are currently under construction are finished, and nothing has broken ground, or leased, in a couple of years.

Agreed.

Prime example:  Heritage Tower.  It was see through for years.

damn kids...

Just this very evening, the valets were waving people off from open spots ACROSS THE DANGED STEET so that they could valet cars there.  

FWIW, they have a garage or parking lot to use.

Starting out, I would have gone in to Henke & Pillot just to check it out. Now, nahhhhhhh... 

Every time I drive past there at night I get an earworm...

 The only neighborhood that they said didn't create a "big stink" was the Near Northside. So, guess what, no plans to radically change I-10 there. The elevated freeway will likely remain. 

I was at a number of the meetings about 45 and the near Northside.  Crikey, what did they want - actual torches and pitchforks?  Or just a higher income level and/or more Republicans? 

They've had permits for the valet slots at some times.  However, they also continued to block off the street parking after the permit expired.  They have no monopoly on this practice - some of the downtown valet companies get really abusive.

In any event, they're also pretty slack on putting up the required signage.

how many 20+ story hotels arent luxury? as has been pointed out.. Hotel Sorella is way worse than this, architecturally speaking, yet it ranked as the best hotel in Texas/the southwest.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2014/10/houston-hotel-tops-cond-nast-list.html

Well, there's always the Heaven on Earth Inn, at 30 stories...

As with adr, I was talking about Henke & Pillot.

And yes, their contracted valets are blocking off public parking on the street and threatening towing, which is NOT legal unless one has a permit and posts signs.  They sometimes have a short term permit, but not always, and I've yet to see a sign.

If you go in/out of Oakland rather than SFO, Southwest has nonstops.  Taking BART from OAK to the Montgomery station in the middle of downtown SF is marginally quicker and cheaper than SFO to Montgomery.

I have a feeling that even though there aren't diamonds painted on the lanes, the tracks will probably scare most drivers away from being in those lanes unless they are turning. However, I've seen no end of people who turn (for whatever reason) from the second most left lane, rather than getting in the left lane. It's obvious they don't pay attention, first, because they are turning from the wrong lane, and second, because they've cut right across me and I've had to stand on my brakes (which has the unintended consequence of standing on the horn).

 

I imagine the first accident on these lines will be a car turning left from the second most left lane, and not seeing the huge train in the left lane.

Sounds about right... though that can't really be blamed on the train being there.  Such yahoos people who have neither mirrors nor heads that turn would also cut across in front of a truck or bus.

Dunno - they're acting a bit entitled.  Last weekend they had the sidewalk completely blocked and roped off, and they've repeatedly hijacked what are public street slots for their valet.  They were about to tow my car a few weeks ago, even though it had been there well before the valets set up and no signs were posted (as is required), finally "allowing" me to park in their lot for only $5.  I only found out because a passer by walked into Carafe to tell the bartender that his car was about to be towed.  Perhaps such things are appealing to the doucheoisie.

The good news is that they at least fixed the roof to where it no longer sends a waterfall to the sidewalk during every rain.

I disagree.  I think having the red line street level, semi separated, and juggling up the traffic light timing likely adds to the mayhem.  Without doing a study on my own, the perception I have is that the bulk of the incidents have been at intersections - either people making an already illegal left across the front of the train coming up behind them, or blowing a light.  One of the more recent was a METRO bus blowing a light approaching the bloomin' transit center, with a clear view of the train from blocks away.  I'd welcome correction or confirmation by someone who can drill down to the statistics, but my perception is that there haven't been nearly as many incidents in the Med Center, which has denser traffic (both foot and motorized) and private vehicles driving on the tracks.

Never thought I'd say this to you, native, but... I do. 

Edit:  clarification:  I do prefer other carriers.

All garment rending aside, the only really clear view of this from outside downtown is from the 288/Gulf Freeway quadrant, and all the really cool stuff was on the lower floors, facing north.  

Yeah, it's a disappointment, but we'll live.

Allen Pway to southbound 45 is one of the best heart-pounding, white-knuckle experiences to be had in our otherwise bland city. For best effect, make the trip when 45 traffic is light and really moving, and have a raging guy with doolies on your back bumper.

 

Im gonna miss it.

It was even more fun in an old school, air cooled VW with its forty or so raging horsepower, and a zero to 60 time best measured with a sundial.

Then again, nobody had cell phones then - just a legal longneck in the cupholder.

While diamond lanes for the tracks would make tons of sense, there's no sign of that yet - and no reason not to already have it in place.  

Intuitively it seems like having the trains follow the same signals as the rest of traffic ought to integrate them a bit better.  The conflict I foresee is at the parking garage exits - some of them have pretty crummy sight lines.  

Can't wait for 6HCs 3rd groundbreaking ceremony!

Crikey - will it take four more to get built?

As long as it makes financial sense, the San Felipe Target will stick around.  Rich people need laundry baskets and other sundries,  too.

This turn won't be made often once daily service starts, no? I would assume only to move trains from one line to another.

That's my understanding of the current reason for the switches.  However, if there is some future need or desire for direct, no transfer service from the Northside down towards, say Hobby (when/if that extension gets built), there's no reason why we couldn't have a Magenta Line making the turn from Red to Purple there.

I wasn't too jazzed about the green at first, either, but it's growing on me.  It works well with the blue, and particularly the windows with lowered shades.

if you're including drinking fountains, that's going to take a while to catalog and photograph.

Old school soda fountains are a dying breed... get 'em while you can. 

awwwwww... what a cute little mat...