Sparrow

If you have questions about the noise of these things you should go to YouTube and search Shinkansen. There's some great ones on there of the trains passing through stations.

Great news. I'm glad to see that downtown is still an option. In my opinion, this line has to get downtown to be successful. Otherwise, there wouldn't really be much of an advantage to flying. I think downtown would attract more people from Dallas than a Northwest Mall location would.

Best case scenario they would develop both stations, or really all three. Run the Dallas--Houston route from Dallas to whichever of the three proves most popular among riders and just run a local commuter route between the three Houston stations.

Many advantages with this scenario. Commuter rail for the 290 corridor. Three real estate opportunities for developers instead of just one. Reaching Uptown and Downtown with ease means more potential riders. By stopping at the farthest out station first, TCR could claim reduced time of service between Dallas and Houston.

Let's be real here, the cost of an additional station pales in comparison to the potential profit to be had were no station to be built on that property in the first place. I could envision a developer approaching TCR and saying, look, here's all this land I own, you can use this part of it for zero cost to build a station, and I'll even chip in for you a part of the profits for the surrounding development.

Why can't they trench the line like the Super neighborhood 22s proposal for commuter rail along that corridor. Wouldnt that be much quieter and less unsightly than elevated tracks? I'm fine with either one.. Montrose made a good point about how awesome those views would be from the elevated.

And yeah. Lmao, those people commenting on the chron are idiots.

Surely there's not enough room to trench four rail lines along the corridor without taking property, perhaps in sections, but not along the full corridor. TCR needs their dedicated two, and there's no way the existing two lines are going away. Elevating the two new lines are the way to go to avoid having to use eminent domain.

They already live next to an existing rail line. There's an argument, but not really a great argument to be had.

What I would do if I were TCR is get all the facts out there to beat the naysayers to the punch. We're going to install noise and vibration dampeners. We're going to use a geometry that directs noise and wind skyward. We're going to plant flowering ivy along the entire elevated stretch. We're going to install noise walls under the elevated structure to reduce the noise of the existing rail line--and plant ivy along those new walls, except at areas the community deems appropriate for murals--we're going to commission art work for the community there. Make the new elevated rail line over the existing rail line to be a visual improvement to the community.  

Even go one better. Build a sample section or two near Heights Boulevard or TC Jester to show the community what the final build out will look like. It's one thing to tell people or show them in pictures. Go one step further and show them every single day. They'll be begging to get the new ivy and flowers and public art.

yeah.. bummer. i had hoped they would get creative and/or copy the plans below to reroute Washington through the site and eliminate Franklin along the bayou. with Franklin running across the south side of the development it kills any connectivity with the bayou. 

The issue with rerouting Washington would be how to deal with the I-10 HOV entrance/exit. Obviously with a little funding you could realign it, but where to?

We may have a name change here. Hotel Valencia on the agenda.

The complex of 3 black towers with the staggered set backs just south of BLVD Place has a triangle courtyard that's a solid 125,000 sq ft.

Would be great for a boutique hotel or apartment mid rise, maybe even with GFR.

 

My wife works in one of these buildings. Surprisingly, Post Oak Central does have some GFR already. The parking garages have retail facing the interior surface parking lot (behind the middle building).

Rather interesting that TxDOT has decided to change their plans for 290's HOV lane configuration from 3 lanes down to one. Perhaps a TxDOT/METRO/TCR partnership quid pro quo is in the works?? TCR can use TxDOT's right-of-way for free if TCR uses it's trains to also operate a commuter rail line for Houston whether or not such a commuter line would be profitable. Probably wouldn't be a bad deal for any party involved, or the public either. The HSR folks would have to operate the line of course, not METRO, because of the whole Buy America clause for transit vehicles. Not likely, but an interesting possibility nonetheless.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/transportation/article/U-S-290-plans-change-to-single-managed-lane-5859418.php?cmpid=twitter-premium&t=842f3cee94

 

So this was dropped this morning. I actually like the redesign, but I don't understand why they can't do it like what they did for the Katy Freeway?!

 

I swear these people are completely inept...

By ensuring a continued congested HOV/HOT lane, METRO and TxDOT will have a more vocal local incentive to initiate commuter rail service sooner rather than later.

Can we get a poll update with options such as ski slope and indoor park (with correct spelling)?

with a train, don't forget the train, Sparrow.

Polar Express

Why can't we fuse Cloud and SMF's ideas together? Create an indoor alpine park with a ski run? That would draw people from across the globe. Snow in Texas year round--not just to ski mind you, but to wander thru, to buy a cup of hot chocolate, to people watching, to ice skate, to build snow men with the kids, and to ski (more of a bunny hill perhaps, but hey, at it's best you're only getting 200 feet of drop anyhow). Same concept, free entry, pay for amenities like the ski run, skating, zip-line, etc.

And an Alpine shopping village mall is a must as well. Tourists like to shop. Rent will help off set the massive cost of air temperature modification and snow creation. And I still say create a TIRZ that will develop the surrounding parking lot into a mid-rise neighborhood with GFR and parking garages. And let's be honest, wouldn't it be sensational to do Christmas shopping in a mall that looked like Santa's hometown? Personally, I'm crossing my fingers that this is the new mall the BFS is talking about in another thread.

Go big or go home. This is the Astrodome. The Eighth Wonder of the World. Do something that no one else anywhere the world over can or will do. Making the Dome into the world's largest freezer would be spectacular!

If the train is brought into DT, the HSR and  UP tracks would have to be trenched.

 

Why trenched? I would think elevating the lines into downtown would be cheaper, faster to construct, and easier to operate. Could even build over existing tracks or another right of way.

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsapp/BT/DOMES/HOUSTON/h-unusua.html

Using the same source, the diameter of the span of the roof of the dome comes in just under 642 ft. This would give it a size of 7.43 acres "under the roof", if you will.

Thanks for that!  I was looking for something with an actual figure on the square footage of the Dome, and after I exhausted my interest in the first couple of links I found...  I gave up.

 

I wonder where the 9.5 acres came from?  Probably the surrounding lawn?

 

Wikipedia...

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsapp/BT/DOMES/HOUSTON/h-unusua.html

Area of a circle = πR²

Diameter of the outside of the Dome is 712 (or 710 from the same link). Therefore the radius is 356 ft.

(356²)π=398,152.89 ft²

An acre is 43,560 ft²

Dividing the two yields 9.14033 acres that the Dome's footprint occupies.

This is true. But, let's face it, the Chron like many other papers is under financial duress. Quality is suffering. That said, the reason that the Chron is suffering is because of people like me. I didn't pay the chron a dime to see that slideshow. They had all the expense to create it and got zip from me. That is at least part of the problem.

For those of you who subscribe to the chronicle, you have every right to complain. Me? Nah, I get what I paid. I really have no right to cast stones.

They made money off you just the same. Didn't you notice all of the advertising?

If you want to get at it technically HEB is a family owned grocery--Charles Butt owns the whole company. So if you're going to count Food Fair and Food Town, which are owned by Grocer's Supply, you most certainly should include HEB.

While it's refreshing to have a duo other than Slick Vik and IronTiger fighting it out... Can we tone it down a bit guys?

Not allowed to say...

Edit; yeah that's it. More to come! A lot more...

Perhaps he since he can't tell us what it is, he can tell us what it's not?

Since financing is the issue, why don't they create an "Astrodome Parking Lot Redevelopment" TIRZ and sell/auction/lease off plots of the massive parking lot? Of course there would be stipulations/deed restrictions/zoning and of course minimum parking requirements. Create a walkable urban street grid. Surely with several dozen downtown size blocks created and developed the tax increment increase could fund just about whatever we wanted to do with the Dome. 

I'm not sure of the likelihood of a "Willowbrook area" station along 249 and the Beltway, but if the station were to be built there it sure would brighten up the economic outlook for the FM 1960 and Greenspoint submarkets.

There are vast political, economic, and social consequences riding upon the eventual planned station locations. More is at stake than solely the economic prospects of the HSR line itself. The HSR line station location, when decided upon many, many months from now, will be a game changer.

I've got it.

Forget an indoor park... indoor ski slope... casino... Grand Hotel... Houston's Eiffel Tower... STEM museum... and all of the other unfunded ideas for adaptive reuse.  I say no to all of them.

The highest and best use for the Astrodome is to let it sit idle for another decade and a half..... and then...........

......make it a baseball stadium again.

Remember the Astros only played there 35 seasons. Minute Maid Park already has 15 seasons under its belt. Another decade or so and it'll be time to start planning the next home for the Astros.

 

Buffalo Bayou Park by marclongoria, on Flickr

A bit of a soapbox observation I suppose, but the city is so much more beautiful with power lines hidden from view. Beautiful shot Triton.

I'm embarrassed as a Houstonian every time ESPN shows the Downtown view from the new TDECU Stadium due to the visual blight of the power lines along Scott. Opportunity missed.

Perhaps the Westside Mall at I-10 and Grand Parkway is finally going to happen??