Sparrow

It's just one development beginning now. I see now with matching up the rendering in the HBJ with the plat layout. Clock tower matches up with the Twitter image. The HBJ article is just way off in saying the development will be at "North Main and Burnett" streets. Misleading at best. My bad y'all. It's a smart play to begin the far side of the development first so that there are still options to densify future plans closer to the light rail station if conditions warrant. You really can't do that if you start closest to the station first and build eastward from there.

Ya, sorry y'all, it was working when I tested it. Not sure what's going on. Go to page five in IamHouston's link above and scroll all the way right. The link is there.

It's on the next planning commission agenda if you're having trouble viewing.

Hold on a second. Am I understanding correctly? So now we have two separate developments both named "Residences at Hardy Yards" one at Main/Burnett and the other at Hardy/Leona? Or will that simply be the name for all developments on this property? ftp://edrc.houstontx.gov/2015/Applications//2015-0678/SubdivisionPlatPDF_Hardy_Yards_Multifamily_Plat.pdf

Also says 52 stories.

It's the quintessential American vacation--the road trip. We've all done at least one in our lives (and if you haven't, make time to hop in your car and just drive). I'll never forget taking Route 1 down to DC all the way from New York a little over a decade ago. It's a lot longer trip than 95, but it's an adventure. Met a guy in Philadelphia late at night at the gas station who's alma mater was UT--wearing a Longhorn shirt and everything. Didn't expect that up there. We we're on the north side of Baltimore at about 3 in the morning, both sides of the street lined with row house after row house, and despite being so early in the morning, everyone was out walking the streets, hanging out as if it was 3 in the afternoon. This was not the street to be on in an unfamiliar city at 3am. We were certain we were about to be mugged, robbed, or shot. We survived without incident. We continued on our way to DC, and I've gotta tell you, the best time to visit the National Mall is at 4am. Not a soul was there. Easy on-street parking a block from the White House. It was just me and my friends walking along the reflecting pool amongst the lightning bugs with only their dim light to guide us toward the Lincoln Memorial. The peaceful solitude and singular focus of the giant figure of our 16th president keeping watch over the three of us as we read aloud his famous words lining the walls of the monument was an inspiring moment like no other. What drive have you made that was an epic journey?

If you're looking to avoid 290 construction hassle and have a TxTag (or EZ Tag), just take Grand Parkway from Cypress down to I-10 on into the city. A few more miles, but at least you're moving. Once you're in town try getting off the highways and use surface streets. If you're from out of town you get to actually see a lot more of the city at a (slightly) slower pace. Consider taking Memorial from 610 straight into Downtown--can't beat the views. I say whenever you're traveling without hard time constraints, get a little lost and see what you find. I still do that around Houston every once in a while for an adventure. You may think you've seen it all, but Houston is big and has many surprises. And it's Houston--how far can you really travel without coming across a major roadway to get you back on track? It's hard to get lost in Houston.

Everything you need to know about parking in Downtown Houston: http://downtownhouston.org/resource/parking/ (Friendly tip: Often on-street parking can be had without too much circling for much cheaper than a garage--and is free after 6p if you're ever headed to an Astros or Rockets game and don't mind walking a few blocks.)

Anyone planning on attending any of the open house meetings that begin tomorrow night?

New Downtown development map for April 2015 http://downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2015-04-08/150408_Development_Map__Renders_11X17.pdf Of note: Block 334 and SkyHouse Main are both scheduled for completion Q1 of 2016.

If Woodlands Parkway is indeed extended westward to the future Aggie Expressway, does anyone else foresee a "Town Center West" kind of development? Would be rather fitting to bookend The Woodlands with higher density commercial development instead of only on the eastern side. Pinehurst Mall anyone? http://impactnews.com/houston-metro/the-woodlands/montgomery-county-voters-to-decide-fate-of-%24350-million-bond/

The HOV/HOT lanes are very efficient. But, they could be better utilized by extending hours and not restricting use to business days. Why not leave the single lane HOT/HOV open to Downtown-bound traffic all weekend long? It would already be configured for Monday morning traffic. That being said, having a 24 hour HOT/HOV in each direction would be much more efficient than the current one lane system.

Whatever happened to the Westheimer/railroad crossing grade separation study? Couldn't they just construct some sort of berm-tunnel over the tracks and have Westheimer go over the berm? I'm thinking cut-and-cover tunnel construction, just without the cutting. A berm crossing would be much less objectionable than a bridge one would think. On the east side of the tracks you might have to close the Westheimer/Suffolk intersection, but surely the Mid Lane intersection could remain open--the incline required wouldn't be so incredible. Do the same for San Felipe and Richmond. I think long term it would be awesome to cover the entire length of track in this area with a berm-tunnel to create a bike path and jogging trail above.

New series of meetings scheduled for this month by TCP (Texas Central Partners--the entity that will develop and operate the railway, not to be confused with TCR, the entity that is promoting the development of the railway). http://texascentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/TCR-WEB-ad-OpenHouse-v61.pdf (As an aside, it's interesting to note that the Cypress meeting will take place in Tin Hall which was on the most recent Planning Commission agenda to be redeveloped into single family housing.)

First short section of Grand Parkway in north Harris County is now open to traffic--feeder roads between new I-45 feeder lanes westward to Holzwarth Road. Main lane construction continues. Absolutely amazing transformation in this area. Unrecognizable from just a few short years ago.

While cheap oil may not be good for those in that sector of the economy, how many folks really want to see gas at +$4 a gallon? Cheap oil is great for the auto industry. Drive baby, drive. Cheap oil is great for the housing industry... and retail... and discretionary incomes in general. Watch what you wish for when you hope for higher oil prices...

I'd say we need someone to get it back on track.

http://www.ih45northandmore.com/docs4/Public%20Meeting%20Notice%20(English).pdf Creates 4 managed lanes between I-10 and the North Belt. Additional right-of-way required.

I'd put my money on the high-end grocer from Austin occupying such a building in Downtown long before the San Antonio chain tosses it's hat in the ring.

Really just how big an assumption is it that rail provides a disincentive to sprawl. Sprawl is development blanketing the countryside in all directions it can flow. Edge cities may develop where stops are located, but TOD is not sprawl. Do you really think NYC would have developed as it did without rail? C'mon man. There's a place for rail and there's a place for highways. It's not a this or that sort of question. Both are needed at one time or another--anyone denying that fact either has a vested financial interest or simply fails to be pragmatic and open to logical reasoning. There is not a single mode solution to the transportation question. Perhaps the anti-highway wording was wrong for what I was attempting to get across. Let just go with the phrase opposite of highway. It's not a this mode rather than that mode connotation that I intended. Over the decades rural landowners have become used to fighting land takings for highway development--take the Grand Parkway or the TTC as examples. They are hard-wired to believe any takings will irrevocably effect them in a negative manner and developers are poised to pounce on farmland the very moment road construction begins. How could they possibly fathom a way that a taking of their land will benefit them in any way whatsoever? Highway development over the decades has resulted in preconceived notions before any degree of research on the matter is undertaken. The thinking is that everyone wants to know what is in it for them these days. No one is concerned about the greater good. What's in it for me--that's the bottom line. Social Capitalism. "Why should I give up my peace and quiet and part of my land just so some city folk can get where they're going faster? In what way do I benefit?"--that's what these people are thinking. So the PR thing to do is to lean on the deductive reasoning that while a train zooming past rural farmland a few dozen times each day is a personal cost, at the same time a greater benefit is received in the form of a preserved way of rural life. If they want development to continue to migrate and swallow up farm land--sure, continue to fight against the train. But let's get real rural folks--trains are nothing new. They've been crisscrossing the continent for far more than a century. The image that needs to be portrayed to the rural landowners is how the rail will benefit them in the form of countryside preservation. It's called spin. PR 101. Rural landowners don't want to here how you can travel from Houston to Dallas in 90 minutes. How does that benefit them when they live hours away from both cities? Provide a vision to the landowners that their way of life will be more readily assured by developers not having incentive to buy land along the transit line as they would along the freeway--no station, no development incentive. It would be like building a gas station along I-45 if the closest exit was 100 miles away.

It's rather GRB meets Alley Theatre if you ask me.

Perhaps TCR should consider the PR move of pushing rail as the anti-highway to the Rural Opposition. When you build a new highway thru virgin lands development will soon come your way in the form of sprawl. When you build a rail corridor passing thru the same virgin lands--but not stopping--you provide no incentive for the suburbs to come that way. Push the idea to the Rural Opposition that failure to build the high speed rail will limit the density the city can provide and in doing so will further induce sprawl and the outward expansion of development farther into the countryside. A densifying city core correlates to slower suburban expansion rates thus preserving the rural countryside--instead of destroying it. Building rail will actually preserve farmland and the rural way of life for a greater length of time than if they weren't to build at all. No rail = more cars + more highway lane construction + more suburbia + more time wasted stuck in slow traffic Yes rail = fewer cars + no orange highway construction barrels + more city density + peaceful drive to Aunt Edna's farm

New Augusta Pines Super Walmart on the Houston Planning Commission agenda for April 2nd. SEC of Kuykendahl and Augusta Pines Drive, immediately south of The Woodlands Village of Creekside Park. It would be interesting to poll the area residents if they prefer the current trailer park or the Walmart that will replace about 17 acres of it.

Not sure if it's been mentioned elsewhere, but the Young Library will be moving to the plot of land at the NWC of Griggs and MLK.

I don't understand all the suburban jealousy and hate on here. This is modern day America--a city does not survive without its suburbs.