nonenadazilch

The perception of the strong association between Republican politics and the dominant industry in Houston is a bitter pill for younger, conscientious generations to swallow. Though it's still a powerful economic driver, O&G saddles Houston with an image neither Austin (nor dallas) suffer from. Conversely, those two towns benefit from the allure that people associate with the tech industry which - for the time being - is virtually absent along the Gulf Coast.

Just because you personally don't live in the same area where you work and play doesn't necessarily invalidate the perspective in the article. High density areas where people do all three are more supportive of the culture for creative enterprise than areas where each exists separately. People with artistic, sociopolitical, and intellectual tendencies evident in creative industries tend to congregate in such urban districts. Portland's an example. Tech companies dot the metro area, but the city's Pearl District and downtown are where startup & development activity thrive. Developers seize on the notion that eliminating physical distance between live/work/play attractions retain creative people & their industries. The tech startup scene, advertising, the arts all cluster centrally where infrastructure & amenities favor less car dependency and where workday collaborations can carryover into nearby restaurants & bars. Hopefully, Ion indeed becomes a successful node alongside EaDo, the Heights, Midtown, and downtown in helping propel Houston's tech scene. But it'll be by force of beneficent capital and in spite of its initially spartan location.

These fantastic images you guys share really help the observing public get a sense of how incredible these large construction projects are. Everything from labor assignments, planning which sections precede others, dealing with suppliers on material deliveries, checking quality, etc. ...truly an amazing endeavor. I stand in awe and tip my cap to all involved.

The lead developer and his wife are Taiwanese immigrants and Houstonians for decades. In the 1980s they lived in Ponderosa Forest on FM1960W.

Sounds like negligence on both the part of the developer for not ensuring pedestrians have an alternate right-of-way as well as the city for allowing this to continue.

In the mid-1980's, the band "Genesis" used the blimp hangar as a staging area for rehearsals before their performances at the Summit.

Even if the architecture seems more pragmatic than a design flourish, the angles and street orientation seem certain to contribute to the drama of the skyline as a whole especially seen from the northside. Other than peering out from car windows coming into town from I-45, it's too bad there's no substantial public space to view it from the northern edge like there is for the western view.

Does anyone know the ownership history for block 142? It'd be interesting if someone like Nancy Sarnoff could find out what the owner's intentions are, if they've had any inquiries from developers, or if they simply see the future of such prime real estate as a parking lot.

I'd also recommend against Spring/Woodlands. You might also consider the suburbs of Pearland and Clear Lake City. There are many neighborhoods in these two areas that might suit what you're looking for and you'll sense far less insularity. Best wishes to you and your family!

Patagonia closely guards their image even to the point of sacrificing profits. Sustainability, social responsibility, and eco-friendly citizenship are among the business tenets they seem to practice. Since Houston's economy depends on the vibrancy of an industry that's the antithesis of at least one of those attributes, I imagine opening in brick & mortar fashion would appear as a compromise to their fealties.

I imagine the chances for this happening grow in proportion to Texas Medical Ctr leveraging its 5700+ on-site researchers and $3.6B research budget to build its momentum as a biotech hub alongside the stalwart locations for the industry (SF, Boston, San Diego). Some milestones toward this goal: establishment of a biotech incubator (along with the incubator's first array of startups) and, in particular, a business development agreement with Johnson & Johnson to locate a fourth JLabs (thus far, the only one outside the three biotech stronghold cities) at 2450 Holcombe to open early next year. TMC is more than a year into its ambitious plans - perhaps these recent achievements inspire the glossy rendering. more local coverage: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2014/12/18/year-in-review-tmc-aims-to-translate-research-to.html?page=all http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2014/10/31/johnson-johnson-launch-in-houston-means-large.html http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2014/10/31/johnson-johnson-launch-in-houston-means-large.html

density & activities in the neighborhood make its appeal. here's an identical concept whole foods near the george washington univ. and the foggy bottom metro station.

Nitpicking and advocating for the devil embody the air of Socratic dissent for which I have utmost respect. Your many insights and thoughtful posts elsewhere on this site precede your willingness to engage here and such honorable intent makes me smile no matter how much we might disagree on particular subjects. You're right in pointing out the error in my equating the Lusitania incident as a uniquely American false flag. I stand corrected and my intent is to metaphorically describe the events surrounding the sinking as tantamount to pre-meditated actions governments take on its own people to manufacture policy initiatives otherwise unattainable. The dubious Lusitania events include: the British Admiralty's de-categorization from 'non-military' of the Lusitania under Cruiser Rulesdeliberate creation of the ship's vulnerability to u-boat attackthe prescient conversation between Churchill's foreign minister and Pres. Wilson's adviser Edward House (a native Houstonian, coincidentally)JP Morgan's monstrous profiteering as a result of US war participation, andclear attempts by the British after the sinking to destroy the remnants of the ship so as to hide the intact military arsenal from public knowledge. I agree - the logistics of such an operation seem unfathomable.. Based on the documentation and testimony of a highly credentialed body of technical professionals, I can only conjecture the source of such precision, discipline, planning, and execution as something in the realm of a military special ops capability. As I previously mention, just as damning against official findings is what the government itself leaves out or obfuscates in interviews and press conferences. Video captures of these abound.

I imagine introducing that concept elsewhere in this forum likely sets off furious & incredulous reaction among members of such a mainstream site. Nonetheless, I stand with you in seeing US military history and foreign policy for what it is rather than what many prefer to idealize. From the egregious conveyance to the Germans of the Lusitania's alleged cargo to Sec. McNamara's 40 year ex post facto admission that the Tonkin Gulf incident was, in fact, a manufactured scenario no amount of mainstream ridicule can extinguish the historical record. If people can arm themselves with intellectual curiosity and objectivity, they might be able to match concept with proof. Anybody can study how empires throughout civilization cultivate power and, in American fashion, anyone can observe the impacts of economic anxiety and indoctrination of the citizen body as it relegates itself into passive, obedient consumerism. You might notice how someone on here actively fulfills his consigning role and happily invokes brand names in deference to the efficacy & nuances of the advertising industry. Even as a tired cliche, the validity in 'ignorance is bliss' loses no meaning. Life is happier within a fortifying prison of obedience & ignorance as it welcomes & comforts more folks. As the self-assurance of the community grows so too does the natural reaction to cast aspersions on those who don't fall in line. Ah, Easter bunnies and time with friends & family ...happy holiday to any & all.

I have as much actual knowledge of the course of events on that day as any layperson has. However, there are clear and glaring omissions from the 9/11 commission and its technical investigation (through NIST) regarding the three buildings totally destroyed as well as the events outside the NYC periphery that day and leading up to 9/11. From my vantage point (merely as a citizen who shares in the grief and outrage against the perpetrators), the most notable is the absolute exclusion of Building 7 from the commission report and the technically incompetent and haphazardly constructed explanation for its symmetric, free-fall collapse in NIST's official report. After Sept. 11, a vacuum of coverage about this particular event come across the major networks as the natural diversion is to coverage of the mourning, rhetoric of the Bush Administration, and its upcoming policy responses. Reflexively, the public accepts without pause the conclusions of the commission and NIST while the media provides absolutely no coverage of the growing body of well-credentialed scholarly & technical people whose analyses - at a minimum - call out the extraordinary items left out of these details. This naturally leads any citizen, willing and able to think with a clear mind, to question how could the federal government leave out such important details and the media be so compliant in response. From an engineering failure perspective, the destruction of WTC 1,2, & 7 has no precedence. This reason alone makes for an inextricably deserving case to investigate in far more painstaking detail: the statics, dynamics, and material engineering aspects of the impact effects on the core structurethe impossibility of heat from fires - jet fuel or other - to weaken metal enough for absolute and total failure of the entire structure within a single hour for both towers 1 & 2the improbable phenomenon of the lower, unaffected steel structure to offer any resistance to the crumbling of the upper floorsthe multitude of video evidence and first responder testimony of secondary explosions at the base of the south towerthe ridiculous explanation by NIST for tower 7's destruction and the zero mention of this event in the commission reportFlag waving is a compelling social dynamic. I'm as susceptible to such evocation as anyone (my friends can attest to this again as we're about to watch the Rockets enter the playoffs). But if the layperson to the events of 14 years ago can rest the patriotism enough to ask questions that any novice crime scene investigator would start with, an even deeper and chilling string of questions arises that won't vacate with the passing of time. These questions have legitimate basis in both engineering and political perspectives. I don't assert knowledge about 9/11 I don't have - nor can other citizens rightfully defend the official reports in light of such obvious absence of thoroughness and due diligence.

Name calling, ad hominems, appeals to emotion, non sequiturs aren't a good way to introduce your intellectual breadth but then neither is your spelling or self-defeating assumptions. For entertainment I continue nonetheless. The very evidence you supply demonstrates, at a minimum, the portion of the structure away from the tipping action of the south towers upper floors should have delayed the fall of material above it - if not held up altogether. For the scenario to play out as it did, some other destructive power must be imparted on the lower floors for them to offer zero resistance. Pulverization of the entire south tower due to the structural failure of the floors above the impact has no merit in reality nor a force diagram minus concurrently destructive forces inflicted upon the pristine levels below impact. Frame this improbable engineering failure in the timespan of less than an hour and then again - identically - for the north tower and only the easiest of lemmings believe the "findings" of the Kean Commission and NIST. Same is true for Building 7 of which the commission report excludes any mention whatsoever. More glaring, however, is the symmetric free-fall of that building after suffering nothing except sporadic mid-level interior fires and superficial damage from falling tower debris. Yet, NIST claims specifically the free-fall collapse initiates due to the failure of "column 79" causing the subsequent cascading failure of the building's remaining core structure. A more ridiculously suspect conclusion I cannot imagine. LOL Such a gaudy attempt at condescension. Perhaps your vain attempt to impress non-technical folks is a rare occasion lest you undermine the reputation your more attributive posts create. For study, consider boosting your credibility by seeking out & understanding the analyses of a multitude of structural engineers, materials scientists, actual WTC architects, etc. who offer far more detailed study and rational investigation than what the Kean Commission, NIST, or your sophomoric showing here provide.

Without rational explanation is WTC 7's improbable free-fall into its footprint. Also improbable. The steel structure below the impact zones were unaffected by any heat and therefore - minus any other destructive force upon it - present an imposing upward resistance to the falling of the failed structure above it. Yet as history shows they offered no resistance whatsoever to the downward force of the upper floors. At a minimum, the rational outcome for each tower would be a non-symmetric collapse whereby, instead of falling relatively 'neatly' into its footprint, chunks of the building would be strewn over a much wider swath at ground-level with a lower segment of the tower still standing. For this scenario to play out in the second tower in virtually mirror fashion is quite a feat indeed. The weakness and general acceptance of NIST's presentation survives due to our collective servility in the midst of national grief, uber-patriotism and its accompanying jingoism.

sounds like a 2016 start. http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/drilling-down/2015/03/chevron-gives-new-details-on-downtown-houston.html

Through its no-frills website, on-air broadcasts, and freely open podcast subscriptions, Houston Public Media excels in offering local coverage. Culturemap, though entertainment & leisure pieces are prominent, is at least equal to chron.com with an occasional thoughtful writeup on public interest subjects similar in quality to what one finds behind the Chronicle's pay-wall. Once upon a time, readers of the Houston Press could anticipate an occasional excellent dive into a public interest topic. Sadly, they too appear to succumb to the trend toward the sensational & pacifying scene-sters. Websites of the local network tv affiliates are similar to one another and offer at least as much crime & punishment headlines and sensational local blurbs as chron.com.

While the vastness of the internet offers a myriad of venues for people to get information, the public website of any city's main newspaper remains the logical and dominant source of comprehensive news coverage for locals. How shamefully, then, does the Houston Chronicle's primary website operate in its current state. On a daily basis, Chron.com elevates superfluous drivel as "news" and offers nary a significant focus story or thought-evoking investigation. Remember their slogan, "Houston's leading information source"? Recalling that would be laughable, if not for heeding the level of abrogation of duty for the town's major news outlet. In the country's nascent times, Thomas Jefferson invokes the notion that the health of a democracy depends on an informed citizenry. One glance at Chron.com on no particular day would have him turning in his grave. Need examples? Take yesterday's iteration. Yesterday's OPEC announcement crashed the oil market, for example. Not a single, even cursory writeup or perspective on the impact to the local economy - in lieu, a link to a lonely Bloomberg article. How's that for informing the public. In an in-state comparison, the content & aesthetics of the website for that large north Texas city demonstrates how magnificently Chron.com portrays its inferiority. What do editors consider important? The main photo & story when the website opens is a picture of Hooter's girls in alluring pose accompanied by the all-important story of where fans of the NFL Texans can watch Sunday's game. On the sidebar and formatted below the Hooter's girls: links to no less than a dozen stories that fawn over celebrities, multi-million dollar home listings, miscellaneous crime, new Netflix releases, and wistfully one or two current event pieces drawn from wire services. Celebrity worship, money worship, local & national entertainment and pastime pieces dominate. Want to learn about or read up on substantive local, national, & world issues & current events? "Don't bother," say the editors at 801 Texas Ave. Informed citizenry be damned. Your page clicks and the ad revenue generation are all that matter. I understand the economics might require the pay-wall to their actual attempts at journalism. But how is it that news websites for other towns with far less stature than Houston can manage to effectively, optimally accommodate the business demands of their corporate overlord with at least reasonable levels of journalistic standards and site aesthetics? Shameless, greedy, irresponsible are just a few deserving mantras that the Hearst Corp. and Houston Chronicle earn. As the frontispiece for local journalism on full display in the World Wide Web, I can imagine no greater embarrassment.

Hearst ownership and chron.com management seems intent on driving what minimal semblance of journalism that goes on there fully into the ground. I can't imagine a quality journalist still there who can ameliorate feelings of shame and embarrassment over the daily rounds of celebrity & wealth worship and astounding focus on high-end real estate. As chron.com increasingly panders content around its evening celebrity gossip show audience and rightwing idealogue commenters, ad profit and page clicks take obvious precedence over high quality media practice.

How does the UU church view atheists? Any particular tenets or guiding principles defining the church? How do they rationalize the space between atheism and the realm of mainstream Christian beliefs?

Nice to see such an example of thought & foresight concerning rail implementation. Perhaps someone knowledgeable could augment your excellent post with even rough cost or funding scenarios. Since there seems to be momentum from the private sector for high-speed rail linking Houston-Dallas, perhaps local officials in Harris County could persuade Texas Central Railway to steer the bullet train from its College Station stop as it enters the Houston metro area and terminate in downtown instead of the Galleria. State official Todd Houghton suggests the current plan has CS as the bullet train's single stop and the Galleria be the Houston terminus. Why not steer the bullet train from CS to the Woodlands, into IAH, and continue into downtown instead? Doing so would serve as the de facto Woodlands-IAH-downtown commuter line. Imagine the cost savings impact to the entire regional rail plan if TCR offers more consideration of Houston's needs. Though the outlays to build appear to be 100% private, Houghton's comments appear to indicate that the state advocates it but it seems only fair that the state ought to consider the Houston region once the fast train enters the northern suburbs. As it currently stands, TCR's scenario excludes this enormous opportunity. Perhaps a Metro or federal funding component could simultaneously help offset TCR's costs while addressing north Houston rail demand. Hopefully, local or state officials have sway and insist TCR's plan gives due consideration to Houston as it does for DFW.

Either deed restricted boundaries or a proactive and responsive local gov't entity (such as a particular arm of the City of Portland, OR) seem to be the only methods to grant neighborhoods the wherewithal to guide their own destiny. Otherwise, citizens are at the mercy of private interests. The stigma of government bloat and/or intrusion is palpable until the lack of gov't advocacy personally impacts the individual who previously accepts that tenet.

waxing nostalgic ..once last time. http://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/24/us/82-story-tower-to-fill-gap-in-houston-skyline.html