mattyt36

I'm sure there will be modifications--I believe that's what's being negotiated right now in connection with the original lawsuit, which I don't believe has been dismissed or fully settled (correct me if I'm wrong). The first agreement was on proceeding with more preliminary work for the downtown segments. Seems like of the 4 involved entities--the City, the County, the State, and the federal government--the City presented a compromise plan before the DoT halted spending with slight modifications that is probably the path forward.

As far as I can tell, this all originated with the Harris County lawsuit against the State after Mayor Turner tried very much to intervene between the two. The DoT may have taken the wrong side, and that’s certainly their fault, but it does seem to have been the product of the hyperbolic rhetoric about the community opposition and romantic ideas about Jane Jacobs and Babs Mikulski and stopping 1960s highway projects as some sort of larger political movement. Lina overplayed her hand in a big, big way by not knowing the majority of her constituents and digging the hole so unnecessarily deep. I’ll still vote for her since she doesn’t give me the full-on Leni Reifenstahl vibes, but I hope she will treat this as a “learning experience.” Bringing Biden into this is more than a bit laughable, and I’ll keep that one in the memory bank when it comes to gauging credibility in the future.

From the files of batflurf crazy . . . @august948 and I have talked back and forth on other threads about the risks involved to the economy if the state government continues to take such radical turns. (In short, he doesn't think it's a real problem.) I just don't see how something like this would be conducive to Texas continuing to be a place where businesses overwhelmingly choose to relocate. It should be no surprise who'd be running the state in the fever dream of these manchild AR15-toting revolutionaries (spoiler alert--it's themselves . . . shocker!), and I challenge anyone to describe the circumstances under which being under such leadership would result in anything positive for the vast majority of Texans. Seriously, what message does this send to the rest of the country or, better yet, the world? Sadly, I fear the GOP has fully opened Pandora's Box by giving the time of day to these nutcases. Texas secession from the U.S. — GOP wants Texans to vote on it (houstonchronicle.com)

Some more on how MPOs work . . . Metropolitan planning organization - Wikipedia See also page 4 of their financial statements for an explanation as to how it works . . . MPO approval is needed to allocate certain federal funds. https://www.h-gac.com/h-gac-resources/2019-comprehensive-annual-financial-report

I'm no architect, but it seems like at the end of the day they made a reasonable decision considering they didn't own the entire block. I believe those windows are at the end of the hallway/corridor between the rooms. Sure you could've wrapped windows around the entire building to create "corner rooms," but those windows are now not going to have much of a view anyway now. At least on the southeast face of the building, you do have the pool deck creating space between the hotel and the new building. But I'm probably giving them too much credit that they even thought about it. It somewhat makes sense that when they may have been (oh who are we kidding? I'm sure it's "certainly did" versus "may have been") value engineering that was the logical side to do it on. Regardless, my point is not to defend the architecture--it's agreeably awful--just saying what's on the inside isn't bad, which should count for something. I guess the Hampton Inn/Homewood Suites is a bit less awful, but similarly not very inspiring.

The reverse of the Dallas Mavericks, which were named after (after meaning sequentially) the original Houston Mavericks ABA team, which played 1967-69. Houston Mavericks - Wikipedia

I came across this gem of an article from Texas Monthly from 1978. It's actually a great piece of writing, I think much of it tongue-in-cheek. Dallas Is Better Than Houston – Texas Monthly Some of the best parts: "In Dallas you can live an abundant life and not drive the freeways at all." (This is just laughable, and it surely must have been laughable in 1978.) "Houston destroys individuality . . . Houston is now national and international corporations with the caution yet ruthlessness inherent in such machines. No soul, no heart, no mind. All hands, mouths, and computer brains. Faceless people sit in interchangeable tall buildings above Houston doing the same things people in the same kind of buildings do anywhere in the world. Today no Houston individual can match personal economics or powers with the people in the towers. Howard Hughes is dead on arrival in Houston; Glenn McCarthy lives in a house by a mosquito bay." "Native sons and daughters are harder and harder to find. You talk to an ambitious young jogger on the Memorial Park path (he’s in banking) and you learn what a tremendous future Houston (not Texas) has." (I'd say this idea of "Houston First," ahead of Texas is still true.) "Houston has become un-Texan, no longer looking to its Texas roots—or caring. Maybe this sense of native soil is no longer very important to the residents of Houston-—it’s certainly not to the leaders—but to other Texans, it leaves a gaping hole in life when you must dwell in a Texas city that acts ashamed to admit it’s Texan." "And no little people are on the way up, that you can find. Not that Houston isn’t a blue-collar town, statistically speaking. But you don’t come in off the farm anymore from some little place like Sweeney or El Campo and zoom to takeoff in the new Houston. But even if you decide to gamble and take on the big town one-handed, you find it’s too flung out to make a dent. Even a secondhand car dealer, screaming like mad, can’t get on the tube and make a name for himself, or a fortune. Neatness counts. You don’t smell cow manure on the elevators of Shell Plaza or Pennzoil Place. Good ol’ boys still make it in Dallas; the good ol’ boys that come out of East Texas State and UT-Arlington to arm wrestle the establishment, who catch the bus in from Winnsboro and come looking for the foot of the ladder. That sort of thing is gone in Houston. The minimum price of admission to the shooting gallery is a UT law school sheepskin." "It’s impossible to be a Cowboy cult follower and remain a racial bigot." 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 "But I find more adventure to living in Dallas than Houston seems to offer—outside the thrilling prospect of getting murdered, a statistical nicety at which Houston annually surpasses Dallas. Dallas is still in the possession of its citizenry, run by people who consider themselves Dallasites. Houston belongs to someone else." "Six Flags Over Texas is still the classiest amusement park in America" AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE QUOTE Most Houstonians will spend eternity in hell. —Billy Graham Here is the rebuttal article Houston is Better Than Dallas – Texas Monthly There are a couple of zingers, but not as well written or enjoyable: "By the end of the century, the likes of Denton, Diboll, and Daingerfield will be vying for the title of Big D." "It is not surprising that Dallas has turned increasingly to Jesus. Headquarters of the Baptist General Convention of Texas for many years, Dallas is now the home city for hundreds of different Gospel Retreat Convention Temple Conference Revival Revelation Pentecostal Proof Redemption and Glorious Miracle Healing Centers. With no apparent reason for its origin and little excuse for its continued existence, Dallas has nowhere else to turn."

Pretty much every hotel these days

Man, the understated snark! I’m admittedly an admirer.

Understood, and the above summary is appreciated. I guess, at the end of the day, it's best described as a "vent" or "just throwing this idea out there." I'm on here because I've learned a lot, there are some really awesome people on this forum who share their particular expertise. You've been going to these meetings for almost 20 years. We could all gain from what you have heard and your perspective as to why things have changed (~20 years in the same neighborhood in Houston going to the same meetings, man that's rarefied air!) and how you think things could be better. Seriously, could you share that? We don't all go to these meetings. Or at least I don't. Similarly, are you interested in any perspective as to how the City of Houston budget works? Now that you have been presented evidence to the contrary, does it change your perception of the information that you've been presented?

You're not helping his case, Augie . . . I think that's actually worse! 🤣

Yet, statistics have been shared to show that may not be the case. Why not marinate on that for a moment? Sounds like a great way to make policy--solely based on the comments of an interest group (which they are) and gut reactions. I mean, I still have no idea what crime we're talking about, just seems to be numbers from an ongoing 18-year-long meeting presented by cops who think the only answer is more cops. So, from my perspective as far as this thread goes, my understanding of the crime situation in Houston surely hasn't been enhanced . . . again, from my perspective, you don't even seem to have a good handle on it yourself. For the same reason (and I'm sorry to be blunt), based on what you've posted thus far, forgive me to be skeptical if I question whether you have anything more than a superficial understanding of police headcount and crime statistics (or municipal budgets in the State of Texas), nonetheless the specifics of LA or Chicago and how the increased headcount has led to less crime--I mean it's totally contrary to the stereotype of Chicago, Republicans straight out use "Chicago" as a synonym for "crime." As presented, it's finger to the wind, let's just try adding more cops . . . WHY NOT? Let me guess, the cops told you that, too?

Well a fine starting point for a conversation (and we’re 20+ posts in) would be what crimes are we exactly focusing on solving and where exactly, and what the exact “theory of the case” is for higher numbers of patrol officers in reducing these crimes (whatever and wherever they are). It seems that this whole thread started based on murder statistics. Not to mention your statistics beg an explanation there. I assume those are rates per some amount of population. But what exactly is in the numerator? Is it 523 “crimes” per 100K people? What kind of crimes? It’s also always a good idea not to presume what people are thinking in an effort to win any sort of “gotcha” points and let him answer that very direct question for himself, dontcha think?

Are LA and Chicago crime rates more to your liking than Houston's?

Whoa boy! 😂 I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if they ran into each other at a “neighborhood bar” as Mr Berry was found to do.

Fingers crossed!!!!!

Can't say I'm a fan of the exterior finishes.

It certainly doesn't explain everything, but I think saying it explains "none" is a bit of an overstatement. (Understatement?) If the housing stock isn't great, housing values aren't keeping pace with the rest of the metro area, and it's becoming more transitory and occupied by renters versus owners, I'd say none of that helps. Neighborhoods don't exactly "crash" overnight, and the 1980s and 1990s 1960 area had a much more prominent role as a regional activity center than it has now. Not arguing with the idea of getting out a weed whacker or some paint by any means, but I can't say I'm surprised--the reverse "free rider" problem you refer to is certainly real--it needs a coordinated effort to be successful, and I'm sure there are some neighborhoods that are more or less intact. But, at the end of the day, the 1960 area is not exactly the most inviting place to live, certainly not by today's standards of what people want (middle class people wanted different things in the 1980s), nor is it as convenient to employment centers as it once arguably was. I mean, isn't it essentially the same thing that happened to a place like Alief, but a decade or two later? Maybe it'll eventually see some investment return, but I'm not sure as to the "theory of the case" for that one. Does the Dallas region really have anything that's comparable to the size and population of unincorporated Harris County? It's probably a lot easier for smaller municipalities like Euless, Garland, etc. to maintain roadways than the county, but, again, I have nothing to back that supposition up.

I wonder what Michael Berry's position is. 🤔

Yeah, I think it's more about the fact that the 1980s were a completely lost decade for Houston (City population growth only 2.2% in the 1980s, MSA population growth 13.7%), not nearly as much for Dallas (City population growth 11.4%, MSA population growth 30.6%). A lot of the 1960s-1970s residential development inside the Beltway and outside the Loop must have had to be built so fast and was of relatively low quality to provide housing for the huge population increase, then once the bottom fell out in the 1980s, they were the first to go and people moved even farther out to master-planned communities for "protection" against the same thing happening again. As @H-Town Man said, Dallas has plenty of neighborhoods with similar housing stock (tract homes), but they seem to have weathered the 1980s storm much better than Houston. Of course, I have no basis other than mere observation for any of the above.

Any insight as to what is behind this? Is it purely an issue of volume?

This podcast (which I mentioned in another thread) discusses the possibility (although it almost sounded as if the Central Houston guy thinks it is only a matter of time) for tunnel businesses to relocate to the street level to cater to the residential and after-hours population to counter the reduction in the daytime office population and then to reprogram the tunnel space with art installations or other museum-type exhibits. Looped In Podcast: Interview with Kris Larson and Angie Bertinot of Central Houston on downtown Houston's recovery post-pandemic (houstonchronicle.com)

For the same reason I don't think "EaDo" IS the Downtown or even the eastern part of Downtown (even though I think it technically is by the City's definition, or at least some parts of it), I don't know why people would consider the South Loop part of the Loop. Makes me wonder if the 10K "Downtown" population includes any of the EaDo complexes.

Well, that's one read, I suppose.

From my observations (which admittedly are always biased and sometimes dangerous), it seems to me that Austin rising in prominence has hurt Dallas's image way more than Houston's. It doesn't seem to me that Dallas is getting the same level of national "press" or exposure as it was even a decade ago, notwithstanding it being the best performing big MSA economy in the country. "Glitz" and "glamor" and "Texas" may have meant Dallas 10 years ago, but now it's Austin. Seems to me like most people outside of Texas have a very "blah" perception of Dallas. Somehow this development has coincided with Houston getting widely positive press for the first time since the 1970s. Incidentally, it's not often I meet anyone who lives there who have anything really positive to say . . . it's one of those regions where, if someone is from a suburb, they say they're from there versus the metro region, e.g., "I'm from Flower Mound" or "I'm from Plano," not "I'm from Dallas"--I think most people in the Houston MSA, even if they live in suburbs will say they're from Houston. Almost to a person, all these people will tell you how much they hate Dallas, too, as if it's an entirely different place than where they live. I think this podcast pretty much sums it up . . . I mean it literally quotes someone as saying they sometimes "cry themselves to sleep every night" because they moved from NYC to Frisco, but "hey, the housing's cheap." I'd say the podcast producers almost went out of their way to make Dallas sound so blah . . . the City of Dallas itself is fine to live in (IMO), but boy is it surrounded by some not nice places to live (IMO), with some pretty radical people (IMO). At the end of the day, Dallas has become a MIdwestern city. Why Is Everyone Moving to Dallas? - Freakonomics How Dallas-Fort Worth is poised to dominate America’s heartland | The Kinder Institute for Urban Research (rice.edu) See also this thread from today: