woolie

Is HCC large and "academically deep" enough to sustain a library of that size? It's at least as large as the central UH library. Altogether, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out, with the Camden component and politicowrangling Niche alludes too.

Given the source, someone should check the images for plagiarism. Probably a rendering from another city with 'marquis towers at cityplace' pasted on top.

I can't think of any reason I would ever need to visit Sugar Land. Is there something compelling I'm missing? Something I can't find in Houston -- even ITL? Even if I want to go experience unspoilt nature and was going to drive out of my way to go see the Brazos, I don't think SL would be my stop. So it's not a regional city to me. Maybe if you live in Rosenberg it'd be different.

Thanks everyone. I'll probably end up buying a copy of the book as well. I haven't been to the Houston Room in a while... sounds like a trip might be in order.

The Houston street car book has route maps, but I wasn't able to find a copy at Brazos. I haven't tried the library yet. I can buy a copy directly from the author but it's a bit pricey. Does anyone have a map of the original routes? Galveston-Houston Electric Railway Co. Electric Interurban Railway Streetcar Map from the Stone & Webster Management Association, 1922, and 1923.

The architect's contact info is listed on the Kirksey site. I searched the Houston City Library website with no results, press releases, etc. I'm not a "people person," but someone more polite than me should email the architect and the library contact people.

I'll at least admit my biases. We all know what I think about the suburbs. I like to imagine the circles on the graph I made represent 60psi overpressure. :)

Same thing grated on me, too. Who talks like that? How do I avoid them? Read like a 1920's newsreel.

That would be excellent. I love libraries. I think it's beautiful. here is the link to the page http://www.kirksey.com/ProjectMain.asp?ID_...181&OffSet=

That's why I loved my Miata. It brings you close enough to Death to make life more vibrant. :) Seriously, I loved my Miata. I wish I had another one.

? why not, if it's still reliable and effective. No point in "new for the sake of new," imho.

What I mean is, the suburbs have been developed based on a model of much higher energy usage per person. The technology for this mostly existed before the rise of the suburb... it didn't take any fundamental scientific or technological breakthroughs to extend car ownership to more people, especially when coupled by massive federal subsidy postwar to encourage this model. What made it possible is the availability of inexpensive fuels. The city is designed more as an energy minimization device than it is a technology minimization device. I suppose at this point it's "tomato/tomahto" though. It's part of the reason I think the suburban lifestyle is unsustainable unless we're willing to make the commitment to radically change the sources of our fuels and electricity. It's only tenable in a CO2-sensitive world if we switch to mostly nuclear power and the "personal automobile" is powered by electricity or "carbon neutral" fuels (e.g. DME). But I find the lifestyle alienating and cold anyway, so I just advocate using the most effective tool for energy conservation we already have. Per capita CO2 emissions/primary energy use in dense cities is about 25% of the suburbs.

The rise of the automobile had more to do with availability of fuel than any advance in technology.

Circles are 1/2 mile and 1 mile radius from town center. In 1/2 mile there is only part of 1 multifamily unit and no single family. I'd love to see them build pedestrian friendly, multifamily units on all of that surface parking, but it's not going to happen. From this view, looks pretty much like the typical cul de sac suburb (maybe I just can't see the street grid.) Maybe it has a few open air shopping malls. My favorite part is all of the fake lakes and "waterfront" homes. And the fact there are only two bridges to connect about 1/3rd of the homes. Of course, there is no transit either. Amenities for walking and biking are marginal at best. Look at the streets around Town Square. Almost all of them have NO sidewalks. So I think it's safe to say that SLTC really is "faux-urbanism."

Lower level of energy use, not as much is directly technology related.

Just to make sure this nugget of wisdom isn't edited away...

I'm all about gun proliferation. It's like nuclear weapons. The possibility your opponent is carrying heat places strict limits on how far a conflict can escalate. Better yet. We should carry grenades strapped to our chest for second-strike capability incase we're incapacitated by the initial attack.

it isn't? it's an outdoor shopping mall; hooray! give it 10 or 15 years. you know how these things work, right? the outer suburbs become the inner suburbs. the inner suburbs become the inner city. but I do think your fear is a bit irrational and overstated. Most of that type of crime is poverty related. It just means Sugar Land and the other 'burbs are exceptionally good at locking out opportunity for anyone who doesn't fit their demographic profile. It's the American dream, to live in a subdivision full of people exactly like yourself. What did you think the "Master Plan" was?

buckets of money and political connections might be enough to have them buried. otherwise learn to appreciate their benefits, e.g., birdwatching.

:rolleyes: You probably live in a gated community too, right?

Wow, it's gorgeous. I love townhouses and advocate for them here, but I do love bungalows as well, just a bit farther out.

There will be neighborhoods gentrifying at any point in time, but the rates we saw around the country in the past several years were fueled in large part by access to massive, easy credit for anyone with a pulse. I'm not saying there won't be increases, but it's not going to be anything like what we saw in LA. It can still be a good investment, but it's not the "no brainer" it was 2002-2006. *waits for the NARcissists to crap on me*

I just can't understand the infatuation with $$$$ cars, though. People don't blink about spending $50k on an SUV that gets horrible mileage and is unreliable. What a way to throw your money in the trash can. We have a Hyundai Sonata and love it. It was $13k. It's been solid as a rock, not a single problem in almost 3 years now. It's been more than enough car for both of us; it's our only car, and we share it with no problems. It's not hard to think of better things to spend your money on than a flashy car. Hopefully our Hyundai will last long enough for our next car to be a plug-in electric.

Don't hold your breath on rapid appreciation. It looks like those days might be over for the foreseeable future.

There's very little point in giving a ticket to someone who won't be able to pay it.