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woolie

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Everything posted by woolie

  1. woolie
    gas prices tip the balance. rail is far more fuel efficient.
  2. woolie
    http://www.earthhour.org/
  3. woolie
    Freight rail is only going to become more important in the future as trucking becomes less efficient.
  4. woolie
    Texas Medical Center
  5. woolie
    If we had a thread for every OTL strip mall, everything interesting -- you know, the 'architecture' part of HAIF -- would be lost in the noise. ps. to Niche. I frequented Deidrich's when I was an undergrad, so I happen to be very familiar with the route you describe. Westheimer/Elgin FTW; 59/45 and the DT interchange is crap half the day.
  6. woolie
    Surface parking = visual torture. I don't mind garages, the rates aren't terrible even in the super-expensive TMC (although I chose to just bike or take the train.) But I want to hulk smash every surface lot in the city. I don't care about any simplistic "cost=utility" argument, they're a terrible visual blight and devalue the entire neighborhood in my eyes. What about the utility and value in having a neighborhood that doesn't feel like a barren wasteland. Anyway, we could go back and forth on this forever, you know where I stand. EOM. However, I will grant that some people never step foot outside without their cars. Probably even most people on this forum have never walked on a city sidewalk or through a park as a means of transit. Perhaps when your only perception of the city is colored by the car's window, you don't even notice the lots in the first place. But to live your entire life this way is a greatly diminished experience.
  7. woolie
    They've been planning to tear this down for several years now, but thankfully it hasn't happened. In 2003, I was in a lab that looked directly out onto this beautiful building. Each time they finished another new building next to it, I'd worry "if it was finally time for it to come down." The stated premise is that the low ceiling heights on each floor are unsuitable for research or modern office use. MDACC estimated it would cost $300M to renovate the building to modern standards, but significantly less than that to raze the structure and build something new for the same purpose. So basically the preservation cost would be on the order of a hundred million dollars. Of course, I think that's silly, and they should just leave it standing or lease it out for some kind of use, and just expand around it across the bayou. They already have some spectacular skywalks in that area... Across the bayou is just contract parking anyway right now. Anyway, EOM.
  8. woolie
    *refrains from comment about big pharma* The TMC has patient care and academic research missions.
  9. woolie
    As Niche pointed out above, but I'll just add that research space in particular needs *huge* interstitial spaces compared to office structures -- because of the complex ventilation, supply lines, electrical needs, etc. Look at the newish MD Anderson Research Tower. The floor count is low, but very tall comparatively.
  10. woolie
    Eh. Spires don't count Trae. I consider top to be roof of top leasable floor. 1200' is OK, and good for Philly which is far more developed than Houston, but here I'd rather have 4x300' before 1x1200. My new place (moving in mid april) has a peek at the skyline, and yeah, it'd be nice to have a couple extra points, but I'd rather downtown/midtown become more desirable as mixed use neighborhoods with all surface parking completely filled in.
  11. woolie
    What basis do people have to complain about the height? It's marginally taller than the building directly across the street.
  12. woolie
    I want a bunch of little towers. With nice street levels. The US has moved on from supertalls. Let Dubai have them.
  13. woolie
    As far as I'm concerned, surface parking is one inch shy of "not at all."
  14. woolie
    Stop talking about this beautiful building. I have to keep telling myself that this has always been a surface parking lot. Surely a rational society wouldn't tear down such a magnificent structure to make room for cars? Right? Right???
  15. woolie
  16. woolie
    Interesting choice of stock photography for their video. Can anyone explain where in Houston Center this image was taken?
  17. woolie
    So, do you think the city will just settle for something close to Wulfe's offer? Would that offer be a valid basis for determining fair market value?
  18. woolie
    You can throw Australia, UK, Sweden, Japan, etc. into the mix, and the results come out more or less the same, and all of these countries have comparable quality of life even if nominal GDP differs. The principle components are nuclear/hydro power and good transit infrastructure. that depends completely on the cost of installing the turbines, their efficiency, average windspeed conditions, etc. There's no guarantee (and perhaps unlikely) that the same amount of money invested in West Texas wind production would provide the same kWh. So yes, the downside could be that it produces non-GHG electricity at a rate that isn't competitive with West Texas wind... so it's not the most efficient use of money for displacing CO2 generating sources.
  19. woolie
    I'm results oriented in terms of global CO2 release. My master plan is something like this: on electricity, conservation in the first world, provide a secure nuclear fuel cycle in the developing world, build wind turbines and new hydroelectric whenever it's economically feasible, have a 2040 target of phasing out coal via the above combination (consv./nucl./wind.) On transportation fuel use: it's just a big mess, wipe the slate clean and reboot in the United States. Bulldoze the suburbs and try again with high density TODs. Get rid of cars by building a more appealing, better, less expensive alternative rail-based transit. Surprisingly, this might also affect public health. First world CO2 metric tons per capita 2004: US: ~20 Germany: ~10 France: ~6 The working model should be obvious. Anyway, /end thread hijack. Niche misses the point about conservation; we'll never build our way out of the problem (coal/natgas phaseout) if we can't blunt the growth curve. Conservation may not result in net decrease, but it gives us a better handle on the primary objective.
  20. woolie
    It's very typical of buildings trying to score some 'green' cred nowadays. It's a variation on "give an inch, take a mile," aka "Green-Washing," e.g. that this token windmill, functional at any level or not, excuses the building/owner/tenants from any number of other socially and environmentally irresponsible behaviors. Reporter: Mr. Ceo, your company was just found guilty of directly spraying millions of gallons of oil onto pristine beaches, taking elected officials on baby seal clubbing expeditions, and cynically plotting to infiltrate the EPA with an army of slave robo-commissioners. Blah blah blah... CEO: Yes, sure, sure, But! Our building has vertical axis wind turbines! We are very respectful of the environment! They provide more than enough electricity and carbon offsets to keep our paper shredders operating 24 hours a day!
  21. woolie
    My fellow vampire, the night beckons blah blah blah blah... Anyway, I'll probably put up a vanity thread about it next month, but I'm halfway through buying a house (finally). A tin shack in midtown, near Baldwin park, on a cute street. You seemed interested in my real estate decisions the last time I brought it up a year or so ago. /end thread hijack.
  22. woolie
    I take the train or ride my bike, depending on the weather. One of the perks of living in midtown. I don't even have a car to park there if I wanted -- my girl drives it to her office. Anyway, everyone, here is a secret, used by every student in the TMC. Park at the zoo. It's free, and most likely the same distance you'd have to walk from a garage to your destination anyway.
  23. woolie
    I've been in the TMC on a daily basis since 2000. The constant progress and construction has just been internalized as normal -- not exceptional in any sense. What would really disturb me is if the cranes disappeared, all the streets and sidewalks were open, and the dumptrucks went missing.
  24. woolie
    I've gotta say I'm absolutely sick of seeing gimmick decorative pinwheels, I mean, wind turbines. I want to develop our wind resources as much as anyone else -- but this kind of building glitter just gets under my skin. We're talking what, a MW or two of nameplate capacity?
  25. woolie
    yes, that is nice. I'll try to post some photos once the facade gets off the ground. Sure, I recognize this, I know the area well. But we have to take the first steps. Here's what I think: there's a metric ____ton of 4-6 story zero-lot-line apartment buildings all over town now. Each one made this assumption, and so we still have fenced off or concrete street levels even where the density really could support first-floor commercial. No one does it, so no one wants to be the first, excluding a few like Post Oak Midtown, which seems to be successful whenever I'm in that area.
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