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woolie

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Everything posted by woolie

  1. woolie
    fantastic news. let's move it to going up.
  2. woolie
    Is there still time to make it 50 stories? Really, though, I think it's a beautiful structure. I'd be glad to have it anywhere in Houston. I'd love to have it across the street from my current rental in midtown, or the house I'm buying near Baldwin park further up in midtown. It's a high quality design with real attention paid to the street level. However, it's an inescapable fact that the TMC is booming, and everything close in should be redeveloped in this way. It's just silly for neighborhood residents to assume their neighborhood shouldn't change over time as density (destiny?) increases.
  3. woolie
    Why is the development on Almeda so *yawn.* Nice to see a 4 story facade over such a long distance (of course, single-use residential with no pedestrian amenities.. this is Houston, right?), but geez, it's a little bland in the design department. Something interesting, plz. site plan aerial
  4. woolie
    I'm a big time Apple user. Before that, I was a linux nerd. An Apple store downtown would be awesome. I hate driving to the Galleria.
  5. woolie
    I don't think Chipotle is so bad, I eat there about once a week. I believe Jax is wrong, though. The line is never greater than 10-15 mins, even as it wraps around the restaurant and down the hallway. They are extremely efficient at making burritos. I think Jax's photo also actually understates the amount of mid-day pedestrian traffic in this area. If I hit you on the head with a sufficiently large rock, then dumped your unconscious body at the intersection of University and Fannin... provided that no one took you into one of the hospitals, when you woke up, you could easily imagine yourself in a city that was Not Houston based on the density and level of activity. Other acceptable dining choices: Hugo's in the commons Miller's Cafe in Scurlock (or is it Smith?) Rising Roll in the old MH Prof. Bldg. I agree that all the food courts/cafeterias are inedible. We had a BCM run cafeteria that was quite good, until they sold it to Luby's, and now the food is completely unacceptable. I have also been curious about what form the "people mover" might take. I've always noticed it in the Master Plan.I've always imagined it would be a moving-sidewalk system, e.g. airport terminals, and not some kind of fixed-guideway carriage system. The former might be possible to add to existing skywalk system.. the latter would require feats of engineering or tunnel digging I don't even want to imagine. Also, what about the Baylor Hospital. Is it just going to be 10-min frequency shuttle service? Perhaps it'd be fun to build a skywalk even longer than the new MDACC one.
  6. woolie
    This building looks like it was cut off at the knees.
  7. woolie
    take a photo, go to jail.
  8. woolie
    Build two towers of 99 units each.
  9. woolie
    OH MY GOD!!! HOUSTON'S FIRST LUBY'S! I'M SO EXCITED!
  10. woolie
    Mai's is usually ok, but somewhat variable in level of service and quality of food. I ate there frequently back in the 2000-2004 timeframe, and still do sometimes at night. But my favorite is Cali Sandwich, where I get banh mi or vermicelli dishes a couple times a week. It's cheap, fast, and close to where I live.
  11. woolie
    I had given up on hoping this would be built -- after the sign had been up for 1+ year. In fact, when I saw them pour the foundation on the right part of the property, it looked to me like a parking lot. Here's hoping it goes through as described -- my favorite restaurant is on a nearby block, and I spend alot of time around here.
  12. woolie
    Answer: Nothing. Ever tried to get around Uptown? Bissonet is a stroll in a park compared to traffic levels in large areas of the city. Even with another 1,000 cars per day (e.g less than 5% increase.) People crying 'traffic!' never seem to cite the current figure. I wonder why? Anyway, heavy traffic is a reality of urban life. If you've avoided it until now, it's only because of the mid/late 20th century conditions that caused urban real estate to be undervalued, mostly due to race prejudice. In a few decades the market realignment will be complete, and traffic in Houston will be at levels comparable to other inner cities.
  13. woolie
    Yes, we need zoning... yet another layer of the system that can casually ruin your life. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/05/owner.suicide.ap/index.html
  14. woolie
    Again. 17k traffic count in 2001. Bissonet is not a quiet, neighborhood street. The impact of 250 units will not be that great. How many units does Maryland Manor have?
  15. woolie
    Hopefully the developer will add 10 or 15 stories, just for spite.
  16. woolie
    Where do I join the pro-developer protest?
  17. woolie
    Thankfully the price of crude is only going to go up from this point out
  18. woolie
    They know exactly how they got into this situation, and the remedy... in the same breath they trash WU for zoning, but demand zoning in SH. What is their case against this building again? (edit: i hate bbcode)
  19. woolie
    Everyone in the TMC is nonprofit. Building funds often come from fundraising efforts (e.g. last month BCM received both $100m and $30m gifts for their new hospital) or government grants / direct spending if it's a gov't institution.
  20. woolie
    Sorry I missed it. I was out driving on Bissonnet thinking about how great a highrise would be there.
  21. woolie
    cost increases exponentially per floor.
  22. woolie
    Anyway, after work today I went down Sunset again. The signs that were in the median had been moved. Thankyou, City of Houston Sign Enforcement. I imagine someone called the bandit sign unit. I can only hope citations were issued. Many of the lots still had the signs, though. First, I wouldn't work at a job I didn't enjoy. That's one hell of a way to piss your life away. No amount of money is worth misery. Second, I think your choice of the term "expect" is unintentionally accurate, as in, Expected Value. Statistically, you might even make money. But the damn thing about median outcomes is the bottom half. Humans are lousy at playing odds, we tend to expect unrealistic outcomes even when we know the full probabilities. It's one reason why gambling and religion are so popular. Third, I already live in a mixed-use neighborhood. A self-storage facility would be a neutral change. And the fortunate thing about a lease is that it's only for a year or two. Whether I think it is a good location is irrelevant -- I'm not the one gambling that it's going to sell well. I just support his right to make this choice. This is also irrelevant. This ad hom tries to imply many different things; it would take a novel in response.
  23. woolie
    I have somewhat mixed feelings about the idea of property rights in total, but what really irritates me about this and similar issues is when people who are exercising their rights in full accordance with the law are confronted with a pitchfork-carrying mob. I don't care for any kind of lynching. I don't like the idea of people -- the most politically, socially, and economically connected in the city -- changing the law ex post facto to protect an entrenched position. It's just another instance demonstrating the kind of skewed responses our system encourages, the hypocrisy of the whole thing. How many of these Southhampton homeowners are in fact developers trampling all over other neighborhoods, barking the same 'property rights' line all the way to the bank? I dislike the idea of zoning. I think it's a system that's easily gamed by well connected people to increase their wealth, at the expense of people with less means. I think that introducing zoning into the City of Houston might strongly impact the availability of affordable housing inside the loop.... which to this point has been of Houston's few gold stars. I want to see increases in Houston's density while maintaining mixed-use and mixed-income neighborhoods... instead of a kind of "urban disneyland" heavily-gentrified neighborhoods in other cities have become. And yes, increasing density means redevelopment and change. I understand and accept this. A city isn't a glass-encased diorama. I don't like all the consequences of market-based real estate, but it may be the least bad solution overall in keeping housing affordable generally. Issues like 4th ward are sensitive for historical and political reasons, but I hardly think zoning is the tool. What do you do, mark it as undevelopable and fix the current rent forever? Do you let home prices float, or fix them as well? Townhomes are allowing people who can't afford a half-acro lot on North Boulevard to remain residents of the inner city... to allow it to remain a vital area, which in the end is a net positive benefit whatever your aesthetic tastes about these townhomes (personally I like blocks of townhomes, I think they are an excellent urban form.) I don't necessarily think things should be protected because they're old, or beautiful... in the end, if RO goes, I won't cry, because it's being replaced with something larger and the area is still alive. The only building on my cry-cry-cry-list right now is the Prudential on Holcombe.. I've held death vigil for it now for almost 3 years. If the developers wanted to build a manufacturing facility, I suppose that'd be fine as well. Although it's mighty expensive land for that purpose I lived next door to the Mosaic while it was under construction, and it was extremely noisy, workers would park in front of our driveway, etc. But it's part of the reality of living in a dynamic city, as opposed to the above museum piece. Currently I live next to the midtown Fiesta, also near 59. Grocer's Supply trucks frequently drive down my street, but I guess I just don't consider it an issue. It's a trade-off to live in an affordable place within walking distance to a light rail stop.
  24. woolie
    A real cure for cancer would cause a TMC building boom like nothing you could imagine. An effective cure would probably be very intensive.
  25. woolie
    Hmm.. I wonder what they'd build to replace it? Hopefully something interesting in the TMC. We could use a 40+ story tower.
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