Hasek

Skylon SSTO(SIngle Stage To Orbit) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylon_%28spacecraft%29 http://www.reactionengines.co.uk/space_skylon.html

HPD needs at minimum double the number of officers, really should have over 20k uniforms to patrol a city this large, but no ones willing to pay the taxes for it....

A relevant piece from the NYT.

 

The short version: rail is far more expensive than bus service yet no faster, but rail lines continue to be built because bus service is perceived as inferior. 

 

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/business/to-save-on-rail-lines-market-the-bus-line.html?referrer=&_r=0

Do you ride the metro bus to work?

Do you take a metro bus to specific activities on your leisure time? Like, say, the Rodeo or an Opera?

If you do, how do you like the experience? If you don't, why don't you?

If i want to take the long way and get stuck in the same traffic i would have if i had been driving, ill take the bus. if i actually want to get where im going ill take the rail

US 90 at the San Jacinto river

Open or No Primaries

Independently drawn districts

American democracy, why I am a Monarchist....

You are right, term limits wouldn't work in a Democracy, but if I remember correctly we aren't a pure democracy, nor should we be. We are a Federal Constitutional Republic in which the foundation is the proper representation by those we elect to represent everyone that they serve.

 

I'm sorry, but this is probably the most naive look at how to fix a very prevalent problem. You don't even offer any real solutions to the problem other than, this sucks and that sucks and that all you got to do is go out and vote......That's like yelling at someone who is fat to eat better by simply eating better food, but not putting in the proper infrastructure in place to insure that its consistent instead of a one time fix which is what you are championing.

 

It avoids the real work that is needed to retool the government in order for long lasting change. I remember sentiments, such as what you are generating, during the 2008 election which the whole push for change was to simply get out and vote and everything will be better. It over relied on the possible impact of one single person to solve everyones problems instead of proposing an infrastructure to create real change while also future proofing the fallibility of human governance which is the lust for power and the fact that power corrupts absolutely even for those who we think are "pure". What was the outcome of the election? Whether you think the President has done good work or not the simple fact of the matter is that Obama's presidency has been very underwhelming and is a textbook example of how the system can take you right in and spit you right out without having a proper plan in place to further change government and how voting isn't always the answer. Hell the answer isn't the perfect candidate either!

 

Now lets look at gerrymandering. How the hell do you think gerrymandering actually works! It's from people who have been in their way to long who have been able to carve up districts in order to.....you guessed it keep them in power! You are literally defeating your own logic. Oh the power to fix this problem is by voting, but if the district has been set up in such a way that the overwhelming majority is going to vote for the same person because of the district that has been drawn then you will see voter apathy because they know that voting is no longer the way to actively change the institution.

 

Unless you have a legitimate argument in against term limits then it stands that term limits are the best option in reining in politicians and their fundamental tendency to entrench and manipulate the process in order to stay in power which makes voting completely futile. Term limits is the most reasonable check on politicians who instead of going into Washington in order to get the job done and get the hell out or more inclined to make it a career.

 

This is already getting this thread way off topic, but I simply can't let this stand. I won't let such naivety jump in front of what real solutions can be made to fix the problem. There is no one fix all to this problem for sure. The Disney/Sunday school answer is to "fix voting" or "get more people out to vote". That's a surface evaluation of the problem and you know it. Term Limits is of course only a start and possible solution to the problem with many more solutions needed to back it up but its at least a real solution.

who ever allowed that "thing" to even be rendered should be thrown out of an airlock....

Los Angeles has the lowest number of freeway miles per person in the US (52 miles per million people as of 2000) and had less than half of the national average of freeway capacity per capita at that point.  They have been investing in rail for 25 years and are #1 in traffic congestion.

 

I'd also note that the worst congestion in the world was in European cities that are frequently lauded for having great rail systems.  More than half of the 10 worst cities for congestion in the world are in Europe.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-25622364

im surprised cities built hundreds or thousands of years before cars were invented have issues with congestion.....

My dad always bought the Post, seems the chron is keeping up the tradition

price range?

Red Light districts like Germany and Netherlands

so at what point do lower rents draw enough companies to push rents higher..?

1. Raze and build residential tower

2. Clean it up and convert it into a restaurant/bar complex

3. Indoor Paintball

The UH library has a nice collection of USS Houston artifacts including the war time ships bell

I hate buses. if i wanted to sit in traffic smelling diesel fumes i could do it i my own car, rail should be the backbone of any mass transit system with small buses being used as feeders

the biggest issue is american don't want to pay their taxes, then delicate flower about Gov services being sub-par. Mass transit reform needs to be shoved down peoples throats with a "you'll tank me later"

How is that calculated? is that rent per year?

to fill in the TMC/DT and DT/UT corridors?

I counted from Polk to Hermann Park about 40 blocks (2.5 Miles) and the UT/DT corridor is ~5 miles

I guess we'd need 2 towers per block average along those corridors to make any connection so that would make ~80 for the TMC/DT and ~100 counting whats already along 59. Can Houston support ~200 new highrises in our lifetime?

You have a point. For this reason alone, I cannot imagine why these *#*#*#*#* dog parks are getting popular and seem to be everywhere these days. Next thing you know, they will allow dogs in restaurants. Ugh.

Germany works pretty well with dogs allowed in restaurants and stores

Favorite: Central Market (cant afford it)

Daily use: HEB on 18th

Major shopping HEB Bunker Hill

I used to work for HEB and love the company best friend roommate worked for krogers, i hate krogers and the only time ill shop there is if i cant get to bunker hill in time 

I live on the other side of 610 from this mall

I love this area it is far from decayed and there's plenty of stuff to do around the area

The heights is an easy drive down 18th and the 290 and 10 corridors have plenty of restaurants and shopping

Perfect area for "suburban" living with city access

If that happens...I will kill myself >.>

 

Abandon shopping malls will be one of the bigger design/urban planning challenges my generation and the generation before will have to face in the coming decade or two. They present so many opportunities, but at the same time so many problems because of the shear scale of the land you are given. Especially since the immediate area is also vastly underdeveloped you get into a situation as to what exactly do you put there!? Mid-rise development doesn't really make much since because there is nothing else around it to support it....unless you decide to build a new town from scratch (which could be an option...a very interesting one I might add!). We don't need another entertainment venue as we have way to many. Theme park is out of the question because there are like two going up right now and not to mention it would be a real headache for this area. You can't build small residential as the value of those homes would plummet afterwards as a good portion of this area is still in decay and nobody builds those kinds of developments this deep into town anymore. Commercial campus?? Maybe if it was the right investor with a big brand. What I'm scared of is that it might be turned into distribution centers -.- since that is the main business of the immediate area. 

A large piece of land, mostly paved over, near the intersection of 3 freeways, central location in the metro area.  Sounds like the best use may well be for a distribution center.  Dead malls are usually in areas that are in decay so it's not really going to be that much of a challenge to figure out what to do with them.  Since the mall is an invention of the automobile age, they are frequently on or near highways and/or intersections of highways.  Those that are in decaying areas can go the distribution center route and those that are still in nice areas can be redeveloped into mixed use or indoor/outdoor retail (a la Memorial City Mall and Town & Country, now City Centre).