wilcal

I think that this is a really good plan. The fire access solution is interesting. It is kind of annoying that Metro wouldn't just allow fire trucks to drive on top of the light rail lines as needed, but maybe they would be broken in some way. I also don't think it is a surprise that they are stopping at Rusk. For a "fun" project in grad school I did a mini feasibility of closing the entire length of Main all of the way through Midtown, and I assumed that the JW Marriott losing their valet access would be a big sticking point. There's also a parking lot between Franklin and Congress, and it appears that they are keeping a fire lane (car access?) across that part of the block. It is my understanding that the city would be forced to purchase that land if you cut off car access because it would be a taking because of the current car-focused use. Overall this is a great plan, and I hope they keep marching it south and Midtown starts to close it in that corridor.

Holy shit. This is great! The newish Dynamo owner is a real estate guy. I wonder if he is getting in on this at all.

Excited for this to open! Looking at the menus of the other locations, I'm torn to see if they can make it as a destination restaurant because their price points are about where Ninfa's is. Maybe a little higher. Happy hour menu looks pretty good.

They posted on Insta today that they are doing a meet and great and sampling with the owners this Saturday from 11-5 and will be doing pop-ups every Sat from 11-4 until they open. https://www.instagram.com/p/CzcRAySJ-9o/?img_index=1 Also, I'm trying to remember the exact layout, but there was a space this tall a little towards the NE corner of the building. Maybe it's there? Been a minute since I toured, so a little blurry in my mind.

Gonna guess since this is south of Navigation, this will be parking.

Guys, I'm so sorry. A street function closure permit is $62, not $200. The form is linked here. Go wild! https://www.houstontx.gov/specialevents/faq.html#applystreetfunction

It is a permitted street closure It is annoyingly cheap. I believe I have posted elsewhere but maybe $150? $200? Why pay for your own private property when you can monopolize public property for a fraction of the cost?

Dynamo still paying to close street and park over bike lanes

Incredibly exciting news! I also had to miss the home tour :( Hopefully the nearby neighbors aren't against some bbq smoke a la Turkey Leg Hut.

I was driving by a few weeks ago and saw some activity on site. Some light clean up, nothing too major. Interesting mix of cars there (a Corvette, and some other luxury-aimed vehicles). The Instagram is interesting saying that is a contemporary art gallery with the hours of 2pm to midnight Wed to Sun. Have to think if it was an actual night club it would be open later.

So you'll tax the existing downtown businesses? If the O&G businesses next to downtown are fine with effectively paying for the project, then by all means, but there isn't exactly a lot of commerce happening in downtown Beaumont.

I mean... who is going to pay for all of that? The city probably has very limited funds and private developer ROI can't be there.

Pretty sure when it was listed on Loopnet they wanted $$$$$.

Stopped by Jeni's this weekend and didn't realize that it had apartments in the back. So so cool! Has 6 studios and based on a listing I saw they dropped the price from $1,275 to $1,100 at some point. Each of the apartments has one reserved spot in the parking lot.

So, this is a little on me. I was going on HCAD parcel data, but I misidentified the block because both blocks are labeled as High Fashion Home. That block isn't abandoned, it is the one we are talking about right now has already been complete. Street width is defined as the entire city ROW. That typically means sidewalk to sidewalk, not the paving width of the lanes. In reality, your complaints likely lie with the fire department who want wider streets and turning radii for their trucks. Here is the user's guide: https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/docs_pdfs/User's Guide for WP and TOD report_2020-10-01.pdf Walkable Places has big impacts, but is limited in scope as in it only applies to a few areas. Midtown being one of them. Instead of having a traditional setback (which is from the edge of your property) there are minimum pedestrian realm standards that start from the back of the curb. If that goes into your property then that works as a setback. If there is already a large sidewalk, then you get a 0' setback. Walkable Places regulates pedestrian realm, the size of unobstructed sidewalk, the safety buffer between the sidewalk and the road, types and size of trees, fence height, and restricts how and where cars can drive onto the property. These only kick in when some forms of heavy renovation or a new building is constructed. I think fire access concerns are a big one, but a lack of good targets is another. I've been pushing for Main to be closed to cars for forever. We also have so much excess ROW that we have a lot of room for road diets to make a much better pedestrian experience. Like McKinney downtown. From this: To this: A huge difference for changing one lane, and traffic is *fine*

First, it appears that the block of Rosalie along High Fashion Home is already abandoned. Rosalie also doesn't go through two blocks to the west at the former Whole Foods store. So, a few reasons why you would want to abandon: * One: Rosalie street is only about 43', so when they replat this they would actually be required to contribute 7 more feet to the street. * Two: Streets trigger building setbacks (note: this is in a Walkable Place area, which makes things complicated, but still) * Three: they are showing some buildings on Rosalie. Can't do that without acquiring it.

I just won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes.

JFC. That is so dangerous! Really unaccpetable.

Yes, they are testing and have some on the road. They have been updating some of the stations with charging infrastructure as well. I know the Polk bus depot has some based there. I talked with a METRO rep during sustainability week or some street festival thing downtown and they said that it was going well, but it is actually the winters and not the summers that present logistical challenges. I get it, but the branding is pretty shitty. New healthy Big Mac with one fewer cheese slice! is basically what they are going for.

"clean diesel" . ok

Huh, the fencing is interesting. I guess it is necessary to separate the construction from the trail.

That's a fair assumption and why they want to spend so much on the canal project.

. at no curb cut access allowed so they had to make a paved bridge

Please still make the effort! 311 reports are used by other departments and help empower changes like Livable Places pushing the minimum driveway length from 17' to 19' so the sidewalks are less likely to be blocked. In terms of this plat... both of the streets they front on are primary Walkable Places streets. They will have to submit a new plat design because front-loaders are not permitted. They'll probably do something with a second shared driveway.

It basically doesn't. With the flow output from the ship channel directly into the ocean. The 100 and 500 year flood plains end basically at the bank.