greystone08(returns)

ok the palm trees in front of the best western in hotels don't count

I don't see why this wouldn't work in the near future. If you call the greater Houston visitors business 1-800 4 HOUSTON and speak with the department in charge of metro, they'll tell you for themselves that there is an indefinite plan in the future( not sure of the timeframe) to have lightrail either dug underground (subway) or have the elevated monorail system.

I ould build a small subway that ran maybe a mile lond like the one in Dallas and then convert the rest to elevated monorail that ran east and west between downtown and galleria area

Oh that's some architecture. I have to go back and see it when its finished

First of all, this goes to the person who started this topic, TIERWESTAH! And i'm assuming you derived your name from the street Tierwester in third ward. I know the area. Houston is not slow at all, it's very much a fast-paced city. I think you're basing this notion off the fact that the downtown isn't all that dense for a city of its size and it doesn't have many advanced transportation options as many cities but Houston broke that ice with the opening of light rail last year. I have found Houston to have so much going on during my stay here, it's almost overwhelming. It is definitely the fastest city in Texas. Sure it might not have all the flashy stuff like Dallas is trying to have like the victory times square area that's planned or even a small subway but it's definitely headed in the right direction. With all the projects that are planned for downtown Houston this year and years to come, i often find myself driving downtown Houston once a week to see what's goin' up downtown and the loads of construction sites that look like they could all be the start of something big! Personally, i find myself getting more and more excited about Houston's future. The only thing i want Houston to do is start fixing up the roads on the east side of I-45 and do away with all the truck stops off the freeway and start building more "appealing to the eye" shopping centres. Other than that, Houston is coming along if you ask me.

Wow! I'm so happy to hear this becuz Third Ward is such an important neighnorhood to Houston and with its close proximity to downtown, i think it should get more attention.

You sound like somebody from Dallas talking! A typical Houston hater

galveston's getting casino?

I might not know alot about Houston because this place is so sooo big and i'm still relatively new here but i can only comment on what i see out of the eastside when i actually have to get off the E 610 loop and go to Lakewood Church every Sunday. That portion off E 610 and North Wayside Drive is horrible!!!! Third Ward is definitely not the most sparkling neighborhood in the city and it is ghetto, but at least you see a presence of cultural identity that doesn't tend to exist in many parts of the city. Although, i have seen Third Ward somewhat shape up a little bit from when i was down here back in 93 visiting my grandmother. To be honest, Third Ward is part of the reason that i chose to go to school in Houston because of the culture concentration. It is innercity and has a very important poece of History to it that helps somewhat shape Houston to what it is today. I read that Texas Southern University (The school i attend) was the only college that blacks could attend because they were excluded from University of Houston due to racial discrimination. See this stuff, historical things is very important to me. Not because i'm black, but because i have a big appreciation for places like these that can sustain such a big feel of cultural identity. I think the areas that really need shaping up is North Telephone Road and Leeland (Second Ward, i think). That area is so depressing, with way worse-shaped streets than anything you would ever see in Third Ward. The area is dominated by hispanics. Oh and 27, you did make a good point in your post and i understand how you feel about certain lifestyles. Third Ward should be regentrified but sometimes having some sort of historical significance to a city's core is what alot of these people in Third Ward seem to be worried about. I live in the heart of Third Ward at TSU, sadly a beautiful girl who went here was murdered a few months ago. But other than that, i have much love for the place.

I just want to see Houston get a waive into the future. It just seems like H-town is the last to get things when you compare it to cities like Denver, maybe Dallas, and Atlanta. If a subway line is out for Houston, then yes, what about monorail (in the air). That would even be a good idea. But all i'm saying is we need to get started building something or work towards even scratching the surface before all these new skyscrapers come up and they'll end up being no room for monorail, subway, or even that wack-ass at grade level train. Houston is already an excellent city. I like everybody just want to see it get better.

I finally got the pleasure of visiting Dallas and riding their subway and realized that why can't Houston do this. And i don't wanna hear about the flooding issue because that didn't stop us from building the largest tunnel system in the world! Perhaps i was a little jealous of Dallas because in many cases, Dallas seems so much more advanced than Houston but when i read this, i saw a light of some hope! IS METRO EXPANING UNDERGROUND? 11:19 AM CDT on Thursday, June 24, 2004 By Jeremy Rogalski / 11 News Many of our freeways are above ground, but could Houston

Bryan/College station seems really clean. And their downtown seems to be really coming along. Nice pics.

I share your frustration on this matter. But unfortunately enough, if you leave it up to the residents of this city to do their part and stop littering, you'll be waiting for a long time meanind forever. However the city should start in cleaning up the inner loop. It should start downtown then to midtown and other neighborhoods on the outer fringes of downtown. Fifth Ward, i'm scared to drive through there even in the daylight. I'm thinking i might catch a bullet just for looking a certain way.

Four Allen Center: Office Tower At 1400 Smith St. Enron Building At 1400 Smith St. Is it just me or does this building look just like a huge block of legos just clumped together? I look at it practically everyday on my way to school and think that this building has no architectural significance. It's shaped pretty awkwardly, it looks like the architect spent no longer than 5 min planning the design. This and the Exxon Mobil buildings do nothing for the Houston skyline in the architectural aspect in my opinion.

And what IS the deal with the lights at night? Houston's skyline is much nicer than Dallas', but at night there's no comparison that Dallas' looks better. Why the hell don't they light anything? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Houston's cheap. plain and simple. The building owners here act like lighting their buildings with some style is going to cause the business to go bankrupt. I do hope to see the dome lit up in a more fashionable manor.

tried them before. It's aight!! It ain't all that. Baskin Robins 31 flavors still holds the crown for me.

I might sound like i'm straddling between the fence on this one but for history purposes, i personally don't want to see them tear it down. i think it is one of the most important things that symbolizes Houston's history. Imploding the astrodome is a big no-no to most Houstonians. On the other hand, i do think that two of those stadiums right next to eachother doesn't really look that intriguing, just cluttered. I think it was a mistake putting the Reliant Stadium right next to the Astrodome if there were no written plans for tearing it down. They did the same thing in Denver at the time they opened up the new Invesco field stadium in 2001. They built it right next to the old Mile-Hi city stadium and they stood right next to eachother for the longest while. The old Mile-Hi stadium no longer exists, they finally tore it down after a good year or so. Not intending to contradict what i said earlier, of course i'd hate to see the Astrodome go, but i do think that if Houston wants to be considered a less of a hap-hazard developed city, something has got to give. I understand that Houston might have a hard time letting it go. As someone stated earlier, the Astrodome help put Houston on the map. It was the eighth wonder of the world. B of A, put the Astrodome to some use. The Space theme park didn't sound like too bad a idea. It would definitely become a tourist attraction because when people come to football games, they already have the option of an entertainment idea right next door. it does depress me to see it just sitting there, lifeless, and forming decay.

Did anyone mention that BET hosted Rap City here at TSU a month or so ago?

"Jason's Lyric" starring Jada Pinkett and Allen Payne. Urban love story set and filmed in Houston. Lots of charming scenes of the surrounding meadows and pine forests as well. I see your post now Hizzy. Overlooked it. My bad!!!

I think that notion is riduculous. I lived in Atlanta for all of my teen years and i think its an excellent city. It does face some of the same issues as Houston but unfortunately for Houston, it gets the rougher end of the stick by critics. Houston as i've seen it, and forgive me, i've only actually lived here for 5 1/2 months so i might not know much. I think however, is a very great city. I think i like Houston mainly because of the diversity of the people. For example, i think Third Ward is a very important sector of the innercity. I personally would like to see Houston have more street activity, not necessarily like New York or Chicago but perhaps more like a San Antonio or New Orleans in terms of pedestrian/urban density. SA and NO have great urban activity for cities of their size. There are many other smaller cities that have the amendities of larger cities to the point that they almost feel big. Take Reno Nevada for example. IT has only 180,000 residents in the city but has a strip of casinos and things of that nature to award it the title: The biggest little city in the World". I've found Houston to be rather confusing to me. While its downtown should be the city's primary identity and where most of the activity should take place, Houston is spread out along so many parts of town like the Galleria and Westheimer/Richmond strips. Each area has something the other doesn't. It almost feels like Houston attempted to start over and rebuild itself as another city from what it started out as multiple times. While i do admire that there are different skylines and areas of the city, i find it rather hard to identify what actually says "This is Houston". As far as downtown progress, from what i gather of all the strides made, i think they're great but it seems a tad inconsistant. Things are seeming a little stagnant right now but i guess if i was here one year ago, i would have noticed the tremendous progress by the openings of light rail and Main Street earlier this year. All in all, i think Houston is a great city, definitely the best in Texas and probably even one of the best in the South. I just want to see it continue in the right direction it started and kind of speed up the process a little. (Sorry i'm a impatient). When i visited my sister in Denver, Colorado, i witnessed the opening of a light rail, 16th Street Mall, Larimer, and the opening of the Denver Pavilion inside a period of 3-4 years. Houston can do the same thing.

You also fogot to include that the movie "Jason's Lyric" took place in Houston which was casted by some rather famous actors such as: Treach from Naughty by Nature, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Allen Payne. -

Greystone, If I might make a suggestion, since you're considering moving from your current neighborhood, maybe you could find something reasonable along Almeda, north of McGregor Drive and west of the South Freeway (288). There are many apartments, duplexes and so forth that are for rent in that area and many UH/Rice/TSU students take advantage of 'em. Obviously, I'm not talking about the new units being built left and right but there are several older structures that are pretty good shape and have pretty good landlords. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I appreciate your suggestion Great Hizzy. As much as i love the heritage and everything in third ward i might have to move somewhere else next school year. McGregor area does have some nice homes. I've checked out some of the apartments around those areas on Southmore and 288 which are mainly Section 8 housting. I know i need more money but the two areas in Housotn i would like to live in are TMC, and Galleria area.