greystone08(returns)

I think the city of Houston should dedicate the entire section of Main Street that runs through downtown to be a pedestrian only zone and detour automobiles to Main Street's adjacent streets like Travis (w/exception of light rail). I only say this because Main Street Square is what they started and what they should branch off this idea to further development of a "strip like" retail development even further down Main. I really wish more commercial retail could be brought to downtown Houston a little bit faster than what its doing. I know the development of 16th Street Mall in Denver developed in a period of less than 2 years. Although I do excuse the fact that Main Street Square has only been open for a little bit under a year, but walking down Main Street, i haven't seen any proposals or new projects. No sign of any noticable progress that i can see as of yet. Anticipation has seemed to have slowed down tremendously. BAR HOUSTON even closed. I haven't seen any signs of Shamrock. Perhaps i'm just a little impatient because i'm just as excited to see Houston progress as prime U.S. destination as anyone else on this board. I already see Houston as a fascinating city but i just want to see Houston to have more energy in its downtown area.

I think Houston has some pretty magnificant skyscrapers. But i would choose the Fountain Plaza in Dallas

I just wanted to pay my respects and my prayers going out to the young girl who was shot and killed last week 12/4/04 at Tiewester Oaks, an Apartment complex on the campus of TSU. She was a student at Texas Southern University who unfortunately was an innocent by-stander. I think i'm about to move out of third ward!

I suppose! I guess that could be my ignorance, but I always thought it would be some sort of city ordinance to hire enough workers for trash pick-up. Why is it bigger and more conjested cities like Chicago have more people doing every-day trash pick up? Or what about the law-offenders who are either in jail or assigned community service to do trash-pick ups. It was just something i happened to notice about some areas in Houston like some 3rd and 5th Ward. And i understand that there are low income families out there but then again, its something to think about because since those hoods are so centrally located, that might be the first thing visitors see and the last thing they remember.

I was wondering the same thing C2H. Too bad no one responded to your post but try contacting one of the moderators personally and ask them suggestions on how to contact this member becuase i was noticing in the member list that he doesn't have a working e-mail address. unfortunately opening a new topic dedicated to LARGE TX wasn't very effective

When i went to Denver, i was very impressed with how well they did with their downtown. The Denver Pavilion and 16th Street Mall is straight gorgeous. I think Main Street shows signs of much potential but it seems like things have slowed down after all the hype from the Superbowl died out. I'm excited about seeing new projects and proposals for Main Street but i think if Denver, a city that's half the size of Houston can pull it off, there's no reason why the 4th largest city shouldn't be able to either. Main Street does need to develop more things than just bars and clubs though if it expects to make it. More mixed activity for various ages needs to take efect

Why does it seem that in third ward Houston and other parts, there's trash all in the medians of the roads like the city does not have anybody doing trash pick up on the regular. You see anything from old toilet paper rolls, paper plates, paper cups to trash bags to old milk cartons and things of that nature just thrown all in lots and all over the grass. I was even driving down off Bellfort yesterday and saw tons of trash in the middle of the median and a sweet older lady, who happened to live in that area was out there with a large garbage bag picking up the trash. Now isn't that something the City of Houston should be doing for their own city. There is absolutely no reason that any city should accept that. I'm sorry to vent but i just think that a city as important as Houston should always put on its best face and not only when the Superbowl or something comes around

I appreciate your comments and you're right to a certain extent. However, i will say that I went to Deep Ellum district on a Friday and Saturday night and maybe i could stand to give it a second chance, but i'm sorry, it was wack the two nights i went. I think i've been to Dallas enough times to give an educated opinion considering the fact that my grandfather used to live there before he died and i have plenty of cousins and other relatives out there that i visited on several occasions. And maybe you're right, Dallas is a big place and everything might not pop out but i will say: The Dallas Galleria looked like a cheap imitation of Houston's and it was way smaller. We rode DART for several miles all the way through downtown and Deep Ellum. The ONE thing i wish i could've done was gone uptown Dallas and seen what it was about. Granted, Maybe i could use a tour guide because my last visit, we didn't plan the trip very well. But our visit to San Antonio was planned in the same fashion and we had a blast. My impression of Dallas was more of a romantic setting. We went to the reunion tower and it was just absolutely gorgeous. i could stand to pay Dallas another visit but i just think that Dallas is more about showing off and i really don't think that first impression i got will change.

I personally have no problem with Dallas. I think it's a cool city that once received the most recognition in Texas and is trying to do steps so it will stay that way. I mean, Dallas considers themselves the TEXAS STAR, The #1 visitor destination in TEXAS. But let's just face it, Dallas does not have a larger population than Houston. Houston is at least twice as big in the city limits alone. While Dallas does not have as strong of a city as Houston, Houston doesn't have as strong as a metro as Dallas/Ft Worth and all the other cities in between. One thing Dallas knows how to do is to build more impressive individual buildings and my thing (they know how to light them up at night ). But to me, when i went to Dallas, it just seemed like i was visiting a giant city with a pretty skyline and nothing more. No character or anything that says "This is Dallas". I think Houston has alot of history and we have a lot simply in the school i attend. TSU was the only college blacks could attend because they were excluded from University of Houston long time ago. RACIST BASTARDS!!! Houston also has Rice U, and other nice colleges Dallas has the Kennedy assasination thing but i didn't really see anything else that would warrant me making a second trip back there except for a live look at the skyline. I think what makes Houston so much more impressive is the fact that it has so many buildings up inside the city limits in different areas of the town. Dallas has many empty areas. Dallas may have a slightly more urban uptown area but i'm a sucker for tall buildings so i think uptown houston takes out dallas's uptown. Houston has more culture and diversity, which makes it more interesting to me. I as an African American have a more appreciation for culture mixes than anything else a city could offer so houstonsemipro is right, houston will always be #1 in Texas. Just ask skyscrapercity.com on the poll they did P.S. Sorry for the storybook long post

First of all, i would have to start from square 1. Knock down eyesore buildings like the Exxon Mobil, Chevron Tower, and Houston Centers 1&2. They starting to look a little dated. And for crying out loud, stop lighting the buildings with white Christmas lights surrounding the rooftop. I've noticed almost all of the buildings in Houston use this same white light scheme on all the buildings. Can you say BORING! Come on Houston get with it. It's suppose to be the 4th largest city in the U.S., This ain't Fort Worth. And furthermore, I think the Hyatt Regency hotel downtown could definitely use some renovation and outside remodeling. Paint it, the brown bricked buildings looks so out of date. Bayou Place just plainly needs to start over alltogether. The design and layout of Bayou place is so plain and limited. I agree with you Urbanerd, the Chevron tower at night ain't happenin". I love Houston but i just think that Houston needs to drop the "I don't give a F*ck" mentality and start taking pride in where this city could potentially shine.

That seems like that's some good news for Denver's transportation system, though i don't think it will necessarily be good news in maintaing Denver's cleaner air environment

True Dallas does have Ft. Worth in its metro which is a clear advantage. But if you just add Ft. Worth to Dallas population, it still is not as large as Houston both population wise and square miles. Dallas is quick to claim Ft. Worth but its funny how Ft. Worth doesn't claim Dallas. I like all the cities in Texas but Houston is definitely the best city because it has multiple skylines which make it seem like there's many cities in one. Uptown Houston seems like a whole city in itself from downtown Houston. Can you say Westchase District and Greenspoint, Greenway plaza and other business districts? Or how about the Westheimer and Richmond strips which are the "Las Vegas" of Houston. Kemah Boardwalk, Beaches, and Galveston?Something Dallas or Ft. Worth doesn't have. Houston by far has way more in its city limits than Dallas and Fort Worth put together. I think that San Antonio holds its own as a fun city itself but when i went, i found it hard to believe that its bigger than Dallas. SA doesn't even really have a skyline. I'm not trying to sound like im making this a Dallas VS. Houston thing, but Houston is such a great city, it doesn't need the help of a next door neighbor like Ft. Worth to be considered a great metro area.

I don't know dal, i think the Wedge building is one of the few buildings that i think does houston's skyline justice at night. I think the buildings that top their buidings with cheapo white christmas lighting are the ones who deserve criticsm. BTW, i hope everything is going well with your City Life publication.

true, it was funny reading through all of that stuff. I was lucky enough to get the pleasure of at least reading it before the old forum crashed. Yes Montrose1100 and Dalparadise battles were funny, but i think the moderators want a more respectable forum. You don't see any threads in Dallasmetropolis.com attacking other cities but you see alot of it in Skyscrapercity.com

I hope Houston doesn't annex anymore, it will only forever contribute to the title of sprawl city.

anyone have pics of the skyline with the gulf ball rotating it?

Why not appreciate this good faith effort - we have a beautiful, classy skyline because of it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> yeah only during the day!

Yeah i agree. Houston needs to bring more life above ground.

This kind of makes me irratated for the city of Houston. Downtown Houston has so many companies here like AT&T, Exxon Mobil, Shell, and Chevron Texaco. But you would never know it because all these buildings don't have their signs put on the buildings so people know its here. Instead alot of the buildings decide to decorate the rooftops w/ Christmas lighing.Someone please tell me, what is with the ordinance of not putting signs up high downtown? I'm just curious as to why they allow it in uptown but not downtown? Continental center might be an acception but i can hardly see the building at night (So it's not good enough). Is Houston trying to keep from becoming commercial or what? Personally, i think it would do a favor for downtown Houston at night from what it has now.

Oh i hope i didn't look too stupid I wasn't aware of it, i am still pretty new to town. But it should be closer to Main Street and should show a more variety of films to appeal to all ages of crowds.

Thanks guys for the warm "Houston" welcome back. I was simply saying that they should centralize more shops and things in one main tunnel as an alternative to going outside in the heat those three months of the year. But yes ricco is right in one way, you can't really have one without the other. In Atlanta, there's tourist museums and things around the same block as Underground Atlanta mall and people use underground Atlanta to go as another place to shop and get out of the cold in the winter and the heat in the summer. That's what i'm suggesting they should do for the tunnel. Use it as an alternative, not a replacement to street level

I don't know, what do you think guys? A movie theatre downtown Houston could with a small array of night cafes right next to it could possibly do the trick to bringing some more street life downtown. The idea of an arcade like an ESPN zone would be good too. Last month i visited Denver Colorado for the first time in a while and they have done well with their downtown. This is where i actually got the idea from. On that downtown poll at houstondowntown.com i actually put that in as a suggestion.

yeah too bad he's leaving!

I was finally able to make a trip to the tunnel system one Friday Afternoon. I only walked down a small part of it. The portion where Main and McKinney intersect and accessed it from the building on the northwest corner. Even though it was after business hours, i didn't see the tunnel system as very exciting or even appealing. It reminded me of just a regular office building with a few stores or gift shops. I would much rather see street level activity because it would be more impressive for the city of Houston. The tunnel system is very limited because for one thing, it's only a day spot where a few people go have lunch. If Houston still wanted to preserve the underground activity and appeal to more tourists, it needs to have a shorter tunnel that runs maybe only 2 miles long with all the shops centralized (in one main point), and have more trolleys providing service to that centralized area of the tunnel. The other 5 miles of the tunnel could remain open only as pathways to the main part of the tunnel. It needs to be more visible from street level. Perhaps a big neon sign that says"Houston Underground Main Entrance". It also shouldn't be too far from Main Street because yes, no one exactly wants to be caught dead outside in Houston's heat in the middle of July. I have noticed that Houston does not promote itself a whole lot to let outsiders know exactly what's here. Just by driving through downtown, i would never know that there are so many Fortune 500 companies there. For example, the AT&T building looks like a back of a warehouse. At night, there are no neon signs so people know AT&T is here. The Toyota Center did good but the rest of the place (besides Main Street) doesn't strike me too much as the focal point Houston should have. I guess i'm basing all my ideas off what i see in Atlanta. It seems that its working well for ATL but i guess i have to realize that it doesn't exactly mean it would work for Houston.