desirous

None of yall know what yall talkin' about. Check out Clinton Dr for kicks.

You need more residental . . . to support the retail. A balance needs to happen.

Certainly... which doesn't stop downtown residents like me from demanding more retail.

Can someone please explain to me how Charlotte was able to build their rail the way it is and Houston a larger city can't? Does the Government not like Houston?

Correct. The State of North Carolina did a lot of the heavy lifting for Charlotte. I still haven't figured out what the Texas state government is good for.

Rice Hotel to Chase Tower: 15 seconds if I run quickly

Misty fans... maybe not a bad idea. They've already got water-spraying gizmos and whatnot. Then again, we also have to consider this first year's run as trial & error. Hopefully, the city will build off of what's been a big success so far and not drop the ball down the line.

Wouldn't regular fans work better? I can't imagine the misery of misty fans on a humid Houston summer evening.

I can't address Chicago or SF, but in NYC even though the financial district empties out it is still not a ghost town. There are a decent number of bars and restaurants scattered about, and quite a few in easy walking distance.

"Financial district" is a vague term. Downtown Chicago, i.e. the Loop, is quite busy on weekends due to retail on State Street as well as simply being the city's transport hub. However, most restaurants and retail shops in the office-heavy parts of downtown are closed during non-working hours. My favorite lunch break joint, the Wow Bao downstairs at the CBOT, closed at 6 M-F and stayed closed on weekends. Another factor seems to be architecture. The western part of downtown around Wacker Drive tend to be deader because the modernist architecture makes for deader street-scapes.

Besides Neiman Marcus in Dallas?

Neiman Marcus ain't a department store, it's a place for average Joes to jerk off.

Does the downtown Macy's make a profit at all? Sometimes I feel it's kept open because of the Foley's legacy.

That's pretty much what it comes down to (in Houston).

But strangely enough, Austin has a percentage growth rate that is even faster than ours, and their downtown area is growing by leaps and bounds, with most of it being residential/hotel/retail. There really isn't much in the way of new office space being built downtown; it's all out in the suburbs. Worse still is Dallas, where their downtown office market keeps on getting new supply but can't quite seem to fill it.

Personally, I strongly perfer our urban growth model. It draws a greater number and diversity of people downtown, as Red pointed out, and as our region grows, having a strong central business district in the context of an urban core with a dense residential population will make developing effective local and regional transit much easier than will be the case in a place like Austin.

I agree. Besides, Austin's downtown is a totally different beast. Downtown Houston residential development is difficult because we don't have 80% of our nightlife crammed into downtown.

I wrote Mayor White a letter regarding residential development in the vicinity of Disco Green. The mayor's office forwarded it on to the planning department as well.

I am contributing to downtown population.

Could never stand Uptown. People go there to drink, and then have to drive home.

Oh, I heard something about a terminal being planned by UH. I'm not surprised to hear that demolition would be needed at the point of the rail terminus. I wonder about other places along Wheeler, though? I remember watching some townhomes go up just west of Almeda over the past couple of years, and wondering if anyone had thought about the possibility of the city claiming domain. Is the rail likely to fit in the existing lanes, with there still being room for cars?

I thought the terminus is the Eastwood Transit Center.

Wheeler is a two-lane road at that point. Building rail on the existing lanes wouldn't leave any space at all. I presume the condemned ROW will be used for rail construction.

For those that have it, sure. How many have it?

Everybody that has a ceiling instead of a roof. Hint hint. Not all of inner Houston is meant to be like the Heights. In any case, somebody not living in a densified development is someone contributing to sprawl.

I fail to see the parallels in that analogy.

You state uprooting Chinese tallow trees as a benefit of urban sprawl. Therefore, you replace the lack of native vegetation with an abundance of concrete. Bravo.

Preston Street is pretty cozy. It's the downtown street that reminds me most of Austin.

I am so confused over this University Line it's not funny. I hear buildings being slated for demolition on Wheeler, then I hear it hasn't yet been approved for funding. I'm a light rail enthusiast and Metro leaves me fuming, I can't even imagine what people are thinking who voted against this. Now that I think of it actually they're probably laughing their *sses off.

The buildings vacated for demolition on Wheeler are between Calhoun and Cullen, on the south side. A bunch of single-family homes with big Metro signs stuck on them.

And densification reduces the urban canopy and contributes to the urban heat island effect.

Small price to pay given the energy efficiency savings of partially shared climate control.

Suburbs often require that hundreds of acres of Chinese Tallow be uprooted. That is also good, as it combats an invasive species.

That statement makes no sense. Might as well fight water hyacinths by filling in all our lakes.

Public infrastructure in the Houston area is typically financed with MUDs, and the worst part of the tax burden is always up-front. Older communities that have been built out, paid down the principle on their bonds, and presumably had their gross taxable value appreciate at least a tiny bit are able to very easily refinance and cover both the initial capital outlays from when the subdivision was developed and ongoing maintenance at a tax rate that is often less than half of what it had been as a new subdivision. The use of MUDs is a system that isn't unique to Texas, but we certainly use them more than anywhere else. And the Houston area uses it like no other major city in the country. If many subdivisions were depreciating quickly in gross taxable value around here, I'd be concerned that a number of them may not be able to refinance in the next several years in such a way as they can realize a cost savings, but even then, the amount demanded of homeowners likely wouldn't go up appreciably.

I agree regarding the use of MUDs. Speaking of which, how are working-class suburbs like north Houston and Acres Homes handling infrastructure issues? Not only are utilities of concern; roads are as well. Low-density development means future upkeep on a tremendous load of lane-miles per capita.

I'd contend that homes presently being built generally exceed the quality of homes built in the past, especially with respect to poured slab foundations and energy efficiency. Hardie siding is also much better than alternatives from the past. But I'd also contend that much of what had been built in the past that remains and is admired was built for people that were pretty well-to-do in their day. Nobody compares housing that is built for poor people today and housing built for poor people 100 years ago, and the very worst of it just isn't around much anymore to witness. Also, while it may be tempting to believe that craftsmanship is lost to history, my personal experiences have taught me that nincompoop contractors are no recent innovation. The key words are always, "...if properly installed and maintained..."

True, I agree for the most part. The question is, the large majority of newer subdivisions that are not engineered for durability -- what will come of them in the next 40, 50 years? Will Spring then be like what Aldine is now? My spider-sense sees an outer ring of expanding exurbs, with a middle ring of decaying suburbs growing outward, and an inner circle of rejuvenated urban neighborhoods taking over currently depressed areas. The wards filling up; the Heights boom jumping 610; etc.

when people bring pit bulls, you gotta separate the smaller dogs or dinner is served.

Kids too. They're extra tender and juicy.

I never cease to be amazed by the sight of kids running around in the fountain. In HOUSTON!

I'd like to see the specific methodology in order to better evaluate his conclusion. I'd hope that he's got pricing assumptions built into this in some way or another. It'd be a shame if this was an intentially open-ended and therefore meaningless survey much like Klineberg does.

It's easy to find people that fantasize about urban living, but most simply can't afford it and the level of consumption or quality of life that they're accustomed to in a suburban setting. Some suburbanites have enough income that that's not really a meaningful constraint, but most suburbanites actually live on pretty modest means. Consolidating even an eight of the suburban population into an urban core would cause in-town housing prices to become ridiculously high.

Most people did not initially desert cities either. Crime and public schooling became tremendous push factors by the 1960's. The long-term prosperity of any specific suburb is strongly dependent upon such factors, and personally I believe the case is poor for many McMansion suburbs of today:

1. Public infrastructure. Large-lot suburbs are inefficient to maintain in regards to utilities and road networks. Many subdivisions may face problems in the future once the initial round of required maintenance kicks in.

2. Private infrastructure. Homes these days tend not to be built to the same standards as those of days past.

3. Crime. Safety in a McMansion suburb is more of a psychological than a physical concept. With the street grids in most of these areas designed to maximize isolation, police patrols rarely create a real presence. In effect, safety is built upon the perception of safety. This perception of safety is easily damaged once a rash of crimes occur. There is less ability for such neighborhoods to bounce back after a downturn, because the type of people that choose to live there tend to be the most skittish about whatever factors drove out the original residents in the first place.

4. Education. Schools receive funding from property taxes. If anything occurs to deflate the property tax base, stuff goes downhill very quickly. Given the above challenges, bedroom communities may have a harder time staying out of the red in the long run.

Objectively speaking, once the current wave of gentrification boosts its corresponding public schools, people will, for the first time in decades, have a real choice in where to live. Once in a while, somebody will choose to sacrifice some space and live closer in, rather than moving another five miles down the interstate. Judging by the state of old "suburban" developments between 610 and BW8, it'll be a long time before such areas get revitalized.

In the meanwhile, do something about the intersection of Clinton Dr and Fidelity St (in Houston).

For me, it's the #77 Liberty/MLK. Almost every single day.

Twenty years ago, Houston was a donut. Now, it looks more like a target. Most mid-age "suburbs" between 610 and BW8 have trended downward, and even some areas outside the Beltway are reasonably ghetto.

It's not the November reprogram that messed up Memorial. This happened in the last two weeks. Texas Ave used to be synchronized, and now it isn't. Living at the Rice, that's my most frequented street, and it's a pain in the ass now. ILLEGAL PARKING SHOULD BE A FELONY, damn it.

What do people think of Houston? I know from past encounters that alot of people think we all have boots and cowboy hats, and ride our horses into work.

Even I have a different opinion of Houston now, and I've lived here almost 20 years. Back then, downtown was hell and Midtown looked like Detroit. Main Street on the weekends was a zombie film backlot. The Wortham Center had already opened for a while, but Houston and urbanity hadn't reconciled their differences yet.

What's the status of construction on the new light rail lines? Has anything begun?

A number of buildings on Wheeler are condemned for demolition. That's about it.

I would attend the class, except I can't ride motorcycles. Can't drive a standard, can't ride a standard.