Trae

The DFW area is just far ahead as far as rail transit goes. There are two commuter rail lines also. Some of the TODs are Mockingbird, Park Place, Downtown Plano, Downtown Carrolton, etc. The reason the ridership per mile is low, even though rail transit use has been rising, is because there are not any crosstown routes and DFW is pretty spread out. But DFW Airport is soon to be connected to the entire system and Las Colinas. There doesn't need to be as many miles of rail in Houston because its more concentrated there, so the potential for higher ridership and use is there also. Even just the inner loop light rail lines would do big things for the city. DFW at least has the rail in place, so as the population continues to boom here, like in Houston, people grow around it. Uptown Dallas has light rail and trolly lines. I'm glad there is more rail under construction in Houston, so at least it isn't stuck with just a seven mile line.

Houston is falling behind in rail transit. Here in DFW, they have been expanding rail like crazy. The ridership per mile is one of the worst in America, but at least the rail is there. It will only get more expensive for Houston the longer the city leaders wait. Rail transit is one of the main ingredients that Houston is missing to become world class.

Over 10,000 jobs expected to be added and $1.6B in local economic impact expected:

Was looking forward to seeing a new tower rendering today. Maybe tomorrow.

Have you seen the growth around there? It will come. The economy just stalled it.

That's not a problem with the Grand Parkway, but Fry Road. Bad planning has made Fry Road have an inadequate number of lanes througj there. Expanding to three and then having the lanes on the far right turn into dedicated right turn lanes would work better. Not to mebtion Fry is the widest road connecting the Grand Parkway with Fulshear. If the grid was slightly better and some of the streets were widened, traffic would flow more. This is where having large unincorporated areas hurts.

People are so spoiled by the feeder roads in Houston. Welcome to most of America, where most businesses are along a major street and not the feeder roads (because they don't exist). Anyway, its about time they wise up and add dedicated right turn lanes at intersections. Katy doesn't have enough of those.

Chevron.

I really don't think United has much of an argument here (it'd be different if the corporate HQ was still here). There is nothing they can do to stop Southwest. With the amount of gates and flights that Southwest plans to operate daily, it shouldn't hurt the international businesses at IAH much. With growth in the Houston region, United is still going to have to go through expansion plans at IAH. This will only create cheaper airfare to Latin America and the Caribbean for Houston area travelers. I'm all for it. http://www.chron.com...4923.php#page-1

For the general public, no. But it is for employees: V

Why would the Texans need to trade away half the team? Manning has already said he wouls do an incentive based contract. People talk abouy his neck, but not many players have come back from a lisfranc injury. And the worst part about Schaub's is that it happened on his plant foot. I know Kubiak said he should be back by May, but the Texans medical staff is never right. If Kubiak says May, what he really means is October. I'd take the chance on Manning amd trade Schaub for picks. Worst case scenario, Yates is the starting qb with a full offseason and running with the ones.

I thought it was Academy, even though it's not technically based in Houston anymore.

I doubt the two Texans games matter much. TMC employment growth is probably the biggest reason, but it could also be that people are just more open to using it now (and are getting use to it). Can't wait for the other lines.

Well, that's all that Houston's light rail needs to be. It's like San Francisco's Muni light rail. Yes, elevated sections in Downtown, Uptown, and the TMC would be ideal (and perhaps overpasses happen in the future). Houston does not need a system like the one up here in DFW. You see how terrible Dallas' light rail ridership per mile is? Houston's one line currently is ridden more than any of DART's light rail lines. What Houston has is an inner city urban rail system, and then commuter rail will branch out into the suburbs. I really do wish leaders back in the 70s/80s had gotten on board with heavy rail, because who knows what development would look like in the city today.

Come on now, commuter rail is nothing new. Many cities have it. It wont he just one straight shot to Downtown. There would he stops along the way, so people can get off and get on another train or bus. It's not all about saving time, but also saving money. And wake up on time so you dont miss the train (which would run more in peak times anyway). Park and rides also stop after peak hours. Commuter rail won't.

Pretty nice there. With Schlitterbahn, Moody Gardens, Pleasure Pier, and the beach, Galveston is shaping up to be an even better tourist destination for the region. All of those attractions complement each other pretty well. I'm sure cruise ship goers will be happy. Now they need to work on fixing up the beach. Paint the Seawall, add in clean restrooms, plant some tall palms, etc. If gambling ever becomes legal in this state, Galveston will really take off...

Yeah, I used Fry Road on my visit last weekend (after not seeing it in almost a year) and it was pretty bad. Highway 6-like.

There has been an increase in rail construction in the Houston area. Interstate 69 will connect Mexico with Canada and go straight through Houston. IMO, I think the Houston area will start getting more distribution centers and warehouses. Houston is centrally located as well. I still think this large distribution area in South Dallas County will happen, but just not on as large of a scale as it was suppose to be. Not to mention Alliance has been doing well anyway.

Love the speed of this thing. I was worried it was going to be 2004 all over again after the message. Glad it wasn't.

Let's just go by the Census, to keep everything on a level playing field. Don't know how the NCTCOG comes up with that huge number for DFW. But for the metro areas, Harris County alone is currently at 4.1M. The entire Dallas division takes up 8 counties and has about the same population as Harris County. Commuting patterns don't tell the whole story though. Would you really separate San Fran-Oakland from San Jose? What separates the two MSAs is a business park and a creek. Fully developed on both sides. But the shared commuting patterns between the two cities is what makes it feel smaller and for the most part, population and jobs number are proportionate to each side of the metro. When it is rush hour time in Metro Houston, everyone it seems like is going into Houston. Don't think looking at the sizes of the MSA is fair either, since counties in Southeast Texas are larger than those in North Texas, but I already gave the Harris County vs. Dallas division example. Look at these two images: The density in Houston is more consistent from the core, while DFW's density is more hodge-podge and dense in clusters. I believe this contributes to the different feels of each metro. If it wasn't for the traffic and some landmarks you can see in the distance, some of DFW's freeways would pass as being in the middle of nowhere. Not sure what this is all about though. And is the collaborating for the Inland Port still going on like it was years ago? I've heard that one of the inland ports in Dallas is losing steam. Maybe Houston leaders want those distribution centers built in the Houston area instead of up in DFW instead? Especially with the increase in rail construction in the Houston area. Both are similar, but after living in DFW for a while now, you can tell the difference between the two. DFW looks more orderly and sterile from the freeways, while Houston (not the suburbs though) look chaotic. Both economies compliment each other well (in fact, all of Texas' major metro areas compliment each other well).

Yeah, I noticed this when I moved to DFW. Has to do with the multipolar nature of this place. There are so many different cities/suburbs, each with their own core and their own attractions. IMO, this makes DFW seem smaller than what it really is. In the Houston area, everything revolves around Houston. The suburbs have some things, but nothing compared to what is in the city. The sports teams are in one place, museums in one place, skylines in one place vs. museums spread throughout different cities, major league sports teams in three different cities, skylines more spread out, etc. It's one reason why Houston's freeways are wider. More traffic is generally going into one area. In DFW, the freeways don't need to be as wide, because people are going all over the place. When you're in Dallas' core, you don't feel like you're in the middle of everything like one would in Houston's Inner Loop. Not to mention Dallas' core seems small for the size of DFW. Like DefenDallas said, you'd have to combine Fort Worth and a megaburb with big business (Irving, Plano, Addison) to equal Houston's core. The Dallas division of DFW only has a population in the four million range (like 4.3M), so it makes sense why it looks/feels smaller.

Houston has a pretty good transit system in the early 1900s, before all of the rails were ripped up. Houston was pretty compact back then.

The heavy rail proposal from the early 1980s. Probably would have been pretty big today.

You're giving Soapboxmom too much credit, IMO. Just another internet troll.