Trae

I have mixed feelings on light rail. I understand the desire to move a number of people that outnumber a busload from place to place but also wonder if its worth the cost in Houston. Sure, we sit in traffic but there are a number of reasons people prefer buses or their own cars to a potential light rail system all over the city (if that's even a speck in someone's eye).

Look at cities with what most would consider "great" light rail/subway/train systems and you'll still find traffic. Portland has a pretty extensive light rail and bus network but there are still places that are difficult to reach without a vehicle (within the city limits). They also have a pretty bad traffic problem.

Atlanta has a decent subway system linked up with a mediocre bus system. The reach is still limited and the traffic is horrific.

Last but not least, the city I am most familiar with, NY. I have spent the better part of the last year commuting from Houston here for work and while the subway is great, there are still places in the city you can't reach (try getting to parts of the far east or west sides on the subway), the traffic is worse than Houston and riding the subway at rush hour in the warmer months can best be described as humbling. The bus system even more so. The airports are all reachable by public transit but all involve connections and none is particularly convenient. JFK is probably the easiest of the three and if you don't mind riding the bus, LGA isn't too bad.

My point is this: we can try to emulate other systems that somewhat work or we can adapt and develop a system that works well for our city. The rapid bus system is great and needs to be expanded. METRO should look at its stops and place them in better locations if it is the right thing to do. Make real time data available about buses and make the system as easy as possible for riders to understand. And if there is a need for rail somewhere, do it. But don't just start building rail simply because the cool kids did.

At least there are options tho. Not everyone has a car or wants to drive it everyday.

East parking garage is probably the best one. There are a couple of new ones that will be open in the Fall too. Parking will get better once they open.

One time I owed about $300 in parking fines plus a tow from UH. Called the parking desk lady and the next day a plus 300 in my bank account. First lady I talked to wasn't giving me anything though so I had to call back again and try with someone else.

Not only that, but we are threatened if we try to correct that one person. The moderators need to take all of these thread hijacks by Slick and combine them into one thread. That way Slick can just post once in one thread. And, they need to delete every one of his hijacks of other threads.

He brings activity to this section so his leash is long tbh

So, where is the money going to come from to remove the freeways? And, more importantly, where is the money going to come from to build the bypass roads to carry the intercity traffic that use the removed roads? If you remove I-10 through town, the traffic has to go somewhere. I also have to ask how I am going to take my family to Galveston without the freeways. Curreintly, we get on I-10 at TC Jester, then get on 45 near Downtown. With your proposal, what is currently an hour trip will become a 3 hour trip as we fight the traffic through town.

Honestly, removing non-deadend freeways at this point has to be one of the least rational proposals I've ever seen.

Don't think he is saying remove all freeways. Just those around downtown. I think it would be nice if 45 was demolished and you routed that traffic onto 10/59. Then you could open up the west side of Downtown.

Nah the GAWC is just about the worst "global city" list you can use. Their criteria is stupid and they have been discredited time and time again. Other lists like Foreign Policy are much better. People like to use the gawc list because they are at the top of the Wikipedia page.

Estimated attendance at the 2013 Super Bowl was 133k. The Rodeo did 175k on it's largest day. That was just one day out of about 3 weeks worth that added up to 2.5 million. And they do that year after year. Just takes a little organization and planning. Super Bowl should be no big deal.

But do all of the hotels fill up around Houston for the Rodeo? Nope. It's no where near the SB. It's mostly Houstonians all going to one spot (Reliant). The SB has many more people from out of town that fill up our hotel rooms and go hang out in Uptown, Washington, Downtown, and some will probably end up on Richmond too.

This Walmart is pretty awesome. never any crowds and the shoppers are definitely not your "people of Walmart". Attractive people shop here . I guess the name alone brought all that opposition.

What exactly are you suggesting as an alternative?

Driving less than 3ft from a cyclist is *not* safe, and it is an extremely unpleasant experience for the cyclist.

I wasn't suggesting an alternative besides just moving over. I just don't know anyone who follows behind bicycle riders. If you have the patience to follow behind someone on a bike more power to you.

Yep... It requires the drivers to actually pay attention to the road, instead of their phone, or their food. It will even occasionally require the removal of the lead foot. Houstonians drive too damn FAST on city streets anyway. They're not freeways!!!

So let's all go at 10 mph and follow behind bicycles (.....or just move over). I love the assumptions you and other posters made about my post.

This is the first I have ever heard of abbreviating Houston HTX instead of HOU

We use to call it that back in junior high. All the HTX rappers did.

Really, I think the growth on the east side of the innerloop is stunted due to the refineries. I looked at some property on the east side of the loop, but the wind blew an interesting smell my way and I said nope. Even so, there is tremendous growth south and southeast in Pearland/Alvin/Clear Lake/etc.... so not everything is north/west for the burbs.

As for places like the Woodlands, I look at them as fake cities. Yes, they have several major employers and a couple impressive buildings... but remove that and you just have a big mall. It's a place where everything is planned and catered around employees that work in those handfull of businesses. It's a great concept, but if you lose/hate your job at one of those businesses... your SOL if you can't find a job next door or you just deal with the commute to energy corridor or Downtown/Galleria.

Sugarland will never become a huge "jobs center" due to the painful commute times to IAH and Hobby.

Katy/Energy Corridor will grow until it starts to turn like Greenspoint did. There are just far too many large apartment complexes that are "newish" along it that will deteriorate quickly.

My money long-term is Downtown/Galleria and the Medical Center. If I had a crystal ball I'd predict that the area around Reliant Stadium will also grow one day.

I think the refineries over there stunt some of the growth too. The eastern half of the loop probably declined because the families there got promotions and moved to Pasadena, Baytown, Clear Lake, etc. That and more singles have moved there as families have left.

The Woodlands is pretty impressive. It definitely feels like a fake city but they planned it well. Most people up there still work somewhere in Houston I bet. Travel time to Hobby from Sugar Land isn't that bad. TW has definitely jumped over it in the jobs department though.

As for Katy/Energy Corridor, there is nothing that resembles Greenspoint. The housing stock is too great and there are too many companies based around there for it to happen. Greenspoint doesn't have the housing stock and Sharpstown didn't have the corporations. The Katy Freeway has long been the only freeway in Houston that doesn't pass through any "seedy" areas. I don't think that is going to change.

It's not tough. Just change lanes, or if not possible, follow behind.

Really? Follow behind a bicycle?

I have a sibling that works for United so I do enjoy my free or pay taxes only flights, but they definitely have crappy customer service. You can tell if you get a United crew or old Continental crew.

Bump because lockmat knows what it looks like but won't tell

This one is starting to rise from the ground now. Two cranes raised high and second or third floor beams bring placed (don't remember). If I remember, ill take a pic tomorrow. It's too bad eldridge is planned like shit between westheimer and the reservoir.

We don't need zoning, we just need better urban infrastructure (streets, sidewalks, bike paths, parks, mass transit) and tweaks to parking requirements and setbacks.

Yeah this is all that matters. Houston is severely lacking in sidewalks, but that is getting better. Same thing with parks and the city landscaping. We don't need zoning. Getting along just fine imo. I much prefer the randomness in the loop over the planned sterile look of uptown Dallas.

You never know. They don't seem to cheap the roads like that out in Katy. Most are four lanes, some being expanded recently.

A disadvantage of having so many unincorporated areas in Houston. Bad planning here. Fyi, u don't live in a city.

The bad drivers I've seen can be broken up into three categories...

1)Total idiots who don't know how to drive and really shouldn't be on the road at all - small percentage

2)Distracted drivers busy texting or talking or just daydreaming (or drunk) - slightly larger percentage

3)Impatient a-holes who believe you need to get the h-ll out of their way 'cause wherever they are going is far more important than anything you can possibly be doing - vast majority

Of course, sometimes they're a combination of all three.

I have the pleasure of reverse commuting on the Katy. The freeway is so damn wide, but there are times where traffic bunches up for no reason at all. So from my experiences bad drivers are:

1. Slow drivers who pick random lanes on the freeway and drive in it instead of staying to the right. If people would treat each lane to the left as the next passing lane, there wouldn't nearly be as much traffic. These also tend to be the people the brake for everything when its bumper to bumper instead of letting the vehicle roll. Especially going uphil...my god people let gravity ans friction work for you.

2. People texting, daydreaming, not paying attention, etc.

3. People who drive with like a car gap between the car in front of them. This is especially bad when these drivers are on the right side and you're trying to get on/off the freeway. You can't leave as much of a gap in urban areas as you can in rural, but the length of an 18-wheeler should be the minimum gap between vehicles.

I don't normally see people fly down the side streets in Houston. Too many potholes. Now Cinco Rand Blvd? You better watch out...

hell yeah. now hopefully qt comes down here also. i was spoiled by them in dfw.

Yeah thats what im guessing. its crazy how the building start at mason road now.

All the new Aldi's around Houston have been packed.

Another Anadarko Tower? Could he have been referring to the one that is currently under construction or a third building? Seems like The Woodlands area is quickly becoming the "Energy Corridor" with Exxon, Anadarko and now Shell possibly moving in. The Woodlands will have a legitimate, medium size city skyline before long. I revert back to my previous post in another thread: The Woodlands is quickly becoming the Fort Worth of Houston.

And ill say again, TW is nothing like Fort Worth, which has been a large city for over a century. This is more like Plano. Houston never had to deal with leeching suburbs, but its finally starting to happen. At least Exxon can be annexed into the city.

They are still meeting with groups to secure funding, yet can definitively say they will close in three months?

I'll believe it when I see it, wish it no ill, but Astroworld failed for a reason. A more narrowly focused product up in the sticks sounds, to my ear, less profitable.

And that reason definitely wasn't attendance.