BEES?!

(If my double post is against the rules, mods please let me know and I’ll fix it!)

I thought I’d bump the thread ‘cause the 2022 PIT count is up- the whole thing is here, and they have a 2-page executive summary here.  

If I’m understanding it right, they used a different methodology for the 2021 count due to COVID, and I guess the numbers might be lower than they should be. The 2020 count put the homeless population at 3974, in 2021 it was 3047, and this year it was 3223. 

It’s a dramatic improvement since 2011, when the count was 8471. Houston has done a commendable job trying to help these folks get off the street and into housing. 
 

It seems like even with COVID, we’ve been really on top of things helping people off the street. The CCHA money seems to have been a big help. 

@august948 I believe the population of Inner Loop hit over 500,000 in 2020. I think it added around 50,000 people from 2010 to 2020. I’ll have to poke around, but there’s a thread on here. (And at the moment, there’s a thread over on Houston Citydata forum about it) It’s definitely not a huge share of the population of the entire GHA (I think that’s, what, 7 million people?) but it’s certainly growing.

Wow this has turned out great! I can’t wait to see it completely planted and finished up

I like the little park and dog park integrated into the design of The Charles. The rendering looks nice too.

Okay! That’ll be really great, then! 

I actually really like how this turned out! I think maybe the glass pyramid could’ve maybe been a bit bigger, but honestly, it looks really much more inviting with the plaza out front. 
 

projects like this are great steps toward making street level downtown feel less cold and impersonal. Sorta reminds me of the reno they did at  Allen Center with the plaza and seating outside. 

Which building is under construction in that photo? 

So cool! 
 

Did it sell? 
 

This would be near the top of buildings I’d love to see a conversion to residential/hotel.

I was actually gonna mention that! Looks like you beat me to the punch :)

Also, they mentioned the downtown segment- they’re pushing for the Franklin/Bagby station, they’ll be using the Capitol/Rusk alignment, and they’ll have a station at EaDo/St Emmanuel. 
 

I was still sort of unclear on how they’ll use the LRT infrastructure - are they gonna be literally driving on the tracks? Or is it another separate lane?

18 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Yep I even made that comment. And I got like 10 thumbs down lmao. But in reality this line will increase greatly once the University and Inner Katy link up.

Yeah people are just tryin’ to be mad on the internet lol. I’ve learned to not even engage, because half the time they just want to be negative.

This looks neat:

https://www.posthtx.com/event/opening-day-great-masters-art-exhibit
 

I’m definitely gonna check it out. It opens on March 20th

Wow this looks really nice!

On 3/10/2022 at 10:50 AM, clutchcity94 said:

Would be really great to see the stretch of Richmond from Wheeler station to Montrose Blvd become walkable and developed.

Are there any examples anywhere in the world where an extremely walkable pocket includes a highway overpass? Just thinking through whether folks from the Ion (future state; once it’s more developed) would even walk to developments at, say, Richmond & Roseland?

I know there’s a couple in Japan. I think Roppongi, Tokyo, maybe?

Not really surprised. It doesn’t really go anywhere yet, but I forsee the eventual link ups with the University corridor and the continuation of the line along the Inner Katy route to help its ridership.

I think METRO has a lot more than branding fighting it right now. Transit has to compete with the personal automobile, and right now driving in one’s own car is usually: 

1) faster (esp. for so-called last mile service)

2) cheaper (depending on distance driven obv.) when I say cheaper, too, I’m factoring in point 1 here too- if someone is trying to get to work and let’s say they make $X/hr. You have to factor in what their time is worth, because sometimes it isn’t worth it to deal with more time commuting via transit. (Cost issues might chance due to the gas price jumps, but I doubt those are a permanent issue. I wonder if ridership will increase, though, when gas really starts climbing and people have places they have to be?)

3) Safer- in that you aren’t accosted by randos in your car, assaulted, robbed, etc. I don’t think our metro is especially bad for this, but perception is really important. Some people are really uncomfortable with it. I myself have dealt with some weird things happening on the metro- nothing that rattled me to my core and convinced me to never ride it again, but I def. have had my own experiences that I’d like to not have to re-live lol. :P

Transit ridership across the US was devastated by COVID. People are still scared to ride, I think. Plus you have a lot of WFH, and that makes things a lot worse for transit ridership numbers. 
 

I think metro’s focusing on stuff like BOOST ( if I’m understanding the point of the boost stops, that is) and BRT is a smart direction to go. It will help solve issues 1 & 2. The more convenient you make riding the transit vs riding a car, the more you’ll see ridership climb. 
 

That’s just my thoughts re: ridership, though. As for rebranding, I kinda like the metro aesthetic as it is, but I definitely get where you’re coming from. It could be nice to refresh it and do something interesting

Looks like POST will be holding a block party event for the St Patrick’s Day parade

Info is on their site

Just saw it posted (HA!) today. It’s on 3/12. If anyone makes it out there, I hope we get some pics!

That is awesome news!!

Now, I’m a little bit disappointed that the very loud choices of glass that they actually went with are not depicted in the renderings.

Fantastic. These buildings are really going to help push the pedestrian-friendliness and street activation beyond Discovery Green. Plus the hotel/condo(? Assuming condos.) will be great and add to the mix of residents and visitors to this great side of downtown.

on that note, looking at that plan- will Dallas street be getting narrowed? On maps it looks like it’s 3 lanes presently but in that siteplan it looks to be 2.

If hindesky’s posting on the previous page was for the buildout of common desk, then they ought to be finishing up in late July. Not sure what that’ll mean for an actual opening date though! Their site does not currently say when. 

9 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

It def wasn't lacking in business, so it does sound like POST ownership wanted to go in a new direction for the spot. 

That has to be it. There was zero indication that this was happening- apparently it took the staff by surprise. The sous chef had a bunch of preps up for grabs on an Instagram post, so this was extremely sudden. You wouldn’t make prep and print menus if you knew you were fixing to close for good. Just crazy!

 

That’s awful. I was just about to post the article but I got ninja’d. 
 

I wonder what happened? We were just there on 2/18, and the staff was telling us that they were about to start doing their steaks all day. (Previously they only served them after 4pm) No indication whatsoever that they were about to close up shop, either. I wonder if they had a dispute with POST about their hours or something?
 

I really do hope they relocate somewhere else nearby. 

Those balconies are huuge. 

I saw this on CI, but I think everyone else beat me to the punch.

https://communityimpact.com/houston/heights-river-oaks-montrose/technology/2022/02/08/first-of-new-interactive-kiosks-unveiled-in-houston-brings-digital-maps-information-to-city-streets/