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Looks like the new bowling alley adjacent to the movie theater complex at 8902 Seawall Blvd is about 4 miles WSW from the now derelict building at 3424 Seawall Blvd. that once housed the Island Bowl prior to Hurricane Ike. From the intersection of 61st St. and Seawall Blvd. (6100 Seawall Blvd.), its about 2.1 miles WSW.  

Just finished watching the HOU Explorer video showing sights and sounds one would experience during a ride on the restored Galveston Trolleys. Great video!   

Per additional research regarding Galveston, trolley service:

On November 10, 2017, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Federal Transit Authority (FTA) approved a contract to fund repairs for three trolley cars at a cost of $3.8 million. Gomaco Trolley Company was the prime contractor for the repairs.

 Galveston's trolley line reopened for passenger service on October 1, 2021, approximately 13 years after Hurricane Ike made landfall on Galveston Island (September 12, 2008). Per online sources, there are four operational trolley cars currently in service on Galveston Island's trolley system.  

If the "steel wheel trolleys" were back in service ("and look great!") on Galveston Island on or before August 14, 2023, the time between when they were damaged and subsequently restored to original mechanical and cosmetic condition was somewhat less than 15 years. Glad to know the "steel wheel trolleys" are back in revenue service.

According to online sources, the cost for mechanical and cosmetic restoration of a "steel wheel trolley" is approximately $200,000 to $250,000 per vehicle. State and/or federal funding may have been available to defray at least some of the costs to restore and transport the "steel wheel trolleys to and from the restoration facility. As stated previously, the trolleys operating in Galveston are driven by electric motors geared to the axles; power for the electric motors is supplied by an onboard diesel engine driving an electrical generator. This setup is, albeit on a smaller scale, similar to that of diesel-electric railway locomotives.          

The official ending of the Mardi Gras holiday is midnight on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent which, in turn, lasts until Easter Sunday.

The French Quarter is a small area (approximately 0.6 sq. miles) located between downtown New Orleans and the Mississippi River. 

Once the city of New Orleans declares Mardi Gras and other holiday events to be officially ended, their police order the people to clear the streets and sidewalks, then their fire department hoses down the streets and sidewalk to clear the litter and related filth that accumulate on Bourbon and other streets in the French Quarter.

Several other members posted more graphic terms to describe the contents of the litter and related filth. 

The term "cajun" is a corruption of "Acadian" the correct term for people of French (and to a lesser extent Spanish) ancestry who lived the French controlled region of Canada known as Acadia. At the conclusion of the French and Indian War 1763, the victorious English [1] renamed the region Nova Scotia and [2] exiled anyone who would not sign a loyalty oath to England and, by inference, renounce their Roman Catholic religion. Many of these exiles ended up in southern Louisiana. The city of Lafayette, LA (approximately 140 miles west of New Orleans) promotes itself as "the metropolis of Acadiana (a portmanteau of Acadia and Louisiana). Unlike much of the southern United States, this area is predominantly Roman Catholic.

The city of New Orleans and its suburbs is more cosmopolitan. In addition to its "cajun" population, New Orleans has a significant "creole" population who emigrated from places other than Canada. For the purposes of this posting, the term, creole, is not race specific. African Americans are the most numerous ethnic group in present day New Orleans.          

For those who want to combine shopping with educational/entertainment activities, the Baybrook Mall is only 10 minutes (5.5 miles) from the NASA Johnson Space Center. 

Starting from Galveston near the site where the Galvez Mall once occupied, online references show the Mainland City Centre in Texas City (formerly known as the Mail of the Mainland) is 18.4 miles (approximately 25 minutes) away. Starting from the same place in Galveston, The Baybrook Mall in Houston is 31.1 miles (approximately 39 minutes) away.

According to online references, the Mainland City Centre has approximately 800,000 square feet of retail floor space, compared to the Baybrook Mall with approximately 1,500,000 square feet of retail floor space. It follows that the larger mall will likely offer a better selection of competitively priced products for sale.   

Don't recall a retail center in Galveston, Texas named "Galvez Plaza". After the Galvez Mall was demolished circa 2000, Home Depot and Target opened stores on the original site which became anchor stores for the present-day Galvez Shopping Center. In common usage, the terms "shopping mall" and "shopping center" tend to overlap.

As has been stated by other HAIF members, a significant number of the better paying jobs in Galveston County have "moved away" from the City of Galveston to League City and other areas, incorporated or otherwise, in Galveston County.

Despite attempts to diversify to more year round jobs, many of the remaining jobs in the City of Galveston are highly seasonal due to their direct or indirect dependence on tourism. In other words, wages + gratuities (tips) might provide a reasonable standard of living, but only for part of the year. Subsidized housing (free or reduced rate) and UTMB free medical care can offset this to some extent. What any particular group of people consider to be a "reasonable standard of living" is highly subjective.        

Looking again at my March 13 posting, it would be more correct to say that, at any given time, an occupied city or other political entity displays the cumulative attitudes of its residents. 

Although it's been nearly 15 years since Hurricane Ike made landfall on Galveston Island and, among other things, caused severe damage to its steel wheel trolley fleet, only limited progress has been made to repair the damaged trolleys and return them to active service. My assumption is the limited progress is due to the high cost of mechanical and cosmetic repairs needed to restore the steel wheel trolleys to safe operating condition, combined with the high cost of transporting them to and from the repair facility. The rubber-tired trolley replica vehicles currently operating in place of the steel wheel trolleys have several advantages: [1] during normal conditions, they can operate on ordinary paved roads, allowing greater flexibility in selection of routes due to the far greater mileage of existing paved streets compared to that of the existing steel trolley rails; [2] in the event of an anticipated tropical storm, they can be driven over existing highways to safer inland locations. Once the storm passes, they can be driven back to Galveston Island and returned to service as soon as the streets are cleared of debris and flooding. Although the rubber-tired replica vehicles are not as realistic and their steel-tired counterparts, they might be the most practical alternative.

By coincidence, Galveston Houston Electric Railway began operations in 1911, three (3) years before the outbreak of World War I in 1914, and ceased operations in 1936, three (3) years before the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Years ago, a relative told me [1] when he graduated from college with a BA (Business Education) in 1939, the economy was still depressed and decent jobs were hard to find; but a year later in 1940, "war industries" had revived the economy, making it much easier to find decent jobs.

It's the dunes! Kudos to s3mh for pointing out (now that I have read the posting) what should have been obvious. If I understand the posting correctly, dunes to block surging water, preferably in conjunction with adjacent marshlands to soak up the excess water, are needed to facilitate the more gradual release of the water in a manner less likely to cause flooding.

Regarding housing & related construction on Galveston Island's west end...  I'm likewise curious why do "new houses on the west end decrease the island's ability to mitigate flooding and why do they increase the risk to everyone else?"

As a long time tourist, I've always assumed that Galveston Island's west end begins where westbound traffic transitions from Seawall Blvd to Termini-San Luis Pass Road.

My previous posting about Mall of the Mainland stated (incorrectly) that it was not visible from I-45. As was pointed out by editor, based on his 1999 observations, [1] there was a "big sign facing I-45" that advertised the Mall of the Mainland and [2] Although the mall itself was visible from I-45, "it was set far back from the freeway with no obvious exit for access, especially at 70MPH" (posted speed limit). As noted previously, Mall of the Mainland opened in 1991. 

Mall of the Mainland addendum: Previous comments about this shopping mall located in Texas City TX were mostly from the point of view of Galveston County and Harris County residents who were familiar with where this mall was located and how to get there. From what I've read on various postings, The Mall of the Mainland was not visible to motorists driving on I-45 (Gulf Freeway) between Houston and Galveston. Most tourists (myself included) who traveled on I-45 between Houston and Galveston would have been unaware of its existence unless they had prior knowledge of the mall's location, what exit to take to get there, and how to get back to I-45. Keep in mind this was during a time before the era of smart-phones and other electronic aids.

Sea-Arama Marineworld Park was one of the Galveston attractions I wanted to visit, but never "got around" to visiting before it closed.

Years later, I made several visits to Sea-Arama Marineworld Park, near St. Augustine FL, while working as a public school teacher. This was one of several attractions in the St. Augustine area that met my employers' requirement that all student field trip destinations must have legitimate educational content. 

The opposite (antonym) for "precious" is worthless, useless, or valueless. Although the people living in any given city are capable of "indifference", blunt or otherwise, the city itself is an inanimate political entity, not capable of anthropomorphic behavior.

Several former Houston residents I've talked to stated they liked Houston because of its [1] diverse population and culture and [2] many quality restaurants and night clubs.

According to a long-time and current Houston resident, the severe economic recession in Houston during the 1980s caused many people to move away from Houston and find employment elsewhere. When the recession subsided and the economy recovered, things were subjectively different. According to this resident, the traditional uniqueness of Houston's culture was replaced to some extent with what he termed a "generic big city" culture.

Either example could be a starting point for a more disciplined study with adequate sample sizes          

Another Houston first: With a total area of approximately 665 square miles, Houston TX is the largest city in the United States by total area that is not consolidated with a county, parish, or borough government.

According to what I've read, back in the 1950s and 1960s, many Texans came to southern Louisiana to work for various petroleum (exploration, drilling, production) companies. Fortunately for them, the Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Dallas TX provided "Built in Texas by Texans" decals and stickers for those who wanted to show off their "Texas pride." Due to depressed nationwide economic conditions, Ford closed the Dallas assembly plant in 1970.

The interesting posting of Houston "firsts" is correct, provided there are certain qualifications:

The world's first heart transplant (human) took place on 12/03/1967 at Groote Schuur Hospital, Capetown, South Africa. The USA's first successful (survival time measured in months and/or years) heart transplant (human) took place on 05/02/1968 at St. Luke's Hospital, Houston TX.

Mission Control for the first manned landing on the Moon (07/20/1969) was at Johnson Space Center, Houston TX; however the actual launching took place at Kennedy Space Center, located on the northern portion of Merritt Island, a peninsula in Brevard County, FL.

The Houston Texans, having lost again (12/18/2022), this time to the Kansas City Chiefs, maintain and probably improve the likelihood of their (the Houston Texans) ending the current season in a favorable draft position compared to other NFL professional football teams. Update: The Texans' week 18 (32 to 31) victory over the Indianapolis Colts puts them #2 in draft position behind the Chicago Bears who are #1 in draft position. As things stand at the end of regular season games, Lovie Smith is the second consecutive Texans Head Coach to be fired after one season.