totheskies

Of COURSE Energy Conservation is not a load of crap. There are plenty of ways to conserve energy though... -green roofs -workout machines that are hooked up to generators and fed through the power grid -harnessing wind power in downtown (yay for Discovery Tower!) -Conservation of individual office lights. I am referring to the outside lights of the buildings only. Houston is a modern city with a dynamic, modern skyline, and that should be reflected through our nighttime lighting scheme.

I'm excited about HP, but there's something that I'm more excited about... Healthy competition. Houston Center is now going to have to up its game to keep the lunchtime patrons. So much so that they'll seriously have to think about expanding their hours to evenings and maybe even weekends. Then they'll also have to diversify their retail offerings to lure people away from the one or two good ones that HP has. We've set the stage for a restaurant and retail war for downtown Houston, but it's a war that everyone is going to win.

LOL I never have this problem. I got my Masters from the Moores School of Music. On resumes and audition documents, I just put "Moores School of Music- University of Houston" and people know exactly where I am talking about. Of course I guess it helps that UHD doesn't have a music program of any kind.

Yeah, I'm sorry but this whole "let's conserve energy by not turning on all of the lights" is a load of crap. We need to light-up everything in downtown. A clear night shouldn't go by that WEDGE tower, JP Chase, and Wells Fargo arent' lit up from end to end. I think it looks tacky, and it does not show pride in our downtown. Think about how visitors to the city feel. "Oh, that's downtown?? uh, ok, but I kinda like Dallas' better... it's big and bright!"

Oh, yeah and something else that I pointed out on SSP... Houston is a random-ass mess of a city. Hard Rock Cafe has no relation to Inn at the BallPark, and the GRB and the Theater District couldn't possibly have a wider gap between them. But in the strategic sense, Houston Pavilions is a really great use of space. Not only does it help to link east and west downtown, but by linking Macy's with Houston Center, it actually serves to create a retail/shopping district for our downtown. I think this was a key move that will start to "zone" things for downtown Houston. most of the future retail that comes to the area will be in the vicinity of HP and HC. This obviously helps for the residential future of downtown too. Once we muddle through the credit crunch, you better WATCH OUT for residential projects to be gobbling up the surface lots between Toyota, DG and HP. It's literally the next hot spot for a residential/mixed use highrise. Let's just hope that a major grocer like HEB's Central Market or Whole Paycheck gets worked into the plans.

Great post Agreed... for the out-of-towners that know these places-- House of Blues, Forever XXI, B-A-M, etc. HP really hits the spot. Just imagine yourself as a first-time, NO better yet a second-time visitor to Houston, and the first time you came was in 2005... You stayed at the Hilton Americas, and it was a DEAD ZONE. Everything around it was dark and empty except for a few scant conventionneers. You trek the long way across eastern downtown (6 blocks) just to hop on the train, go up one station, then walk another 7 blocks where you FINALLY get to the Hobby Center for a Broadway or TUTS show. Coming back to the hotel is lonely, desolate, and frankly scary. You make up your mind right then and there that Houston SUCKS and you're never coming back. Flash-forward to 2009... Somehow you're trapped in town for a conference, and you have to stay at the H.A. again!! But wait, this time something is different... whoa look at this cool-ass park! So you get done with meetings, and decide to go for a nice walk around. As evening approaches, you suddenly see a big neon blue sign come on and you go "WTF! I didn't know Houston had a House of Blues?!?" You run over there and encounter Houston Pavilions... stroll around and decide to call up your convention buds... "Hey guys, there's an HOB here. And it's connected to this shopping thing-- yeah, kinda like Kansas City (P&L district). So I say let's grab dinner here, and then decide if we want to go bowling, see the broadway show, or just pal around downtown at the clubs. Cool see ya in a few." Sorry to go so "twilight zone" in the post, but I guarantee you that this thing is going to change some people's minds about Houston!

Question for you all... HP is now about 60% leased for the retail. What other stores would you like to see move into HP?? It's starting out with more than enough bars and restaurants, but what about -The Apple Store -Bike Rental/Bike Share -movie theater anything else?? Would love to hear some input.

LMAO, are you that serious?? condos and retail, but do we really need the 80-story office tower anyway?? What we need is street-level connectivity, and mixed use projects. The office tower to me is a snooooooze.

God forbid that Houston, the "fourth largest city" or "ninth largest metropolitan area"... whatever you want to call it, be allowed to get another live music venue... we simply have too many of them, and cannot meet our current demand for touring artists as it is. We should have moved HOB to The Woodlands anyway, b/c downtown Houston isn't supposed to get interesting stuff. It's just a place where people work, then they climb into their cars, and get stuck in horrendous traffic for three-and-a-half hours on their way out to Sierra Flatana Cinco-Seis Ranch on the Lake of Cypress Forks of Mine Enemies in the Pear King's Gardens. Let's just tear down Discovery Green too, and move it to Foeswood! And tourism??? Oh puh-lease! We don't need tourists in Houston, clogging up our rail lines and freeways, exploring downtown. The creation of a tourism industry? That's just un-American!

Points taken. Although it is a shame that there are millions of Houstonians that disagree with you. I guess HOB will just have to rely on them to stay afloat.

Is it ok if Houston doesn't have an "uptown"? It's fine with me, b/c we're not Dallas.

In a way, Houston alread has that setup over in the Galleria. The hotels will come, they'll just be nearer to Discovery Green and the convention center where they should be. I have no doubt that HP will be successful, just like Discovery Green has been a wild success. Downtown has broadened its offerrings to both Houstonians and visitors alike, and that's something to be proud of. What I'm hoping for is that HP will spur some healthy competition with the existing retail in downtown to expand their operating hours. If Houston Center were willing to expand into the 9pm-10pm range with retail, downtown will really be in the game with entertainment and retail. Just think, along with the theater district and sports venues, we've now got a world-class city park, another great entertainment venue in HOB, a decent commercial bookstore, wealth of new restaurants, and even an upscale bowling alley all in downtown. Man, we better not squint or we'll think we're in SAN ANTONIO

No, Dallas' Galleria is a mall... Houston's Galleria is a "central" business district that was built around a mall. Which came first, the mall or the business district??? Why don't we all just abandon our namesake and go back to being Harrisburgers??

I don't think it's that bad, if you look at the future... Calling the store "Galleria/Greenway" could work pretty well. It could also work well for the LA Fitness, since the closest one is the Marq-ee at Silber/I-10. The form of the project is by no means impressive, but it's exciting and good to have more options that are inside the loop. AND on the planned University Line. I'll be going to this CostCo probably on opening day.

^^ They can "kinda" argue a connection to the Galleria area once we get the rail line in place, but this is Greenway. I guess they want to appeal to Galleria-level shoppers (who frankly in the current economy, are shopping at Wal-Mart and Sav-a-lot anyway!!).

JayZ tickets jumped way up in price... $185-$360

LOL, my apologies.... Yes, Books-A-Million!!

I rode my bike around HP last night, and here's what I saw... The SHED (House of Blues) looks great on the inside, and it was full of workers getting it ready. Books-A-Million is already shelving books and has a full staff there. McCormick and Schmick's looks like it will be open soon too. The rest of the development still looks a bit unfinished, so my guess is that they're going to be opening in phases. HOB and Books-A-Million will probably be phase one

neat I didn't know Backyard Burger was even in Texas. We have those in the Little Rock area where I grew up. But Krystal is already here, just in a very far-reaching location for some of us. OPEN more in the Houston area!!

Sorry for the thread resurrection.... We need a second Krystal Burger in Houston... preferably inside the loop. I love Krystal, and I eat at the 1960 location maybe 3 times a year b/c that's the only time I feel like wasting the gas to get here. There's LOTS of people around Houston who know about Krystal, so let's open some more locations already!!!

According to McFadden and Whitehead, it's official... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVKjC_simy8...feature=related

According to HOB's website, the Shed is still a go for Oct. 11th-- Cowboy Mouth with the Lifters. However Dave Attell (actual opening night) did cancel.

Man, Disco G must have been top priority on the clean up list... I was downtown on Friday, and it looked near perfect.

I think Houston City University is the best and clearest choice... you can't possibly confuse it with anything else around the metro area. HCU (although one letter away from HBU) is a nice clear set of inititals. I agree that the name change is needed just b/c UH and UH-D are in closer proximity to each other than the other system schools. But HCU is a nice name that the university could be proud of. Cibolo sucks, nobody cares about the former name of Buffalo. Houstonians may now where Allen's Landing is, but they don't want a university named after it. Houston Center is a development, and real Houstonians know that downtown isn't actually the "center" of the city. HCU, HCU, HCU nice! It's even website ready.... there's no domain name for www.hcutx.edu

Yes, I know exactly who you're talking about.... H. Ike, Katrina, and Rita Mutual Insurance... "after we're done with you, EVERYONE will need some help!"