totheskies

They're not right now, but that mentality seriously needs to change. This city is hurting for hotel rooms... especially inside the loop. The Galleria doesn't even have enough for its daily business. Downtown would be able to attract a lot more conventions, festivals, etc. if we had more hotel rooms. Tall is not something I care about, but we need another hotel that is at least the size of the Hilton Americas to be truly competitive. ES is going to make an awesome impact from 45s.

Services are a priority... especially for the current mayor. But the problem is that everyone in Texas is cheap and they want something for nothing. If we want more policemen, better roads, more frequent and reliable transit etc., the city has to make more money. The only way for the city to make more money is for us to pay higher taxes. HPD is severly under-staffed, and they're not about to go and find more officers until we start footing some of these bills. I wish we were paying higher in sales tax or something... as long as the money is put to good use.

Don't think so. Unlike Houston Pavilions (downtown is still considered a deadzone for the serious retail shopper), West Ave is right across the street from River Oaks, and only a few miles from Rice Village, Highland Village and The Galleria. This is prime retail space for sure. Also, I think enough Houstonians have been to Dallas and been jealous of how nicely the uptown developments have come together there. They want spaces like that in central Houston. Now we finally have one.

It would be so great to see someone build a parking garage with some street-level retail right here. That way, we take care of the growing parking needs for the area, generate some more retail interest, and form a solid link from Houston Pavilions to Discovery Green.

Really??? Every couple of weeks?? Don't you live in the East End?? I see 3 to 5 cyclists a day in this neighborhood... and that's a minimum. Always on Polk, Leeland, Dumble and Dowling. East End has a lot of regular bike commuters. We DON'T however have a lot of "cycle groups and events" like you see all over Midtown and Montrose. But yeah, unless it's a hard rain, I always see people on bikes in this area.

I thought they had said that the East End line would open in 2012? Why the pushback???? It seems like they have been working consistently since construction started.

The further out you go, the newer the area (generally). And newer subdivisions have far fewer actual roads. An area like Clear Lake or Pearland mostly has "parkways" now... bohemouth 6-lane roads with no sidewalks, and a minimum speed limit of 40 until you have to slam on the brakes at the occasional red light. It's very unsafe to try and bike in these areas (though I do see people doing it all the time). If one were to define bikeability as getting from one area of town to another area of town, this becomes apparent. Obviously, you can ride a bike easily in your one subdivision (let's use Cinco Ranch as an example). you can even get to a few places like Katy Mills or Mason Rd. But would you be able to get to Town Center with ease and safety?? Run that same scenario inside the loop. From where I live in Eastwood, I've got a trail network that takes me from Eastwood to downtown, downtown to the Med. Center, Eastwood to the Med. Center, Eastwood to UofH, Eastwood to 5th ward, Downtown to the Heights, Downtown to the Galleria, and the list goes on. 60% of this can be achieved on independent bike trails, and that will go up to 80% in another year or two. But once you're outside the loop... you start running into fewer bikeways, more dead ends of side streets, and heavier car traffic on the main roads.

Did anyone catch that the Chase building has BLUE LED lights now?? They were on briefly tonight!!! Woohoo, downtown is going to get its lighting back!! My guess is that all of the major towers are now working on replacing their lighting with energy-efficient LEDs. The Chase Building wins the race though, with red, white and blue settings (perfect for Independence day)

From the Mayor's website... http://www.houstontx.gov/mayor/press/20100315.html

Two main differences between Houston and Dallas... 1) Dallas is a smaller central city with much larger and more powerful suburbs. So they built their system with the suburbs in mind first, and are just now getting to build an "inner city" rail system. Aside from Downtown and a couple of nice interest spots, their rail line is mostly a commute alternative. Whereas Houston built a very very short line where few people can use it for commuting, but it connects two of the city's three largest employment areas, all of our major sports venues, the majority of the arts and museum community and a whole host of other stuff. Dallas is getting closer, but it doesn't get near the "bang for your buck" that the one Red Line in Houston does. They are very different rail systems with very different goals. 2) Houstonians (in general) are far more concerned with cost and "assumed" practicality than Dallasites. I.E. we're cheap. Because of this though, Dallas is building a much better system than anything that we've got planned here. It doesn't have to fight traffice because most of it is grade-separated. You don't read about a DART-Rail collision every week because they don't have them. I would love to see how much money METRO has shelled out to repair trains and busses, settle win or lose lawsuits and how much additional maintenance we're paying for the at-grade system in comparison to DART. THAT is a story that Ted Oberg needs to tell.

Fully agree. Another big issue for the main campus is a growing concern for safety. This is a big open campus that is active for basically 10 hours of the day, five to six days a week. Yes, there is a "police force" but they (like most departments) are grossly under-staffed. So most of the time, this place sits vacant and ripe for vadalism towards the few people that are here after hours. So campus improvements and encouraging student life help in another very important way... they make UofH safer because more people will be around. Not to mention that many of these new additions include retail components that are desperately needed on campus as well.

Not much skyline imparct, but it will be so great to get much needed hotel space in downtown!! And great to see another burned parking space.

So KINDA back on topic.... The East End and Southeast Lines are farther ahead in construction AND funding b/c they are being built in minority areas. Less expensive property for METRO to buy up, more government incentive because it's viewed as a "service" instead of a "novelty" and oh yeah... less people filing lawsuits against METRO for wanting to take their land. It also helps that groups like the East End Management district did half of METRO's job for them to get the Harrisburg business communities in agreement that the line was needed. NONE of this happened with the University line. It's been a publicity and lawsuit nightmare from day one. Of course much of this blame has to be shared by METRO, and their poor planning and levels of notification on how they chose to implement the line. People don't see that the East End Line got built thanks to a very powerful lobby within the neighborhood (perhaps too powerful), but the U-Line was forged from a see of controversy and piecemeal allowances. I had the distinguished opportunity to talk to Mayor Parker about this virtually one-on-one at UofH a few weeks ago (it was a class of 30 people). She wants to get these lines built, but is not willing to put them ahead of the budget concerns of this fiscal year. She has a team that is "scrubbing" METRO from top to bottom. Once that is done, she is committed to finding funding sources for these lines. But (save for some direct government help) it ain't gonna be easy. In terms of our current fiscal situation, I agree with her... we should not throw money at METRO for the lines that aren't funded yet, and we need to get the ones that are DONE. But I do hope that these lines get built soon, because we desperately need them for the continued growth and development of our city.

Yes... we now have setback What floor is MP on now? When is the topping out party?

Despite having a far larger tourist population, downtown San Antonio is significantly smaller than downtown Houston... both in size and scope. It's far more fun and more interesting than Houston, but that doesn't change the fact that it's smaller. And like has been mentioned already... Houston is making up for the craziness of 70s and 80s building patterns. So if you don't like the pace of our building trends, please go and start buying up land and plan and build your own skyscrapers. If you're mad about what was in the past, invent a functional and dependable time machine so you can go back to the 60s, buy up some land and either save existing buildings or build your own skyscrapers. Otherwise, there's just very little use to continuing arguing about what has been done. I for one am proud to live in Houston during a time where people want more than a plethora of surface parking in downtown. I moved here in 2005, and since that time I am priviledged to witness the downtown going through a transformation and becoming a place where people actually go to... not just blow through. We've still got a hella long way to go on that, but changes like Discovery Green, the renovated Market Square Park and (to some extent) Houston Pavilions are most definitely needed and appreciated. I wouldn't have wanted to live near downtown Houston in the 70s or 80s... but thankfully I didn't have to. But I like the downtown Houston of today, and it's getting better by the minute.

+1 all the way. This is not my "regular scene", but I have no qualms about going to an urban club on occasion. What Marksmu is likely not aware of is that it takes a lot of money and planning to be committed to urban fashion. A LOT. You have be fluent in the various trends like FuBu, Apple Bottom, House of Dereon, Ed Hardy, etc, and you have to know how to accessorize these trends and which one fits the best. Sometimes oversized or baggy pants complete the look, and sometimes they don't. We are 21st century people, and we need to get over this hump that assumes black culture is below white culture, or that they're even so different in the first place. As a classical musician, I have this discussion with my colleagues at least once a week. Urban culture is a part of American culture, and very popular in many parts of the world. And yeah, the club scene in downtown is steadily growing at all levels. People have yet to mention the recent additions at HP... Pete's Dueling Piano bar and Cork are already open... with Polk St. Pub on the way.

What????? Ou est le Meat pie vendor??? I've been looking for some good meat pies ever since before the Super Bowl!! In fact, i was supposed to bring meat pies to a Saintes des Gras SB party, and could not find them.

Businesses (i.e. street level retail) are already "creeping back" into downtown because of increased interest and demand. I think the first rail lines will aid that process, but we may not see a total rejuvenation until the full system is completed and operational. Once that happens, downtown goes from being a stop on the rail system to being a hub of the system. I say a hub instead of the hub, b/c most of the traffic will be at Wheeler station as the Red Line and the U-line will be the most used. IMO, Lower Midtown will be the main focal point once the system is built, followed by downtown.

Have you walked between Dallas' CBD and Uptown?? There's a big difference... it's called vacant land. This difference will be eased in a few years thanks to the awesome new design for the park in place of the Woodall Rogers, but even with this link, they are still separate. You have to have some sort of substantial retail and commercial for them to be considered one IMO. The West End would be it, if it weren't struggling to stay afloat.

As an East End resident, I hope that the city and county stick to their guns and build it downtown. I am good friends with the President of the East End Management District, and she has been organizing citizens to put more pressure on the City and County to close this deal. We don't want to lose this stadium in our area!! The benefits to the East End are much greater than the Galleria/ Meyerland area. This will help spur developement along the East End rail line and for the whole neighborhood. Plus, the last thing that the Galleria needs is another major traffic burden during rush hour.

I think I prefer the Red lights atop the JP Chase Bank Building... it looks really nice. They should consider keeping that lighting throughout the year (and using it). It would be especially classy if Chase kept the red, and Enterprise Plaza went back to it's white lights. Would be a nice contrast for the lighting scheme, which is something we haven't seen much of lately. It certainly wouldn't hurt if Wells Fargo decided to rejoin the party and fix its damaged lights too.

One thing's for sure... the performing arts crowd will be taking full advantage of the new park for our constant rehearsals and shows. This is going to be very exciting.

wow that's awesome... thanks 312!!! I have a rehearsal in downtown late Saturday night... I'll be sure to tell people about Nit Noi!!!! BTW... restaurants for downtown. We need more "chain places" in downtown too! A Freebirds, Taco Cabana (don't understand why this hasn't happen yet) and some other places that can immediately help to stir late night and weekend culture. Mongolian BBQ joints are always a plus for me too.