totheskies

The thing that caught me totally by surprise was the mention of light rail along Bellaire.

While I think it would be a complete success if it's built, I don't think the CITY of Bellaire would allow it to go through.

There is also the matter on how HUGE (long/whatever) those trains are going to have to be to handle the ridership without interfering with regular traffic. From what I've seen on the Red line, even running every few minutes, it can barely keep up with demand during the high peak times.

Which is why I'm TOTALLY confused as to why there aren't Quicklines already operating in the planned light rail corridors!!!!!!!!!!!!! What the FUZZ is going on? This Quickline route is the seed for our next rail line!

What is METRO thinking?? Do they really think that the population will be able to wait until 2020 for these outward extensions? Theyre out of their mind because those areas will be much denser by that time and we just cant hold up on a rail extension that is already about 15 years overdue

Having used the service, I just want to state that METRO's Airport Direct is a real victory for Houston. I hope that we keep it around, and/or improve it so that we can grow the service to make it a more viable alternative.

I do believe Houston will eventually have a rail connection from downtown to the airport. But blogging about it is not going to get it built. People in our city have to sow the seeds for these things. USE the Airport Direct service, or hop on the 102!! Short of a slew of massive corporate donations, the only way that this connection will become a priority is if METRO and the state of Texas sees a need for it through INCREASED RIDERSHIP!!!

That part of town with all the refineries is super ugly. The palm trees only help improve the look of the area. I passed down that area a few weeks back and I didn't notice anything with the trees. But you have to understand that Texas is not a palm tree's native environment. So it is probably our heat that effects them the most. Air polution is heavier in Los Angeles, but the palm tree seems to grow just fine over there.

Actually Texas, specifically the Greater Houston area, IS a native environment for one special type of palm...

http://www.proz.com/kudoz/english_to_spani...sabal_palm.html

"Our other palm tree, believed to be a hybrid of Sabal mexicana and Sabal minor, occurs nowhere in the world but a small, heavily wooded area of Brazoria County, south of Houston. Up to 27 feet tall, these palms are the only known hybrids of the Sabal genus, and the only known naturally occurring and reproducing palm hybrids in the continental United States. Although the Brazoria County palms appear to be hybrids, a botanist who has done genetic tests on them believes they could be a new species.

At present 46 acres of the Brazoria palm site are protected as a part of the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, and the Fish and Wildlife Service plans to acquire more of the site as neighboring tracts come up for sale. With two preserves 240 miles apart, each protecting a different kind of palm tree, Texas has a richness of palms few are aware of."

Just FYI

Just more FYI on the GROCERY STORE...

I called and got a little more info (talked to a manager this time). It is now projected to open in 6-8 months.

They still haven closed the deal on it yet, but I was informed that they've narrowed it down to 1 prospective client. No word on when we'll find out who. The manager confirmed that it is a specialty store "along the lines of Whole Foods, Rice Epicurean, etc."

The restaurant is "technically a separate deal, but most likely will be run by the same company".

I like the parking garage by the library. Actually, like is probably too strong a word. It doesn't bother me as much because it has restaurants beneath it (Luthers if I remember correctly). We do need more like that.

Much agreed. This is Houston afterall... we've finally grown out of our "every major CBD building has to be tunnel-connected with retail" phase, I'm hoping that we've acquiesed into the "every major CBD building has to have an ugly parking garage with street-level retail" phase. Considering the close proximity to GRB and Discovery Green, street-level retail in the garage seems to be a no-brainer.

As long as we're talking garages though, I give the aesthetics prize to OPP. The parking garage takes up the entire block, and is a total function of the building. I wish Houston had more like this one.

^^^^Wait, I MAY give the aesthetics prize to OPP if and ONLY IF they open a good grocery store like they are supposed to!!

What do you guys think of Google's implementation of public transportation planning in Houston?

For a while now you have been able to go to maps.google.com, look up directions, and then change "driving" to "public transportation" to access Metro's transit schedules and plan a trip. It seems like a great idea, and it has the potential to overcome the shortcomings of Metro's own trip planner (which I believe they want to phase out now that they can use Google Maps to do the same thing).

I tried this out today, and I am kind of disappointed in the bus trip route that Google is giving me. For example, I looked up directions from my apartment in the Museum District to UH. Google maps tells me to walk half a mile, take a bus, get off in the middle of the 3rd ward, wait 15 minutes, then get on another bus.

I know that a better way to get there is to walk 0.1 miles to the Metro Rail, ride to Ensemble/HCC, and take the 42 bus. I like this better because the Metro Rail is more comfortable and arrives more frequently than the bus, and when I get off of the bus at Ensemble HCC I feel safer waiting near the Metro Rail station for my connection than I do in the middle of the 3rd ward. I looked that up manually and it seems to be about the same time.

So I guess my main complaint is that when Google calculates your route, it doesn't give enough alternate options as it should. I think Metro's trip planner gave me 5 or 6 alternate routes last time I used it (it was also damn slow to load).

Has anybody here used the Google public transportation service, and if so what are your thoughts on it?

For METRO's trip planner, the rail line is generally not factored in (DUMB!!!) But you've got lots of ways to get to UH from the Museum District, most of which are quite fast....

From the Ensemble/HCC, you can take the 42 (like you said)

From the Downtown Transit Center, you can take the 30 Cullen or 52 Scott. Slightly longer ride on the train, but these busses run at a higher frequency than the 42 (and also more times of the day or night). When I lived in Northshore, I used to take this connection all the time. From the time you step on the train to the time the bus lets you out at UofH, it's normally 30 mins or less.

From the TMC transit Center, you can take the 68 eastbound.

I heard there's a new poboy place on Jefferson but I can't picture where exactly.....supposedly (friend of a friend) way better than BBs. Anyone know?

CALLIOPE'S!!!! It's very good! Kind of a Timmy Chan's take on the New Orleans PoBoy.

Here's the Houston Press article...

http://www.houstonpress.com/2009-04-23/res...-and-fried-rice

The first question needs to be more specific. By "along the corridor", do you mean within walking distance, within a mile, within a few miles, or generally speaking that they live closer to 290 than any of the other spoke freeways that lead into the central city?

The second question is missing an option from the multiple choices. There ought to be the option for "lane expansion with the incorporation of HOT lanes and commuter rail. If there is commuter rail which links in to the Northwest Transit Center and to the downtown area, then I fail to see the benefit in duplicating service with P&R services. The two ought to be considered mutually exclusive alternatives. And that also begs the question, what can commuter rail do that P&R cannot? In fact, might P&R be superior to commuter rail in a number of ways--including not only the quality of service, but also cost?

For both of these addenda, it's a matter of preference. "along the corridor" simply means all of the people that ASSOCIATE themselves with the 290 corridor, and use it as their preferred commuting route. So "within walking distance, within a mile, within a few miles, or generally speaking that they live closer to 290" would all apply.

Some people are never going to set foot onto a commuter train... just a fact of life. Others though, may never take their car to work again once it's built. Obviously a "best case scenario" for the commuter rail would be for one to go directly into downtown, one directly to the Med Center, one to the Galleria, one and one to the Energy Corridor. That's just not going to happen though. The Northwest transit center will at least be able to connect to the local bus and MetroRail system, so IMO it's better than what 290 currently has.

I'll add to this SouthPhilly steaks (Scott and Alabama). Really good sandwiches, and lots of other stuff. Bohemeo's food is pretty good too.

So I'm still confused... I really couldn't care less for Culberson, but in regards to 290 improvements, let's ask ourselves a couple of key questions...

1) How many people live along this corridor?

2) Of the possible options, which one is the most feasible to relieve congestion and plan for the future of US 290?

- lane expansion alone

- lane expansion with the incorporation of HOT lanes and Park and Ride service

- lane expansion with the incorporation of HOT lanes, Park and Ride service and commuter rail

I pick the last one. With over a million people and growing, US 290 needs all of these commuting options. Park and Ride is great, but commuter rail in combination with P&R is much better. It's all about increasing the options for everyone.

Amazing!!!!! Of all things.... a hotel starting construction in an economy where tourism is on the skidz... good job for Houston and the financiers!

I'm glad that people recognize how much the hotel rooms are needed in downtown. We've got a very low hotel capacity (within the CBD) when compared to other cities of similar size.

Good news, I guess?

Hopefully, this will be some momentum for METRO to grow and improve as a transit agency. As more and more Houstonians choose to explore METRO and use their cars less, we will need a solid foundation for public transit. That means more route coverage, reliable service, decreasing the wait time between trips, and of course light rail expansion. I'm glad that METRO has shown some improvement, but I don't want to see them throw a party and act like there's not more work to do.

St. Thomas an exclusive club? Say what?

Yes... for Catholic Missionaries who are entirely too left-wing for the Catholic church.

I'm not sure that a volley of circumstantial ad hominems is called for.

Just look at the geography of his district. It's as good an explanation as there ever was. His constituents want better mobility (and I'd suspect that that desire trounces party affiliation), and arranging the funds for I-10 really helped his last campaign. Doing the same for 290 certainly couldn't hurt.

I was going to say that.... now that the district has seen how nice I-10 is, they are FED UP with 290's crappiness and congetion. And keep in mind... he's not supporting light rail, he's supporting COMMUTER RAIL in one corridor.

Any more news on the grocer?

The comment about places outside of Harris County not being able to be servied by METRO is not entirely true.

There's a small portion of METRO that runs in Fort Bend County. Routes 33 and 98 go into Fort Bend. Here's the #33 METRO bus at a stop off of McHard Road in Fort Bend County on Google Maps.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=29....,303.47,,0,4.41

Other METRO services that run outside of Harris County include the 255 and 259 which go into Montgomery County.

Great point... and the ones in Ft. Bend are actually local routes. I'm assuming the reason why they're not in Sugar Land or The Woodlands is because the citizens of the time thought they were "too good" for METRO. Of course now after the reality of $4/gal. gas, many people have reconsidered.

I utilize the part north of Leeland for getting into town.

I wish there were better maps of this trail, and of the rail line that will go down scott. It looks like the rail will go alongside this trail for a short period, and I would really like to see how it will be affected, but I guess I will just have to use it, watch the unfolding of the build and then wait for the exciting conclusion!

I'd settle for regular SWEEPING in the Northern Third Ward part of the trail. Everytime I ride there I have to navigate a continuous strain of broken beer bottles. Yet the second you cross I-45 back into EaDo, it's clean as a whistle. It really is a beautiful trail tho, and it's so great to have actual hike/bikeways that go somewhere.

UofH administration has a LOT of issues, but Dr. Khator's benefits since she came here have FAR OUTWEIGHED any little watchdogging that Wayne Dolcefino could do. People around the country are actually starting to notice the University of Houston. We are in the midst of a massive campaign for Tier 1 (and are seriously in the running compared to other emerging universities around the state). UofH just landed a major partnership in the Texas Med Center that boosted the research expenditures by $7mil in a single swoop. So yeah, I have no problem with her getting star treatment as long as she's producing world-class results.

The bar tabs OTOH are not just for recruiting... most of those dumb dumbs are dropping change like that on daily lunches. That's what got to stop.

And the reports don't help anything... they just make things tighter for the departments that aren't doing anything wrong. The administration forces us to cut back on the occasional staff luncheon or outing, which is essential to our morale and funcionality at work. Fair???

Just for info...

Does anyone know why The Woodlands/Conroe chose to opt out of the METRO Park and Ride system? From what I've also heard, The District (who runs W.E) is sub-standard to METRO.

Also what about Sugar Land? Are there any transit agencies down there?

Seeing as we're less than five years out from having the next UH System university in Sugar Land, the Ft. Bend people should approach UofH. That would be a great way to partner with the university on a state of the art concert venue.

It's a "token offering", but the FFGA means that more money is probably on the way. This is a symbolic gesture, but what counts is the marked shift in the Obama administration's support of rail projects.

I don't care who does or doesn't take me seriously and I'm definitely not on some mission to get random people on the internet to agree with me.

I simply made a prediction which will be borne out in due time. For the sake of the city of Houston I hope I am wrong.

The issue of which cities are Gen-Y friendly really should have been an easy one, but unfortunately the culture of superficiality and self-absorption seems to have pervaded even those places, and more importantly the speculators/glory hunters seem to have pre-emptively run Gen Y out ahead of time. So I don't have an easy answer -- sorry! -- I guess we'll all just have to wait and see

I still think you're missing a substantial part of "the boat". As long as Houston is "Houston"... meaning a viable, affordable and transient city in which younger people can get out of college and start their professional life, Gen Y will be here. It's not like Gen Y is a small collection elitists that can only live in one city. Many Gen Y Houstonians may NOT want to stay here, but people from all over the world move to Houston on a daily basis b/c of the opportunities that the city affords.

And BTW, you should visit the East End sometime... go to an event at Talento Bilengue, catch a show at Bohemeo's, go on a mural tour, or go hear Opera Vista at the Barnevelder. All major parts of the Houston area arts scene... all in the EAST END.

On topic... the recent news of additional federal funding for the Southeast and North lines will help construction for the East End line... it frees up more money for METRO to use towards the other lines. And of course the East End line will merge with the Southeast Line going into downtown, so I'm glad they can start on that connection sooner.

One of the reasons that so many parts of Houston are not already well-served is because we failed to look ahead in the first place and be proactive. I agree that there need for transportation infrastructure improvements made to areas where people already live, but making this a priority to the exclusion of projects that will serve future populations just creates today's problems tomorrow, all over again. It's far easier and less expensive to be proactive than reactionary--it is unfortunate that being proactive is not politically popular.

In an ideal world, routes like Highway 6 and FM 529 would've been built with grade separations decades ago. I agree that these areas are underserved. But those roads are so completely built out and highly-trafficked that they just aren't low-hanging fruit the way that the west, northwest, and north Grand Parkway segments are. ...besides which, the political mechanisms for funding are completely different.

ROFL!! Looking ahead?? that's just not in our DNA as Houstonians. We live La Vie Boheme... in the moment. Then we deal with the consequences later

You said this earlier, but the suburban growth in Houston (hell the U-R-B-A-N growth in Houston) is very disproportionate to the supposed "center-out" setup of the freeway infrastructure. Even within the loop... of the nearly 600,000 people that live here, I'd be willing to bet that if you split the loop in half, 500,000 of those people are going to live WEST of downtown and main street. As you go further out between the loop and the Beltway, this disparity only intensifies... packed in areas like Gulfton and Sharpstown, and then large tracts of next-to-nothing like the C.E. King Parkway.

Having lived in various parts of the city (Northshore on the East side, Meyerland and Galleria area on the West, and now Greater Eastwood), I think the Grand Parkway would work REASONABLY well as a connection between I-45, 290, and I-10. Thanks to our good buddy sprawl, the first segment of GP now has a regular stream of traffic between La Canterra and Sugarland Town Square (literally, just those two areas). But in any other directions, it's just simply not needed. For goodness sake, the B-E-L-T-W-A-Y between 59 north and I-10 East isn't completed yet.

Why is UH building dorms? Why is UH building a parking garage on the side of campus that serves the Biz and Law schools? Why is UH building retail options on that side of campus that also houses the new Rec Center, Greek Row, and Moody Towers? Doesn't UH know that it needs to be building things for the Dynamo?

Beacause it C-A-N!!!!!!

And no... the Dynamo need to GTFO from UofH so that they can achieve the dream of having their own stadium (and bring more revenues into the East End).

Is it near the Opera theater? I start in July.

Greetings!! I work with HGO as well. Contact the HR staff members for HGO (if you need specific names, just prvt me). They keep a running list of patrons that are always willing to host HGO's guest artists, and normally at a reduced cost. For your situation, I highly recommend Midtown or the Montrose.