N Judah

Well, there are political considerations. Putting it at-grade would probably revive the whole light rail v. cars hysteria. Plus, having a 'subway' (really just a sunken portion of a light rail line) would probably be a huge boost for the city's public relations, especially if we're ever going to contend for the Olympics again, or if we want to keep dazzling the Super Bowl committee. I'm not saying any of this is really super logical, but very few of the transporation decisions around here seem to be. A hard-core realist would say that hopefully the real estate interests don't completely ignore the will of the people, and that's about all you can really ask for.

I remember seeing something in the paper a while back about creating a new system of canals designed to control flooding. Whatever happened to that?

Houston won't get a real subway-type line until we get an Olympics. So hopefully that happens really soon.

Do you think the new Urban Guidelines (or whatever) will include some kind of height requirement? I don't have a problem with developers making ugly things, just as long as they aren't visible from 10 miles away. If developers along the rail line were limited to ~8-10 stories, that would be reasonable. I say, if this *whole* time developers were required to kowtow to the automobile (through the 25' setback rule, probably intended for parking lots) and never complained, they shouldn't complain when they're forced, through height restrictions, to kowtow to aesthetic needs.

Maybe if they ever built the second one, they could build it with its back right up against the back of the first one. That way, the two ugly buildings would look like one normal building.

It seems like that's the conservative line nowadays -- to claim that rail is bad because it "replaced" buses, and then throw in something random about helping the elderly. www.lonestartimes.com/index.php?id=0,1505,0,0,1,0 This guy used to have his own blog which was extremely critical of rail. I think he has even written editorials for the Chron on the subject. If he ever does write another editorial, it probably will be rehashed info from his many blog posts. So basically by reading his posts you can see what he's planning ahead of time.

I read it to mean that a 25' setback rule is currently in place (for parking lots, i'm guessing), and that developers wanting to build closer to the street had to spend time getting waivers. But now, with these new development guidelines in place, developers no longer have to get special permission to build all the way up to the sidewalk. In fact, I'm guessing that these new development guidelines actually will specify that developers *have* to build all the way up to the sidewalk, guaranteeing that developments like the CVS pharmacy (which they showed in the picture in the newspaper) don't happen. I think this is a cool idea. Development guidelines conducive to a pedestrian friendly urban environment + organic zoning-free development + rail expansion = some pretty sweet mixed use neighborhoods coming very soon

Sooooo....I'm looking for a big salad (texas sized), made from fresh ingredients (not from a bag at the grocery store), that's tasty (i prefer greek salads, but other kinds are ok too) and is around $5 (or less). Anyone know where I can find that?

It's pretty interesting to compare what Houston radio listeners actually want to hear vs. what stations like 94.5 actually play. The Request a thon was probably the only time we'll ever get to hear local bands being played on a station other than KTRU.

I'm sure Men's Fitness just wants to make money. They probably already sell well in Seattle and Honolulu and are just looking to get people in Houston and Philadelphia interested in their publication.

People in the Bear Creek/Cy fair area just go to Willowbrook. For that matter, people in Copperfield go to Willowbrook. Hell, I know of people in Katy who prefer going all the way to Willowbrook for their shopping. What can I say? Willowbrook rocks.

Houston hasn't gotten dirtier, it's just that Seattle has gotten cleaner. There aren't as many syringes lying around as there used to be, and general gentrification has 'cleaned' up the city in some ways as well (i.e. the heroin addicts have been forced to move).

Hey, here's a new apartment building that went up in Seattle. What do you guys think? Would this type of design work in Houston? (http://www.epiapartments.com/lineart4.jpg)

Wow, SOMEone's in a rush to catch up to the congestion.

You obviously aren't capable of following the discussion. I'm sorry.

Yeah, that probably doesn't mean a whole lot. Welcome to H-town.

I dunno...the richest people I know don't really care that much about popular name brand clothing (like polo or sean john). Usually it's just the nouveau riche / upper middle class who get super obsessed with name brand consumerism.

That SH 130 near Austin is hilarious. It's supposed to be a way for trucks etc. to circumvent Austin's traffic, but in the long run it will just become surrounded by suburban development and they will be back to square one.

Ok, so petty theft is apparently not uncommon for townhome dwellers. But what's it like for people living in apartments? Is security tight enough that if I, say, move to a midtown apt I don't have to worry about people sneaking in and taking my stuff?

I don't understand your point about Mkt St. 99% of people use Market as a way to get somewhere else. For those of you who haven't seen it, imagine a giant, open-air bus/transit terminal that just happens to have a few nice shops and an indoor shopping mall at one particular intersection. It's not green, it is not park like in the least, and after 9 pm is completely deserted (like Houston parks? well, no, I know for a fact people are jogging around memorial park, even that late at night).

Yeah - I grew up in Jersey Village, but my parents just moved out to Katy...I went to visit them and was astounded by (1) all of the out of state license plates and (2) the absolutely disgusting amount of road rage. And I have a feeling the two are related...