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I'd ask that you indulge my childishness.

At least you acknowledge it for what it is.

They must have changed since I lived there.

However, please note that you are commenting on a thread over a year old. If you knew the posters, you'd see that these spats generally start up when a Dallas posters comes on the forum spreading it a little thick about Dallas. Houstonians, being who we are, tend to stick up for our little burg when out-of-towners insult it. Hilarity usually ensues.

It's all in good fun, really. Being from Big Spring (nothing personal, but Sweetwater is more urban), you may not understand that bragging rights is part of living in a big city. You might also notice that once the Dallas kids went back home, hardly anyone posts on the Dallas topics anymore.

You and TheNiche are soooooooo predictable. Always looking for an opportunity to dig at Dallas. . . .and if one doesn't exist, you'll create one. Rowdy was dead on! Penis Envy X 10. LOL

I think you had them mistaken with the blond executive assistant girl that moved here from Dallas, the jock salesman, the summer intern, and the fruity accountant...none of whom are assumed to be married, have children, or have other dutiful obligtations and routines.

It must be eating away at you (and others) that executives in Dallas made a decision that will have long-term effects on Houston's real estate market.

Well, Dallas County is probably more urban. Dallas and Fort Worth make up 75% of Dallas County, but Houston only makes up 37% of Harris County.

Fort Worth is in Tarrant County.

You mean trounced in that Bill White beat Rick Perry in Harris county?

White 395,180 50.2%

Perry 378,928 48.2%

Oh, I see.

I was looking at the following site, but didin't read the column to the far right. Thanks for the correction. I still think it's interesting that White did better in Dallas County than his hometown, Harris County.

How in the world does Bill White carry Dallas County, but get trounced in his own hometown - Harris County? I think it speaks to the content of his character.

If George Bush isn't from Texas or Houston then why did you mention him? This isn't a political topic!.

1. I mentioned George Bush because the Bush Family loves to claim Texas, even though they are originally from Connecticut. That actually is not news.

2. I didn't interpret this thread to be a 'political topic," exclusively. However, when you created this thread, "Houston Most Famous," you should have anticipated that any reasonable person could/would interpret that broad category identification as encompassing any famous person claiming Houston. If you want to be more specific, I suggest you change the thread title.

I never heard of BJ Thomas. Houston's most famous musicians are rappers. . . oh yeah, and Beyonce.

. . . and another notable/famous person I guess you could claim is George Bush. However, he's not even originally from Texas.

Imagine if affluent families didn't insist on sending their children to schools with mostly-white children from other affluent families.

Imagine yourself a frickin' time machine...

Most people don't care about being within an hour of any destination. They mostly just want to be convenient to work or school, to where their kids go to school (if applicable), and reasonably close to basic shopping. If they're younger, they probably care about being somewhat close to a breeding ground (whether that's a club scene, bars, church, or whatever).

Besides which, heavy rail is about the worst kind of technology to deliver your vision of being within an hour of "any destination". There are too few corridors that are physically feasible.

It's funny that you bring this up, actually, about rail-based transit giving rise to or perhaps being a reflection on some kind of a free-spirited hipster culture.

See, I've been traveling to Dallas a lot lately. It is of comparable size to Houston and has a fair bit of rail-based transit. ...I very near literally feel deprived and suffocated by all the ____ing squares when I go out and try to find a locally-operated restaurant in which to expense a good meal. Don't get me wrong, Dallas has nicer curb appeal than Houston whether we're talking about freeways or major thoroughfares. But there are only so many retail districts tucked into particular pockets of the city. You can't just drive around randomly for five minutes and find an awesome hole in the wall. No! Maybe in some of its suburbs (Garland proves good for that), but not Dallas. For Dallas, you end up journeying to some little retail enclave; they're all very nice and uniform, looking just so to a crowd that looks just so. It's as though they've taken Washington Avenue, scrunched it up all close together in several little nodes throughout the city, and eliminated any other competing options for people who would prefer not to be douches...except of course for places like Mockingbird Station.

I drove to Mockingbird Station once, late, out of desperation. (I would've ridden the train, but it didn't go suburb-to-suburb...because it sucks, as trains are prone to do in low-density sunbelt cities.) ...had to drive past a vampire-themed wine bar as I entered the little parking area in the middle of it. [facepalm] ...walked around a little bit afterward. ...figured that in the grand scheme of things, this was a trite and meaningless gesture to a constituency that appreciates trite and meaningless gestures.

I'm just...so disgusted that Dallas exists within Texas. It brings shame to my heritage.

You should probably move there. /endrant

If Houston wants to skirt dubious federal policy in order to attract hipsters, we should strongly consider just dropping any and all enforcement or prosecution related to marijuana. It wouldn't cost any money and would be something that no other city is doing. ...and that certainly beats trying to keep up with the Jones' where the construction/erection of phallic symbolism is concerned.

Pretty much Everyone on this forum knows not to pay any attention to this guy when he starts to go off on tangents regarding rail. The Niche can't even be taken seriously on the subject of rail in Houston because his viewpoint is so skewed in the anti-rail direction that we can almost predict what he's going to post (which is anything anti-rail). Niche doesn't want to acknowledge the benefits of a light rail system. So, there's no point in even engaging him in meaningful conversation on this topic. Niche lives for the argument, and that's especially true when it comes to Light Rail in Houston. This is one of those times where you should ignore what he's posting. I would dare state that he's making a lot of his facts up. , .because it's so far from the truth that it is laughable. I Know that many rail proponents can see DART for what it is, and is doing. The proof is in the pudding. The rail antagonists will try to use DART as an example of an unsuccessful transit agency. However, the reality of the matter is that DART keeps expanding, and DART's regional rail success is pushing outlying suburbs to consider/push for the legislature to give more transportation dollars to mass transit/rail projects in the North Texas area. If Harris County were to adopt the same strategy, Houston would be moving rapidly in the direction of mass transit. As it stands now, though, the Niche's of the world rule the day. Because of that, it doesn't really seem like there is much hope for Houston, unless something drastic happens in the next 12 months.

Well Citykid, its starting to improve, so stop talking like its still 1999 when Houston hardly had any signs of urban development. Yes, the lack of urban feel and mass transit is frustrating. I used Dallas as an example because in reality, they're no better off than Houston as far as density, culture, structure, workability, and rail transit as you so put it but they can put a mass transit plan together with no problem. Their rail stations don't even go though many urban clusters like Houston and they have an extensive network. Hopefully this setback isn't for too long.

Well, one of the main differences between DART and METRO is the structure of the agencies. METRO represents all of Harris County, and has a governing board that has to represent (e.g. battle with) the interests of people living as close in as DT and far out as the Woodlands. DART is comprised of 13 member agencies, and with the exception of University Park and Dallas, all of them are suburbs. That means that Dallas' (inner and outer) loop/suburbs have bought-in to the DART rail system a long time ago by voting to pledge $0.01 of their sales tax to fund DART. It doesn't hurt that when DART proposes a plan, they execute it on-time or ahead of schedule and under-budget. And with the exception of the budget shortfall fiasco a couple of years ago, DART stays out of controversy.

hard to argue with Crossley b/c he's talking ideal case, which is exactly what every public agency should strive for. instead the public policy debate in Houston is now filtered through $300 million of our dollars spent over 7 years, construction halted, federal law violated, agency finances radically over-leveraged, a 30% 2011 budget reduction, and going backwards on some parts of the design and procurement processes. and some rail routes moved from optimum alignment b/c of inner loop politics, NOT b/c of "whining" suburbanites.

you think taxpayers should just step back now and let METRO proceed asap? Crossley does.

I think there are more rocks to turn over before we know the extent of METRO's screwup of the Solutions program, more heads need to roll.

This is the most intelligent analysis I've read on METRO's current problem in a very long time.

METRo's flubs, unethical behavior and illegal operations over the last decade will have a lasting impact on the agency that many still can't comprehend. At this rate, voter confidence in METRO is sinking fast, and as a result rail expansion will probably fail if it has to go back to the voters. There are just too many issues to overcome now.

You all think the facade and structure of the Downtown Dallas Sheraton is ugly? The view at street level is just as bad. I thought Starwood would have tried to do something to beautify the building, but alas, those hopes have been dashed.

The DT Houston Embassy Suites I definitely unattractive, but IMHO the DT Dallas Sheraton has it beat In the ugliness department. On the bright side, though, these two buildings can only get better with time, and some architectural improvements.

Those photos are absolutely fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

I'll assume for the sake of argument you mean exacerbated. Proceeding on that assumption, you and your kindred posters are one of the reasons many threads at HAIF are doomed to degenerate into little more than megaphone-strewn battlefields that not only discourage meaningful, informed discourse, they nourish and ensure the promulgation of ignorance.

This post resonates with me, and I feel your pain. HAIF has become a colloection of the same usual suspects arguing, nitpicking, and trying to one-up each other all day over trivial issues, and points of view.

As for the thread topic, I would say that I don't think Houston is particularly boring. . .at least not for the first day one visits. There are things to do in houston, but you need a local to show you around. . .because the things to do are mostly for locals. And the things Houston is known for, and houstonians pride themselves on, don't exactly scream tourism. . .NASA, Medical Center (a bunch of hospitals), Ship Channel, Oil Companies, and traffic don't exactly provide a draw for people looking for a vacation destination.

Some other random points:

In response to one poster who stated that (s)he didn't neccisarrily think boring = bad, I got news for you. . .It does. Give anyone a choice between fun and boring, and 9 times out if 10 they'll pick fun.

Most of Houston's visitors won't be casual tourists, but rather conventioneers, and friends/family of people living in Houston coming to visit for whatever reason.

Houston has a lot of Southern Louisiana influence ingrained in it's culture (e.g. Lake Charles, Lafeyette, Baton Rouge, New Orleans). I think that contributes to it's "quirkiness.". Southenr Louisianans are special people (see movie: the Waterboy). I think this mentality has a significant impact on how Houstonians approach issues like tourism, transportation, zoning, and how non-houstonians perceive the city.

I'll say this. . .Many people who post on this forum seem to think that when a plan is announced, they should start marking days off of their calendar to see a completed project. Well, especially with rail projects, there are a number if different studies, plans, meetings, approvals that must take place before these plans come to fruition. There probably will be several years before we see any progress on the U line. We probably shouldn't expect revenue service before 2018? At lest,

edit: new rendering? is this confirmation the Ritz is here to stay?

Unless and until you see a press release from the Ritz Carlton, don't hold your breath. It would seem that you guys had learned your lesson about use things, already. Hopeful wishes for hotel/condo projects, illustrated in renderings, will not produce an actual building being the name of that hotel. It's just something the developer does to get people all excited. And apparently it's still working!

Here's my advice. . .WAIT for the Ritz Carlton to issue a press release, then get excited. Until then, accept the reality that there will be no Ritz Carlton om this site, or any other in Houston, for that matter, for the foreseeable future.

Cities I've been to that have this:

• London (Oyster card)
  
• Hong Kong (Octopus card)
  
• Seattle (Orca Card)
  
• Seoul (T-Money card)
  
• Istanbul (Akbil, which isn't a card because a lot of people don't have wallets there, so it's a strangely shaped contraption with a loop on it that you can hook to your clothing or keychain or whatever)
  
• Chicago (Chicago Card, Chicago Card Plus, Chicago Card+ZipCar)
  
• San Francisco (Transcard, now called Clipper)
  
• Singapore (forget what it's called on the MRT)
  
• Saint Louis (Go-To Card)
  
• Los Angeles (TAP)
  
• Paris (MetroPass)
  

I believe MARTA, in Atlanta, has a similar system with it's "breeze" card. However, the card is scanned at the "turnstile" / entrance to the station instead of the train itself.

^Don't forget the W Hotel and the Ritz (as if those projects were ever going to happen).

Btw, the (unprovoked) pot shots taken at "Dallas" are predictible, funny, and pathetic at the same time.

It's interesting to see so many Houston-based HAIF forumers have been keeping up with what's going on in and around Dallas.

As one poster pointed out. This is a private development. It will make a great addition to the skyline. The City of Dallas had nothing to do with it's funding and upcoming construction, other than the City's investments in the Arts District, Victory, the Woodall Rodgers Deck Park, and the upcoming Marget Hunt-Hill bridge, among other things. One could say that the culmination of all of these things, in addition to the development of The Woodall Rodgers corridor (including the forthcoming Natural History Museum), incentivized the investment in this tower. I'm sure Museum Tower's developers and investors realize that with the surrounding Starchitecture, and amenities, Museum Tower will be successful.

The Dallas Police and Fire Pension System would never fund a project within a 150 mile radius of that location.

This thread is meandering off topic. If you'd like to start a new thread about light rail in Houston, or add to one of the existing Houston light rail threads, please do. But let's keep this one on track. So to speak.

You and I obviously agree on that, which is why I was attempting to relate my previous comments back to the most recent bus/rail crash that was the impetus for this thread. As for creating another thread on light rail in Houston, I think there are more than enough of those threads on HAIF already.

@JLWM8609: The Wanda Sykes skit was funny. I'm sure it will be on youtube or vimeo soon, for those that missed it.

There are likely other problems with that map, too.

It is at least five years outdated. And it doesn't show Seattle at all, which has two light rail lines: LINK and SLUT, plus the Sounder commuter rail network.

Yeah, I guess I should have noted that the Map is outdated. I assumed that most of the people here had already seen it, or could decipher from looking at it that a number of updates weren't included. Take Dallas for instance. The map does not show the new Green Line, which is partially in service, and will be in full service (about 23 miles worth) by the end of the year. The main purpose of my posting the map was to illustrate the number of cities that have started and/or expanded their rail systems in the last 50 years - A point made to counter the argument that Houston's rail system lags behind because it's a younger city.

AND, in an effort to bring the discussion full circle, I submit that the same Houstonian mentality that encouraged no investment in rail 20 - 30 years ago, is the same mentality that encourages making excuses for ponying up enough money to pay for a grade separated system expansion now. . .and the lack of grade separation is partially the reason for the number of bus crashes we're seeing. This most recent bus/rail crash won't be the last because the (at grade) expansion of the system only increases the likelihood that these types of accidents will occur.

I wonder why a city founded over 1000 years ago has a more developed transit system than a city founded 270 years ago.

I don't think age of the city has much to do with it. There are many cities that have started and/or significantly expanded their systems within the last 50 years. I think it's more about the culture of cities.

Brussels is a world-class city, and what Metro is building is nearly identical to the Brussels Metro. Ditto for Amsterdam, another world-class city. And Seattle, though I'm not entirely convinced that Seattle qualifies as "world class."

To what part of Brussels METRO are you referring? I've ridden the system a number of times, and I can tell you first hand that most of the Brussels METRO is heavy rail/subway (4 lines). Even the 2 light rail lines in the system run mostly underground, and as I understand, were built to be convertible over to heavy rail in the future. I think the systems are very different.