mainvoice
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Posts posted by mainvoice
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Another blown save from Mr. Lidge!!! What does this tell you?
I think the other teams are using hypnosis to intentionally make the Astros put Lidge in the game . We need someone like that retired World Cup French soccer player to come on board for the remainder of the season to go in and head butt the other teams coaches when they are using their hypnosis on the Astros to break them out of this spell.
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The intent of the train was not to be more efficient than a car?
Yes. It it actually was among other reasons. It wasn't just constructed to make it look like Mr. Rogers neighborhood. Think of efficiency as in carpool available for all, and park and ride.
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Now that METRO is proposing increases in fares due to increased gas prices, it will be interesting to see how ridership numbers will vary.
My guess would be that ridership will not be impacted much if any at all with a fare increase. I think savings on parking is a factor here and the token fee to ride light rail won't keep someone who is visiting downtown from time to time from riding. As a matter of fact I think that a lot of workers for example working in the med center and parking at surface lots have their light rail fees paid for them by hospitals,etc.
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Doesn't surprise me. METRO really jacked around with its inner city ridership by funnelling them through the LRT. About 8 or 9 months ago, I conducted a consumer-style survey that had questions relating to the availability of mass transit in a predominantly Mexican area of the Inner Loop. The residents were really frustrated because they now had to transfer more frequently, often unnecessarily, for routes that were better served with busses. People (or at least these people) care about their time...METRO doesn't seem to recognize that.
I don't think Houston has any kind of real mass transit. I think the light rail is becoming its answer to mass transit. As sections of the light rail are completed wouldn't there be less or to an extent no transfering required ? I don't believe it would be feasible to have a private bus line or otherwise accomodate everyone all the time. What I do think light rail will do is bring a lot of circulation into the downtown area and allow people to visit like it does now without having to actually drive into the area and park. It would be interesting to see what people thought once the construction of light rail was actually completed. I would imagine that frequency issues would probably dissapear as the line grows or upon completion .
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I am convinced that most people would have liked for light rail to have taken less time to construct. Before you ask I don't have the back-up but believe that I heard recently on a news radio station that one of the groups who bid on the design of the light rail but had lost , was awarded a major project in China that called for a version that was suspended on a cable which only took 1 year to complete. At least it is completed and can see how in my opinion having light rail at street level is a plus in downtown. I think it would be worth while for them to re-visit how Metro goes about connecting it to the rest of the city though at this point via a less invasive means.
Also would like to say that I was really kidding and didn't mean to offend anyone. Thanks for your input.
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The center of Downtown is precisely six miles from the Reliant Park station. If it were only 10 minutes between them, then the average speed of the train (including stops) would have to be 36 miles per hour. The average speed is closer to half that under normal conditions. Tack on a few more minutes of wait time...and a walk of about a quarter- to a half-mile to the final destination...it starts looking bad.
I currently live very close to the Reliant Park station and could drive in a fully air conditioned environment from my parking space in the very back of my condo complex to the GRB and back in about the same time as a one-way trip (inclusive of the wait and walk) covering the same distance.
Yes, it is true that downtown is still accessible by cars. At some point you do step in and out of your fully air conditioned environment to inhale some fresh oxygen, tack a few minutes. You can't drive up to every place located downtown, so walking a block here and there is just a good opp. to step out of the vehicle, tack on a few more. Stop to refuel, tack on a few. Talk to folks, tack on a few. I don't think the intent of having the train was for it to be faster than driving your car. I think it could save you an additional parking fee if you rode it in though . In other words, it actually has a utilitarian purpose for a lot of people either attending events, working in the Med Center daily riding in, and those that want to take advantage of it, etc.
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It didn't seem to take off while things were doing well downtown.I am not sure that retail use is best for it, and at best would probably come across as a watered-down outdated pavilions that nobody can find. I think pavilions has eclipsed it a bit and it would be a tough location to make work even during the best of times for retail partly because it seems to have very little exposure or on the street. Pavilions will however have street exposure.Lease it to call centers and back office users.
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one complaint i heard was that the frequency should ahve been increased for a few days while the festival was here cause people were waiting quite a while which resulted in an hr ride from downtown to reliant for some transit riders.
That sounds like a real problem. After thinking about this I think that the essence promoters should have taken the initiative in telling people that attended the event about taking lightrail downtown for activities, hotels, etc. There should be a group from the city that makes contact with visiting groups to educate them about lightrail,etc. I am not clear if the city has an organization whos job it is to specifically contact those types of groups using Reliant to tell them about lightrail access, and also involved in trying to also coordinate events between those groups and downtown business to attract them to the downtown area.
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I know that I mentioned this already about Essence, but was sad to see this article in the link below dated July 7th which appeared in the Houston Chronicle titled: Missed Opportunity. Especially this section and some others. Again, understood that the city pushed to have this event downtown, but it kind of sounds like the Toyota Center perhaps might not have been large enough to accomodate this. I am sure that Houston will see other major events like this centered at Reliant due to the large attendance that they draw, and would have thought that educating those attending to ride the light rail downtown would be a given after any event, especially these large ones. I think to a certain extent how we get graded in handling these kind of events is going to weigh into decisions made to a certain extent by other events like future SuperBowls, or maybe a WorldCup event which has already been held in Dallas. IN ARTILCE: "When shows finished in the late evening hours, attendees used to New Orleans' all-night party atmosphere poured out onto deserted streets around Reliant Park." "Entertainment districts here are not centralized, as in New Orleans." I think we need to let people know that downtown is a 10 minute ride on light rail away. How much closer can it get ? Why do we have to make it seem like Midtown is so far from Downtown when it's part of Downtown (Combined areas: 13,000 residences), perhaps creating some of this uncertainty retailers feel coming into the area looking for 10,000 residences and that there is not a centralized entertainment district (like the article mentions) when there is with a main artery traveling right into it called "Light Rail".
link:
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Metro- seems like they were on top of this on their website:
METRORAIL SERVICE EXTENDED FOR ESSENCE FESTIVAL
June 29, 2006
METRO will extend late-night rail service to accommodate riders attending the Essence Festival, Saturday, July 1 – Monday, July 3, at Reliant Park.
Hours as follows:
The last northbound train will depart the Reliant Park platform at 1:50 a.m. (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning).
The last southbound train will depart the Reliant Park platform at 2:50 a.m. (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning).
Trains will run on 18-minute frequencies.
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My point is.... why should efforts be made to attract more nightlife (as you suggested), when that is what has been developed and is being developed WITHOUT any special effort to attract it?
Yes. That's what I thought your point was, and I guess what I was saying was very simple...WHY SHOULDN'T MORE BE DONE when no offense it really seems to be what does work as you pointed out. Also think there is a big difference between something and doing nothing. Doing nothing or not trying to develop new nightlife to a certain extent I think stagnates what is down there, which drives people to other parts of the city, and as a result what is down there suffers and the crowd that is appealed to deteriorates. If it continues to deteriorate then it makes it that much harder to improve upon the area as a whole because of the element it attracts. In either case, I think it couldn't hurt to be aware of this in my opinion. That wasn't my point. I didn't make this point someone else did earlier and it was expanded on. As a result I was saying that if everyone knew for a year that Essence for example was going to hold their event at Reliant with how many thousand attending (300,000 people ?) then why not capitalize on all of the residual business it was going to bring to the area etc ? It's kind of like wanting it to rain on the 4th of July party at Tinsley park ? Making a decision not to promote the Essence festival when you are going to have it anyway is liking planning the 4th of July event and wishing for rain, because it will hurt the attendance. I am certainly pro other types , but they haven't exactly been beating down the door. Can downtown afford the luxury though as it seems you might be suggesting to selectively ignore certain groups ? From what I can tell so far the most notable tenants to the area are clubs/entertainment at HP .
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No kidding. I wrote one last year in regards to an undeserved parking ticket...but I only waisted my time. The response was terrible...they actually got someone to investigate the incident, but weren't quick enough at it and the fine on the ticket went up after a certain amount of time. I never heard back from the investigator that ended up waisting my time and money. Thigh...oh well.
I'd better go feet the cat, finger about on the sofa watching TV for a bit, and then get some much-needed breast. Goodnight, folks.
There are 2 lamps on each street pole along that area, but I can't figure why they only light one lamp at a time on each street pole ?
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What in the name of Sam Houston are you talking about? Most of the "retail' development that has occurred downtown on street level has been all about nightlife, with very little else.
Sorry, I don't understand. What's your point ? Is there something wrong with that ? Please re-read the section.
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I think you are on to something (Redscare & VelvetJ). It is as if there is this conservative undertone that has been tightening in CBD. I also notice your talking about the night scene downtown etc., but it sure seems like there is an underlying resistance or a push against it. It is also interesting that it seems like everytime retail is brought up associated with downtown, that so is night life. Is there some kind of rule book being circulated about what is acceptable and what is not ? HP received grant money for its center which will have night life in it, so why isn't more done to attract more nightlife instead of all this other stuff that there doesn't seem to be just an overwhelming bunch of interest in anyway-AT THIS TIME. Essence might be a prime example of what you mentioned to an extent. It is a major event and definately has a direct impact on Downtown. Wasn't it held at Reliant ? Aren't people supposed to want to be able to go out downtown, eat dinner, maybe check into a hotel downtown, and then catch the light rail to Reliant for Essence and then return downwtown ? Yet I have yet to see the Downtown groups created to promote downtown promoting it ? Downtown saw a lot of business from this event. It's as if these Downtown groups are open on the surface about what to embrace and the area desparately could use anything at thist time, but they don't make an effort to embrace events I guess it doesn't really want to ? I wonder who is silently making these types of decisions ? Did you see how much discussion there was on tv day after day about what a wonderful city Houston was during essence, and all the great places to eat and party.(Well, guess what ?-They were talking about downtown ! These downtown groups definately missed a golden opportunity on the promotion boat this time. Downtown seems like a basketball rim with an invisible lid sometimes...throw in this new drinking law,etc. and read in between the lines ?
Dig In: Here is the event calendar from Houstondowntown.org where you can learn about the Houston Dynamos playing at venue: other
Events
Look no further, you now can find all the hot and happening events in downtown all in one place. We've got major league sports and world-class performing arts. Search by venue or a particular area of interest. Not sure what you want to do, then check out our great itineraries and Top 20 list!
Search Events by one or more of the Following:
Beginning On:
mm Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec dd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 yyyy 2006 2007 2008 2009
Ending By:
mm Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec dd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 yyyy 2006 2007 2008 2009
Venue Alley Theatre Angelika Film Center Buffalo Bayou Engine Room George R. Brown Hobby Center Jones Hall Jones Plaza Market Square Main Event Meridian Minute Maid Park Reliant Stadium Sam Houston Park Sesquicentennial Park Toyota Center Verizon Wireless Theater Warehouse Live Wortham Center Other Interest Art Exhibits Ballet Baseball Basketball Choral Classical Music Comedy Dance Family Entertainment Festivals Film Football Hockey Jazz/Blues Live Music/Concert Multicultural Musicals Opera Outdoor Event Parades Soccer Recreation Soccer Stage Symphony Sports- other Theater- other Other
Houston Astros
July 3, 2006 - July 5, 2006
Venue: Minute Maid Park| Interest: Family Entertainment
Astros vs. Chicago Cubs MORE >
Chevy's Freedom Over Texas 4th of July Celebration
July 4, 2006
Venue: Sam Houston Park| Interest: Family Entertainment, Festivals, Live Music/Concert, Outdoor Event, Recreation
Fun, food, games and music. Headliner is Los Lonely Boys! MORE >
Houston Dynamo
July 4, 2006
Venue: Other| Interest: Soccer
Dynamo vs. Columbus Crew MORE >
Ultimate Tejano Party
July 4, 2006
Venue: Jones Plaza| Interest: Live Music/Concert, Multicultural , Outdoor Event
MORE >
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I think you are on to something (Redscare & VelvetJ). It is as if there is this conservative undertone that has been tightening in CBD. I also notice your talking about the night scene downtown etc., but it sure seems like there is an underlying resistance or a push against it. It is also interesting that it seems like everytime retail is brought up associated with downtown, that so is night life. Is there some kind of rule book being circulated about what is acceptable and what is not ? HP received grant money for its center which will have night life in it, so why isn't more done to attract more nightlife instead of all this other stuff that there doesn't seem to be just an overwhelming bunch of interest in anyway-AT THIS TIME. Essence might be a prime example of what you mentioned to an extent. It is a major event and definately has a direct impact on Downtown. Wasn't it held at Reliant ? Aren't people supposed to want to be able to go out downtown, eat dinner, maybe check into a hotel downtown, and then catch the light rail to Reliant for Essence and then return downwtown ? Yet I have yet to see the Downtown groups created to promote downtown promoting it ? Downtown saw a lot of business from this event. It's as if these Downtown groups are open on the surface about what to embrace and the area desparately could use anything at thist time, but they don't make an effort to embrace events I guess it doesn't really want to ? I wonder who is silently making these types of decisions ? Did you see how much discussion there was on tv day after day about what a wonderful city Houston was during essence, and all the great places to eat and party.(Well, guess what ?-They were talking about downtown ! These downtown groups definately missed a golden opportunity on the promotion boat this time. Downtown seems like a basketball rim with an invisible lid sometimes...throw in this new drinking law,etc. and read in between the lines ?
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As to whether the report is accurate, it can be profoundly difficult to say. Their demographic information is almost certainly based upon Census 2000 data in some form, but that is six years old now and doesn't necessarily mirror the true state of things. Fundamentally, when an organization like the Downtown Management District, Central Houston, or the Downtown TIRZ pays for a study that will be used in a marketing capacity, the consultants will very rarely present even the slightest negative picture because they want repeat business when the study needs updating in a few years.
Its hard to say whether the studies are actively distributed to various retailers or whether they end up sitting on a shelf. Sometimes managers of these kinds of organizations just want to tell their boards of directors that they've gone through the motions and made some kind of progress toward a goal, and hiring a consultant is a good way to do that without actually having to expend a great deal of effort.
I think that Midtown's (as well as Chinatown, Near Northside, Montrose, and 4th/6th Wards) success will bolster the argument for retail downtown...however, for the moment it appears that retail is being added to these areas at a rate that is commensurate with the changing demographics. I think that the neighborhood-oriented retail will go there, closer to the new residences and where there is less expensive land.
Even for those that live near Downtown, I think that there is a barrier to getting there effectively. Either someone has to walk a dozen blocks to get there or they have to park there...and I've had a couple of bad experiences with downtown parking.
Some of the pix that appear in the report seem to be recent. Also the report mentioned Houston Pav. in it and other projects that i don't believe anyone knew about ??
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There are several factors at work here:
1) Retailers may have preferences as to the kind of traffic that they pull in (i.e. commuter vs. resident).
2) People have inherent (albeit not always rational) notions of landmarks as either psychological barriers or as express routes.
3) Simple proximics.
4) The official study is done to try and meet the needs of the general population of retailers and other investors. Its more of a marketing tool to set prospective investors on the right general direction. Most professional real estate outfits will conduct their own market study that is specific to their needs when they've narrowed down the list of prospective sites to two or three.
Agreed. Do you think the report is accurate ?I have yet to hear anyone else in the forum come forward and say that the time is right for any kind of retail right now. I read on and on about 100's of ideas, which are good but everything seems to be contingent upon conditions which supposedly don't exist and so am not quite sure why they get discussed at times in the first place. When retail does emerge like HP or Saks. it's glazed over like a fluke in discussion or gets categorized into destination locations. I don't really think it matters exactly what kind of retail it is if it makes it here, other than hoping that it will attract more of its kind of retail or other types that might follow. Again, the report seems to state that more demand for retail does exist now. I can't help but think that there is at least some justification for the report saying this other than a sales tool created by paying money. I don't believe that is what it is. I do believe that demand exists w/out even reading it. Does it have enough good information that can be used to draw in retail anway,etc. to downtown...I think downtown can use all it can get at this time ? (All I know about is drycleaning)... It makes me kind of wonder if enough if this type of information is being distributed to those companies and types that might be able to use it in getting downtown on the map and attracting retailers in the first place so that it does perhaps get included more often in this last 2 or 3 process which you mention. Maybe the demand exists because these other factors do exist downtown perhaps in a different way like its proximity to what is called Midtown, which I think is just a downtown neighborhood anyway. Anywhere else in the city considering its proximity it would be called the same area...17,000 residents isn't chump change right ?
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There is a link that was posted by another member with a downtown retail report conducted for downtown houston. Try to read it if you find it. It appeared to say that demand for retail basically exists now. It of course mentioned that having more residential is definately better, I think that everyone agrees on that.
It mentioned Midtown having app. 13,000 residents and downtown app. 4,000. Does anyone think that perhaps the close proximity of Midtown to Downtown to a certain extent has been perhaps under estimated in terms of its impact on retail demand ? I am wondering why it is so important to separate Downtown from Midtown so much. Midtown seems to be downtown residential side. Also on another note why is it so important to divide 10 blocks along Main into North and South as if they are on different sides of the planet ?
Houston is naturally block specific on its own, but cohesiveness might benefit the entire area.
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=3.14
::Takes small bow::
Very catchy....what kind of pie ?
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I actually think it was the hotel component that was abandoned.
Thanks for the info. When do you think more specifics will be mentioned about HP's residential and office dev. ? This might be a good location for Duke E.'s new HQ in todays paper.
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sorry, no and no. if i did and word got out, doubt i would be able to provide any updates with the project ever again
houston-development...What's the pre-leased occupancy of hp ?
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What's "pi" ?
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I think that understanding what brings the HP's, and Sakowitz to downtown and more retailers at this time is interesting . Metropolitantexan says that we are not the only city going through this urbanization, and to be patient. Are there lots of other CBD's that are amongst the top 10 largest that have a CBD that is deader than a doornail in terms of shopping, and things to do between 5pm-10pm? I don't think that a ghost town CBD in the 4th largest city is a result of urbanization. I think it seems like there are a lot of us who would like to spend the day shopping downtown and walking up and down the sidewalks people watching, and just having something fun to do. Shelfing the topic again until another lifetime is easy if you have enough patience like some, but I dig what's going on and would like to see more done sooner with what downtown has to offer today.
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Greetings all....
.....maybe we can sum up this seemingly predictable thread in two words THE CULTURE! Yes! yes, that's it, let us somehow come forth and change "the culture" of the way we houstonians uproach this new and rapidly changing urban core, aka central business district (CBD) or even otherwise known as DOWNTOWN HOUSTON.....
WE ARE ALL ACCUSTOMED TO THE POLITICS OF THE FINANCIAL INCENTIVES......now are'nt we? For are'nt we the ones who vote for the city councilmembers/mayor that introduce this form of tax initiatives/innovations? I for one have....
MAINVOICE.....just what is it that you are really trying to get out of your system? For it certainly seems that you are just "chomping at the bit" in regards to this all too familiar/peculiar thread -- you know that I love you good pal, but as well traveled as you certainly seem.....surely you are smarter than this right? We Houstonians are surely not the only ones that are going through this new mode of urbanization, for this is happening all over the country. But just as REDSCARE has indicated earlier..."it takes time" as well as big time patience.
HOUSTON, has within it's very storied past/history, a verifiable nature of being one of the most ultra conservative cities that is known to modern man. Whether we like if or not, we are all the sad relatives of the "good ol boy system" from way back in a day. YES! We have indeed cleaned things up a bit -- but the very remnants remain........
CULTURE CLASH, is indeed happening all over this great city of ours.......we see it in the new urbanization of UPTOWN HOUSTON, we are seeing it in the ever evolving and rapidly growing MEDICAL CENTER, we are recognizing it in the new concepts/innovations involving the new designs regarding MIDTOWN.......for the baby boomers are moving back into the urban core -- as well as the new influx of citizens that are rapidly filling up our great city from all corners of the globe.......FOR ONCE THE CULTURE BEGINS TO CHANGE TOWARDS A MORE PROGRESSIVE NATURE INVOLVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES REGARDING THE CBD -- then so will the attitude toward future investment. Houston simply has to let the world know that we are "READY TO SWING A LITTLE"..........for whether we care to admit this or not -- Dallas has been doing this for decades......and that is why they seem to be so innovative, as well as progressive within their approach to getting things done, as well as staying the course.
DETERMINATION is the key, for we are going to have to be determined to be patient, civilized, as well as sophisticated within our approach......THE NEW DOWNTOWN HOUSTON IS GOING TO HAPPEN! For it is almost like a child awaiting christmas morning.......you know, "the visions of sugarplums routine" -- just keep in mind that the rapid change of a city's culture from one that has for decades moved at the ultra conservative pace of a snail -- to one that is moving and gleaming with a hip-hop rhythm -- is never going to be an easy asset toward mankind -- but an asset nevertheless.......
Metropolitantexan
I like NOW. HP likes NOW. Patience is gold except on hold...Surely there are more who believe in downtown NOW. It's easy to be the last to jump in. I guess it's harder to be a market leader than a market follower... even though we can all agree time is on downtowns side. Right ?
BLVD Place Mixed-Use: 1700 Post Oak Blvd & Upcoming Development At 1800 Post Oak Blvd.
in Uptown and Galleria Area
Posted
I even remember that old saying "staying alive in '85 !"