takeshi

On 3/1/2020 at 10:20 AM, jgriff said:

I live in upper Kirby and drive all the way to Porsche north Houston because Sonic dealerships are the worst. I’ve bought 7 Porsches since 2007. Sonic is so bad I’ll drive 15 miles up 45 to avoid them.

I'm in Montrose but same here.  This new dealership will only be 2 miles from me but I'll still be going to North Houston.

As someone who spends most of his time on city streets on foot, I couldn't be happier. People have been running lights with impunity since the cameras were turned off since they know there's a 0% chance of getting caught.

0%? Officers can't write tickets for running a red light?

Do you ever find yourself in one of the following situations:

1) You are in NYC or some big city (or even Austin) and run across some locally run specialty grocer or whatnot and think: "I'd never want to live in this hellhole of a city, but, damn, it's great to have shops like this in your neighborhood that you can walk to."

Not really. I generally consider Houston to be the hellhole.

Wow, the OP was right. Absolutely horrible.

I'd like to point out the original Alamo Drafthouse in downtown Austin has only one (very, very small) screen.

Had

The original on Colorado shut down back in 2007, IIRC. Its replacement has 2 screens.

I see your point but I doubt that someone looking to start up such a business would consider a single screen to be worthwhile. I'd love to be proven wrong though.

The Alamo's claim to fame IMO wasn't just serving beer. They also had good food that wasn't ridiculously priced, unusual films/videos and unusual events.

I fear downtown will always struggle to be the urban mecca of Houston until they have a proper ice cream shop

There were several (mentioned in this thread) and it didn't seem to make a difference.

No, not modeling studios. Ice cream shops.

What makes you think it's a modeling studio?

http://www.b4-u-eat.com/houston/restaurants/reviews/rsv3004.asp

It's definitely still there.

A bit of a tangent, but does anyone know whatever happened to the container house built on Cordell Street? I went to an open house there by the builder when it was about 75% done in December of 2007, then work kind of stalled on it.

It has been done for some time now:

http://www.jillhunterphotography.com/numen/album

I'm not sure if anyone is even living in it, but the redwood "shade" wall on the south side was never completed and the company that was building its website has vanished.

Really? http://www.numendevelopment.com comes up just fine for me.

The bottoms are made of 1 & 1/4" marine grade plywood. Water resistant, maybe...but not waterproof, and certainly not suitable for long term burial below ground.

Isn't the bottom the same metal as the walls and top? The containers have marine grade plywood as flooring (left in place and refinished for the guest quarters for the Cordell house) but that isn't the actual bottom of the container itself.

I don't get it. The bike boxes are for bikes to wait in at traffic lights?

That's it. They do the same thing for mopeds in Taiwan.

Please re-read my original post.

There's nothing in your original post that explains why moving businesses (that wouldn't be open after hours anyway) to street level or opening tunnels after hours would make any difference. Nor is there anything in your original post that explains why demand for existing street-level businesses is so low despite your claims that there is unsatisfied demand. Perhaps you'd care to point it our for us?

But that has nothing to do with the tunnels. Moving the retail out of the tunnels won't increase the amount of retail open after business hours. There are already street level businesses downtown that can't afford to stay open after business hours.

Precisely! All you have to do is look at current street level businesses. They're not suffering because of a lack of street level businesses...

Wow, I certainly won't be over there for much... Guess we will see how these retailers hold out.

Hot water and leaves in a pot? I've got the equipment for that at home.

I have a Rancilio espresso machine, a Technivorm for drip and two serious coffee grinders and I still go out for coffee. I guess YMMV.

Kinda late here but one of the principals of Numen Development did this for a friend's house on Allston. I believe in that particular case the roof had to be raised a bit. However, it was very well done and you actually can't tell from the street that the house has a second floor, retaining its original look. Numen's working on pushing homes built from surplus shipping containers but they're certainly capable of more than just container-based homes.

http://www.numendevelopment.com/

So what do you drive (so I know to look out)?

Still no info on the mysterious Chik-fil-a between the banks.

I'm still rooting for Chick-fil-a. Something like Panera or Einstein Bros would have been cool too. It's too bad about the Chili's though (bleh).

Probably not quite what you're looking for but this is a company that belongs to a couple of friends of mine:

http://www.numendevelopment.com/

There used to be a coffee shop in the comcast space a few years ago. They went out of business after struggling along for a few years. I think it was Midtown Bagel Coffee shop. I hope these guys know what they are getting themselves into. I would not want to take on Starbucks everyday.

Having decent coffee (unlike Starbucks) helps a lot.

They have updated the Flyer again today. The latest updates include a Cingular/AT&T store and a Starbucks with drive-thru (in case walking to the one in Target was too much hassle for you).

Walking isn't so much a hassle. It's really that the Starbucks in the Target is unappealing since it's staffed by Target employees who clearly don't care. In any case, if I want coffee I'll head to Catalina instead. I highly recommend them. Prior to giving them a shot I wouldn't bother going out for coffee at all since no one could make a latte as good as what I could make at home.

A roundabout will ALWAYS operate better than a four-way stop and is much safer.

...especially considering that most Houstonians are apparently clueless as to how to deal with a four-way when there are cars coming from all four directions. Well, it might be more self-centeredness than clueless from what I've experienced.

if the public transportation system needs to get better, why not try and improve the system we have currently? putting in one new line isn't going to make a difference to most, leaving most with the same impression (METRO is mediocre).

You know, I had the same general attitude against Metro until I did contract IT work for them. They have faced tremendous adversity in getting any rail system implemented here in Houston. It's easy to take potshots without knowing anything but Metro is really taking the future of mass transit very seriously. Believe it or not, the Main Street line was the best they could do given the strength of the opposition. It's not much to speak of but it is a start and it has given them a foothold to build on.

I walked by the garage on Monday on the way to the Angelika, and I thought I saw a sign that said the garage closes at 10 pm. If that is the case, couldn't they just turn off the lights after 10? Or do they leave them on all night? Could I have possibly misread the sign?

The gates open and close at whatever hours they happen to do so but there is 24 hour access to those parking in that garage.

It's on Houston Ave, just South of I-10, can't remember the cross street, but it's on the East side of the street near Montalbano...

It's at Crockett. My wife and I have been on Summer street since June of last year and we're definitely looking forward to Dharma on Houston since it's just a couple of blocks away.

all the more perplexing because their coffee is really foul.

With the new superautos that they have been busy deploying they've shifted to mostly mediocre in my book. Still, they're consistent and people know what they're getting before they get in the door most times. Most people love that.

At least with the La Marzoccos that they used to have you could, from time to time, find an almost good latte (though it was more miss than hit).

sounds good.. i live 4 blocks away on summer street.. we need grocerys around here.. the neighborhood is doing alot of building... ive seen several homes on summer street.. and i just saw a townhome sign aswell.. im just waiting for them to knock on my door and make me a good offer...haahahah

I would definitely like to see a Whole Foods rather than just a Target with junk food aisles. The Kirby WF location is the nearest one and it's always waaay too crowded. By the way, the link to email new store location suggestions for them can be found at:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/realestate/index.html

Can't you buy a pound of coffee at the grocery store for the price of a cup of Starbucks coffee? I think you've been had!

I guess so but I normally go for quality -- especially with coffee -- rather than quantiity. Though I get my beans from Katz (the roaster on 20th, not the deli in Montrose). I'm not touching grocery store grade C beans...