yall_are_nutty

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writ...blog/index.html City limits Jacksonville is not cut out to host a Super Bowl Posted: Thursday February 3, 2005 3:02PM; Updated: Thursday February 3, 2005 3:02PM JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- You tried. You really did. All you lovely, helpful residents of this unlovely, disastrous town -- all you get-the-door volunteers, with your yellow windbreakers and shining smiles and palpable, desperate need to lend a hand -- truly gave it your all this week. You did everything in your collective power to make every visitor think and feel that this was anything but a sprawling, swampy, godforsaken roach motel. You tried. Hard. So know this, folks: It's not your fault. In retrospect, I -- along with the thousands of media members filing similar dispatches this week -- will never hold you accountable for the sins of the NFL, which was given every conceivable reason to NOT bring this game (and thus, me) here and still decided that Jacksonville was ready for its ill-conceived, cruise-ship-addled close-up. That you beautiful, big-hearted people live in a place with an unconscionable lack of hotel rooms, decent restaurants, recognizable city centers, attractive gathering places, cultural options, available taxis and dependable weather patterns, shouldn't be held against you. Just because I've heard your city called "scummy" and "smelly" too many times to count this week -- and one grizzled, overly nasty scribe proclaim yesterday, "The only attractive people here are the out-of-town strippers" -- shouldn't give you or your phalanx of defensive local columnists any more of a complex. It's just that the very things that make this place so livable for you -- no big-city bustle, no discernable tourism industry, no apparent geographic center --unfortunately make it, by far, the worst Super Bowl burg ever. So please, y'all: Keep smiling. Because at this rate, your pearly whites may just be all we've got. That said, I'm more certain of any number of other things Super-Bowl-week-related. So, in homage to my esteemed colleague Peter King, I give you the Ten Things I Think I Know I've Learned: 1. When considering future Super Bowl sites (and let's not even get started on next year's host city -- the balmy, escapist environs of Detroit), the NFL should disabuse itself of the following fallacy: The South doesn't experience a winter. Five years ago, we suffered through ice storms in traffic-choked Atlanta. Three years ago, it was the Gulf-whipped rainstorms of traffic-choked Tampa. Thus far here, we've endured sub-arctic temperatures and gloomy skies, until yesterday, when the mercury climbed into the 40s...just in time for a day-long downpour, and today's pea-soup inversion layer. (And -- surprise -- choking traffic.) What's so wrong with the Miami-New Orleans-San Diego rotation? Or better yet, a permanent stay in the Big Easy, by far the South's most capable host city (the tourist traffic barely rates among the city's top-10 weekends) and one which will appreciate the NFL presence when the Saints move to L.A. in a few years.

Boy, it is not going well in Jacksonville. It makes Houston look very good by comparison, but it's also pissing off everyone about rotating this thing outside of New Orleans, Miami and San Diego...... Here's a snippet from a guy who was extremely whiny about having to go to Houston last year, but came around quite a bit by the end....... ".....If anything, the past two days made me appreciate Houston's performance last year, a city that faced the same logistical problems and conquered many of them. I don't think Houston should have hosted a Super Bowl either, and those last two days were a certifiable train wreck. But at least they had enough hotels. At least there were a decent number of cabs. At least there was a recognizable downtown area. At least they had the Light Rail, with the bonus that you might get to see some drunken pedestrian bouncing off it. Houston was 10 times more prepared than Jacksonville is right now." http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...ons/superblog/3

Density particularly sounds unappealing when you have small children.

Reading and listening to the media who attend Super Bowls every year, you get the general impression that most just want southern florida, southern california and new orleans (and maybe Arizona?) based mostly on weather. however, out of the "extra" cities that have been added and other future possibilities, Houston is the preferred destination after last year. Way above Jacksonville and Detroit in particular, but also above Atlanta or any others at this point. not to say Houston didn't have any detractors, but many of the most cynical going in really enjoyed last years SB and the prevailing sentiment was that most would welcome a return to H Town. houston did a lot to repair its image with that SB publicity last year.

From everything I've heard and read so far regarding the Super Bowl, people were expecting nothing from Houston and most were extremely surprised and had nothing but good things to say about the city itself and their experience at the festivities. On the other hand, their fears that Houston would be a sucky venue for the Super Bowl are now being borne out in Jacksonville, which apparently IS turning out to be a sucky venue for the SB.

What's That Smell? Jacksonville By Tony Kornheiser Wednesday, January 26, 2005; Page D01 ------------------- This message has been edited to remove copyrighted material. Please do not post copyrighted photos or articles from newspapers or magazines. We have already received a warning from the Houston Chronicle, and the legal departments of other publications have visited the site. If you would like to discuss a published article, please summarize the article and provide a link to the original source. -------------------

All this decrying of sameness from a board full of people whose vision for our world includes townhomes, brownstones, condos, and apartments. yeah, what a beacon of individuality those dwellings emit.

Love the rust look. Also love the painted concrete if done right. Not sure about the pastel colors on the high five yet though. it's the plain concrete that looks bad to me over time.

rendering at www.thewoodlands.net http://www.thewoodlands.net/newspub/story.cfm?ID=1298 Design Approved for Construction of Waterway Square Landmark Nautilus Fountain, Cascading Waterfalls, Major Civic Plaza Planned by The Woodlands Operating Company The conceptual design has been approved and construction is scheduled to begin next year on Waterway Square, the centerpiece of The Woodlands Waterway

http://www.thewoodlandsreport.com/news/bet...20040602_02.htm June 2, 2004, 5:21PM Woodlands rolls out new development plans Lake project to begin building of first section By BETH KUHLES Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle EAST SHORE It has been affectionately dubbed Mount Woodlands. But the pile of dirt on the East Shore of Lake Woodlands soon will be transformed into a new urban community with opportunities for residents to stroll down replicas of some of the most famous streets in the country. The Woodlands Operating Co. recently unveiled its plans for public amenities on the East Shore of Lake Woodlands to The Woodlands Association at its annual retreat. In addition to estate homes, row houses and townhomes, a new breed of parks is being planned for the latest addition to The Woodlands' downtown. Urban living "East Shore is a downtown area, but it will be more of a garden district," said Robert Heineman, senior vice president of planning for The Woodlands Operating Co. "This is going to be different than the rest of the neighborhoods in The Woodlands. It will be more pedestrian friendly, with an emphasis on architecture." The developer plans to make the East Shore of Lake Woodlands a showcase of 2,000 residential units, with the urban living of Town Center at the front door and the natural elements of the community at the back door. This development is expected to stretch from Woodlands Parkway to north of Research Forest Drive, across from the Hewitt Associates complex. There are also plans for commercial opportunities on Grogan's Mill Road, south of Research Forest. Heineman said the proposed development would be reminiscent of River Oaks and North and South Boulevards in Houston, Oak Park in Chicago, Point Park in St. Louis, Clifton in Cincinnati and Back Bay in Boston. First phase Plans for the first section of East Shore, a peninsula that lies just north of Woodlands Parkway, are nearly finalized. It includes three new parks, a central boulevard leading to the lake and a traditional pathway right on the lake. All of the amenities will be open to the public. "The forest has been the unifying element in the community," Heineman said. "The forest has defined the open spaces. As we get into Town Center and as we get into East Shore, architecture plays more of a role ... Rather than buildings surrounded by open space, what we are trying to create is open space defined by architecture and more interesting landscapes. We are creating outdoor rooms defined by landscapes and streetscapes." More lake access Out are the traditional parks with playground equipment, tennis and basketball courts and soccer fields. In are gardens, sculptures, arbors, water features, open spaces, sidewalks, entryways and decorative pavers. East Shore Drive, a major new lake loop road going in just north of Woodlands Parkway on Grogan's Mill Road and ending at Lake Front Circle, will provide unobstructed views of Lake Woodlands for drivers and pedestrians. A traditional 8-foot pathway will be built parallel to the shore, unlike the limited opportunities for lakeside access on the West Shore. "We will bring roads, sideways and pathways to the lake," said Jim Wendt, also of the planning department of The Woodlands Operating Co. "It will provide more access to the lake." At the tip of the peninsula will be a long, narrow park on the lake, to be called East Shore Point. The landscaped area will include benches, lighting, shade structures and a pier out over the water, Wendt said. While East Shore Point is open to the public, there are plans for an East Shore Club, with swimming facilities and a boat house, that will be located on the lake but open only to East Shore residents, Wendt said. Another major road leading into East Shore from Woodlands Parkway is East Bay Boulevard, which will provide a long linear view to the lake. The neighborhood will be patterned after the row houses found in Charleston, S.C., where front porches seem to spill out onto the streets. While the center of the boulevard will have colorful landscaping, trees and grass, there will be shaded sidewalks featuring all

it's not only billboards but the signage for all the businesses along there. a restrictive sign ordinance would have been nice.

When you say "oil based energy generation", what exactly are you talking about? Autos? Where do you think think those hybrid cars get their power? There are only two choices for mass markets. Fossil fuels and nuclear. That will not change in your lifetime or your kids or your grandkids.

Here. End it on this. I've lived in the Dallas area all my life except for two years in Houston. They're both fine cities. However, my observation is that you can take a Dallasite's opinion of Dallas and cut it in half to get an accurate gauge. You can take a Houstonian's opinion of Houston and double it to get an accurate gauge. (Although, that may not hold true for posters on these boards). Houston usually exceeds my expectations. Dallas is great, too but not at the level you'd imagine by reading through boards like this.

When I think of Houston and International, I think of this.... http://www.intltrucks.com/

Glad to see the exterior dining right on the waterway along with shops. I was wondering when that would start happening.

http://www.thewoodlands.net/newspub/story.cfm?ID=1323 Design Completed on 21 Waterway Ave Office Building by The Woodlands Operating Company Design work has been completed for 21 Waterway Avenue, a new seven-story, 105,000-square-foot multi-tenant Class A office building on The Woodlands Waterway

What is considered the platinum corridor? I've heard of the Telecom corridor? I think Uptown Houston is very very similar to the Galleria/Addison area.

LOLOLOLOL - "a great mystical thing!!!" aggies are so delusional it's downright funny. yeah, nobody else has ever experienced being part of a group......or gone to college..........or lived in a boring town.............

Had to sign up to say that Uptown Houston and Las Colinas are not that similar. One has massive traffic, a large mall, many hotels, many high rises, many many restaurants and shops, etc. etc...... the other has one nice hotel, hardly any shops, a few restaurants and offices... although it does have a couple nice golf courses....