JJxvi

I'll print up some visualization maps for you guys.

Density depends on how you look at it and you can pick and choose your facts. The same number of people that live in Portland basically live with Loop 610, which is smaller in area than Portland and thus denser. There are probably very dense areas of Portland that are denser than Houston, but its a smaller town and thus hard to compare on most levels.

It actually works the other way.  The Wal*Mart will generate new sales taxes at other establishments within the city of Houston because their employees will spend their paychecks which they wouldn't get if Wal*Mart didn't employ them.  No doubt you will now claim that everybody would be employed regardless and no less have a higher paying job if they weren't forced at gunpoint to work at Wal*Mart but I guess there's just no reasoning with some people.

Enron

lmao

Should be easy to find out assuming we're talking about full blocks. See what the HCAD value on the land of those full blocks and see how it compares to their land value on nearby full blocks that would not be impaired. If its equal, then you can bet that those property owners aren't going in to tell them "you cant build a tower on our land because of the exxon building" every year.

If you've got four surrounding blocks at like $75 and Exxon, other blocks at $250 or something then there might be something to it.

Submerged plaza/townsquare idea sounds awesome.

I am kinda confuzzled now about whether the problem with the Trinity Steel parcel was that access was too poor for a WalMart or too good for a WalMart.

Regardless of the feasibility in your mind, the fact is that there has been talk of a large development at this location in the past 10 years similar to the possibilities at the Hardy Yards redevelopment. I myself have some of the same misgivings and do know the area having lived within a stones throw of it from within Timbergrove, but that doesn't change the fact that such things were talked about, unlike the Trinity Steel site about which I never heard any talks of anything but a retail center.

Yeah would have been great if the city had spent 60 million more to make it mixed use and make sure it was in more of a transitional neighborhood, er, I mean more transitional than this one was.

Anyhow, I never heard of any plans for a large scale mixed use development for the Trinity Steel site, even though it was potentially situated on the long term (and now really, really long term) plans for Metrorail expansion (hard to see a Yale orientation now anyway with the new access road and bridges)

Back in the early 2000's there were plans to redevelop the Eureka Yards into a large mixed use, and possibly transit oriented site, since its situated on right of way that METRO would like to use for both light rail and a possible commuter rail to the planned Burnet intermodal station. Some of the property on the south side has been sold for redevelopment, and townhome communities have been built that connect into cottage grove, but over 50 acres remain, plus the remaining portion on the south that has not been redeveloped closest to TC Jester and a piece of land adjacent on north line of the property that was platted for a subdivision called Stanley Park that connected out of Timbergrove, which never happened that is probably also about 10 acres or so. I think there is also many acres of vacant land on west side that could potentially connect to a Eureka Yard redevelopment also, but the main unsold portion is about 50 acres.

Also I used "as the crow flies" reference as a nod to the poll at the top of the thread, which I guess might pre-date your appearance here to argue against all things Wal Mart.

You know the streets have names in Houston.  People have been known to identify tracts of land by reference to street names.  It is a fairly effective way to show that you are not making things up to try to prove a point.

Your problem is that I am not making it up. That means I can pretty much name it at any point, but after you came out so strongly against the notion that such a "magic" piece of land could possibly exist, I decided to keep giving you rope.

I did not say it was within the Heights, merely in the area. It is probably closer to 19th and Yale than the WalMart development is as the crow flies, though.

The original plans floated were for a mixed use development with hotel, movie theater, office, retail, etc

Never heard of these plans.

There actually is a tract in the Heights area that is roughly 50 acres or more that I really have seen these types of long term plans for though.  Of course Im not sure how that fits in with your "Woe is us, this was a huge opportunity wasted, where will the mix used glory land come from now that WalMart has taken this glorious site from us!"

So long as it was closer over there with "those people" and not in the Heights, wanyway. He'd prefer they axe the WalMart portion on this pristine tract which was destined for high density glory.

So we spent 6 mil for half the retail that Washington spent 70 mil for. I am outraged.

WTF? Taco Cabana is 1300 feet along Yale from this proposed office building. Taco Cabana is the same 1300 feet from I-10.  On one hand I hear that sidewalks are vital along this 1300ft stretch of frontage coming to Taco C from the north.  Then later on, I hear that from the south 1300 feet is much too far and there is too much of a barrier for people to walk this distance, presumably because you have to cross one street.  One street being the same number of streets that someone must cross coming from I-10 from the other direction. And of course if you happen to make it to I-10 and Yale, you will probably have just crossed a pair of 6 lane access roads and walked under a major freeway bridge just to get to the starting point.

Uh I don't think there is anywhere to get to by connecting up the East side is there? All that would do is shove you in a neighborhood which also restricts north south flow and is cut off from major streets on the east by the car dealership, the church, and middle school.  I fail to see how they could have set up a street grid to add much beyond simply adding a second north south corridor, is that what you are advocating?

I must have never got out of there cheaply enough to get hit by a credit card minimum...

Its Carib instead of Polynesian, but I don't see a big difference thematically.

I don't know what you'd call Under the Volcano if you didn't call it a tiki bar...

I assume you mean Under the Volcano on Bissonett. That is a tiki bar, but I guess it doesn't fit their ridiculous uber casual tiki bar vision.

Re: Fat Cat, there is some cinderblock construction happening on that site.

OK, it's bound to be where Maggie Rita's used to be. 1400 plain old Shepherd not North or South. Chronicle messed up the address.