102IAHexpress
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Everything posted by 102IAHexpress
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Pretty bold statement. How did you arrive at that conclusion? Are you saying Houston did NOT have amazing growth in the last 25 years? The stories of Houston leading the country in jobs were lies? All the new airline routes from IAH did not happen? Tons of new home owners? etc, etc,. From what I can tell, and please correct me if I'm wrong. But Houston is hot and muggy most of the year and flat and ugly all of the year? Houston has no natural beauty. But for some reason people flock here? Often times people flock here from heavy rail cities that have failed them. No Lanier did not set us back at all. More police, better roads are what people wanted and got. Houston has thrived ever since.
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In 1988, voters in Metro's jurisdiction approved a long-range mobility plan that proposed to spend half of metro's tax revenues on bus service, 25 percent on road and general mobility improvements, and 25 percent on some fixed-guideway transit system. Later on the Metro board chose to pursue the monorail plan. However Lanier campaigned on his desire to kill the monorail proposal and instead use that money for road projects and police patrols. He won. His election win was basically a second referendum on monorail. The people voted. And they rejected monorail and instead voted to use that money for something else. Cronyism? No, just political hard ball. Lanier was honest in what he wanted to do. It was put to a vote. He won. End of story.
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Good old boys? Are you referring to Bob Lanier? Bob Lanier was a wheeler and dealer sure. But he wasn't some political crony. In the Cathy Whitmiere days Metro made a deal with Lanier, agreeing to spend more of Metro's funds on streets and roads. Metro could have said FU Lanier but they didn't. NO money was stolen. Metro made a political deal. When Lanier campaigned for mayor he campaigned on the promise to increase the number of police and to kill a monorail proposal that most citizens were skeptical about. The PEOPLE elected him. The PEOPLE told us what they wanted. This was not some crime of the century.
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Our light rail gets stuck in traffic too; in the med center. the green purple train also gets stuck in traffic in downtown. The light rail train horn is louder than any bus in Houston. I can hear the light rail train "whistle" from my office and I'm 70 plus floors above the street. Some Metro buses use compressed natural gas? No? The green link bus in downtown is zero emission, no? I don't speak for the city. But the people of Houston have spoken for the city. They prefer their cars. When convenient they will use the park and ride system. When those who cannot afford cars, can afford them, they will stop using the local buses and instead use their new/used car.
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I'm not anti rail per se. A well planned light rail is not a bad thing. But lets not get carried away. The Red Line replaced busses that were the most frequently commuted in the city. Which makes sense, those busses connected the two major economic centers of the city, Downtown and the Med Center. The Red Line is heavily used today in 2015 because well, that route has always been heavily used. But how's the north line extension doing? What about the green/purple? Houston is a city without zoning. Population centers may pop up one day and disappear the next. Probably the worst kind of city for fixed guide way transit. Busses are more flexible and can adjust more easily as the populations of the city adjust. etc, etc, I'm sure I could keep going but what's the point? You're just going to ignore all the reasons why Houston is a bus city...
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Proven? Huh? A study that suggests people may use the light rail more in the future? What? The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. So, If high income earners are not using the light rail that much now if at all, then they are not very likely to magically start using it in the future. Sorry but residents of those developments/future developments are more likely to use Uber to Midtown, etc.. Not saying it's right or wrong, that's just what it is.
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Last time I checked the medical center was, well in the Medical center. How does that further your position that downtown light rail is the cause of soooo much downtown development?
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BS? June 3 Article on Houston Chronicle. Early use of new light rail lines below expectations 2013 Study of Houston Commuters to Downtown Try again.
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Huh? Of course there is. High-Income earners in Houston avoid it like the plague. And they especially avoid the local bus/ light rail, I can repost the chart I posted earlier if you like? These are actual Houstonians telling us what THEY are doing. It's a valid study with a solid population sample. Sorry it doesn't further your position....
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Not at all. I clearly stated local bus/metro rail. Yes some higher income earners use the park and ride, but this thread is about the light rail. Yes of course the park and ride system is popular. It's one of the few things that work. Again, Houston is a bus city. Also you can speculate all you want, but the survey is of actual Houstonians and there commuting trends. The citizens are telling you what they are doing/not doing. To ignore it is delusional.
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lower midtown? where exactly? By the Fiesta Supermarket? Wheeler station? There's a huge empty parking lot in-between Fiesta, Sears and Jack in the Box on the light rail. It's been there since the light rail opened. The hospitals and Astrodome/Reliant have been there prior to the light rail.
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Two? Look at all the failed business along Preston Station. There's a huge amount of turnover. Look at Houston Pavillions and the big chunk of that development that was brought down by a wrecking ball. Sure there's something new going up in it's place, but why didn't the first tenant succeed? Yall are pro rail. I get it. But yall are not necessarily pro public transportation. Houston is a bus city. There's nothing wrong that. Maybe we're not cool like SFO or NYC. But I don't care. I care about moving people. I don't care about having a status symbol in my city that's a waste of money and moves only little more people than the busses it replaced but at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars more. Public transpiration should be about moving the most amount of people in the most cost effective way.
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Look back at my earlier post where I posted a 2013 study of Houston commuters in Downtown Houston. The study clearly states that the higher income you earn the LESS likely you are to use local bus/metro rail if at all. So maybe you can answer my question which no one else has been able to answer. How can YOU attribute development and higher property values to a form of transportation that most higher income earners do NOT use? How can light rail claim credit for spurring luxury apartment/condo growth in downtown? Using the same logic, you might as well claim that all the local bus routes that pass through Downtown are the actual spur of Downtown development?
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I'm still waiting on you to private message me the names of your "friends" that live in Rice Lofts who use the light rail all the time. Also still waiting on you to answer my question.... I see you're now over 3000 posts? Too much time on your hands?
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Yup, the McDonalds/Greyhound area is pretty bad. In 2013 a women sued greyhound for being raped INSIDE the terminal by the SECURITY GUARD! It's pretty telling that MegaBus has their "terminal" a good distance away from the Greyhound one. They obviously do not want their brand anywhere near Greyhound or that area. As I looked out my apartment window yesterday I noticed the Opening Spring 2015 sign for the restaurant next to Café Express. No construction, nothing. Wonder why? It's right on the rail? This morning I walked by the failed Georgia's Farmer's Market. I also wonder why? Right in front of the Light Rail Station, Business should be booming? In more obvious news, early numbers for the green/purple lines are below expectations.
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More deflection by Slick. Seriously? NYC and London? Some of the most densely populated cities in the world? How about you answer my question about HOUSTON. Stop being a lazy debator. Don't switch topics. If you want to discuss rail in NYC and London you are free to start a thread. But we're talking about Houston light rail. And yall are making some pretty big claims about our light rail and are not able to back them up. I'm just asking for some back up. Cloud, You're saying i'm not giving rail enough credit? Okay, lets switch the assumption. What if I make the claim that all the recent downtown development is because of all the bus routes that flow into downtown? Which is to say, our bus routes have spurred hundreds of millions of dollars in development. Our bus routes are the reason Downtown is booming? Our bus routes are what is driving developers to build luxury high rises and office towers. How does that sound to you? Would I sound like i was smoking something if i made that claim?
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Now you're making a new claim without backing it up. interesting. And since no city/county official is proposing or will ever propose the SlickVic vision of raising a tax on driving, removing parking requirements, etc. I'll just add it to the deflection list. Obviously you cannot answer my question. I guess you're too proud or something? I don't know. But for everyone else that is actually having a discussion, can we all agree that the light rail perhaps does not spur as much development as yall think it does? just perhaps? Is there at least that possibility?
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Try again. I've been a member since 2007. hardly ever post. You're the one with posting problem. So not going to answer my question?
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Ahh, now the name calling approach. okay. I'm the troll? haha. I have less than two hundred posts on this forum. Do you have anything better to do than post on the internet? You post too much. Anyways are you going to answer my question or not? You can say no.
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Ahh more deflecting. My source showed that even low six figure commuters do not use local/rail service very often if at all in Houston. But again nice try deflecting. so, how about my question?
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A more perfect source I could not have provided. Survey of commuters to and in Downtown Houston within the last couple of years. Wealthy people in Houston do not like public transportation. Not sure why that's even news to yall but whatever. And I appreciate that some of your friends are making 6 figures. But some of these properties are being built for truly upper class populations. So again try answering my question. How can you attribute the development of a high rise luxury condo/apts. with the light rail? How did the light rail spur those developments? Try answering that question.
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We're talking about Houston Slick. As I mentioned earlier when I was in Italy I saw lots of wealthy people on the train. But nice try deflecting my question. I provided a source like yall wanted. So how about answering my question? High Income earners in HOUSTON do not use public transportation very much if at all. So how can the light rail be the spur of luxury high rise apartments/condos...? Remember it was yall that made the claim about those developments on the development map...
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Now we're getting somewhere. I'm glad we agree. And if we can agree with my source and/or my observations that high income earners do not use public transportation very often if at all. Then why do YOU or ANYONE else on this board attribute new development of high rise luxury residential towers with a primarily low income mode of transportation?
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LOL this is silly. I have to prove rich people don't like public transport with a source? Haha. okay, just for giggles. Page 86 of the 2013 Downtown Houston commute survey. Can we move on?
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Not saying it's right or wrong about class and public transport in the USA, especially in Houston, just saying that's what it is. I just came back from Italy. There you see very wealthy people riding public transportation. I wish it was like that here. But it's not. That's my whole point. It's not about ME or my neighbors in Rice Lofts. It's about people who will depend on the light rail. A stop in front of the Hobby Center does no good for most people who would have preferred a stop in front of the courts. that' one example. I want Metro to move people that' it. I don't care about telling my liberal friends that Houston is better than your city because we have so many tracks of rail, etc.. In Houston and in other parts of the country (I used to live in NYC) the more you earn the less likely you are ride public transport. As far as people from Rice Lofts you have seen on the light rail. private message me their names. Because I think you're full of it. Perhaps someone who never rides the light rail will ride it once a year to go to the Rodeo or to a Texans game. Or the Dynamo game for the east lines, but is that how we should design our light rail? for the upper class in mind? Shame on yall.
