Ross

Why do you think destroying major cross country freeways would help downtown? I-10 doesn't even run through Downtown. Your proposals don't even consider about the impacts on interstate commerce and people outside the area. We do not live in a vacuum. Don't you think rail lines through town would have the same effect as freeways? Heavy commuter rail, or light rail, for large numbers of people take up a lot of space. That's one reason London doesn't have any cross town rail lines, requiring a transfer to the crowded Underground lines to get to another terminus. I like Houston the way it is, thank you.

I've lived in third world countries, and without exception, the goal of the locals I knew was to own a car. A major benefit for most employees was an employer provided bus to get to work.

I've spent a lot of time in London over the years. The transportation system there is good, but it doesn't make life a panoply of unicorns and rainbows. It's not fast, and it's crowded. There's nothing like spending 30 minutes with your nose in someone elses armpit to make you wish for the comfort of your car, even if it is expensive to drive.

I had to rely on the bus after Alison, since my care got flooded and took 4 weeks to repair. The buses were fine, other than taking 3 times as long as driving would have, which is the nature of buses.

Better hurry for the container tower, it looked like they were tearing the surrounding stuff down Memorial Day weekend.

I don't really care what happens in Istanbul. It's just not relevant to the discussion here. Turkey is not the United States, there are different cultural drivers, laws, traditions, etc that make comparisons unreliable. I could also argue that anyone who voted for Obama is too stupid to be allowed to do anything without close supervision. My argument would be just as valid as yours. I just love how the statists and new urbanists think they have the solution to all problems, and that the solution is ever growing intrusive government. That kind of thinking can only end in tears, and the deaths of all those opposed. That was the basic theory of Lenin.

This is a complete fabrication and you know it. My house in the suburbs would cost half as much as it does inside Loop 610, so I am getting a bigger subsidy. Your arguments imply that the buyer of a $10 million home in Manhattan doesn't get a deduction for interest, and is therefore providing a subsidy to the buyer of a $300,000 home in The Woodlands. That's totally wrong. The buyer in Manhattan will get a bigger tax deduction because his mortgage is larger. The only reason that statistics might show that there are more mortgage deductions in the suburbs is that there are more rental properties in urban areas, and the interest deduction shows up as a business expense instead of a personal mortgage interest deduction.

My point is that the situation under discussion was not dependent on the developer. The City apparently did a poor job overseeing the Washington Heights 380 work. That is independent of the developer. I haven't made any comment on the Montrose HEB, as it isn't relevant here.

My point is that the situation under discussion was not dependent on the developer. The City apparently did a poor job overseeing the Washington Heights 380 work. That is independent of the developer. I haven't made any comment on the Montrose HEB, as it isn't relevant here.

I brought up HEB because they were a potential developer for Washington Heights. Absent City oversight, they would have done exactly the same thing Ainbinder/WalMart did.

Here's some commentary on the history of the hotel http://harriscountycriminaljustice.blogspot.com/2013/05/hell-on-earth.html. I get the impression that this is one of those tragic situations where the correct in hindsight decision would have been to let the place burn without intervention.

Your real argument is with the City, not Ainbinder and WalMart, who did just what the City ordered. You would have been making the same complaints when HEB failed to "do the right thing" or when the theoretical developers of a mixed use paradise with cute apartments and chef driven eating establishments also failed to "do the right thing". Go complain to Ellen Cohen and see how far you get.

You don't know me, and you don't know where I've lived and worked. Nearly everyone I know who works in London lives in the suburbs because they want a house with a yard and a garage. The fact that the suburbs have cheaper housing helps. As for transport, some of those living in the suburbs of London use rail (which has been in place for well over 100 years), but most of them drive to avoid long commutes in crowded trains. They don't save any time by driving, but they are far happier having their own space. This was also true when I lived in London in the 70's, and when I worked there in the 90's. When I lived in Bangkok, we had an apartment, because that was what the company provided. The Thais I worked with mostly lived in apartments, but dreamed of being able to buy a villa, which they all did at the first opportunity so they wouldn't have to live in their neighbor's armpit. Most people live in apartments because that's what is available, not because it makes them happier. .

The mortgage tax incentives are available to anyone who has a mortgage. They are not restricted to only those folks who live in a suburb - the residents of 2121 Kirby get to deduct their mortgage interest, just like the new home buyer in the Woodlands.. For those people who live in rented accommodation, the mortgage break goes to the landlord, if he has borrowed to build.

TABC regulations *or the law) prohibit taking alcohol from an establishment licensed for on premise consumption. That gives you weird situations like Minute Maid Park, where you can't leave certain parts of the stadium with a drink, even though they are sold on the next level as well.

Are you really arguing that without the so-called government subsidies you keep harping about, every last American would have chosen to live in an apartment in the center of every large city in the United States? That's ridiculous. You are implying that Houston probably would not extend past the Loop, and we would all be happy with out cramped quarters and tiny stores that carry very little in the way of useful products.

Really? He owns all of the land along the new part of the Grand Parkway? No one else owns any? Hyperbole, I think.

I had thought that there was no prohibition on consuming alcohol in public in Texas. I was partially right. Turns out cities can work with TABC and get a ruling that bans open containers in public, as that term is defined, in the Central business district. http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/laws/public_consumption.asp http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/laws/cities/houston.pdf

But those who could afford it, bought an automobile.

My grandparents thought the streetcars sucked, and took too long to get anywhere. That's why they bought an automobile. Plus, the streetcars didn't go many of the places they needed to go, like Tomball and Humble.

I can't believe that someone went through all of the archives and removed all the references to the protests. Of course, I guess my family is probably largely to blame for the demise of streetcars, since my great grandfather sold cars in Houston from 1912-1921. Krits, REO, and Overland.

That's when you stop, pull out the cell phone, and call the police and complain about the terroristic threat you just received. Yet another good reason to get a CHL and carry a firearm.

London intra-city rail (the Underground) has names for all of th elines. Bakerloo, Jubilee, District, Circle, etc.

I am not a big fan of that concept. Hempstead is too useful as it is.

Parallel isn't the problem. Crossing the rail line is. Most of the trips I make in the vicinity of the northern extension of light rail now require multiple block detours to get across the rail line. To quote my grandparents, who lived in Houston when there were streetcars, "It was difficult to get where you needed to go in any reasonable amount of time" There's very little I feel like walking to from my house. The Timbergrove ball fields are pretty much it. For everything else, I'll drive. I would consider riding my bike some, but the head tube cracked, and Trek hasn't made good on it yet. We have a long driveway, so I get plenty of exercise walking it's length.