GovernorAggie

Didn't you make this same point on the Chron forums for this article?

I saw the fountains along what will be the model boat pond being tested Saturday night. The lighting is amazing. Speaking of lighting, the new lighted walkway that was Crawford Street will be an amazing entryway to the Hilton Americas and Toyota Center.

I agree with the color of brick. The mixture of it and the glass serves the area well--not to mention the height. Coming from Rockets games, it's neat to hear people's reactions (if any) to both 1PP and Discovery Green.

Don't mean to be Barry the Bad News Bearer, but this is Houston. My guess is that we count on a Jiffy Lube with a soccer field on the inside. Cause that's all that's "needed" and "practical". That's how this town seems to operate more often than not.

I'm thinking they already have thought this through--especially since Tampa Bay has seen more action from the Gulf more recently than Houston--or any other locale except maybe Mobile and Panama City.

I think they've long started on this one. They were seeking help from the public for pictures of what the stained glass ceiling may have looked like originally, IIRC.

A country mile!

It should be emphasized that the RCA Dome will be demolished--not imploded like the Kingdome was. I would think that the bid is that low because you don't have as much building. I'm thinking that the Astrodome's roof alone would increase the costs. RCA doesn't have that problem as much with it's "marshmallow" air-supported roof. It could literally be as simple as turning off the roof's airpumps, letting it deflate, cutting it into strips and hauling it away. Furthermore, RCA isn't a stand-alone building. It is part of Indy's convention center which will be expanded once the dome is gone. Tropicana and the Metrodome are on their last legs as well--Tropicana was a dog building from the time it was built and has consistently been rated as the worst stadium in baseball. The Metrodome is a cookie-cutter building like the Silverdome, Carrier Dome in Syracuse, BC Place in Vancouver, BC, and the RCA Dome. Personally, I think that the Astrodome has even more significance that Reliant Stadium. The Dome was a first--Reliant is a follow up act to SkyDome/Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Dome made the notion of playing outdoor sports in indoor venues a feasible proposition. All these domes operating today can look to the Astrodome as the granddaddy of them all, and to just saw it's pointless or useless is just wrong. And I'm not even a native Houstonian nor have I even had the pleasure of even seeing the Dome on the inside and I can see the value of keeping the building at all costs. In the meantime, maybe we can get Mattress Mac to pay for it to be power washed

He plans on running for Mayor of Houston in 2009. He's just posturing right now. Niche, regarding your point about making express routes free and such, i agree with it on the surface--as long as they are like express overlay routes of busy local routes. Making commuter buses and suburban surfaces free and not local service has got equitability issues written all over it. People who think that the rail doesn't serve them would pale in comparison to those who would feel (and I don't necessarily consider this a favorite word) "disenfranchisement" by preferential treatment to choice riders. At least all of the rail lines (except Uptown) will go through transit dependent areas. Actually basically all of North, nearly all of East End, nearly all of Southeast, and maybe a third of University would go through transit dependent areas. EDIT: I should also add that in my opinion working to reduce congestion is a losing battle. Maybe we can try reducing the *growth rate* of congestion, but if Houston remains economically strong, traffic congestion will just become a part of more and more parts of our lives. Doing "what has always worked" may not work as well as we move forward. If H-GAC is right and Houston grows by about 60-70% over the next thirty years, there's basically no way that there will be a 60-70% increase in roadway/travel/transit capacity in that time frame. It can be done for a price--one that Houstonians are not willing to pay through tolls, taxes, leases to private companies, or increased fares. Changing the Houston mindset of "fixing congestion" to "providing as many travel options as possible" is going to be difficult, but it has to be the way we proceed. Lastly, Cleveland is a city that has had improved traffic conditions recently, but that's due to it's stagnant economy and shrinking population.

Not that the data is handy in my back pocket (but then again, you haven't presented any quantitative data to back up your stance) but IIRC Houston consistently ranks as one of the more dangerous places to drive in the U.S.--and that's just with other vehicles. Imagine with peds and bikes. Just look at how high our insurance rates are. Also, I think that H-GAC has some data showing that Harris County has the highest rate of traffic fatalities in the country. To second Jax's points, if anything, Metro has gone overboard in the safety features department. Other cities--like San Francisco--have NO differentiation between the train's guideway and the auto lanes. I personally think that the LRT safety features in Houston are a lot like coloring books--you can make the lines thicker and thicker, but some people will still find a way to color outside the lines. Furthermore, to continue to blame Metro for all these accidents over and over is like blaming the coloring book designer for not installing mines and an electric fence to keep everyone coloring in the lines.

It was cool being able to see the lights from 1PP on the Gulf Freeway inbound last night. It really is beginning to make a mark on the skyline! It, Discovery Tower, MainPlace, 6HC, La Quinta, and Embassy Suites will make a nice impression on that side for skyline shots...especially from 59.

That could possibly be the Fannin bridge. The San Jacinto one looks a lot more "square". Count me in with those who can vouch for the impressiveness of this thing in person. Wow. Just wow.

Given MainPlace's official groundbreaking on Earth Day in April, 6HC in March, and possible groundbreakings for La Quinta, Embassy Suites, Discovery Tower, and throw in the proposed Convention Hotel and East Downtown could have a lot of cranes in the air by maybe next summer (2009).

I am SO glad that the Pasterisks lost this one. I would have cheered for the Cairo Cougars or the Tokyo Tater-tots against them. I cannot stand them, not even in the least bit. Their hubris is what took them down. They invited the Giants players to the planned postgame parties, they bought the rights to the expression "19-0", their two local papers had books ready to sell on the perfect season, and Richard Seymour (who btw has gotten the same playing style remarks from the Chargers AND Giants) was telling the Giants that it was time for them to go home. The Pasterisks' "humble pie" junk was just that--junk. They weren't humble, they took their opponent lightly, and the rest is history. They went from being the darling of ESPN to possible the wrong end of the worse upset in Super Bowl history. Good. Furthermore, it is getting worse from here. Matt Walsh (the former video guy in Hawaii) is going to blow the lid off their cheating, and the titles that they did win will all be questioned. It's comical watching ESPN fall all over themselves off the coronation throne that they had already given New England (amazingly similar to the way they were building up USC before Vince Young came along). So we have the "Madden Curse", the "SI Jinx", and the "ESPN-crowning-a-team-as-the-best-ever-so-that-their-quote-unquote-reporters-can-have-the-priviledge-of-making-their-careers-off-writing-books-and-Pulitzer-articles Curse".

I would rather the Rodeo update Reliant Arena and allow to Dome to become something more than just another "multi-use facility" that would be a place to really brag about, even if its just to our family members who visit. Throw in the fact that apparently Houston is going t submit another DOA application for the Super Bowl that will be the most technically superior (liek Houston's applications for large events ALWAYS are) and used to squeeze what can be had from cities like Miami, New Orleans, and Tampa.

One word, three letters....W, O, W!!!!!!! As far as the size, I'm sure some of our experts can help with that.

Got a look at the bridge work over San Jacinto last night (street was closed). It was AMAZING! It gives a whole new feel to that part of downtown. I knew this project would have great potential, but that structure alone what really raised my confidence level!

Maybe not quite...the Arizona Cardinals new stadium actually has indoor tailgating space IIRC. Maybe that's what the top level is for, part-time. I didn't like the idea of converting the Dome to a massive parking garage alone, but if a few levels of parking are built into it with other uses on top, then maybe that could be something to look at. The museum, event/exhibition space, and other things could maybe sit on top of say 7 levels of parking. However, getting out of a parking garage that size after an event would be a not-so-nice endeavor IMO. If the hotel falls through, I still prefer the museum idea. I would think the Dome has enough space on the inside to make it a one of a kind sports museum (which has been mentioned before) but complete it scale replicas (a la big league dreams in League City) of the old Houston stadiums like where the Buffalos played and even a modern scale replica of Minute Maid. For the indoor teams, an actual scale replica of the Rockets, Comets, Cougars, etc. courts and the Aeros ice could be put in. Each scaled playing surface could also be the exhibits of those teams (for example how many current Houstonians who may be Northern transplant hockey fans know that Gordie Howe, one of the greatest hockey players ever, played for and has his jersey retired with the Aeros?) Another museum idea is to divide the Dome into levels and have sort of a Houston through time kinda thing, complete with the prehistoric days of what the area we know as Houston was like ages ago (it might actually have to be an underwater exhibit). There can then be a scale diorama of the battle of San Jacinto on another level, and then sort of a progression through time from 1836 to now, complete with scale models and old photographs such as of Main Street in the say, 1920s-1940s, what we now know as Uptown in 1960. I think that people would be amazed to actually get a visual representation of how much this city has changed in such a short time, and it could spur visits to other attractions here that most people may not think to look at, such as the free tour given by the Port, the San Jacinto Monument, everything done by famous Houstonians such as Jesse Jones, Howard Hughes (who most Americans may not know was a Houstonian), and so on. There could also be a section on famous Houstonians past and present (I mean how many people know that "Claire Huxtable" is a Houstonian?), and major contributions that Houston has made to the world, such as space travel, medical breakthroughs, energy, and anything else that can be attributed to the city. There could even be a "Hillcroft Ave" concept food court--since Hillcroft is one of the most diverse streets in town (given a Chron article some years ago that said that one can drive through 8 countries on Hillcroft) Lastly, I personally think it would be kinda neat to see exhibits linking the names we hear so often today with the people or things they were named after such as Westheimer, Kirby, Travis, Fulton, Harrisburg, Scott, Cullen, Bissonet, Gessner, Hardy, etc. Just who were these people and what did they do to get streets named after them? Who was Harris County named after? Who is Sam Houston (aka the only person to ever be governor of two different states)? Then again all these ideas could be dumb as a sack o' nickels

I have actually been on the main lanes every piece of freeway in Harris County at least once except for the Beltway between I-10 East and Gulf Freeway or the Hardy north of the IAH Access tollway. But oddly enough I have actually been on the Emmett F. Lowery Expressway in Texas City and Spur 330 (Decker Dr.) in Baytown!

I realize that. What I meant was something other than the Brookfield Propoerties/6 Houston Center/Discovery Tower/Hines interest on Main/La Quinta/Embassy Suites rumors/proposals/plans that have been brought forth already. Like a real project confirmation for Houston City Centre (besides just a nice graphic) would be nice.

EngCONS (and anyone else who may want to answer this), Just two questions... 1. Have you heard of anything at this or a comparable scale for Downtown? 2. Have you heard of anything for Downtown. No details needed, I'd just like to know if there's anymore besides the pending ones (i.e. Brookfield's two plots and Hines' alleged interest in the old Shamrock block). If it even only halfway materializes (40 and 25 stories), it would still be great. I just hope that Downtown begins to see more movement from the hype factory. Thanks a bunch!

Hmmm, how about a "Super CVS" or "CVS Signature" or "CVS Select"??

Little more info on this development... It used to be home to the Charlottetown/Midtown Square Mall. Became very run-down and has since begun redevelopment. Some vacant land around the new Target is what used to be pavement over the Little Sugar Creek--which had long been regarded as basically a sewer. They will be establishing a greenway alongside it that will be a link into a longer greenway that will stretch from Uptown Charlotte into South Carolina (Charlotte sits right on the state line). There's have been other things to take place there, such as reworking the ramp and streets (Kenilworth, S. Independence) from the Belk Freeway (their version of out 45/59 loop around downtown). Also, truth be told--the LRT is a decent walk from here, but it will be much closer to the proposed Elizabeth streetcar. Also, this development took a very LOOOOONG time to get off the ground. It (and the uncovering of Little Sugar Creek) had been talked about since probably 2000, and it finally opened last year. I think the Target has a Home Depot under it as well. It's a pretty neat development, especially with the residential aspect. A pretty neat mixed-use Lowe's development complete with residential on top of it is also going in at one of the LRT stations IIRC. Well, that's it for the dose of Charlotte.

I think it's just gonna plow through there. Remember, this is HCTRA's project, so Westbury residents may as well just be complaining to a brick wall. IMO, public involvement may be non-existent at its worst and begrudgingly sparse at best. Hopefully, they may at least reconfigure the street to where S. Post Oak acts as feeders to the new tollway.

I'm sorta with you on this, Niche. It has gotten ancient seeing single factors as the litmus tests for how "progressive" (whatever that means) a community is. I mean, could it be that cities choose people for elected office because they like their approach to the position? Besides all that, I think the definition of "progressive" and "conservative" is conditional and abstract at best--and a farce at worst. Houston's economy is "progressing" at an extremely high rate, but is viewed by some as "conservative". On the other hand, Pittsburgh's and Baltimore's economies are not coming along at the same rate, but are "progrssive". See? Conditional and subjective. And I'd even through in "unimportant".