skwatra

i don't think quality-of-life in relocation had anything to do with Boeing's decision. There are less then 350 employees at the new WHQ, while there or 2k+ in Houston already. they wanted to move some place where they did not already have a presence. i do agree that having a bad rep for environmental quality can only hurt us, but i don't think that has anything to do with boeing's decision.

i recently went back to india after 8 years. previously all my cousins were driving civic equivalents or scooters, now some have SUVs (diesel) and they all have sedans. but they have switched all their public busses from diesel to CNG (compressed natural gas) in delhi, the pollution has actually decreased significantly, even though the number of motor vehicles now are a much higher percentage then bikes/rickshaws as it was before. they are building suburbs and moving farther away from the city, there was an article about that in the chron a few weeks back about beijing. "From now to 2020, world oil consumption will rise by about 60%. Transportation will be the fastest growing oil-consuming sector. By 2025, the number of cars will increase to well over 1.25 billion from approximately 700 million today. Global consumption of gasoline could double. The two countries with the highest rate of growth in oil use are China and India, whose combined populations account for a third of humanity. In the next two decades, China's oil consumption is expected to grow at a rate of 7.5% per year and India

i happen to catch this after the game last night, got quite a laugh out of it.

a few years back i remember seeing in the news, a lady who had a blow-up doll to ride in the HOV here in houston. she got into an accident and got a ticket for the accident and for illegally using the HOV. that must have been embarassing...

^interesting, i never thought about that. i guess safety isn't that big of an issue if you're picking up commuters at a park & ride huh?

for the morning, you should have no problems that early with traffic. the fastest route (depending on exactly where you live) will most likely be 290 to 10. the afternoon could be bad, leaving at 3:45 would probably help a lot. when i leave downtown at 4:30, i can get to 290 and beltway 8 by 5, but i take the HOV on 290 and fly by the horrible traffic. you're just going to have to try a few routes and see what works for you. if your timings are set and you can find the right one, vanpools are really great. vanpool metro rideshare and you can check traffic trends and historical data for rush hour here: transtar

^if that's the case, the trip downtown would take over an hour. when/if they do put rail out to IAH, they should have the option of an express that costs more but doesn't stop. like the gatwick express in london, you pay twice as much but you get to the CBD in half the time.

i don't think new bars are needed currently. if they just revamp what's there (there are still plenty of places open right?), fix the street up and allow it to stay open, hopefully they can draw better/bigger crowd and new places will come in time.

i agree we need (actually we already have) several entertainment areas. variety is nice, and i hope these areas are continually improved, especially richmond. without different areas, we wouldn't have places like the village and kemah boardwalk which are perfect for what they are, and wouldn't be possible downtown. hey DJ, afterhours places are needed, but how about we get them to extend last call? no one wants to leave those clubs at 2am when they shut down. redscare, there's a central gathering place in clear lake? i must be missing out, cause we head downtown/midtown or to the village if we want to have fun. please enlighten me.

that's good to hear, last i saw 59 was to be completed by Dec 06. and i'm already in grad school

i agree the uh-galleria line will be great in the future, but how bad will construction be now? i understand we have to go through this phase to get what we want in the end, but i just wanted opinions for my particular situation. i was thinking about moving to midtown at the end of this year, i go to UH part time and work in clear lake, but hate living in the suburbs other than the lack of commute/traffic. it seems like between 59 and LRT construction, that area could get pretty messy. by the time they're done, i'll have graduated... if i stick myself near 45, i should be okay right? only problems would be getting to rice and the galleria area? hate to burst the bubble on a fairly positive thread, IMO this plan looks good, and i'm happy to see the addition of commuter lines. if there was one now to galveston i would use it several times a week at non-peak hours. i think the future of our transit system is headed in the right direction.

i'm taking a friend of mine working down here from toronto to new orleans this weekend. we're going to have to hit bourbon st. one night, just to get crazy and show him something unique. but i also want to get some good creole/cajun food, maybe live jazz, and i'm sure there's plenty of other entertainment. any suggestions? i know some people on here are from the area, whenever i go we end up on bourbon so i wanted to see what else was out there, i kno there's plenty.

of course they don't have ridership numbers. i would never ask my friend coming in to iah to take a city bus to downtown that takes over an hour, when i can drive him in less than half that time. an express rail to the airports would be so nice, and i would think would be utilized much more the the current airport "express" 101 and 102. when i mention these to people who live here, they didn't even know they exist.

i agree the refinery views can be spectacular, but then you realize what they really are and it takes away from it (for me at least). especially if its in your backyard.

previous toilet thread

there's a billboard up un 45S just outside the beltway. i'll keep you guys posted since there's finally something i drive by daily worth mentioning on here.

so if they're starting with BRTs and eventually moving to light rail, that pretty much means everything we're going to get will be at grade level right?

in theory, this will be cheaper initially (and faster), but in the long run they're not taking the cheap way out, once they get the LRVs in place.

i don't have any pics, its just a two lane road, probably close to as wide as richmond with a bunch of bars/restaurants/clubs along it, pretty dense at places.

i haven't been out to richmond since the late 90's. too young and ghetto for us now. but i would hope houston could sustain more nightlife areas. we enjoy main when we want to go clubbing, and the village for chilling. i could envision richmond being something like lower greenville in dallas, except with less clubs and more restaurants/bars.

^that's exactly what i was thinking. but then i remembered DeLay has done a lot of other things which cause reason to not want him around...

i've never heard this area referred to as "little india" we just call it "hillcroft," any indian in houston would know what you're talking about. raja's is great. i always hear ads for standard sweets on the indian radio station, but i've never been there. i stick to my parent's home cooking- closer, better, and free!

the renderings show a lot of open space at galveston as well. but the way the rides are planned to be integrated, it has a lot of potential. i'm looking forward to it. citykid, you're missing out.

splashtown is 40 acres. i was hoping for SB galveston to be bigger. oh well.

welcome to houston, hopefully you'll get used it. just kidding, where are you talking about? we walk around dowtown, midtown, and the village all the time, there are plenty of sidewalks, but you do have to worry about someone running a redlight.