wxman

If you go to the stadium cams, you can see the west zone is already rigged with explosives. Should be one hell of a show when that goes off. That's a lot of concrete to blast through.

Craig Roberts, lol. I'd like to see them bring back Don Armstrong with traffic or Bob Nicholas I suppose it's not Earth shattering news but it's big for the employees that work there. I'm not sure if it's public knowledge yet or not so I can't really say anything yet. It has nothing to do with new or old anchors. They just recently got a new news director who is a lot more pleasant to deal with so hopefully they will be able to keep some talent. Their turnover rate is pretty high compared to other stations I feel like.

Can't really spill the beans quite yet but something big is in the works at KPRC. I suspect you'll hear about it and see it in the paper sometime in 2015. Btw, they have hired a new morning weather guy out of Oregon. Should see him on the air in January. Wish I could disclose more but I can't. In due time...

Sweet, just in time, too! I'm flying down there in July. Hope they pick Houston!!

We'll just dynamite one park place, the Marquis and a few other structures and volia, you have all the park land back

Question-- My best friend and I have decided to take a two week trip to Australia in July. Actually it's Fiji, New Zealand and Sydney. Being an aviation enthusiast, I've always wanted to fly on the the 747. Yet I am sad to read headlines that many of the domestic carriers are ditching them---and quick. Of all the routes in the world, I thought for sure the LAX to Sydney would be a 747 but it's not. Everything is on the much less impressive/boring 77-3. I want to pick a place where I can hit as many of the wide-body, long range aircraft as possible. Say something like fly out on a 47-8 from LAX to SYD, the 767 from SYD to Auckland and then maybe fly on the A380 from there home. Regardless, my main question is, where do the domestic carriers send their 747s? I've looked at the Europe routes and can't find them. Delta, United and American all send the 777 to Sydney. I'm very disappointed. The biggest plane I've ever been on is the DC-10 and the 757. Even Houston to Hawaii was on a 57. So with such a big trip planned, I wanna do it right. Thoughts?

Wow, this building moving quick. They'll be rising above street level soon. This is like the fastest construction of any project yet I think...

December 21st is DEMOLITION DAY!! http://news.tamus.edu/2014/11/24/implosion-of-kyle-fields-west-side-set-for-dec-21/

I see something shiney

Hallelujah! It pisses me off too and I have half the nerve to cause a scene about it. If I have to pay, you have to pay. Period. I've noticed that more and more people are catching on to this and I'm glad it's being halted.

On the Eight day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeeee.... Eight tower cranes Seven Ground Floor Retailers Six taller towers FIVE GOLDEN RINGSSSS Four dozers dozing Three french hens Two turtle doves and a tower with no pub-lic ren-der-ingggggg

Does anybody know when the west side demolition is scheduled for? Should be in the next two or three weeks.

I'm surprised there aren't more responses to this yet. Should be a great addition to the area! Looking forward to seeing the renderings.

Astoria is nearly topped out, yes?

Who Cares. Call me when we get Air India, Air New Zealand or Qantas...

Oh well, stupid inquiry...

This building is almost half way erected now. Astoria looking good, too! http://oxblue.com/open/transwestern/5oaks

I'm confused (and a bit gullible) but is that lego thing for real or is somebody being funny?

This building looks like the Whitco and the Sovereign mated and gave birth to this crap. Zero imagination.

The only place that 242 and 1488 intersect is at the back of The Woodlands. If that is indeed the location, that is nowhere near I-45. So something is off here. And what is the "entrance to The Woodlands?" Is it 1488 on I-45 south? Is it Rayford/Sawdust on I-45 north? Is it Robinson Rd. to the east at the beginning of The Woodlands Parkway? None of it makes sense to be honest with you. I made a post in another thread about an office building to be erected at the corner of I-45 and Rayford. Crabby Daddy's along with Popeyes and all the other shops in that strip center got notices last year that that property is going to be razed to make room for a highrise. At the time, I didn't give it much thought. A year later, those businesses are still thriving. Since I now live in Florida (although I'm back in The Woodlands often) somebody should stop in to Popeyes or Crabby Daddy's for lunch one day and ask if they are indeed being forced to vacate soon. I'd be interested in knowing if something has changed or not. Here's the thread I created back in April... http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/30183-rayford-highrise/ This article on "Woodlands Gatway Plaza" was posted back in April: http://impactnews.com/blogs/the-woodlands-impacts/coming-soon%3A-woodlands-gateway-plaza/

Aside from height, this building is a complete letdown. It's bland, mundane, the water color renderings don't help. It's happening, then it's on hold. Then we hear of a start date and then that gets pushed back. It's sort of exhausting going back and forth---which is why I gave up on Ashby long ago. I couldn't care less if that thing [Ashby] ever gets built or not. I'm tired of hearing about it. Can anybody understand where I'm coming from or am I just being ridiculous?

I was just getting ready to comment on the same thing! Funny...

I just got back from Seattle on Sunday. Here's my take (Blake's take!) on the city: First Impression: Very industrial, not nearly as hilly as expected. Lasting Impression: Sophisticated city, pretty. Weather: Lived up to the Seattle stereotype: Chilly, gray, damp My first time to the PNW was a positive one. I enjoyed touring Seattle and taking in the sights. Seattle in many ways lived up to its stereotype but in other ways, I was caught off guard. I was amazed at the urbanization that is taking place downtown. The amount of highrises actively under construction makes whatever Houston is trying to do look cute. There is literally a highrise going up on every corner between the Space Needle and the main downtown area. Unlike Houston where many of the highrises are on the drawing board, Seattle's are already coming out of the ground. Architecture wise, the Columbia Seafirst Center is a dominating structure and the fixture of the Seattle skyline, more dominant than I thought it would be. I was pretty amazed at the steep grade that it's built on (35 or 40°?). I thought asthetically the building was sexy and sleak. The Smith Tower was fun to see and a bit bigger than I thought. Seattle has two distinct business districts: downtown and Bellvue. Unlike Houston where you have highrises scattered about from The Woodlands to the Med Center and everywhere in between, Seattle is nearly void of any highrises outside of the downtown area and Bellvue. Bellvue lies about 15 miles due east of downtown Seattle had has an impressive array of skyscrapers that would rival any medium size city (Nashville, Denver, Louisville) in size and scope. So in that regard, I was surprised at the lack of highrises outside of those two areas and the size and scope of each of the biz districts. City wise, the city felt smaller than the census bureau indicates. For a city of 3.6 million, it felt very down-home. I didn't get the feeling of hustle and bustle (although I-90 was gridlocked the entire week I was there). Driving in from Seatac, the city had a very cramped and industrial feel. As you drive up I-5, you pass one of Boeing's runways along the freeway, the ports and lots of industry. Once we got into town, the feel of the place turned to more of a midwest or New England feel. The homes there seem to be very dated. I saw zero new construction of homes. I went to several dinner parties in different neighborhoods and none of the houses were less than 30 years old. Most of the houses were old, wood houses. Some had brick but many were just wood. It seems as though all the new construction I saw (and there was A LOT) were all highrise condos. People wise, I got the feeling that there were a couple of distinct classes of people. First, I got the feeling of sophistication. People seem to be very corporate, smart and well educated there. That's not surprising being that Boeing and Microsoft are staples of that community. Second, people there (guys and girls alike) either were very dapper (men in suits) or bums. There seemed to be very few who strolled around in jeans and hoodie like I was. It's also every bit as liberal as I anticipated, if not more so. Gay guys openly walking around holding hands and NOBODY turned a head (except me). People openly rolling joints in public spaces took me back a bit. If you're one to burn roaches, this is your town. It was nothing to walk through the downtown area and get hit in the face with an overwhelming smell of pot. There is no room for discrimination there of any type and I definitely felt out of my comfort zone, even as a gay dude. Growing up in the south, I just couldn't get past the openess of it all. Downtown, the place is buzzing with people. The pedestrian activity in the downtown area would rival that of other large metro areas---maybe on par with Chicago. The shopping district, where the Flagship Nordstrom is, is packed with people---and bums. The amount of homeless was pretty overwhelming and they all seem to congregate in a two or three block area. We're not talking 5 or 10 homeless. I'm talking hundreds. It's pretty disappointing that they all decide to sleep outside Nordstrom or the other big stores. The shopping district is very impressive with big named, high end stores lining the streets for several blocks. It's too bad Houston doesn't use Seattle as their model. Overall, I loved Seattle. It wasn't as hilly or mountainous as I thought it would be but it definitely was an interesting place in every aspect. I'm not sure if anybody else has been to Seattle but I would recommend a visit. There's so much to do! The flight museum where you can view the first 747 as well as the concord. There's the Space Needle, Mt. Reiner, shopping, the Boeing factory where you can watch planes being built, ect. I will definitely go back to visit. QUESTION: For those who have been to Seattle, was anybody else amazed at the amount of highrise construction in downtown Seattle???

Ugh, me too

And we can't even get Chevron to commit to a ''squatty'' 50-story building.