pestofan

Yeah, right. That article reads like so many other hyped projects that never end up coming close to the promises, if they even get built. So many of the usual warning flags: Grandiose scale, loads of promises, relatively new consortium without a track record, buzzword abuse, and a trendy but shaky theme overstretched to too many dissimilar aspects. "Eco-tourism! Theme park! Convention center! Water park! Museum! Night Life! Entertainment for all ages and interests! Retail! Office! Green research! Big Box! Apartments! Experimental new social research neighborhood! Cure for the common cold!" More likely just some of the retail, housing, and small strip offices/clinics get built, maybe the water park if the county is lucky. And perhaps a strip club ("Roman Forest, Russian Fingers"?)

University of Jan Brady. 'It's always UH, UH, UH!" Or perhaps: UH-Mulligan UH-Differentiate (no need to change initials) UH-We're Kinda Not UH TCBUH (This Can't Be UH!) Cougar High-Downtown U. of Inferiority Complex System-Downtown campus Stylz G. White U. U. of Fragrant Bayou U.'ve Got to be Kidding University of Talula Does the Hula From Houston University of Lemonjello UH-Surely (if they have a flight school) UH-And We're Not (perhaps better for the Chevy Chase, MD campus) Not You're Father's UH Preparation H Nosoupfor U. RFU ( )Client #9 U. U. Know What? U. Win U. Should See What We Rejected! U. Light Up My Life U. Might Be a Redneck I Can Name That U. in 3 Notes U. Whatever and my favorite choice: UH-Ostensibly Houston, aka UH-OH!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metrop...an/6081097.html How to navigate the new Katy HOV lanes open Wednesday with some restrictions for drivers to learn By ROSANNA RUIZ Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Oct. 27, 2008, 10:31PM The new curve on the expanded Katy Freeway may be a learning curve. With the construction complete, some motorists must become acquainted with the addition of four center "managed" lanes, when to use them and where to exit. Additional lanes already are open, but the five-year construction project officially draws to a close with the opening of the interior, managed lanes at 5 a.m. Wednesday. (excerpted) I posted this article because of this silly quote: But some are skeptical of the notion that managed lanes resolve congestion or increase carpooling rates. "When the (managed) lanes open, we'll see even more improvement in travel time, but the question is, how long will it last?" said Pat Waskowiak, transportation program manager for the Houston-Galveston Area Council. Well geez, you can ask the same basic question about emergency open heart surgery or any other lifesaving medical procedure. None result in immortality, but most provide a vast improvement and extend the patient's life expectancy. And bottom line, this major expansion of the Katy Fwy's capacity will result in shorter trip times for many, many years to come compared to if the freeway had remained in its original already overwhelmed state. And spare me the Induced Demand red herring. While there is some truth to the theory, it pretty much operates the same way the human induced global warming theory does: Subjective and unprovable enough to be morphed into anything the goalpost movers want for purely ideological reasons. Yeah, maybe in a couple of decades induced demand will have us right back where we started, but the 20 years of improved flow in between has a heck of a lot of benefits. That quote reminds me of the TV commercial, where the old man thinks he's discovered the internet, while completely oblivious to the real story.

Shouldn't a team named after detergent be helping to clean up?

Probably more accurately stated as just: "a prospective buyer went to the city inspectors." De facto membership has its privileges in this town. Perhaps the city can now abscond by ED an adjacent property as a pocket park for this developer, since there is such a dearth of parkland next to the state's largest urban park.

Then nursing home/assisted living would be the most likely conversion. I've never heard of a case where elderly facilities were a nuisance.

Schedule for each section of the GP: http://www.grandpky.com/downloads/Segmenti...02008-07-08.pdf Loads of info at: http://www.grandpky.com

It reminds me of that song the Harlem Globetrotters use, which is about its namesake. ("Sweet George R. Brown")

Thank goodness that they finally buried that stinking bayou. But I am NOT happy about all the stoplights added to Allen Parkway. I wonder if that rendering was inspired by the old phone book cover drawings. Hours of entertainment!

I can't believe that they were able to sell any houses at all with a name like Rodeo Palms. Tack-E! Reminds me of that old Saturday Night Live spoof of The Beverly Hillbillies called The Bel-Arabs, and their painting of the nude sculptures.

"Brown Line"?! Is that Metro's designation, or simply what some kid wrote in Wikipedia? (Was the name revealed in a vision he had in about 5th grade during a visit to Atlanta?)

No. Try North Richland Hills (mall) and more recently Duncanville (Walmart.)

No way, that is classic Texas kitsch. Give it preservation status ASAP. A good example of the modernist Williams Brothers mission style. Suddenly I miss Taco Bueno...

Well said. Bring in the 1836!

Red, in my view the real cost/benefit figure for taxpayers is the combined costs of all the proposed public contributions to the Dynamo stadium and site plus the present value of the projected future costs to maintaining the dome (without factoring in the hotel proposal, which I am skeptical about ever coming to fruition) and the loss of tax revenue that would have been generated by alternative private development (probably loft apartments and some ground retail within 10 years) for the blocks where the current soccer stadium is proposed. So that's a much higher threshold figure for the current proposal versus dome renovations. No, I don't have the cost estimates, but I'd bet $100 in Vegas that the dome renovations/adaption would come in cheaper than the current proposal when all those factors are analyzed. But then I've never had any dealings with former city servants owning land on the proposed site. Snark aside, I'd also bet $1,000 in Vegas that if put to a vote a Dynamo deal that saved the dome would easily beat out a downtown stadium proposal, even if it cost a bit more in net tax dollars. People want to save the dome, the problem has lingered for years, and a 2 for 1 deal usually comes off looking smart and innovative to voters. A PR win for our local elected officials, versus a negative in many districts if the current proposal goes through (especially if the dome to hotel idea collapses.)

Why yes, I do. The dome for football was around 55K. A glassed-in upper deck converted to suites, widened floor, and tightening by installing false walls towards the back 'corners' (yes, it is round by you can sort of square it off if they really want to reduce capacity and give a more intimate feel) could get the capacity down to around 30K + suites. Again, those measures would shrink the interior size and enhance the home court noise advantage, and even the old dome at half empty Oiler games was louder than the Mav's current AAC. So it isn't going to be a 'dead' atmosphere, far from it. But if the Dynamo is so popular with Houstonians that we just must spend lots of tax dollars on them, shouldn't they be able to sell more than 20-30K for important games and rivalries? Seems like the Dynamo is arguing both sides of the issue.

Um, yeah kid, I'm quite familiar with the different dimensions for soccer, football, and baseball fields. After having been to probably close to 100 events at the 2 venues I also have a pretty good sense of their dimensions. Way back in architecture studios we learned a thing or two about the need for basic due diligence. Look, I appreciate your enthusiam for Houston and all things related. Your seemingly non-stop spamming of every urban forum on the net with "Houston is the biggest, greatest, bestest!" cheerleading gets a bit tiring, though (Remember, homework is our friend.) Ever consider that maybe some of us who hold different opinions than you might actually have a background in the subject and perhaps know what we are talking about? OK, back to the topic. Both stadiums have already hosted soccer games (I'm surprised that an expert like yourself wasn't aware of either that or Google.) For the dome, floor size is not a problem, even if they want wide sidelines they can simply eliminate the lowest rows of seats. And since one of the Dynamo's favorite excuse is that the dome seats too many and might not sellout, removing those seats helps reduce the capacity. Another way to mitigate that issue would be to glass in the upper deck into tons of suites. Lots of revenue potential there, and those that don't sell aren't really visible behind the glass so the place can look and feel 'full' with a lower attendance such as 30K or so. Creative advertising backdrops strategically placed could further replace seats and tighten the venue and increase the home noise advantage. Parking and congestion from hosting multiple events in the entire sports complex are issues, but not insurmountable. Control and amount of revenue is a question, but as long as the Dynamo is asking for public dollars it is subject to negotiation. The biggest hindrance is MLS wanting a grass field. Certainly a reasonable requirement, but solved by installing a moveable field (or a sectional system) similar to what Phoenix deploys. In for game, out for growing. Very feasible if the county agrees to make the Dynamo the primary client of the dome. So again, I've yet to hear a legitimate reason as to why the dome wouldn't work, only excuses that are pretty, um, "easily" shot down.

Enough is enough! We have 2 perfectly good pro stadiums in Houston that can accomodate any future needs of a pro soccer franchise, Reliant and the Astrodome. I can understand why the Dynamo and Texans might have difficulty reaching an agreement to use Reliant, but there is no good reason not to fall back on the dome. The county is begging for a tenant and it would be far cheaper to upgrade and adapt then to build a new stadium downtown that would hinder traffic flow. I have yet to read a single good excuse for why the dome wouldn't work. The perfect chance for synergy, instead of wasting more money on team ego and questionable insider land deals. And to make it perfect, the sports' complex parking lot fronts 1836 South Loop! What a great place for a new entrance. Though I might settle for converting the huge parking lot (just a few blocks east of the light-rail) at 1836 Old Spanish Trail into their stadium! 1836 Old Spanish Trail, an address with the added, uh, bonus, of offering something for everyone. Right, Carol Avocado? The team lost a lot of goodwill in this town when it caved to the usual professional victimhood race-card intimidators, they could win a lot of it back by solving the region's problem of what to do with the dome. Public sentiment is strongly in favor of such a win-win solution, what a masterstroke of PR it would be for the team, city, and county. Right now there is a strong anti-incumbent mood towards all levels of gov't based on the perception that little gets done, problems aren't being addressed, and far, far too much money is ineptly wasted. The dome isn't the most important issue we face, but this would be a simple and highly visible solution to counter those perceptions of gov't inefficiency and waste. The Dynamo has their heart set on a brand new BMW, while we have Lexus that is already paid for and can easily be reconditioned. If the Dynamo insist on perfection, let 'em and their entitlement attitude go (to hell!)

The People's Court would title this case, "Palm Reader vs. Palm Greaser?!" (Couldn't find a Judge Wapner smilee)

Joe Turner, the city's parks and recreation director, acknowledged that it is rare for the city to use its eminent domain authority to acquire land for parks. But in this case, Turner said, the action was justified. "We have a shortage of parks in that area, and the Uptown District has done a good job of maintaining parks," Turner said. Well, maybe a shortage if you ignore Memorial Park, one of the largest urban parks in the US, and Grady Park, just a couple blocks to the west on San Felipe (east of Yorktown.) In fact Grady Park is less than a 1/3rd-mile walk from the BLVD Place site, sidewalks all the way, much of it shaded. Grady Park is much larger than this stolen parcel, and any rationalizing that residents would need a closer park to walk their dogs also seems bogus, given all the shaded greenspace frontage and pockets of the high rises next door and across the street.

I wouldn't call her hot, but did Channel 2 reporter Liz Scarborough (sic? I really don't care) come to KPRC from SCTV's 3-D House of Beef? Because in every report she has some annoying prop that she swings back and forth at the camera. In her story just now about Ed Emmett she kept holding up a Hawaiian lei, in a murder story she somehow tackily incorporated a baby blanket to wave, and my favorite was a toll road report where she kept sticking a quarter into a fisheye camera. Like we are all ignorant babies easily distracted by bright shiny objects. What a consultant-driven doofus.

Love the idea of the Waste Management garden. Maybe a sort of homeless Tavern on the Green.

The huge Sam Houston statue, the silly shopping center north of the Woodlands, and now this. Houston is turning into a giant memorial to Stuckey's.

I still call them stewardesses when letting them know that I speak Jive. But don't call me Shirley.

From today's Chronicle article: "The purchase price assumes the land is worth $49 per square foot, almost four times the assessed value of $12.50 per square foot set by the Harris County Appraisal District. The five blocks are owned by various corporate entities controlled by former Councilman Louis Macey. To acquire a sixth block, owned by a different company, the city has offered to swap a nearby block it already owns." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metrop...an/5551093.html If a former city councilman is paying taxes on a value of $12.50 per square foot, why is the city going to pay 4 times that amount? I seriously doubt that he has an agricultural exemption on that land. If the price is justified because the land has jumped in market value, why is a former city councilman not paying taxes based on its market value? But this site is the wrong, wrong, wrong location for the soccer stadium. Should be three blocks further west, at 1836 Texas Avenue.