pestofan

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?

one theory i have (which is purely speculation) is that the owners jaded a prospective buyer and they went to the city inspectors.

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.

The way they advertise "institutional" as one of its possible uses worries me a bit. Especially since I live nearby this big boy.

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

It reminds me of a giant toy tugboat.

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

FYI - the MainPlace website is up and running today. The video section will be complete shortly, as we're trying to find a good mix of quality and download speed for the building videos.

www.mainplacehouston.com

(and no, the building has not gotten any taller. Still 46 stories with a 2 story parapet wall on top)

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!

"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?)

was Northwest mall the one that basically set the precedent in Texas and possibly the USA for a city or government entity using eminent domain to help a private developer

the mall needed peoples houses for parking...I was embarrassed they some how won in Houston

a few years later the mall closed

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

I was thinking that a football stadium would be the best use of the Astrodome. Probably makes fiscal sense, too.

Well said. Bring in the 1836!

pesto, your initial statement is that "enough is enough", enough presumably being the amount of taxpayer money to be spent on sports stadiums. And, however enticing your design proposal for adaptive reuse of the Dome may be, you never even hint at the potential cost of redeveloping the Dome into an attractive 30,000 seat soccer venue, including removable grass trays, nor do you explain why this would be better for the Dynamo financially, a club whose president is a former head of the stadium committe.

My suspicion is that not only would the Dome be expensive for the Dynamo to operate, but the renovations would dwarf the city's cost in helping build a brand new soccer specific stadium. Care to hazard a guess as to what your idea might cost, and why that is a better use of our tax dollars?

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.)

You're nuts. Do you have any idea how large the Astrodome and Reliant Stadium actually are? It would be downright depressing to force 20,000 fans into a facility that seats 80,000, has poor sightlines, etc...

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.

^^You must not know about size and how big MLS stadiums are. Reliant and the Astrodome are EASILY out of the question. That, and the Dynamo need their own stadium for more revenue and such.

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.

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

Is this the new politically correct term for flight attendant? First it was stewardess... then flight attendant (when more men entered the fray)... should we start calling them "air hostesses" now?

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.

If the hotel falls through, perhaps the best option would be to convert the dome into a giant parking garage, covered but open air. Would preserve its groundbreaking feature, the roof, and at least the sense of its original scale. Opening the sides for ventilation would remove most of the high operating costs, while the top level might be rented out for gatherings, parties, and maybe smaller art shows, flea markets, and concerts. If the roof is darkened (to reduce heat buildup) that would work as a shaded rooftop pavillion in the spring, summer, and fall. However with a dark roof the top level might be too cool for use during the rodeo and latter part of the Texans' seasons. Or perhaps add the ability to roll down tent sides to enclose that level when it is cold and use portable heaters? Don't the Texans and other teams do that with giant tents in their lots on game days? And you've already got the big ramps and elevators to move large groups of people and be ADA compliant.

Either way, the top level use would just be an added bonus, simply converting the dome into a giant parking garage would free up a lot of the surrounding parking lots for other types of development and the new taxes these would bring in.

Great name. Easy to remember.