tcole

The "satellite dish" looking thing is actually a VOR beacon. Specifically, it is designated COWBOY, given its proximity to Texas Stadium. The metroplex has three primary VORs - that one, a sister beacon on the west side of DFW Airport named RANGER, and one centrally located in the median of International Pkwy south of the terminals at DFW Airport named MAVERICK. VOR stands for (V)ery High Frequency (O)mni-directional ( R )adio.

Just because natural gas is produced in our state doesn't mean that we should rely upon it for our power production. It may be produced locally, but the modern pipeline system is very efficient, so it will be transported wherever there is the greatest demand, resulting in a systemwide equilibrium that varies by a nearly constant transport cost. And if demand for NG spikes in NYC today, the price of our electricity as produced by NG in Houston will spike as a consequence.

The point was in reference to the US as a whole. Other than that, I do agree with your post.

This is HUGE for Houston.

Agreed.

coal's apparently too dirty, but...

wind turbines are supposedly noisy and ugly, so...

what's the answer here for Texas?

Comments?

Natural gas. TX, OK, and LA have enough for decades to come. And there is some talk of another formation UNDER the Barnett Shale which may be even larger.

As reported in the Comical this am. 3 flights/week to start. Daily in Feb. '08. Second US gateway for Emirates after NY.

In a word, no. There are shorter runways. 737s can short field land at 3,500ft.

They actually extended 4/22 not long ago when they closed the curve off Braniff St with high speed taxi ways.

The runway layout at HOU was based on maximizing use of prevailing wind with the benefit of having crosswind capabilities. Increased traffic loads, not aircraft size or type, have forced the airport to utilize crossing runways simultaneously. That sort of setup spooks a number of pilots in that it introfuces groundspace and runway conflict possibilities. SFO experiences the same conflict as does LGA and MDW.

Incidently, about those short field landings, 737's can get off in about that same distance if lightly loaded. I remember 727s carrier landing and gunning it out of STT in the 70's/80's on what was barely a 4000' runway.

Cool. I'm just relaying what I've heard. I don't dispute your assessment of HOU, but I gotta believe two separate pilots -- one a Southwest captain and another, a private corporate jet captain who have told me that HOU has some buzz among pilots as being a difficult airport in which to land. Perhaps my reasons aren't exactly accurate -- I've interpreted what they've told me from an admitted position of ignorance -- but as I learn more and more, I'm beginning to understand what I think they've told me.

I'm only half-way to my private and talking about this stuff gets me all geeked. You sound like you are instrument rated. I admire that. I look forward some aviation discussions with you.

I would be willing to wager that those pilots were really referencing the runway layout of HOU causing a number of problems. As it is laid out, there are a lot of land and hold short orders as well as the nervousness of relying on Twr to coordinate landings and takeoffs on crossing runways. It is no wonder that you have to have a squak code just to taxi there. Good luck on your private. and I would highly recommend transitioning directly into an instrument program as soon as you get it. It will make you a significantly better pilot in a shorter amount of time.

Your points are taken and correct. I was speaking in generalities. Generally, 747s are not designed for 7500' runways and 7500' runways are not designed for 747s, whether it's because of weight capacity or ground hazards. To my knowledge, no 747 has ever landed at HOU.

As for a 172 -- yeah, Hobby or anything longer than 2000' should be fine. I've spoken to some airline pilots, though, who have told me that Hobby is a real challenge for larger and faster planes. The 737s and even the Citations and other corporate jets, because of noise abatement or whatever, are in pretty precarious landing positions there. I believe Runway 4 is the one with Telephone Road right at the edge of the numbers. The point being -- it's cramped there and getting busier. I think this bodes well for continued operations at EFD -- especially for GA aircraft.

The 172 referednce concerns the assertion that approaches at Hobby have to be flown fast. Do I fly approaches there at 80 kts in a 172? No, but even pushing final at 95 kts would seem to pose problems for the big boys at sometimes over 140 kts, yet ATC/Twr seem to have no problems handling the slower traffic. There are no real "challenges" for larger and faster planes at HOU save for the left turns on departure from 12R/L and 21, but seeing that most of those larger and faster planes are equipped with an FMC that has already been programmed prior to start-up, I doubt that the manuever is really all that challenging.

Whatever you think, Hobby is not the answer. Hobby is already borderline dangerous, since the city has encroached around it. The expanded terminal and higher volume of operations will only exacerbate this condition. Even Sugar Land has a longer runway.

That situation alone seems to support the need for EFD. I think you'll start to see more of the corporate jets based at Hobby getting squeezed out, too. Hobby traffic is getting heavier and heavier. GA flights -- especially private jets -- will get tired of the delays and dangers of the high-speed, steep descent approaches to HOU and the extended time now required in the pattern, which will make EFD more attractive.

Short answer -- yes, I think it has a nice future.

Just which "high speed, steep descent approach" are you referring to? My approach plates show each precision approach to be at the standard 3* gradient, with the "steepest approach being 3.37* on the VOR/DME for Rwy 4. As to high speed, I have flown into and out of Hobby in both severe clear and minimums IMC in a 172 with no problems. The only discernable "lock-ups" occur with instrument releases when alot are filed for very short intervals of time, but that phenomenon is rare and locks up most airports/airspace when it takes place; in fact it often is an airspace issue rather than an airport issue.

And as to 747 landing distances, the question is really more of takeoff distance. A 747 can easily land at Hobby. The runways are both long enough, wide enough and strong enough. Further, because AF1 is often not loaded for bear on domestic trips (even on intl trips its GTOW is significantly less than a 747 in a typical airline configuration), HOU should be no problem for both landing and takeoff. The question is thus one of taxiing capacity in that most of HOU's taxiways are probably too narrow and may not be rated to absorb more than 250,000 lbs. Sugar Land's runway is long enough and wide enough for landing although a takeoff might be dicey in that the outboard engines would be dangerously close to overhanging unimproved earth and thus pose the risk of possibly ingesting fod. The runway at SGR is probably not rated to absorb a 747's weight though and its taxiways are woefully inadequate.

Last time i went to Berger's Lake was 1986. Next time your in Fort Worth you got to check it out its awesome. Does any body have any pics?

Awsome? That is the first time i have encountered that adjective with that locale.

Williams Tower(Houston) & BoA Plaza(Dallas)...same basic shape

In what respect?

Well maybe the next CEO will move the HQ down here. Where it belongs.

That has certainly been discussed.

If yall take Lake Charles, LA which is 143 miles from Houston, then DFW will take Waco(95 mi. from Dallas) and Temple/Killeen(130 mi. from Dallas) just to make it even

...this is thread is ridiculous, sorry to add to it

Careful. Houston then may claim Austin (145 miles away) and block DFW's expansion claims to the south...

I suspect it is a DFW poster looking for some fun.

Red:

Kindly leave the "FW" off please. The "Dallas" forum claims the western half in name only. And to the originator of the thread, I am in Dallas every other week for business (real estate), and you are exagerating to a slight degree about the development up there relative to Houston, not to mention that Dallas would have to at least double its current space/buildings to match that of Houston. Dallas is a great city and has a great deal going for it (uptown/McKinney/State-Thomas is shaping up very nicely) and it has a very distinctive and recognized skyline. That said, most true architectural critics would counter that Houston's skyline possesess more true representations of great architecture.

Nope that Bretley won't eventually become a Houstonian? Or nope that lots of folks would want to call themselves Houstonians?

I was born in and went to college in Dallas. Grew up in Fort Worth. And now primarily reside in Houston, although I still spend a good chunk of time in Fort Worth and Dallas for business. I have a ranch West Texas. And my girlfriend is from San Antonio. I call myself a Texan.

Quick follow-up for everyone.

I now have an apartment a couple blocks off Montrose * (a dump with a capitol DUMP). for the next 6 months.

While waiting for the landlord to show up (I was early), I was able to walk over to Montrose, have a cup of coffee, walk around and explore some.

Nice stuff.

I had already decided to have lunch at the Flying Saucer once I was done with everything.

I parked in one of the lots soon to be the Pavalions (if they ever break ground on that mess) and went in to do some business at the new job. As part of that, I walked down to another Chase building down on main and did the last of my business for the day in Houston.

On my way out of the building I was about to head back to the car and punch the Flying Saucer into my nav system, when I noticed that I'm standing right across the street from the place.

Nice to know it is downtown, my Wednsdays after work are set (and its about 3 miles to the apt).

Stop by one day and remind me that I'm not crazy for moving down there.

* I still have topay my mortgage in Fort Worth until we sell the house, so 450 sq ft is all I'm going to need. I won't be there for many weekends, as I'll be driving back to see my wife and kid each weekend until we've sold and bought a house. It is a dump, but the parkinglot has decent cars in it, and the area itself seems cute and fairly safe (we'll see).

-b

(getting closer)

man; don't move to Houston and then just hang out at a satilite beer hall. Houston has soooo much more to offer. The Saucer is one thing in FW, but you really have to broaden your horizons down here. Take advantage of Houston's size and depth of offerings in relative comparison. Hanging at The Saucer is like moving to Rome and then eating at Pizza Hut.

Well when I said "towering monsters" I meant to put more emphasis on the monstrous part, specifically the proportions of the canariensis over most everything else. Of course the real "towering" palm of SoCal would be the robustas, but without the giant crown and thick trunk. I do see a lot of dactylifera in SoCal though, I guess they do or used to do a lot of production in the deserts east of there.

I know the robustas and filibustas seem to do very well in the Houston area. The thing I meant about the weather was the high wetness that seems to take the extreme colors out of the blue hespers and seems to chip away at the filifera trunks a bit with age. It seems as though blue hespers there even grown in sand don't have the blinding colors of drier climates.

You seem to know a lot about palms in the area. Do you happen to know much about the big 83/89 freezes and their effects on the different species in Houston or perhaps the coastal area? Something like, "most of the bismarkias were killed, but most of the blue hespers survived." Just making that up as an example. I wasn't around then and am always trying to get info on that.

Jason

89 was cold in short concentrated bursts over about three to four nights in December. As a result, that damage was negligable along the coastal areas/s.texas with regard to palms. 83, different story altogether, but Houston plants seem to not have suffered as greatly as those even farther down the coast. One explanation may be radiant heat in the city but certainly the plants benefited from being "wetter", not as stressed. South Texas was pretty dry that year going into that freeze/frost and the palms would already be somewhat stressed. Also, a number of those that died were of weaker genetic strains.

As to radiant heat, as Houston continues to grow and infill, you are starting to see more cold intoleratnt specimens planted and surviving. Houston's official temp measurements are from Bush, which on some winter nights can vary as much as ten degrees from inner loop neighborhoods. I have even noticed a 2 to 3 degree difference bewteen River Oaks and Montrose due to RO's canopy and lack of heat absorbent surfaces. It sort of reminds me of how you will find citrus gardens and even dwarf phoenix specimens in London in spite of its latitude and cold suseptability; the central city stays warm even when the "official" measurements show otherwise.

P.S. My palm trees also (wth the possible exception of the brahea armata, med. fan, and filifera) all prefer Houston's climate over Dallas. I'd love to be able to grow Phoenix Canariensis in Dallas like Houston can. I hope Houston can avoid another 1983/89 for at least 50 more years so we can have towering monsters all over Houston like SoCal has.

Also, the very tall trees in Southern California tend to be dactylifera rather tha canariensis, although a good number of the latter variety do exist.

BTW, if anyone knows or hears of one of these for sale at a decent price, let me know. They go for $100 a foot, or more, so obviously we are talking about the young ones...possibly up to $1000.

Red;

Be sure that you get the arborist to warrant that the specimen you purchase is "male". The "female" flowering trees cause awful messes this time of year.

Not exactly sure where this should go, but this seems the most logical place (mods please move it if this is not the best place).

I'm a forum member up on the Fort Worth Architecture board, so I feel sorta comfortable here.

I am seriously thinking about taking a job in Houston (downtown, in a patricualty tall building.. heh). I'm a firm believer in 'every city has good stuff, every city had bad stuff, they all have their share of morons, etc, etc.'

All that said, can you guys fill me in on what I may be getting myself into?

here are some basics:

We're in our mid-30's, with a 3 year old. Here in FW we're into indie music, our musuems (mostly the kimball and the modern) local music, indi films, non chain resturants, our zoo (these are also reasons we're in FW and not so much Dallas). Also kayaking, angling , almost vegetarian.

We live in a 1918 tudor in an historic district (actually not historic, but thats better due to politics) just outside downtown (Brekely Place, for those who know FW)

This should give you a pretty good idea of who we are, how would we fit in? Cost of living is pretty mcuh the same, so I'm not too worried about that side of things.

thoughts?

You will be just fine. Houston is a much larger cousin to Fort Worth. Finding something like you have in Berkeley Place is going to be harder in that the neighborhoods in Houston with similarly aged/styled homes are a good bit pricier. I split my time between the two (in FW now for a seminar).

Anybody know of a place that has good carpaccio? I want me some raw meat!!

Grotto or La Griglia. But it is "off the menu".

Bice and Vincent's. Bice's is a little better.

No, it must have been something else. Something that an Abilene columnist would not print in an Abilene newspaper. Something right in front of his eyes, if he'd take off his nationalist blinders.

An Abilene columnist did not pen that.

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University

But I will agree with you that some of the reasoning is a bit simplistic. A little further investigation into how he arrives at his conclusions couldn't hurt.

If you had even the SLIGHTEST idea how inaccurate those machines are, or how badly many police officers misjudge these cases, you would never make ridiculous statements like that. I won't bore you people with some of the comical police work I have seen in 19 years (including my years as an assistant district attorney), but I dare say that the parent who allows his child to be judged by a system that consists only of police, prosecutors and judges (who used to be prosecutors), without benefit of an attorney looking to see if these people did their jobs correctly, should be charged with child abuse.

Since when is exercising one's Constitutional Right to an attorney "sleaze"? It is not un-American to seek advice when in an unfamiliar situation. Just what kind of country do you people wish to live in? Daily, I read about bumbling METRO employees, ignorant city employees, incompetent state and federal employees....but give a gun and a badge to that employee, and you people think they can do no wrong. It may surprise you people, but every police officer, prosecutor and judge I know thinks that defense attorneys are critical to a well functioning judicial system. Only fans of the Taliban think otherwise.

So......which one are you?

I concur. I have heard some pretty incredible stories from my best friend who is an assistant DA in Tarrant County (Fort Worth) regarding specifically DWI cases. He has told me that he has warned officers numerous times that he would not hesitate to slap a perjury charge on them if they misrepresented the facts in either court or a deposition. And he shares your skepticism on the acuracy of breatalizers.

I have recently been informed that soon to be former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller has volunteered to contribute her skills to finding a compromise solution. In essense, I have heard that a Culberson Ammendment will be filed to the 2006 Omnibus Transportation Bill that would allow for the construction of the Richmond line (through Afton Oaks), but that its ridership would be limited to residents of the four adjoining states to Texas as well as Alabama, Kansas, and Missouri.

Hey Red;

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't this verdict only in connection with the charge that she killed three of her children? If so, could the prosecution still try her for murder of the other two concurrently or separately? In essence, she may not necessarily be out of jeopardy yet.

The Leaf is the old sticker members of the Houstonian Club are supposed to stick on their car windows.

I tell people I am from Houston. If they looked puzzled or think that I've stated some random place because I pronounce it with a "Y", then I follow that up with, "the city in Texas, our nation's 4th largest."

With a "y". Now THAT is "old school".