dmoneybangbang

Yeah, they constructed an interchange with two connectors, one connects US 90A west to the tollroad, and the tollroad to US 90A east. Eventually, the tollway will trench under US 90A and connect to the extension at S.Post Oak near Willowbend. The freeway ends at 610. But as part of the project, instead of being upgraded to a freeway, S.Main was just upgraded to an extra wide street between OST and 610, it's about 10 lanes across in some sections.

When that connector to S. Post Oak is complete people in Southwest Houston will have another viable to way to get into Houston's inncer core employment centers.

Looking at a map, the Fort Bend Tollway feeds into 90. I'm assuming that they built some sort of interchange? Also, does the 90 hwy upgrade end at 610? When I get back to Houston I will have to check this out.

i dont know why some people here dont like palms, i love them

I think of Houston as Southern because of its geography and palm trees aren't generally found in the South. Also, Galveston doesn't look too tropical and palm trees only look good there because it's the beach. That's my opinion at least.

I'm sure it will happen, but it will just gradually happen. The location is very good, especially with the light rail coming along eventually and the proximity to the core. It seems Bellaire's (the city) affluence has gradually moved north which could serve, along with Uptown to eventually engulf the area alongside 610 under 59S.

where is this in houston , and is it in conjunction with the other business districts in houston?

(downtown,uptown,westchase,greenway plaza,greenspoint,upper kirby)

It is north of Westchase and Northeast of the Energy Corridor. I believe it is a few miles North of I10 and BW8. There are a lot of office buildings being built/have been built along NW portion along BW8, also W portion of BW8.

I whole heartedly agree with you on this, but the developers were compelled to name it as such, Pearland Town Center.

Glorified strip mall indeed.

City Centre is a nice start of an edge city in the likes of Uptown. With Memorial City District expanding, the distance between them will be blurred as developers redo that area between Beltway 8 and Gessner.

Personally I think these TC concepts in the burbs are great because as Pearland grows, it can replace those surface parking lots with retail, offices, or residential. I don't think it would make much sense to build vertical in Pearland as it currently is. I really do like how Sugarland and The Woodlands have evolved their "city centers." Having those malls in close proximity doesn't hurt. What I would like to see next, hopefully in the near future, is Park&Ride service added.

Where in that general area is not upscale?

As you move east and south of the energy corridor you enter Alief from the south and clusters of low income apartments to the west. Parts of Alief can be pretty bad but for the most part, the whole is area pretty nice and surprisingily well established.

Give it about 10 years with Houston's climate and those trees will transform the park.

Probably doesn't help it rains a lot in Houston.

I used to go to a high school over in that general area and had some friends who lived in the neighborhood. Overall it is a pretty nice neighborhood with mature trees. The streets do flood pretty bad when there's a big storm. However, since you are moving to Houston there are nice neighborhoods with patches of ghetto apartment complexes. Walnut Bend has many nice neighborhoods surrounding it, but also has clusters of low income apartments. I wouldn't say this area is in anyway a crime high area, but you might be unpleasently surprised by the strip center at briar forest and wilcrest. I think the neighborhoods west of walnut bend around brair forest and diary ashford are better. I'm pretty familiar with the area since I spent all my high school years hanging out in that area.

Great pics. Surprised by the amount of foot traffic when Downtown's office buildings are connected by underground tunnels. However, I haven't been to DT during the day in at least 5 years.

I hear this project is definately moving forward but has been scaled down to 60 stories and Morris Architects is working the project.

So about how high is 60 stories?

Yep. The NW and SW corners are both going to be exactly what you see now: huge retention ponds. When you lay that much concrete the water has to go somewhere...

I'm sure they will plant something there along the sides. It will probably look sktechy until whatever they plant matures.

Great to hear my neck of the woods are doing better. This particular area of Southwest has always been quite nice, particulrly because many of the neighborhoods are at least 30 years old with mature trees. I grew in the area between Fondren Southwest and the Westbury/Meyerland area. I always thought this area would become more desirbale as Houston grew because it's in a relatively good location. You'd be pleasently surprsied at some of the neighborhoods.

The proposed building on 3800 Main will be a medical tower according to a poster on the Houston Development Thread at http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread...23&page=107 . Also, there was a flurry of updated renderings of buildings going up in the TMC.

Houston will probably never be completely mass transit orientited. I think the most optimistic percentage would be 50% in my lifetime (I'm 22). Houston will live by the car and die by the car.

Hey Everybody,

What is your take on the future of Houston transportation? AND will this change the external mini-cities which help make up our great city?

Here is the bait- SO, as we know, gasoline is a billion dollars a gallon, conventional wisdom seems to indicate that it will only increase in price. SO, what does that mean for our fair city.

As many of you know, i am condemned; oops, sorry, stationed in LA for yet another year but still frequent Houston as much as i can. LA seems to be going through a Mass Transit transformation because of gas prices. Is it the same for Houston? AND will that mean that urban centers will become more dense because people will stay around the location in which they live? In other words, in 10-20 years, will we not be able to tell a difference between UT, MT, DT and other urban areas or do you all think in time looking at the H-Town horizon will be like looking at the movie "Brazil"- It all just morphs into one big megapolis? Give me your thoughts.

m.

PS- By the by, yes i am back. Had to take care of some personal, family shite, but back in the cyber swing these days.

I personally think Houston is on the right track with its transportation. Unlike many metros, the Houston metro is basically growing all over. I think the continued upgrading and building of new freeways, along with the addition of the inner loop light rail will set Houston on the right path. I would support commuter rail in the westpark and 290 corridor, but feel that Houston should really overhaul it's park and ride system and bus. It will just take time for this to happen. Overall, I feel like the best transit system would provide options for the commuter.

I think Houston will continue to become more dense near the core and out in the growing employment centers (Westchase, Energy corridor and Memorial City area). However, I believe Houston will still sprawl out.

I don't really know LA too well to compare it to Houston, but it seems Houston has the advantage of having a stronger inner core.

What can anyone here tell me about the Sugarland area?Almost 3 years ago, my wife and I had twins and started looking for a house - knowing that our apartment wouldn't be big enough for the 4 of us. Now we still have our apartment (being used for storage and a place for our cat) but are living with my Mother until we find a home.We've looking in Houston, Pearland and Friendswood and now after hearing good things about Sugarland, we wanna look there too but first want to know what parts are safer.We're lookin' for a $200,000 - $275,000 home in a safe area with lots of kids for ours to play with. Peace

I think you should look into the neighborhoods along Sweetwater Blvd and around Clements High School. I'm not sure whether it's in your price range, but I think it's a really nice area that has great parks and trails. It's a few miles from US59 which will become the life blood of your commutes into Houston and is a few miles from the mall. Plus it's an older part of Sugarland with mature trees.

Just my two cents: You are right, for a large majority of us who dont live downtown, we dont have a burning need to shop there. Heck, there are plenty shopping districts in Houston that are worth going to, and in that respect Houston is not lacking. But it has nothing to do with that lack of urgency to shop in the CBD. It's about creating a downtown in our city we can all be proud of. How cool would it be to have a downtown that is just a little small version of Times' Square? Or maybe more realistically something that resembles downtown Seattle or Denver? There are proud Houstonians that would love to see thier downtown flourish, regardless where in the city they actually live. I'm sure with the 2 and a half million Houstonians and the 6 million in and around around the city, there is enough critical mass to make such a dream come true.

^CBD Fetishism

It oughta be in the DSM-V.

I think Houston already has a CBD worth going to; we have a great theater district, an assortment of resturants, various entertainment (pool, movie theater, clubs, and bars), and just the atmosphere and feel of being surrounded by skyscraperss. I think Houston Pavillions will give people more to do downtown. I think there will be plenty of people to support this project. I think disco green is a good indicator of people's willingingness to venture downtown who might not have done so. However, downtown has lots of competition between the rest of the inner loop that I can't possibly see our downtown having a significant amount of retail or residential.

I'm not sure where the residential portion is, specifically the brownstones. I've only driven by the project via the on ramps to I10. It looks pretty amazing with about 5 cranes at Town and Country and then Memorial City mall area rising in the background.

Alright, I live at Kirkwood and Memorial and I see or experience none of this "ghetto stuff" mentioned, so being east of the Beltway has nothing to do with it. Yes, there is a huge apartment area a mile or so up the road, but where in urban Houston will you NOT find that? I tend not to be all squirrelie about that stuff when I live somewhere that actually has a patrol.Western Memorial has lived with those complexes for decades with no major problems. Our subdivision hasn't had a home break-in in over 20 years. Heck when we lived in Tanglewood, there were apartments where people were killing each other within a 1/2 mile.

People can be a victim of crime anywhere in Houston or outside of Houston. "Ghetto" patches are everywhere, and until this town becomes too expensive for the bad elements to afford, they will be here. Even in River Oaks and West U I've heard of more serious crime occuring than I've known of out here. Personal awareness, good neighborhood patrol and watchful older neighbors are a huge help.

That all being said, I would think the Central part of town would probably be the best area after reading your wants. However, if you find the lot sizes too small and the type house too expensive, Memorial really is a wonderful place to live. For kids coming home from college on weekends or holidays, they are all hanging out here and go to each others houses. Its little more "sleepy," but nothing like suburbia. I am energized everytime I go out the door here, and I bore very easily.

Well you must not be looking too hard. I live in Fondren Southwest and this area looks like River Oaks compared to where I live. However, Briar Forest between Wilcrest and Kirkwood has more than one large lower income apartment complex. I never said the lady should worry about violent crime, but West U. has less overall crime. Of course Houston has "ghetto" patches everywhere but Memorial @ Kirkwood happens to be close to one. Overall that part of Houston doesn't have much crime, but when comparing that part of W. Houston to West U, West U. is more safe.

Hello to all of you. Thank You for your suggestions and teasing.

Let me say we had the best time in and around downtown this weekend. My husband told me that it's not always that way,but that maybe the new park will start something. What an amazing and alive city! Back to the Houston house hunting. We visited Lamar HS and Memorial HS on Friday with the twins. I was impressed by both schools. And yes, we do want to do public, not feel like we have to go private because of poor neighborhood schools. The twins have three years left before they go to college, so this home and move is for us and our future. Frankly, if we buy in a nice neighborhood, the school should go along with it, allowing us not to dip into their college fund. Two neighborhoods caught our eye. Both different but both charming for various different reasons. We have concerns about location one, and maybe posters can help.

1. South Hampton and Avalon Place. Loved, loved, loved the neat 1930's style homes. The small lots didn't bother me but...Hypothetically, if we buy the cute and charming old house, the likelihood that a stucco monstrosity will be built next to us seems pretty high. The lot will feel smaller, and the older home will look wrong and crushed in. I'm really surprised by the teardowns of such great, normal sized houses. Do those areas not have historical guidelines? Are all the houses in such bad shape they need to be torn down? The architectural future of these neighborhoods concern us more so than the present, which is wonderful but seems to be fading. The location is incredible. Wow. My husband could stay in the downtown location and everything is right there. We had lunch one day at a place called The Raven, and they had a crazy pet chicken that walked all around the parking lot. But the overbuilding of box style houses, that look like a cheap, Italian porn film, might kill the charm of the neighborhood.This left us wondering if this would still be the neighborhood for us 10 years from now. What do you all think will be the end result of all the new construction? Loosing the architecture seems like it would detract from the charm.

2. Memorial at Kirkwood. I know this sounds crazy because it's not anywhere near the first location, but there're reasons I really liked it. The schools are strong and apparently are a safe. The lots in the neighborhood we looked at are huge. People seem to be extensively remodeling there, not tearing down. It reminded me a little of Atlanta. Not as great architecture, but the big trees and they way the older homes were maintained rang a bell. My husband would have to work out of the Energy Corridor location, but it's mere minutes away, just like Avalon and River Oaks are to downtown. If we want to get to the museum area or downtown, it seems 15-20 down the West tollway would get us there. It's nothing like Buckhead, and not nearly as fun and congested as location one, but it seems everything is right there. And the lots are big enough, if the teardown trend began, we wouldn't be stacked up on top of each other. Does anyone have any outlook on this area? My husband's co-worker says it has always been a good area and it's going through big changes lately. We saw tons of crane towers everywhere we looked, and I have read about the construction going on on this board. Yet we wonder if it might be too sleepy once the kids move out.

Loved Tanglewood and honestly if we had the funds to purchase in there we would tomorrow. Loved the Memorial Villages, but if they weren't corning a major road,1- they too have a big price tag. And really the homes and lot sizes on location 2 were almost identical, but drastically different prices for neighborhoods 1-2 miles apart.

Flipper, thank you for telling us about your house. We drove buy and it looks like you have done a great job. I liked the area over there, but I think we are looking for a little different type location.

Any help from posters with inside information on the two areas battling it out would help greatly. They're drastically different, I know. I'm only picking on the downsides of these locations because this choice is important and because honestly they both have a lot of possitives.I know residents and locals will have better opinions than realtors. I'm going to start looking at homes in both locations this Friday.

PS- It is such a relief to drive through a city and each neighborhood looks different. Sameness is something we're excited to leave. I think I'm finally starting to like Houston.

I graduated high school from Westside High (HISD school in that area) and spent a lot of time in that area. Honestly, Memorial @ Kirkwood and Briar Forest @ Kirkwood are only seperated by about a 1/4 mile, but they are two different places. Briar Forest @ Kirkwood have some lower income apartments that has been made worse by Katrina evacuees. This isn't a very dangerous area, but in my opinion crime would be worst here. If crime is a big issue, then east of Beltway 8 is probably more fitting, but it is more upscale and white. I love West Houston (along w/my home area of SW Houston) because of its diversity.

Sprawl has plenty of benefits, too, like inexpensive housing near employment centers. It is one of the most often overlooked benefits.

As for density, screw that. It's way too expensive.

Sure it is, and part of strategy is timing. You don't honestly expect La Grange to build itself a subway system, do you?

There may come a day--you never know--but this isn't it.

Support this claim.

Why would you spend billions of dollars on transit for poor people? Wouldn't it be more important to see what social class causes most of the congestion. Perhaps you can post some studies that justify spending billions of dollars on poor people who don'ty work in concentrated employment centers?

Also, Metro could whore it's trains out. I remember seeing a picture of a train that was painted like one of those ipod commercials, it looked pretty cool. I doubt the money made from doing that would bring any significant money to Metro, but it all adds up.

Allow me to better define what "doing its job" is.

>10 minutes = bad

What are you talking about? These are doing the times where there would be the least amount of riders.

Back to the topic of the costs overrun, I believe it is important that at least the University line and Uptown line remain LRT. I wouldn't be against scrapping the other lines, as long as they put money into the streets and buses that are going into those corridors. Huge costs overruns are happening on almost every proposed LRT expansion in America, so I don't think Metro should get all the blame for this.