citykid09

Houston streets or horrible in general because there are so many milles of them that have to be maintained. I guess that is the cost of building a city that sprawls as much as Houston does. If Houston were 50 percent less spread out imaging how much money would be saved on less roads, less maintenance, etc.

Actually there is a such thing as a World Class City. Let me list a few in North America. New York, Chicago, Toronto, Mexico City, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, and Vancouver. Some of the cities that I have listed have samller populations than Houston, but are still World Class Cities when Houston is not. Why? What do these cities have that Houston doesn't?

Give them commuter rail and call it a day. Could you imaging how Houston would be if the city stopped within 610 and the suburbs stopded within beltway 8 (including the big airport in beltway 8). It would be much easier to get around and the city would be much more dense. Here is a suggestion Houston, if you can't take care of the land (streets, etc) that you have already, then stop annexing more land.

You mention all of that, but I still don't think its much. We are all entitled to our own opinions. This may be a little off topic but think about this: How is it Houston is the most booming city in North America at this time, but prety much the only development that comes from this is a bunch of 4-5 story apartment buildings? Then you look at the many skyscrapers being constructed in Chicago, Miami, Toronto, New York, etc and wonder why not Houston? Its the city that is booming not those other cities (as much). I guess Houston had its one and only chance in the 1970s.

I usually don't agree with you, but great explanation. Aside from not getting a space shuttle, I think the city/metro should try to attract some sort of theme park. its the largest city in the States without one and I think that that is just unexceptable for a metro of 6+ milion people. I know many of you do not think the city should be in the business of trying to attract a theme park, but I think it should.

Imagine how much better Houston's rail could have been if it had all its funds. Most likley the rail could have had its own right of way.

Houston has an identity; it’s just not a famous identity. Dallas is known nationally and worldwide for rich snobs, Austin is known for hippies and being laid back. I don't think Houston identity is known that much outside of Texas and Louisiana. Houston to me has an identity as a decentralized city that really does not function very well. When one area gets old and undesirable people just build further out. Nice stuff gets torn down for parking lots, etc. It’s a city that really doesn't know what it wants to be. Does it want to be the world’s largest suburb or does it want to be a city with many mini downtowns surrounded by suburbs? It’s a city that does not spend money on unnecessary items. It’s a city that builds what it needs to build in the cheapest possible way, and it shows. Houston is a city that does not think very far into the future and is not very aggressive when it comes to competition. It’s a very multicultural city, but the only way you would ever know it was if you drove to the many shopping centers sprinkled throughout, parked your car in a parking lot and walk into some of the endless shops. Many people identify Houston as Space City, partly because of NASA, but that wasn't even enough to get the city a space shuttle.

Great video Double L! I agree that the inner loop is getting more dense, but just because it is getting that way doesn't mean it is ideal. Its not the uniform density you see in other cities that have zoning. For example, you are in a nice new mix use development, but you walk across the street and their is an empty lot, next to an abandon house, next to an old run down house (that people live in), ditch streets, leaning powerlines, skinny sidewalks (if any), maybe a dirt path instead, a 1980s METRO bus stop and no uniform vision for the future.

It was a joke, but if you must have an explanation: I said Republican because of your lackluster solution. I see a more progress future for the city once all of the old people that have been holding the city back (Tom Delay) go away. If you want to be world class you have to think big! Managed lanes and Quick Line buses are not the only components world class cities have. You might look at METRO Light Rail as a world class system, but its not. Its just a starter!

Here is something to read: http://www.city-data.com/forum/city-vs-city/967454-light-rail-vs-heavy-rail.html Light Rail Vs Heavy Rail

Such a Republican answer niche. LOL!

What will come after METRO Light Rail is finished with construction? The light rail was meant to be a way for people to get around the city once they got to the city, but it will need heavy or medium capacity rail lines to feed into the light rail. If METRO had have built its light rail as DART built theirs, then this would not be as nessesary,because it would already be a commuter like system (METRO built its rail for the most part as street cars). With the Houston Metro Area doubling in size over the next few decades, METRO Light Rail can not be the be all and end all. If METRO feels that the city is not ready for a full on heavy rail, they could look into a medium capacity rail system that could upgrade to a Heavy rail sytem in the future when the population increase more. Here is a link to more info on medium capacity rail: http://en.wikipedia....ransport_system Here is a video of the medium capacity system in Torino:

I think what Trae means is that in the long run, Dallas will be better of because they actually planned for the future. In the future ridership should increase in Dallas. You can see this will all of the developments that have went up and are going up around DART. Houston has decided to build its rail in areas that are already developed (although for the most part suburban). METRO opened the light rail in 2004 and there have been very little TOD along the line, complete opposite of Dallas' DART.

The Astrodome should have been given to the movie/tv studio developers a long time ago. From what the dome has turned into, there was nothing to lose buy letting them take it over.

I wish she had discovered São Paulo's Metro before Houston's METRO built what they are building now. Maybe this will spur plans for Houston's rapid transit.

Wow! Its crazy to actually see it going up. I wonder if they are building that section which will cross 290 wide enough so that it won't have to be torn down when 290 is rebuilt? Also how many lanes is Grand Parkway in each direction? And lastley, will it be an interchange like beltway 8 in 290 or will it be a simple interchange?

So does anyone know for sure what the construction on 290 near the the Houston Premium Outlets is? There is construction all through the area with what looks like raps. Maybe its an over pass so that people can exit the outlet easier, but it seems much bigger. Is this part of the Grand Parkway? Looks like it could be a freeway interchange. If its for easier acess to the outlet, does that mean that they don't expect the road to be widened any time soon? Or is this construction a part of the widening?

A lot of the post on here seem to minimize the AA population in Texas and particularly in Houston. Texas has the 3rd largest AA population of all the States (just under New York and Florida). Houston is known as a top destination city for AAs just as Atlanta is, but Houston is also a top destination for many other groups of people as well. Atlanta is diverse, but not like Houston. I don't know how old you are, but if you are in your 20s or 30s, you may want to take a look at this site to get a feel of some of the AA club scene in the Houston Area. http://indmix.com/ Scroll down and click the "picture" tab to get a better glimpse.

Also, does Fox Sports Houston film in Houston? I remember hearing something about them filming in downtown as well. I wonder if they will upgrade their studio to a street level one to compete.

At first I thought they changed the name because it was getting confused with the city of Houston. But after checking the website for Houston's, its still called Houston's, but the parent company is called Hillstone Resturant Group, and they have a resturant called Hillstone (don't know if its new).

Thats what I am saying! When the channel was first announced, they made it seem like Houston was competing with Stamford for the national studios of the NBC Sports Network. Now it seems that its just the local channel that will have shows taped from there. They said something like if Houston didn't win the bid for the studio then it would still get a smaller office, but that the main studio would be in Stamford. Its all just so confusing! Its still exciting that something new is coming to downtown though, even if it won't be national shows and talk shows.

Here is an older article about how Houston was competing with Stamford, Conn for the facility: http://www.chron.com...own-2653814.php If the studio was just ment for Houston related sports then why would the shows be broadcast out of Stamford? Where do the other 10 local sports channels that this company owns broadcast from? There cities or from Stamford? I remember reading something about talk shows being taped in the studios as well. I will look for that article.

So what is the result from the press confrence? Is this just for the local cable channel or for the national NBC Sports studio Houston was bidding for? With the national deal, I heard that talk shows would also be filmed in the studios. What did they mean by talk shows? Sports talk shows or a Debra Duncan/Oprah/Ellen/Rachel Ray type talk show where many tourist will go daily with free tickets to the shows.

Developments to change the look of University Drive http://www.theeagle.com/local/The-road-to-change--7010434 These developments are going to really change the Bryan/College Station area. It really is amazing how much this area has changed in the past few decades. I wonder will these plans slow down the efforts to revidalize downtown Bryan? Also there is a town center planned for the bio corridor, will that plan still go through with all of these other developments happening? And I can't believe they are tearing down the old plaza skyscraper.

I heard that a new steakhouse called STK House was coming somewhere in Houston, maybe High Street is the location.