citykid09

That's not what I'm saying at all. I him know that I see where he is coming from. I say its doing well in the recession because of the way much of the state develops, making for cheap land and a host of other factors that make the state favorable for businesses. But does the layout of those these Texas cities make for a great quality of life? I would say a major reason for lack in quality of life here is the absents of rapid transit in our cities. A few cities that are much more successful in their development: San Fransisco, Los Angeles, San Jose (pretty much all of California), Boston, New York Philly, Atlanta......I could go on. Can you give some examples of your last sentence?

Walkable cultural centers like a China Town, or a Little Italy. Rapid transit Less miles and miles of the same old strip centers filled with nail shops, cleaners, dollar store etc. Less feeder roads. Place businesses along feeder roads in walkable business districts Tree lined freeways Dense walkable mixed use neighborhoods A theme park NOW! Major attractions downtown such as a huge NASA Activity center/museum. (be creative) Houston's own Street version of Rodeo Drive, or 5th Ave. Zoning!

Sure they are not in Texas. Pretty much all of Texas went about developing livable inner cities the wrong way meaning they designed them for cars and not humans. Luckily cities like Dallas and Austin have caught on to the success of cities outside of Texas and began to make their inner cities more dense. Houston finally tried to catch on in the past few years, but by that time the financial crisis came.

I get what you are say, its relevant. It seems that Houston is stuck on what it was and what it represented during the time of the oil boom. Its kind of like how the popular kids in high school think that that popularity will last into the future with no change and it doesn't. You must keep up or get passed up. And as I have said before, for the past few decades Houston hasn't been a very innovative city. The city builds on efficiency and basically on the cheap. And to you AtticaFlinch, do you honestly think that Houston's street car system (Light Rial) will help it become an Alpha city? Take a look at all of the Alpha cities on that list and look at their transit systems, Houston won't come close even when its finished. Even all of the Beta,+,-, etc (maybe not Dallas) have grand rail systems.

Its crazy weird that You asked this question because yesterday I looked up world cities to see if Houston's status changed from Beta- since last year. I was going to ask this exact same question, as I did last year on here, but you beat me to it. It is hard to understand why Dallas got Beta, Atlanta got Beta+ and Houston Beta-. Did the DART rail in Dallas place them above Houston? Did MARTA, CNN, many cable channels and movie studios, CocaCola, Etc in Atlanta place it Beta? Yes Houston has many headquarters, a large population, the medical center, etc, but I think much more is needed. I know I might get beat up for this, but does having the feel of a big city count? Houston feels big from the car on the freeway and street, but once you get out of the car it feels kind of lonely. You see a lot of people in parks and such, but you don't see a mass of people walking around any of the urban centers within the city. I am surprised Dallas and Atlanta ranked higher than Montreal and Rio de Janerio though. Again just my opinion.

I hope that the development could help that area, but it needs a lot of help. I would have torn down the Arms of Bryan also. It would have been nice if a developer could come in and buy the whole neighborhood all down South College and have retail, clubs, restaurants, etc with Apartments above.

I know the people always say its the money, but sometimes you have to spend the money to do it right. Can you imaging a rail track stopping traffic at Westheimer and Post Oak? People need to think long term. Will the design of the rail system work for the Houston of the future? Say 2050?

Back on topic, my suggestions for the Uptown Line: interior view interior view What would you all suggest? And I have a question on the Route description here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uptown_Line_%28METRORail%29 Is that correct?

They were supposed to widen South College a few years ago and make it a signature street. I like how a lot of the buildings come up to the street. Its would be great if they made it a walkable mixed use area.

LOL! That is a little too much character. But what would Times Square be without the ads? NOTHING! Its really a site to see.

I'm with you on that. I think that is what makes downtown seem so bland (in my opinion). The city allows all of these billboards and tall signs out side of downtown which I think make the city visually cluttered (thats what needs to be minimized). Why not allow them downtown and liven it up down there. Kind of like Times Square. I want to say the same about METRO, they don't allow advertisement because I they think its tacky. I personally think that it would be cool to have advertisement on sides of buses trains and stations.

I could be wrong, but I thought downtown couldn't have logo's on the buildings.

Whatever happened to Fatburger going into this development?

Tell me about! But that was nearly 30 years ago. Its time to move on and bring back that power that that time represented in Houston.

The link I gave shows the data for Miami.

What about Houston's oil money? Is it no match to Dubai's? Are they now the oil capital of the world? Also I saw a video the other day on Oklahoma City's building boom and how it is claiming to be the new Oil Capital.

It seems HAIF has been nearly dead lately, so I came up with this new topic to create some conversation. Many tall buildings are going up across the country, many tall enough to make Houston's tallest (JP Morgan Chase Tower) look like nothing. Even Oklahoma City is building a 925 foot tower. Cities such as Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Miami, San Fransisco, etc have plans for buildings taller than JP Morgan Chase Tower. We all all know New York and Chicago have plenty of taller building going up. Houston lost its status as the #3 skyline in the last decade to Miami will it fall further down the list in the next decade? I know many of the building have been put on hold, but what will happen after the economy picks up? Do you think all of those towers in those other cities will get built? Do you think Houston will see any super tall proposals? Hopefully Texas can see the building boom that Florida, California, etc saw in the last decade. After all we are the fastest growing state. Do don't see any reason why developers wouldn't look to Texas first after we recover from the recession. A list of the tallest approved, proposed, and under construction buildings in the United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_under_construction,_approved,_and_proposed_buildings_in_the_United_States One other thing, it amazes me how in cities such as Miami and Dubai although over built, keep building and building. Why is that?

No, I did say that, but the Galleria area is Houston's shining star. Why not complement that with a design that fits that area. But Houston doesn't work that way. Houston doesn't build for aesthetics Houston builds for efficiency only.

That sounds snobbish. I do think that the way that they have planned the Uptown line doesn't really fit in with the theme of the area. If not a subway, they should at least entrench it like DART did with Mockingbird Station. Elevating it might look tacky for that area, but then again you never know. I just think more effort (money) should be put into the Uptown line since it is Houston's "glitzy" area. Maybe they designers should go to LA and take a look at the line they just opened for some inspiration. I do agree though that if the Uptown line is designed anything like the Red Line (as the renderings show), I don't see many of the usual Galleria area shoppers riding it. Do you really think shoppers are going to wait at a rail stop with their expensive items all hot and sweating? NO! But if the stations were covered with air-conditioning nicely lit and safe, I'm sure many more people will ride it.

Christmas Co's. Early American Shoppe

Awesome! But where are the roller coasters? Thats what I really miss about Astroworld the roller coasters. Other than that, it looks like one of the best theme-parks Ive seen.

Since signing that bill last year with tax incentives for filming in Texas, a lot of TV shows and movies have announced they will be filming in Texas. Matter of fact that's why I logged in so that I could post this article: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-midland_0212gd.State..278bcc1.html its about new shows filming in both Dallas and Austin. I really wish that the Astrodome could become a film studio.

This is why I have always said that rail should be seperated from the streets. Incidents like this still do not help teach METRO a a lesson on how to build rail.

Houston is being featured on the 1st episode of Undercover Boss on CBS now! Waste Management CEO.

So I guess that would mean, Houston and New York will be the first to see many new building going up? I don't think so I will bet that developers still will see the need to build in Miami, Chicago, etc. It would be great though if Houston saw a Miami type boom in downtown or in the Galleria Area.