citykid09

Why? Because you know Houston in its current state or future planned state will not be able to handle an Olympics? What made the people that tried to bring it to Houston in the first place actually think they had a chance?

Do you know what an event like the Olympics will do for Houston? Infrastructure wise, money wise, image wise, etc? A whole lot! I don't care much for the Olympics myself, but the benefits it could bring to Houston (or any city in Texas) makes me want it.

Do Canadian Provinces have more power than U.S. States? Can they secede from Canada if they wanted?

LOL, Cool is not the reasoning behind my "rant." Houston's citizens always brag about Houston being the 4th largest city in America. They also brag about being one of the fastest growing cities in America, Okay. They also talk about wanting to host the Olympics and other big name events. But at the end of the day its all laughable to the people who make those decisions. Do you honestly think Houston can hold an Olympics with its current infrastructure? Houston is a city with big dreams, but does very little to make those dreams come true. Do you think Atlanta would have gotten the Olympics if they didn't have their world class transit system? Name me one city that has gotten the Olympics without one (not the winter Olympics, the main Olympics). No world class Alpha city has on street light rail as its leading form of transit. If Houston has aspirations to be an Alpha city, it must think bigger! Light rail on the streets is okay (not very good) on the streets as they are planned, if you are a city that plans to stay the same in population and not defensify. But if you are a city that plans to grow and defensify as Houston is I don't think the street light rail will cut it. Ideally, Houston should have a combination of subways in the really dense areas such as downtown and uptown, and above ground right of ways where they are passable. Now if areas such as downtown want a street car set up (similar to San Fransisco) that would be fine also. There should be rail lines going to all of the major areas. In less dense areas and in the far out suburbs BRT will work best until they feel the need to upgrade to rail. Commuter rail should run from the Woodlands, Katy, Cypress (preferably from the park and ride station if possible) and possibly a line to the Bryan/College Station area. And those of you who say I always want to copy another city, well its okay to copy another city, all ideas had to have come from somewhere. If all cities thought that way Boston would be the only city in the U.S. with a subway, and New York would have never developed into the city it is today. Or take that a little further and London would be the only city in the world with a subway. Get mad at my comments if you want, but I bring interesting conversation to this forum.

Those students don't like Houston. I guess the architecture is really bland to them (which it is, but the city makes up for that because there are so many buildings). Two Words: Exciting and disappointing (sometimes).

The 70s and 80s took place before the Bush Family ruined Texas reputation. The current governor is following in the footsteps.

So Houston is not worth of a subway because its too costly? So lets see New York, LA and Chicago build on street light rail because subways are to expensive.

I think I read a while back that it was #2 in its time slot behind, Regis and Kelly. It might be #1 now??? I just like the fact that talent in the Houston area can stay in town and still make it with out the need to move to LA or NYC. The city of Atlanta realized that and has been able to retain its talent in music, TV, music, arts, etc. I read an article the other day about how designers (clothing, etc) from the Houston area use to have to move to LA or NYC to make it in the industry, but now They are staying in Houston and are still able to make a name for themselves.

I figured out what the show is. Its a national show that is being launched by abc O&O stations called Live Well HD. The show being produced in Houston is called Mirror/Mirror. It is hosted by former Great Day Houston reporter Rebecca Spera. http://livewellhd.com/mirrormirror/bio?id=6778713

I get a lot. I even had someone from the North East say to me that I speak so well and know so much about the latest urban trends (music, etc) to be from where I'm from, like this area is secluded from civilization. People from other areas in this country and especially from out side this country think that we all all some backwoods hicks and must be Republican. But then they come to Texas and see that its nothing like they think. They don't think about the urban areas when they think of Texas, they think of simi-desert ranches and cowboys. Its also known as a very prejudice (racist) place by people who live here and don't. I have never really experienced that in person, but people show their true feelings on the internet.

I hope you are right about the future, but do you really think that Houston will ever go beyond light rail? They might think about it in 75+ years. The Metro is expecting an extra 2 million people by 2020, do you actually think that the light rails they are building will be able to handle those people? In the future cars will become less important in the way we get around. People will go to areas where they are able to live without a car and Houston won't be one of those places. Redscare, do you really think these 2 car street trains will be able to accommodate 7-8 plus million potential riders? And no its not about aesthetics, its about fitting the proper type of passenger rail in Houston. The citizens of Houston want a rail system they can ride around town without delays from street traffic, lights, and other rail. The rulers of Houston seem to always think they know what the people want but they don't. They always say, "Houston's to hot people won't walk." "Houston's a car city, no one will ride rail." And none of its true. If Houston doesn't change, it will NOT be able to compete with other cities and will decline in the future. Cars may have been the new wave of the future in the 1950s on forward, but heading in to 2020, its changing and its changing to rail.

Well let me be the first to tell you, you're not the majority. Okay, let me ask this. If money was not an object, what kind of rail would you want Houston to have?

I agree, Texas secludes itself with stuff like that slogan. It needs to be changed to something else like: "Texas, Its totally not what you think!" Because a lot of people think of Texas as a State where we ride horses everywhere and live on a ranch.

Thanks to you and all of the others that understand my points. I just left Atlanta with a lot of Houstonians and while we where there we road MARTA. It was there first time on it and they were all very impressed and envious at the sometime. They did not expect Atlanta to have such a rail system and wondered why Houston doesn't have one. Okay, Highway 6, I understand the price is rising, but METRO should have thought about that years ago when Houston could have had a true Heavy Rail or Monorail. I'm sure the system Atlanta has cost much less than the light rail Houston has because it was built in the 1970s. But even knowing that the price goes up as time goes on, I would rather delay the plans for the rail in Houston and do it right, then build the crappy street car that they are about to put down. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

LOL! So you're the one responsible for this rail. How long have you been working for METRO? I wonder if the heads of METRO read HAIF? And if so are they listening to peoples concerns?

Obama in no way hates Texas. He probably hates that A** Backwards Governor of this State. When will we be allowed to reelect a new Governor? This one is trying to hard to appeal to the off the way conservative folks.

Honestly, the other two photos I see are the only ones that make since for rail in Houston (they are off the streets). The one in The Galleria area I think is a stupid Idea. You don't put rail on a crowded street like that. It will be difficult to turn, uturn, etc. I think that they should at least consider above ground or below ground stations for this area. They are being so Cheap with METRO Rail that I hear that it will have the first ever (world or nation???) rail line crossing that is not separated. Meaning that trains going east and west will have to stop and wait for trains going north and south to pass by and the other way around. You guys can criticize me if you want, but I think Houston is getting the crappiest passenger rail system ever built. When rail was first approved for Houston, I expected a World-Class rail system on par with other major cities, not a 2 car street train scooting along streets and not in its own right of way. I just watched a video of one of the new lines going right down the middle of a street in a suburban style neighborhood with ranch style housing, WTF! That doesn't even look right. I don't blame the people for the NIMBY stuff. It seems as if the people that work for METRO have never been outside of Houston and have never seen an actual passenger rail system work. With all hope completely lost of Houston being a true urban city (You can't be truly urban without the proper rail infrastructure), I can still have hope for other Texas cities like Austin and San Antonio to build world class rail systems in the future. Dallas' has done in right. The only thing I can say about DART Rail is that it is light rail and not a Heavy Rail System, but other than that, its perfect. I think all construction that has started on the new lines should stop and there should be a complete redesign of the entire system. If I had it my way, the Main street line would be completely removed and moved underground, where a rail system should be in a city the size of Houston. Okay, where are my critics?

But Park Lane has rail and City Centre never will.

Ive never seen this, but wow! If only this could have happened, this is really nice. What part of town would this have been in? Its perfect! Its on an actual street, development is also across the street, its just too perfect. Wish some how that it could happen. ok, its in midtown, exactly what that area needs. and I have seen this before on here, and I saw the sign in person.

Austin was the perfect city for that.

So on the new ones in Houston you have to step up? I knew that DART upgraded to the non step up trains, but I meant a true makeover with a whole new type of train.

Here is an old map of the Cityplace Subway Station I was wondering if DART ever planned on upgrading there rail cars like METRO is doing in Houston?

I like the green house idea, but Im sticking with the movie studio. How about turning it into a self sustaining city?

I don't know, but I remember a few years back that one of the Houston suburbs was building a place with replicas of all the classic baseball parks in America. I think its in Pearland? or Pasadena? Does anyone know?

I think that it could not only be useful for movies, but also in TV show production. Maybe some shows with live studio audiences. It could be an all around attraction. Also, the Austin area had studio city going up. Its supposed to be like what Hollywood is to Los Angeles. Does anyone know how that project is going? And One more thing, I think the Dallas area has some sound stage studios, Barney and several other shows are taped there.