citykid09

Since you keep going back to New York, let's look at the history.  The first subway in New York started operation in 1904.  It was privately built, not publicly funded and the density on the Lower East Side was 250,000/sq mile at the time with areas that had far greater density than that. 

 

So to summarize, New York allowed a privately owned and operated transportation system that would be operated at a profit and was built with the cutting edge technology of the time.  Houston would publicly finance a system that will utilize old technology and will need to be heavily subsidized for decades until population gets large enough to support it.

 

I am 100% in favor of implementing New York's solution.

You are saying that the rail technology that BART uses is old technology but to me it is far more advanced than light rial. Light rail to me is nothing more than a glorified street car and any self respecting world class city would look at it as nothing more than that. If a world class city has light rail, its in addition to their heavy rail systems, its not their be all and end all.

I would much prefer a BART type system (heavy rail) than the commuter rail.  It's faster, easier to use, carries more people, and more efficient. 

 

rail.jpg

 

This was the best rail proposition we've had to date IMO.  Lines going out west and northwest, where the people are.  An easy transfer to Uptown.  Hobby airport to downtown.  I would also have extended the original line to Bush Airport as well.  This system, connected with the feeder bus lines, would net us 500,000 riders a day, easy.  Probably more. 

Its cool to see that Houston DID have plans for a world class tranit system in the past, but angers me that those plans never happened. I wish they could have built the first line and then went on to vote for the next lines. By that time the people would have realised how great it was and voted yes on the next lines.

Isn't "skewing the market" the whole point of the subsidies?  Before tax incentives were put in place Midtown was just as vacant as downtown, if not more so.  I questioned whether trying to develop Midtown was worth it at the time (some of you might remember from HAIF v1).  I was wrong, so I really don't have any issue with using incentives to develop downtown.  It took  15 years for Midtown to get where it is, so I'm willing to give downtown that long to make it work.

Is it just me, or do other look at midtown as not being developed as successfully as it could have? When I say that I mean that the types of developments that came are not necessarily great. In other words, what developed was not very walkable and urban. I like that the downtown incentives say that the development has to look a certain way in order to get the incentives. That could have helped Midtown a lot, especially with that suburban CVS that we all talked about a few years back.

I was around when the original HAIF was here. I believe it was hacked and we all had to start over and re-register. This was back in 2003-2004? I think.

BRYAN COLLEGE STATION - ATLAS is the first and only master planned community in Texas designed for companies engaged in the manufacturing of biologics and pharmaceuticals.

An extension of the famed Traditions Club and Community, Atlas is located adjacent to the Texas A&M Health Science Center campus and less than two miles from the main campus of Texas A&M University, ATLAS offers a prime location for a planned community with an amenity-rich lifestyle, employment opportunities and unparalleled access to world-class researchers and students. ATLAS provides the ideal collaborative atmosphere companies need to attract and retain this world-class talent.

http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/New-MPC-Announced-at-Heart-of-Texas-Booming-Biocorridor-in-BryanCollege-Station-256597641.html

The first and only master planned community in Texas designed for biotech and pharmaceutical companies will be located on the west side of Bryan and College Station.
The group that owns The Traditions Club has announced development plans for 1,000 acres to the south of the golf course and the Texas A&M Health Science Center.

http://wtaw.com/2014/04/25/details-announced-of-atlas-biocorridor-development/

When you guys talk about commuter rail I hope you are talking about a system like BART:

But I know you are all really talking about a rail line like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqUt1IldUhU

I think a BART type system would take care of commuter and urban needs and the light rail would work to get people where they needed to go from there.

A lot of People say Houston is ugly. In my opinion Houston was made ugly by its leaders, it doesn't have to be ugly just because their are no hills. I think the Woodlands is a beautiful area. It was beautifully developed and the forest is a big plus. If Houston has a whole had the right leadership from the beginning it would not have to be the endless development,  none walkable place that it is.

Wow! I did not realize that the Muni Metro had stations like this. I have traveled by BART before but never Muni. If METRO light rail stations in Houston were like this or had their own right of way, I would be just fine with light rail. I know not all of the Muni Metro System has its own right of way, but they also have BART, street cars, etc for their transportation options.

While I'm posting pictures I might as well post one of the main reasons I hate Houston's METRO Light Rail

Because it doesn't have this:

Its kind of hard to tell if your ticket is still good or not when you don't have a controlled environment and its really easy to cheat and ride for free with what Houston has.

How exactly? What tangible things will we get that we don't already have? What specifically do we need as a city that can only be gained through self promotion? 

Tourism? More super bowls? Maybe. As someone who loves Houston, improving Houston's image through promotion might make me feel better, but I don't see how it would make the city better or more successful.

 

I think we should concentrate on improving the visual landscape before we start promoting ourselves. Otherwise, it just might backfire. Let's start with demolishing everything that exist along the freeways from the airports to downtown. It makes me ill when I think what people who have never been to Houston before must think of Houston while driving down 45, Hardy or 59.

 

Improve that and Houston's image improves with it - so does the quality of life for the residents.

At first I didn't like where your post was going, but then I began to like it. I agree demolish all the trash shopping centers and billboards along ALL of the freeways especially I-45 and line the freeways with trees. My favorite freeways and tollway areas in Houston are surrounded by trees or submerged. For instants coming in to the West Loop from 290/I-10 area and the Beltway 8 from the City Centre are on south through the forested area.

How Houston’s Missing Media Gene Hobbles Its Global City Ambitions

http://www.newgeography.com/content/004137-how-houston-s-missing-media-gene-hobbles-its-global-city-ambitions

Houston is absolute nowhere when it comes to media or thought leadership, and seems indifferent to the fact.

 

I have been saying this since I joined HAIF about 11 years ago. Houston really has no media presence. So much so that we get exited just when we hear Houston mentioned in a TV show or in the news. To other cities its just an everyday occurrence.

 

Houston can brag all its wants about its legitimate accomplishments in important areas like job and population growth and in providing middle-class opportunity. But if it wants to claim the mantle of global city, or even just head off threats to its way of doing business, it needs, like the Bay Area, to self-consciously stake out the role of leader.  For starters, that means putting its bigtime financial and intellectual muscle behind getting its message out. That means, like it or not, investing not only in oil wells, but inkwells.

Sorry for all the edits, I am having a hard time adding quotes.

How Houston’s Missing Media Gene Hobbles Its Global City Ambitions

http://www.newgeography.com/content/004137-how-houston-s-missing-media-gene-hobbles-its-global-city-ambitions

 

This mindset explains why the city has a blind spot, a missing gene if you will, that keeps it from understanding the necessity of having a robust media presence as part of its ambition to become a true global city.

I have been saying this since I joined HAIF about 11 years ago. Houston really has no media presence. So much so that we get exited just when we hear Houston mentioned in a TV show or in the news. To other cities its just an everyday occurrence.

You'd think he would have come up with another name for this one.

I'm a little surprised there weren't some ashby mid rise monster billboards on the street.

Maybe the developer is doing like the Skyhouse developer, building multiple buildings that look exactly the same and with the same name. It cuts down on the cost and construction time. I really like this type of infill!

I think the need for commuter rail can mostly be eliminated if METRO built a system like BART, MARTA or DC METRO. These systems go out to areas that commuter rail would usually go. I don't know if anyone knows about or has mentioned this (I have mentioned it a few years back), but medium capacity rail could also work in Houston. I think it would have been a much better choice than light rail and slightly below heavy rail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medium-capacity_rail_transport_system

Wasn't that Target built around 2003? Am I right? Any chance of it being redeveloped anytime soon?

Its nice. But why the hell is it surrounded by a mile of cement and not up to the sidewalk?

Most people do not understand how difficult and time consuming it was to get around Houston before the present freeway system was completed. I agree with Swts, our free system has been the driver of our success.

And also the driver of making it an appealing city. I would not mind the freeways if they were all like US-59 in the Montrose area, or like freeways in other cities (especially Atlanta), lined with trees and not feeder roads, billboards and miles of junk shopping centers.  

I wonder do the people at METRO read this? Or do any important poeple in the city reads this (Mayor, city council, etc). If not can we some how direct their attention to this thread so that they can see that the poeple of the Houston area are talking about subways in Houston?

If Atlanta can build a MultiModal Passenger Terminal (MMPT) for over a billion dollars and get funding from the federal government for it, why can Houston get funding for heavy rail or its previously planned Houston Intermodal Transit Center?

http://atlanta.curbed.com/archives/2014/03/19/multimodal-terminal-vision-will-blow-your-mind.php

This project is very forward thinking and something I wish we would see more of in Houston.

Do any of you think Houston will reconsider the Houston Intermodal Transit Center?

I'll turn that question right back around at you.  How can you possibly look at a multi billion dollar project without considering cost?  LA is spending $40 billion to build 28 miles of subways.  Don't you think that its important to understand whether that's cost efficient?  Would you be ok with Houston spending $40 billion and only completing 10 miles of subway?  5 miles? 2 miles?  Are there other and better uses for that money that should be considered?

The last time Houston stopped and thought "Are there other and better uses for that money that should be considered?," The city ended up dropping its heavy rail plans to use that money on more police and more roads. Now come on, I am all for safety but I can assure you that Houston would have been much better off had that heavy rail that Bob Lanier stopped had gotten built. You can give me every reason in the book why Houston should not have a heavy rail system, but at the end of the day it does not matter. There is no reason for the 6th largest city in North America not to have a heavy rail system.

Sometimes I look at cities in developed countries such as Australia which is a bit smaller then the State of Texas in population and wonder why are their cities so much more advanced then the cities in Texas. I mean I know that Texas is a State in the United States and money made in the State does not always stay within the State, but there is a big difference in the quality of amenities offered. You can say that those cities are much older that Houston and other Texas cities but I still don't buy that. What about all of the Asian and Middle Eastern cities that have sprouted up over the last few decades going from rural to super urban. They have been able to come up with money for amenities such as subways, why not Houston? A city in the WEALTHIEST country on earth! I guess that is why the United States will not be #1 in GDP in a Couple of years, we just don't look beyond tomorrow any more.

I think heavy rail is the way to go for Houston. It does not necessarily have to all be subway, just in the inner city (downtown, uptown, Greenway, Medical Center, etc), like MARTA, BART, and the DC Metro are.

Although I believe the people stopping rail on Richmond are completely against any type of rail, I don't blame them for not wanting it going do their street. I would rather see that line in a subway where traffic and pedestrians will not be a factor. If Houston ever went to a heavy rail system along the red line, I wonder what would happen to the light rail? Would it be used as a street car (it already is)?

Imagine riding on a heavy rail in Houston at an above ground station while looking out the window and then suddenly being taken into a tunnel where your next stop is somewhere at or near downtown. You get off the train and head up to the street level where there is lots of activity. You see street vendors, street performers, people shopping, people walking dogs, etc. You spend the day in the city doing whatever (having a good time), you go back into the tunnel and get off a the transfer station where you catch the train and get off at your station to go home. Many others get off at that station with you and you all walk off to  wherever you destination is. This is the kind of Houston I want to see, the type of experience I get when I go to most any other city and have always looked for in Houston (but was disappointed when I found out it did not exist here).

How can a city be satisfied with seeing people only in malls grocery stores and shopping centers, clubs and bars (many which are built in shopping centers)? Yeah Houston may have a lot to do, but in my opinion, its still a boring city. There are no real attractions that you can get to without driving nearly to Galveston and even they are sub-par. Its a city that has lots of potential but the lackluster leadership make it a city that people only want to move to for jobs. Sure the city is making improvements but its always in the cheapest and blandest way. And don't get me started on the light rail and the streets with ditches in the inner city. Can someone please explain the point of placing track and stations in the front of houses and neighborhoods that look like they belong in a rural ghost town somewhere in West Texas. Its laughable! Are they hoping that the neighborhoods will eventually redevelop? I think that its probably the worlds first light rail in basically a rural area.

I guess the city of Houston sees itself as cheap and unworthy of the best. Why is a few billion spend for a heavy rail/subway system in Houston too much? Is Houston, the 4th largest city in America not worth it? Does Houston ever see it self becoming anything other then a car city?

And who else thinks that the name METRO is to generic? How about calling it HART or MTA Houston or M-HART?

Sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings, but I had to vent.

yes. room for a restaurant and some basic residential needs ("retail") i believe.

Great! It should be nice for the area and hopefully it has a rippling affect.

Will this place have retail and restaurants on the ground floor? The rendering seems to show this.

No offence but the giant crosses make Houston look like a town full of over religious nuts. It makes the city seem backwards and unprogressive. When I see those giant crosses I think: unwelcoming, conservative, southern baptist, bible belt capital, etc.

Maybe I should have named this thread a little better so more people would understand that its about submerging 610 and building a park etc. above it.