kdog08

It is a shame that you are so fixated on rail, or else you could see that this is already occurring. 

 

Let's not be naive here, we are decade(s) behind on any meaningful investment in mass transit in this city while we are simultaneously trying fiercely to scrape together the money to expand our highways and roads. 

OK you said it was a disappointment to feed into the light rail and now you are supporting it. please try and support your argument. as whitney houston said "crack is whack"

 

Let me clarify Whitney, if you build rail, then you need the appropriate amount of buses to support it. Main St Line was built without the appropriate support. In the Main St. Line case, we should have expanded park &ride, especially in the SW and southern portions because of the TMC; and we should have simultaneously improved the local bus system that serves the downtown and TMC corridors. 

 

I am very much in support of a multmodal SYSTEM that involves many options working together.... 

What is the other option in a city this size?

 

In a city this size? We should have had the Main st., University, and Uptown built along with quadrupling park&ride and local bus to feed into the light rail. Along with completing I10 and other highways and road projects. But that's in hindsight to adding over a million people between 2000-2010 along with the highly lucrative shale boom. Who wants to wager 2010-2020 will see similar population growth? 

And for New Yorkers and San Franciscans they get to pay a much higher price for housing AND get to have a longer commute to boot.

 

Yes.... and they generally make more money and enjoy more public amenities. And you are comparing San Francisco and NYC to Houston..... 

 

Some cities work well because they offer more to their citizens.... Some cities work well because they let their citizens figure out it themselves.... 

I'm not some ideologue wanting some Utopian vision. I am a pragmatic person.

 

We certainly need to continue to add and upgrade roads and highways (290 and 288 needs to happen now), but we as a city and state have been cutting off our noses to spite our faces when it comes to transit. 

 

We don't need no stinking studies to show how efficient and a good alternative mass transit can be, just do some traveling. OUR problem isn't mass transit, it's the implementation of it. Building the Main St. line at the expense of having buses to support and feed the rail and other areas is STUPID. Building out our rails lines and quadrupling park and ride service and local bus service is the way to go. 

 

Lastly, I'm not ignorant to the political and financial realities. However, the only REAL thing from stopping us from investing in this metro is ourselves. With the bond support for more parks and schools, maybe this metro can stomach soemthing along the lines as what LA's mayor did to get money for transit. 

 

 

One of the costliest metros to commute in, but one of the cheapest metros to live in. Commuting costs may have gone up because of the road system, but housing prices have stayed down because of it.

I'm completely in favor for mass transit and I don't think that it's unreasonable at all to have a conversation about the most effective way to spend money allocated to transit.

 

 

It's pretty much universally acknowledged that mass transit increases commute times.

 

 

Prices in Houston are cheaper in most areas of the metro in comparison to other out of state areas and that extends to housing prices in the suburbs as well.  I think that a more telling question is the cost of the house without commute vs. the cost with a commute.  I expect that you'll find that housing prices in the suburbs are proportionately cheaper than costs in closer areas, so a percentage of "commuting costs" are offset as a result.  I don't believe that is considered in most studies on commuting costs.

 

If you hypothetically spend $1000/year in commuting cost, but save $1000/year in housing costs, your personal commuting costs are functionally zero.  Perceived societal costs and value of time spent are subjective costs that are going to vary by individual.

 

I love this type of reasoning! A champion for the status quo. Heaven forbid we invent in other options besides roads and highways that would slightly tilt the equation in favor of a less costly commute and slightly higher cost of living. The funny thing about the status quo, is we can't even afford to do it! We've been adding ~1  million people to the metro per decade and we'll probably add another million or so between 2010-2020! But hey lets keep trying to build highways with money we don't have because we are cheap and let's keep throwing whatever money is left over to public transit because we are cheap. Houston is a cheap city period. I've been here for about 24 years and can appreciate the grittiness that this cheap city has produced but the less provincial I become the more I realize how Houston is just settling for the status quo. 

 

Houston is getting more expensive, it's requiring more green space, more large public projects, and rents and housing prices are increasing along with the cost of commuting. At some point (assuming Houston continues to grow and become more wealthy long term) the cheap status quo will no longer be applicable and we'll be in a jam. 

there's no argument. the line is dead as is the uptown line. METRO dropped the ball on that one too.

 

And that's the sad thing. We've had a public transit agency that has the dropped the ball a lot due to incompetence and corruption. We've had a general public that has become very cynical and ignorant about moving people in a city. It's 2013 and we're still sitting here having discussions about whether BRT or LRT is better which should have been decided and implemented at the very least a decade ago and that's being damn generous. All the while, the anti- rail or anti-non car based alternative crowd or cheapos (libertarian type folks) have achieved making the Houston region one of the most costliest metros for commuting while simultaneously not being able to afford to maintain and expand this costly road system. Brilliant. 

Looks like the project will begin this yr based upon how close they are, 5 grand will be raised pretty quick

 

5 million away. 

When can we decide that this was just a land hold?

 

Don't ruin our fun!

I think Midtown is large enough to where it can support a diverse scene. The parking situation is head and shoulders better than washington ave. 

Uhhhhh Soviet block style apartments look pretty different to me...... Whiteco must be where mid-level party members stand in line for beet rations. 

The first casualty (that I know of) of a bunch of the new landscaping -- a nasty looking accident at the corner of Pearce and Bagby with a truck taking out some trees and part of Christian's Tailgates patio....

 

Some of the "natural grasses" or whatever alongside Kirby need some trimming. 

3/2/2013 Update:  New steel & a new crane.

 

 

 

Forgive my ignorance but have we confirmed if there are two or one residential towers currently being constructed because it looks there's two in the right hand corner.

view looking North

 

Awesome shot. Was going to Kelsey Clinic in this area and it's surprisingly dense in this corner of Houston. 

From earlier today. Very little change since lockmat posted his pictures:

 

Thanks for the update. Glad this one doesn't look like your standard complex going up right now. 

Nothing special, but its street presence isn't too bad.

 

My thoughts exactly,

I too recently stayed here and the rooms are really great. Plus the hotel is pretty close to everything. 

Here are some photos taken from the pond side of the project last week.

 

This project, the waterwall apartments, and W. Dallas apartment next to Whole foods don't seem to be built with the standard wooden frame. What gives? Would these be considered real luxury apartments? 

Right next to the Continental Club.

http://houston.bcycle.com

 

I might never use it because I have an awesome bike but it'll be great when people visit me and want to go for a ride with me.

 

Awesome this is 4 blocks from my apartment. I too have a pretty good bike but this will be great for my non bike buddies.

Based on the most recent post in the Central Houston Development map thread, it may be worth noting the part that ties specifically to this proposal - it seems larger than the rendering we've all seen.

 

About this block, on page 11 the linked report specifically says...

 

Thanks for posting the linked report, lots of interesting info. 

I specifically said that METRO's P&R and HOV work, and that's great for the users, but cumulatively METRO's vision over time has failed to provide the biggest bang for the buck for the people that are transit-dependent in its service area.

 

I don't really give a damn what mode of transit serves those people, but they are not now being served (IMO and by METRO's recent admission) even though METRO has spent plenty of money building rail lines and allegedly improving bus service.

 

The quickest fix is now and has always been more buses, more stops, in more neighborhoods for the truly dependent. The planned and built rail lines will never be a good enough answer for those "w/o the means to buy an $11k automobile" except for that relatively small % that lives within walking distance of a rail line. Stopping or reducing bus service to some of these areas of highest need b/c of low ridership is false economy IMO, but is required if your agency has spent itself into a hole.

 

So, no, it's not OK.

 

And Kinkaid Alum's observation that perhaps the entire system would be better if METRO had not had to give up 25% of its sales tax collections - not only is the observation unprovable, it ignores the problem that METRO has more or less continuously failed to provide the best service it could with the money it does collect. There is no reason to believe that METRO would have magically become more competent at planning had the agency had that 25% of the tax revenue to spend.

 

The quickest fix is money and lots of it. You are confusing corruption and/or incompetence by METRO with the flaws of our proposed rail system. The best plan would be an expansion of rail NOT at the cost of buses. In fact, the best plan would involve expanding the bus system along with the rail system along with the hike and bike along with other commuting solutions. All of which require investment of money. 

some great pictures!  thanks for sharing.  it's kinda funny, i see more people on the sidewalks in the woodlands than in your pictures of montrose.  was it a weekday during the day?

 

3pm on a Friday afternoon. 

Looks like this one has been going under the radar.... Seems we got some underground parking on top of apartments in this phase 2 that occupies a single block. Photos by me:

 

 

 

Wow. No retail under the most significant apartments on the most significant block in midtown directly on the light rail line. Epic failure.

This goes against EVERYTHING we are trying to accomplish in midtown, everything that post midtown HAS accomplished along west gray, everything the light rail was supposed to support, EVERYTHING, IT GOES AGAINST EVERYTHING.

Is it awesome theyre building something instead of leaving a gigantic empty block in midtown? Sure.

Is it what we envisioned and the best use of the superblock and up to its full potential? **** no.

If there is a way to to get at Ric Campo, email him to death, make a stink about this, do SOMETHING, we cant just accept this without a fight.

How many friggin parks do we need for christs sake?! The original project had this ENTIRE BLOCK full of apartments, then in typical houston fashion, the project is scaled back by 50% and the retail component is scrapped. Oh right, theirs gonna be "retail" in the park. Yea, like the "retail" at disco green, so cutting edge.

Son, I am disappoint.

/rant. For now.

 

I like your moxy kid but don't fear, there are plenty of of opportunities for retail alongside rail. Midtown still has lots of land to be developed, especially in the southern portion.

Only works if there is a high speed rail connection between Houston and College Station. No one would go for it.    

 

Christof Spieler, Carroll Robinson, and Tory Gattis Chron Op-ED,

 

 

 

The Brain Train from College Station through Houston to Galveston. Today, cities gain much of their economic strength from their intellectual strength, from engineers, scientists, medical researchers and MBAs. So we can strengthen our region by connecting intellectual centers and employment centers. That's what regional rail can do: one line, connecting Texas A&M, Prairie View A&M, University of Houston-Clear Lake, the Johnson Space Center and UTMB-Galveston to the urban rail network that will include Downtown, Uptown, the Texas Medical Center, Rice University, Texas Southern University, and the University of Houston-Downtown and Central campuses. All that brainpower, connected by fast, convenient, Wi-Fi-enabled trains, creates one connected, more prosperous, region. And the same rail line also carries commuters to work.

 

 

This idea, along with the greener, more effective bayous idea had always stuck in my mind.