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livincinco

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Everything posted by livincinco

  1. livincinco
    I'm not sure how this was determined, but assuming that it is correct, I would expect the new census to reflect the continued growth on the west side.
  2. livincinco
    I spent some time at City Centre this weekend. Really has a great feel to it and still has a lot of available ground floor retail. It's only going to get better now that the economy is showing some signs of recovery.
  3. livincinco
    Berripop and Las Alamedas were both open last night when I went over there.
  4. livincinco
    Ahh...the usual HAIF move from "I love this building!" to picking it apart. I had the over/under at 20 pages for this thread, so I guess I lost my bet.
  5. livincinco
    I agree with that, but the question is related to children, who by legal definition, are not capable of making their own independent decisions. Many adults gain a measure of satisfaction from helping others in ways that do not directly benefit them (other than the satisfaction that they gain from their actions). They are passing along to children something that they find rewarding to allow those children to determine whether they feel the same. When they become adults, they get to make a decision as to whether they want to volunteer for these types of activities.
  6. livincinco
    Sure most children wouldn't do volunteer work if they weren't pushed to do so by authority figures. Most children wouldn't go to school either if they weren't pushed to do so by authority figures. This just gets back to whether you believe that there is value in educating children that there is a collective good that outweighs your own personal interests. Many people feel that there is value in giving even if there isn't a specific direct benefit to the individual in doing so. You guys clearly don't, so go ahead and return to reading your Ayn Rand and let others do as they choose.
  7. livincinco
    I frequently stay at the Embassy Suites in Buckhead and I promise you that its design is every bit as mediocre. This isn't a Houston thing, it's an Embassy Suites thing.
  8. livincinco
    Seems like everyone prefers the five empty parking lots in the picture instead. We're lucky that anything is getting built downtown right now. This is a benefit to that part of town regardless of whether is meets your standards.
  9. livincinco
    There's a saying in the retail industry that taking an order from Walmart is like trying heroin. You know it's probably not good for you, but once you get hooked on it, you can't give it up. For everyone that is complaining about Walmart's heavy involvement in China - you apparently haven't shopped any other retailers recently. This is not a Walmart issue, this is an everyone issue. The vast majority of consumer goods that are imported to the United States are made in China today, they are following the trend , not creating it. If you want to get into a discussion about the ethics of importing consumer products and manufacturing in China, let me know and I'll set up a thread in the appropriate forum. I've got a lot of experience in that area and would be happy to clear up some of the common "misperceptions" of this issue. It's also unrealistic to expect Walmart to support small suppliers due to the overall size of their organization. Their annual COGS (cost of goods sold) is $304 billion. Retailers generally don't work with suppliers that can't provide a reasonable percentage of their overall volume unless that supplier provides a particular niche product that cannot be obtained elsewhere. The logistics of dealing with thousands of small businesses is extremely costly and quite simply doesn't fit into their business model. This is the same model that most major retailers use, but Walmart is on a completely different scale than most of the other retailers that have been mentioned. For example, Walmart is approx. 25 times the size of HEB in terms of their annual volume. I can guarantee you that they don't maintain 25 times the number of suppliers. Like I said before, it's certainly your choice to not shop there if you like, but recognize that they are a very efficient business that fills a niche in the consumer market very well.
  10. livincinco
    If you removed the mud from the bayou and made it run clear, wouldn't that make it less natural?
  11. livincinco
    Isn't that just a smart business move? If you have an opportunity to locate your business in two locations, one which has high taxes and one that doesn't, which one would you choose? I'm not a huge Walmart fan, but I think that a lot of criticism of them is related to their extremely successful business model, comparable to the way that McDonald's has become a lightning rod for obesity. Feel free to go protest Walmart, but don't delude yourself into thinking that there significant differences between their business model and many other major retailers.
  12. livincinco
    Yeah - too bad Walmart isn't smart otherwise they would be much bigger than their current market cap of $178B.
  13. livincinco
    Good question. I was really excited about the plans for the International Coffee Building, but I haven't heard a word on that either.
  14. livincinco
    The success of this place also speaks to the viability of this type of project in a suburban area.
  15. livincinco
    This opens up a whole new set of potential uses for the Astrodome as a continued expansion of the Medical Center. World's largest operating theater or maybe a state of the art physical therapy facility?
  16. livincinco
    Yeah - it's 7 miles outside the loop, almost San Antonio. I have not heard anyone say anything negative about it after visiting. Hopefully West Ave will turn out this nice.
  17. livincinco
    Well, you usually don't expect Embassy Suites to be a defining building in your skyline.
  18. livincinco
    For those of you that didn't see this article from last Sunday's Chron. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6932512.html
  19. livincinco
    I think that you also need to consider the money that Lakewood has already invested in the property; the likelihood that any other purchaser would have likely required a demo of the building and rebuild, and, regardless of whether we approve of mega-churches are not, that it does drive a significant amount of traffic to the area. I would be surprised if there isn't positive economic impact in the area that's increasing in additional tax revenue.
  20. livincinco
    I'm not a big fan of mega churches either, but the building looks a whole lot better than an empty parking lot would. Since most arenas that are replaced end up getting torn down, I think that this is a pretty good deal for everyone.
  21. livincinco
    Tough to negotiate with a church. Never sure what else is in the deal.
  22. livincinco
    Why not? By the time a large project is completed, the economy will potentially be in a completely different place. If you can obtain the financing, this could be a great time to start a project.
  23. livincinco
    Depends on the direction. You'll definitely see it from the south.
  24. livincinco
    Some defense would be nice. General rule in basketball - if you let the other team shoot 67% - you're probably going to lose - badly.
  25. livincinco
    Getting swept by the Lakers or Nuggets really sounds that good to you? Missing the playoffs and getting a better draft pick would be better in the long run.
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