2112

Update in today's chron. - Not much news, but the Dynamo are hoping for an announcement in September.

Several east DT sites seem to be in the plans, but they also mentioned that "other" sites in the city are still on the table. So we are not out of the woods yet as far as securing a downtown location.

So, it's almost mid July. We should be hearing something about the stadium pretty soon, right?

Not too sound like a racist, but you sound like a fairly ignorant honky.

HAHHAHAHA!!!

Thanks for the laught Kink. I havent heard the phrase "honkey" since the meathead references in "all in the family"! I do agree that this is a city of Houston issue for the most part. I love living in the city of Houston, and think this would be a great addition to a more vibrant downtown scene. I hope it happens. Although I now live most definitely in the suburban side of the city (bay area), I still live in the city of Houston, am proud of this city, and support anything that makes it better. I hope the new stadium gets built.

The problems with the current park configuration is that it is uninviting. It is especially uninviting at night, and borders on scary. The lawns slope upward, so that you get a sense that you are walking into a secluded area where you can't be seen from the outside , a place where once you get in, you feel like you are trapped, again, especially at night. I think the slopes should go away. That is the first thing to make it less scary. The other thing is that it feels like a maze, that is, the way you have no choice but to go diagonal to get anywhere inside it, which I should add, there is not much of "anywhere" to actually go too. The whole configuration just has a very inconvenient way about it. Compare this to something like Bryant Park in NYC. There is lush green all around the perimeter, with the inside of the perimeter lined with benches and areas to sit in. There are outdoor tables and such, and an openess that invites such that you dont feel closed in. It is almost more of a plaza, except there is green all around you. Maybe something like Bryant Park would be better for our Market Square.

at least 10 towers in lake area

You're kidding, right?

Ok, so I am losing track of all the projects around the lake. So we have:

1. The Endeavour

2. A 20 story leased tower 250 meters away from Endeavour (for eventual sale as condos)

3. The Marina (What is this going to become)

Wasnt there talk of some more stuff closer to the Kemah boardwalk, maybe some more towers?

I also heard a rumor that the boardwalk might expand some. Anybody heard that?

...The weird thing is that Montreal has an extensive tunnel system, probably larger than the one in Houston due to all the subway connections, and the weather is worse for most of the year (snow in November - April with Jan and Feb temperatures reaching 30 below freezing). Yet there are STILL more people in the streets.

Here's a theory: maybe it's more palatable to walk around in freezing Montreal temperatures, where you can still bundle up with as many layers as you want, and a nice long coat. Compare that to walking around in 100% sticky, stinky, and sweaty 95 degree Houston humidity, where there is NOTHING you can do to compensate for that. Add on top of that the lack of plentiful street retail, cafes, etc., to make it worth putting up with the stickyness.

All in all, this seems like a great plan with a solid footing. Fort Worth really has shown that it has vision with this development. Congratulations to the city of Fort Worth!

I was scanning around HAIF this evening when I noticed this thread about the Port of Fort Worth. Please standby for some forthcoming comments....

I know this subject seems to have been closed. But since there is additional info I have and would like to share, please feel free to read it.

As you know from my last (and only) post, we were allowed to pick up our cars at Building 44's parcking lot Saturday morning. I picked my car up along with about 15 others. No additiional info there. Tommorrow, everyone who was in 44 is going to have a "de-brief" at "the gillruth" at 8:45:am. The Girlruth is the employee activity center at JSC. You can catch a bus or van at building 44 at 8:00am, that will take you to the girlruth for the "de-brief" at 8:45. The understanding i got was it is actually an attempt to desipher the background surrounding the man's. So it is really not for us but really to get information from us. I really dont know what else there is to say, except that Bill Phillips lost it. But the real thing is to try to get a picture from people in 44 that worked with him, and try to understand why he got to this point.

Worked with the dude for 7 years. He was distrurbed in very subtle ways...always waiting for us to leave our desks, then looking underneath our paperwork while we were away, picking up schematics and such - looking for things that no one really knew, as if we had ____ to hide or something. He did this across my desk at his co-engineer's desk, looking underneath her workings. Then, would do it to my desk when I was not there. Of course, my project with him ended in 2001, so I have no idea why he would be snooping around my crap. No in retrospect, it was apparently nothing more than paranoia. We all athought that was weird,.Anyway, that is the latest an I will post any updates afterwards the debrief tommorrow.

I was actually walking on the sidewalk into building 44 when I noticed snipers all around moving in, and within minutes, those of us around the trees and sidewalk were rushed into the firehouse which is next door. Spent the next 2 to 3 hours there until they let us go. I called two engineers that are good friends of mine, to make sure they were either out of the building and if not, to tell them to get under desks. One of the engineers anaswered my call, and as it turned out, she answered my call while laying low in a ditch across the building, where the snipers told them to go. (She told me this later that evening as we were calming our nerves at a local pub). The other thing...While waiting in the firehouse with all the other building 44 people, I started hearing the rummors: "It was Bill, Bill did this". I worked with Bill for about 7 years in buidling 44 - we were on a team of 3 designers on a project. After that project, he went on to another department in the same building. I knew him very well. Several of us knew he was unhappy. But, many people are not happy all the times, how do you tell the difference? He had expressed to me that he wanted to leave Jacobs and go back to "our old company." (I wont mention names since I now work with that company). As a side note, not many people had been happy when Jacobs took over the contract back in 2005. Things have been on the low marale side since then, and I'm sure this didnt helpl the situation in this case. Flipping incredible. So, after we were let go, me and my engineer friend who go out and was hiding in the ditch, hitched a ride, and we had some drinks at a local pub. Beer was badly needed at this point.

My car is still parked, ironically, one slot over from Bill's. They wouldnt let us into the parking lot to get our cars. So I will go there today and hopefully get my car out.

...Dallasboi was just reacting to Coog's anti-Dallas remarks. And, even though two wrongs don't make a right and Dallasboi should have ignored Coog... Coog did swing first on this one. The following remark from Coog was very unnecessary.

You are correct. Coog's remarks were not only unnecessary, but very unprofessional and will not be tolerated. Coog, go to your room. 3 young Latinas will be up shortly to apply the spanking. Afterwich you will be bathed, shampooed, and then spanked again. Really, it behooves you to act more appropriately in this forum.

You might want to read my post there a little more closely.

This concept is silly no matter where you put it.

I think responses like Coog's here are fair. It disagrees with the concept of the snow park, not the fact that it is a Dallas thing. In fact he points that out. If, on the other hand, a comment was made that the fundamental constituent of the snowflakes was plastic, and that therefore it would not be surprising that it would exist in Dallas, then that may or may not be out of line on this forum, depending on motive. Comments that are outright offensive about Dallas are simply inappropriate, and will not be tolerated on this forum.

......everything is not as perfect as Houston.

Thanks for noticing.

Actually, we just moved to CL 1.5 years ago. We wenth through several years of deciding which part of CL we liked, weighing all the options, etc. etc. We used to live by Hobby. The area we we live in now is still within the Houston city limits, very close to Ellington Field and close to El Camino Real. Also, the wife and I have both been working in the CL area for 21 years, so I know the area pretty well. Anyways, we are almost right next to one of the areas you are looking at (Oakbrook West). Feel free to PM me and I can tell you what I know. It's just my 2 centavos, but it's worth something at least.

Yip. I thought so. Dallas is essentially New York. Essentially.

Where is THIS?

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I bought a 1BR condo for 95,000 10 years ago, at 2100 Tanglewilde, I was very pleased with it.... Their are some quality condos along Briar Forest just east of Gessner... You just need to do some more searching, their are thousand of affordable condos in nice areas....

I have to agree here. There are tons of condos around that are closer to all the cool stuff, within 10 minutes of downtown, etc. Of course, to be affordable, you might be looking at 700 sq. ft. But I'm sure increased property values will still command a little profit when you deicde to move - it's better than renting. I moved farther out to the burbs because I work out there, but I find myself in the city almost every weekend. So I dont buy the argument that you have to be right smack in the middle of everything to enjoy it. Unless that's where your work is, then by all means!! What I keep telling my wife is I want to ge a weekend getta-way warehouse condo somewhere around downtown, even though I can make the weekend drive in 25 minutes. Still working on that dream, though...

Victory is getting up and going like many have stated. Today is some big grand opening, they had the big kick off on the March 23 for Victory Plaza. Now just from watching the media and being in this area at times after work, Victory plaza usually has something going on before and after the games. Its filling up and many fans stay afterwards for Channel 8's news cast. We only have a couple pieces of the puzzle in place with a couple more pieces are coming along. Cirque is about to top out in the next couple of weeks, and Victory Park will be open hopefully by May. Oh...some other discussions. Jonas Woods of Hillwood was quoted as saying something to the effect that high end stores and restuarants account for something like 1 billion sales a year, all the while mid level accounts for 100 billion per year, so in the next stage they plan having more mid level retail and restuarants. I'll try to find the article

This from an email; sorry no link:

"LFT

It IS funny to read. One thing for sure about Houston19514, he doesn't discriminate. Whether we're talking about Dallas or Houston, you'd better come with the facts or he'll call you on it.

So dallasites, take this as an example that when the forumers ask for facts, that doesn't just apply to when talking about Dallas. Many of the dallasites try to make it seem like Dallas is being singled out, and that's not the case.

I have a lot of respect for Houston19514. He named his dog after our city, and he lives in another state (both of them). Also, he is the only one I know that has purposely taken himself into a pretty scarry ghetto in Houston, because I suggested a really good taqueria there once. He reported back to me that he did indeed enjoy the tacos (They were tacos, right? I cant remember if you had that or the chalupas.). Mr. 514 is indeed a person of conviction, if you ask me. But then again, no one asked me. (They never do.)

[sound of gallups as 2112 rides away on his llama]

Great. And keep stunting the development of Midtown within 5 blocks of the bus station.

I am perhaps a bit bitter as Sat morning I took my old Porsche out for a spin. I got caught at the light, and some guy fresh off the bus dropped his bag, walked close to my car, and pulled out his johnson in an apparent attempt to urinate on my wheel. (I ran the light). Here's the kicker - that's the second time that exact scenario has happened to me by the bus station.

Midtown will never become a desirable place to live as long as the bus station stays in its current location. That's just reality.

HAHAHAHAH. Sorry, but that was just funny there. If it makes you feel better...I had been bragging to a friend of mine for a year about this taco stand on Harrisburg, and how awesome the tacos were. One day, he decides "lets go to that taco stand of yours". So we went. We ordered, and as we are waiting for the tacos, this street-person-dude walks up to the stand, orders, pays, then looks around as if we werent there, whips out his Johnson, and the next 2 minutes we are listening to the steady stream of piss, right there next to us. My friend, I presume, never went back. I continue to go there once a week. I live in the bay area. Thats how good them there tacos are.

Here is the link to the NY Times article on Houston's booming economy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/realesta...amp;oref=slogin

Did you go to Genos Steaks (really cheesesteaks) in South Philly? They have signs all over the place that you must order in English and speak in English. They have a big picture of a police officer that was killed by a Muslim immigrant. They even have T-shirts that espouse both speaking only in English and deportation of Muslims.

I don't think any restaurant in Texas could get away with such ridiculous stuff.

[Approaching sound of gallups as 2112 returns on his donkey]

That's exactly where I went!! I also went to the other one, thier competition, cati-corner to it.

The cheesesteaks were pretty good.

Many houses are quite dilapidated, and are inhabited by mexicans who could really care less about what the property looks like.

Which variety? Mexican Americans, Latinos in general, or Mexicans?