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ArchFan

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  1. ArchFan

    Korean Airlines

    ArchFan replied to no1racer's topic in Planes

    Just for fun, I checked the Korean Air website for their new Houston-Seoul flight. Here's what it said about Houston as a destination: Located in the southeastern part of the United States, in Texas, Houston is the commercial center of the United States and represents remarkable economic development based on the rich resources of the Gulf of Mexico. Houston is not only home to NASA and the Johnson Space Station, but it is also a leader in the aerospace, energy, manufacturing, and medical industries. In addition, it is famous as a cultural city that boasts various cultural facilities. I didn't yet see any airfares in May that looked interesting, promotion-wise. Anyone here planning to try out the new flight and want to comment?
  2. ArchFan
    Yeah, but check out those needle-like heels ... kinda unnatural, maybe she just flew in to feed on a few humans? Poor dude, he'll never know what hit him ...
  3. ArchFan
    ... adding some lime-green polka dots on that yellow facade would make this one even more far-out-and-groovy! (I wonder if Austin Powers will occupy a penthouse here.)
  4. ArchFan
    While I'm glad ROD is getting another tenant, I'll never go there to pay $1400-$1800 for a pair of shoes. It seems strange to me: I pass by similar uber-upscale stores in the Galleria and they survive even though they seem empty. Many are even expanding their existing footprints in the Galleria. My guess is that they must prosper by having a relatively small number of customers, but a high sales amount per customer.
  5. ArchFan

    METRORail Green Line

    ArchFan replied to a topic in Transit

    As a condition of selling the Westpark corridor to Metro, the railroad company insisted that Metro buy the entire extent of it, all the way out to Eagle Lake. Metro didn't have any plans for the way-out part, though.
  6. ArchFan
    The flat south and east sides of the Hanover tower are being clad with what looks like light-colored brick, in combo with a dark brick-like surface. The latter seems to echo similar material on the facades of the new buildings facing Post Oak. OTOH, the curved side facing NE looks like it won't have much, if any, brick. That's the side that most of the publicly distributed renderings have shown ... which is probably why the brick came as a surprise to us. In any case, the building is starting to look different than I expected. I'm reserving judgement on whether I like it or not.
  7. ArchFan
    so, my take on it is that, they sow such misinformation amongst the working-class stiffs (like me) and woe be unto the 1-percenters who allocate their investments based on similar fictional interpretations.
  8. ArchFan
    Yeah, while I do take note when these articles are mentioned, I really don't take them seriously because the statistics they use to make their banner pronouncements are almost always vague and the real underlying meaning is not consistent from year to year. I.e., they spin the headlines annually such that I have no faith in the so-called "changes" in ranking from year to year.
  9. ArchFan
    I vaguely remember the charicature of Lewis in facade of the model building. But, wow, that's not a very good promotional photo of the real guy! :-)
  10. ArchFan
    That's interesting to know. I didn't know that it would go all the way to 30 stories.
  11. ArchFan
    I ate many times at that Antone's location. There was also a gym and a C&W dance place at the south end, which I think was called San Antonio Rose.
  12. ArchFan
    I agree that we've made a start on addressing some aspects of infrastructure that we previously neglected. Also, please note that I did not say we were not investing in infrastructure. For one thing, our system of major thoroughfares is pretty inadequate. That said, I'm not sure what we can do about it in areas that are already completely developed. (For example, it would have been great if --way back -- we had had the foresight to set aside enough space to add lanes to San Felipe or Westheimer inside the loop.) I visited Dallas in the 70s and noticed they were building 6-lane thoroughfares with landscaped medians way out in the middle of nowhere. Now, those areas are completely built out. Apparently, the "Goals for Dallas" effort there did yield concrete benefits (pun intended). Also, I'm concerned that our electricity distribution system still isn't sufficiently hardened with regard to storms. I think that these two issues, plus that of transit, do affect Houston's ability to diversify its economic base. To me, the topic of this thread highlights the fact that Dallas has had much more of a continued focus on making improvements, which aside from improving QOL, has also helped a lot in attracting corporate relocations and the like.
  13. ArchFan
    I've seen this discussed online before. I don't recall the details, but I think that conversation eventually led to someone presenting evidence that "Mt. Houston" was conjured up as a joke. Anyway, I think the topic once inspired someone to suggest that we could excavate huge amounts of "wasteland" in New Mexico, transport it to Houston, and build our own mountains. (I think it was Houston Post columnist Lynn Ashby who came up with that idea.)
  14. ArchFan
    Projects like this are an investment in the future, but Houston doesn't seem to have the collective will for such stuff anymore. Nowadays, it seems as if two types of attitudes predominate in Houston: (1) apathy or (2) opposition to doing anything that isn't guaranteed to be an instant success. I do think most people here like the idea that we will continue to grow a lot, but relatively few consider future quality-of-life issues. I guess some people are comforted by the notion that they can just move farther out as the city crumbles. I don't want us to fall into a pit like the one Detroit is in. To overcome that and get things done requires good leadership, both in the public and private sector. I think Dallas benefits from more of that than we have in the last 30 years. People are unaware of how infrastructure projects shape the development of a city. I remember my dad telling me that when the Gulf Freeway -- the first in Houston -- was originally completed, people thought it was a waste and that "all those lanes" would never be needed. Houston is my home town and I love it. But ... I'm afraid that if we don't make well-thought-out infrastructure improvements, 50 years from now people will be surprised at the notion that Houston was ever considered to be competitive with Dallas.
  15. ArchFan
    I'm from Houston and tend to agree with the idea the OP mentioned -- that we have more sketchy neighborhoods than Dallas. But ... I think it's also true that the "nice" stuff in Dallas tends to be more concentrated in a single area (North Dallas) than does similar stuff in Houston. That would make it easier for a person to spend all of their time in a bubble of manicured neighborhoods and fancy shopping centers, never having to venture out into the "real world". Despite that, I do think that most of Dallas is more presentable, in a sense, than Houston. OTOH, I once had a Mexican-American friend in Houston who moved to Dallas. Once, upon coming back to Houston for a visit, he said "I'm the only Mexican in Plano" ... and he was unhappy about how he was treated because of that. It surprised me, especially since he never complained about being discriminated against while living in Houston. Actually, he was from an affluent, well-educated family, so there was nothing in his behavior that I think would make people treat him differently. OK, a disclaimer: this was 20 years ago and I know that Plano has become much more diverse in that time. For all I know, things are much different there now.
  16. ArchFan
    Oh, you guys and your "game changers" :-) I apologize for teasing about that; i have similar feelings, but i have been through enough that i am a bit cynical. but, despite that, i think this area will develop into a cool place. Despite the nay-sayers, I think it is good to have people who are outspoken about wanting their city to develop into a place that nurtures what is best in human beings.
  17. ArchFan
    What Sellanious says rings true to me, also. My guess is that the rumors about a Woodlands-area campus probably have to do with "Chevron Phillips", which is a joint-venture between those 2 companies that is limited to producing chemicals. It is already based in The Woodlands. I used to work for Chevron and my boss there used to compare it to a large ship: it makes course changes very slowly. Consequently, it seems unlikely to me that they would suddenly decide to move most of their Houston employees to The Woodlands just because ExxonMobil is doing that, after planning it for years.
  18. ArchFan
    I've been in both buildings more than once, and the similarities (and differences, too) have always struck me. I've heard the Pompidou Centre described as resembling an oil refinery or a building turned inside-out, with the ductwork being exposed on the outside and painted bright colors. The GRB has similar ductwork, but it is mostly in the lobby, as I recall, not on the outside. OTOH, the exteriors of both buildings are painted with bright primary colors and have ventilation ducts that are very ship-like. When GRB was built, I had already seen the Pompidou Center and immediately saw that the latter had influenced the people who designed the former. I couldn't find a pic online of the GRB lobby, which has lots of brightly colored ducts. But, at least the 2 pics I attached here show the "ship smokestacks" they both share.
  19. ArchFan
    Oh, and the "walk" signs on the 610 feeders are meaningless. Pedestrians just have to wait for a gap in the traffic -- or the occasional courteous driver -- and run for it!
  20. ArchFan
    :-) Actually, there are some good places to walk. E.g., I like what they've done with McCue. The main reason I am so conscious of the dangerous aspects of the area, for pedestrians, is because I live on one side of 610 and work on the other. Experiencing that makes me more aware of how people who just exited the freeway apparently want to continue driving as fast as they can.
  21. ArchFan
    I kinda like the GRB, but it always seemed to be a rather blatant copy of the earlier & more-famous Centre Pompidou in Paris:
  22. ArchFan
    I live and work in the "Uptown" area, so I also walk about it a lot. It is extremely pedestrian-unfriendly, to the point of being quite dangerous. While I wish it were otherwise, I don't see much likelihood of that aspect changing soon, no matter how many apartment and condo towers go up. The street grid was not laid out with the idea of accommodating pedestrians in mind and I don't see how that could be rectified w/o spending a ridiculous amount of money. I really want the area to continue growing. But, OTOH, every time I walk through the Westheimer/610 intersection, I wonder if I'm going to be hit and sent flying by a frustrated driver in a hurry.
  23. ArchFan
    I agree, not exciting. But ... still better than the embarrassingly weird stuff MetroNational was putting up before. Apparently, they decided ratchet things down a notch after locating the Justice League's secret superhero HQ on top of the MemorialHermann Tower.
  24. ArchFan
    ... and then there are those who don't know much about downtown, but they do know one thing for sure: they don't like it and wish it would go away.
  25. ArchFan
    I haven't seen any reports of how much capital (if any) JR would invest in this project. Some people here seem to assume they are bankrolling a big part of it, which is a big assumption. If they participated in the project (in whatever way), I expect they could provide a lot of value from their experience designing, developing, and operating HS rail in Japan. If they did that, I could see them also investing capital in some fashion. As much as I'd like to see them pay for it all, it just seems unlikely to me when there are supposedly other routes in the US that are touted as having higher ridership potential. I don't want to rain on anyone's parade. But ... I'd rather be pleasantly surprised (if it were true) than disappointed (if it were not).
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