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ArchFan

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Everything posted by ArchFan

  1. ArchFan
    Ya know, its amazing to me that I've never been to Bubba's, because it is somewhat iconic. How have they been able to last there, political connections? And ... remember the place that used to be next door (go-karts?), right up against the interchange? I also appreciate the "thinking outside the box". However, it does strike me that we couldn't cram enough parking spaces under the Pierce Elevated to make much of a difference. Plus, isn't there already some surface parking there? Retail or food trucks would seem to provide more bang-for-the-buck.
  2. ArchFan
    These days, I like HEB and also occasionally go to Central Market, Phoenicia, or Specs. Trader Joe's is nice for a few things, too. Krogers is OK, but I kinda detest Randalls (Safeway) now. A friend (from abroad) who used to go to Auchan still comments on how good their baked goods were, and that in talking to the bakers he found that Auchan had actually brought them over from France.
  3. ArchFan
    I would also like to see implementation of the Bayou Master Plan. However, I (perhaps too optimistically) hold out hope that the KBR site will be redeveloped in a way that contributes to our city's future in a better way than being a site for relocating jails, bus stations, homeless shelters, etc. It's too late to do many of the things I wish we'd done ... like provide for broad thoroughfares through areas that are now considered sacrosanct (e.g., Westheimer and San Felipe eastbound from 610). But, perhaps we can still redo our bayous back to a more natural state while also improving flood control. I think that , as a city, we are evolving into a kind of place in which people see value in investing in tending to our infrastructure in such a way that future generations will benefit. At present, that is most visible close to the core. Farther out, people are more oriented toward the post-WWII philosophy of buying into the latest new place on the outskirts of town, then moving farther outward and abandoning it to ruin in a few years. To some extent, I don't blame people for continuing to buy into that philosophy ... but I think that it is ultimately bad for everyone.
  4. ArchFan
    I've had similar warnings (don't recall the exact wording, though) using Norton 360 under Windows.
  5. ArchFan
    I also agree with concerns about giving power to zoning boards that do not act in accord with their (supposed) mission. Moreover, I'm not sure I'd expect them to always make the right decisions, even if they were well-intentioned. The OP's question strikes me as involving very fundamental philosophical questions. E.g., involving the agreements we make with the people around us in which we give up the right to do absolutely whatever we want, in return for the same from them. It seems reasonable to me that people might feel more comfortable engaging in that sort of contract with people that one knows and shares some common interest with. I think a big practical issue is whether/how we can agree on the size of that sphere of trusted people? Self, family, neighborhood, city, country, planet?
  6. ArchFan
    You are absolutely right on that. However, I do feel bad when I see neighborhoods that were beautiful in the late 1960s and are blighted now, due to demographic changes followed by the lapse of deed restrictions within the CoH. In my life experience, I saw a lot of that in certain Spring Branch neighborhoods that one would expect to continue to be desirable (e.g., decent lot sizes, forested with pines and oaks). But by the 80s, the people who continued to live there found themselves surrounded by houses turned into commercial businesses (e.g., used car lots, exotic bird stores, vacuum cleaner repair shops). So, while I like the idea of deed restrictions, their being temporary ultimately didn't protect the homeowners who wanted to stay in their neighborhoods, rather than flee farther out into the sticks. The point I want to make is that, in those cases, individuals who wanted to continue to live in their neigboorhood were unable to defend their quality of life without banding together in sufficient numbers to fight for a common cause.
  7. ArchFan
    My feelings are pretty much in sync with Subdude's, but I also think everyone has made good points. I'm from here and love my hometown, despite the fact that I think we could do better. That doesn't mean we should just copy other cities; I would just like us to be the best Houston we can, in our own way. Over the years, I've seen assertions that Houston has more master-planned communities than any other large metro area in the US. It's evident that lots of people want to live in such places far from the core. Many -- including some of those folks --seem to have a philosophical commitment to individual liberty (e.g., against zoning and government controls in general), but still want to live in a certain kind of neighborhood in which forces outside their control can't diminish their quality of life. I understand that point of view and have no quarrel with it. But ... it seems as if the only way to enjoy that kind of situation in the Houston area is to be somewhat affluent. In my parents' era, it mean being able to afford to live in zoned enclaves like the Memorial villages. Today, I guess that would also include The Woodlands, First Colony, et al. However, something else interesting is happening. Now there is a sizable population of relatively wealthy people living close to the core -- but in less protected neighborhoods (not West U, River Oaks, etc.) -- that feel their quality of life is threatened by some consequences our laissez-faire system. Which leads me to wonder if we might wind up having tighter restrictions on new development, but perhaps just close to the core (e.g., certain areas inside Loop 610). Actually, that wouldn't be the first time that happened: ever wonder why the only Houston bayou that's never been scraped, channelized, and concreted is Buffalo Bayou west of downtown?
  8. ArchFan
    Those are scary numbers, for sure. (BTW, p. 30 is the where I found their annual total debt service projections.) I found Metro's 2012 annual report online, also. However, I'm not an accountant and I am not sure how to find an apples-to-apples comparison. Unlike the DART report, Metro's doesn't project total debt service into the future. However, at the bottom of p. 35 in Metro's report I see ~$71 million listed for annual debt payment in 2012, without any projected values for future years. DART's report projects total 2013 debt service of $181 million before tax credits. As you cited, that number rises above $1 billion in 2018.
  9. ArchFan
    Very cool pic. As a kid, I remember driving from western Houston to visit Gulfgate and it's Sakowitz store, visible on the far left. I had forgotten that broad patch of grass and trees in the median of US 75. As I recall, Gulfgate to downtown on the Gulf Freeway (then US 75, now I-45) was a much more attractive drive then than now.
  10. ArchFan
    Houston needs to decide, taking a long-term view, where it wants to put its (seedy) bus station and services for homeless/battered/etc. people. Back in the day, all of that seemed to be focused where the baseball stadium and convention center are now. The city pushed to redevelop the area and now the center of those activities has moved a bit further south. I agree with the idea that continuing to keep those facilities in the middle of things downtown puts a bit of a damper redeveloping the area to attract more people. In the past, I've heard people argue that the bus and charity facilities need to be close to the nexus for bus lines. But ... bus lines can be adjusted fairly easily and I'm not convinced that they are key factor, anyway. Any thoughts on this?
  11. ArchFan
    I hear what you guys (Subdude and arch_757) are saying. I remember when this building was new and had a Humble gas station next door, that had a kind of Spanish Colonial design, IFIRC. Before long, the stack-of-razor-blades look of the tower started to annoy me and it also seemed to be more of an eyesore because it stood away, to the south, from the cluster of buildings downtown. Despite that, I wanna be careful not to advocate discarding it, like we have done to so many other buildings here ... only to have later Houstonians regret it. So, I'm kinda conflicted about what I'd like done with it. Right now, I'd like a bit of an update, but not with the Kirksey design.
  12. ArchFan
    While I would love to see a new (post 1980s) hotel in this area, I would rather not see that design realized. Apologies to Angola, but that rendering seems to shout "Look at us, we're Luanda!". Actually, the Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea looks better!
  13. ArchFan
    I tend to agree. My guess is that many of the people who are willing to spend $3000 + per month to rent a high-rise apartment would be willing to pay some amount of premium for an additional "wow" factor. They could just as easily buy a high-end condo, and they are just as susceptible to appeals to their vanity as anyone else ...
  14. ArchFan
    It's nice to have national media give us good publicity, but did we really only have a population increase of 50K last year? Seems odd in comparison to the job growth figures of ~ 95K that I've seen elsewhere. Unless we had 45K unemployed engineers and geoscientists to fill them, which seems unlikely.
  15. ArchFan
    If they can pull this off, I will be delighted. However, while I do think this area has a lot of potential, I'm not sure the site in question would be profitable for anyone building a "mixed-use development", which to me sounds rather high-end for the immediate neighborhood. The site is 1.5 miles from I-10 and also at least 1 mile north of the upscale residential redevelopments along the north side of I-10 (mostly in the independent, zoned municipalities of Spring Valley and Hilshire Village). I'd love to be proven wrong, but I'd be surprised to see a development like City Centre be successful at that site, at least in the next 10-15 years.
  16. ArchFan
    This is a very enjoyable thread, guys, please keep it up. I had never associated 2 Houston Center with the Seagrams Bldg. in NYC; I like both, but still prefer the latter. For some reason, I feel sad about the Sheraton-Lincoln ... maybe partly because it represented an era, but has been erased from history. Plus, The Beatles stayed there :-) And, wow! Those early 20s-30s 'scrapers in NYC (and Chicago, too, I guess) were/are great.
  17. ArchFan
    I agree that Town Lake is a great draw for DT Austin. Despite that, Buffalo Bayou is a resource that we haven't exploited so well yet. I hope we will get flood bypass channels that will make "Lake Allison" a thing of the past, while also getting more quality-of-life benefits from it. I think we can work with the python-like grip of the early-60s freeway loop around downtown, although I also hope we can change that, too. The lack of amenities for downtown residents seems (to me) to be the biggest obstacle. DT Austin does have the flagship Whole Foods store close by, which must really help it. For us, I'm glad to see how well Phoenicia seems to be doing, albeit on a smaller scale. Hopefully their success and more residential development will lead to more choices for DT residents.
  18. ArchFan
    So, Perkins+Will started a trend that resulted in something like the BBVA Compass Building on Post Oak (despite not being residential)? That's interesting, although all design fads have to start somewhere! :-)
  19. ArchFan
    I agree, I'm also excited about this project, particularly because of the location and the company that is developing it. And, likewise, for its potential to have a changing impact on our city. With 150,000 + people working downtown, its rather surprising that downtown Austin has so much more highrise residential development, despite the much smaller workforce there. This project alone isn't enough to change the situation, but it will play an important role along with other improvements in the area. E.g., continued improvements along the bayou, including flood-bypass channels.
  20. ArchFan
    I much prefer the "East End", but isn't it really too far west for that? I'm with Subdude on the "EaDo" moniker. On the bright side, maybe it will eventually disappear like "Luv Ya Blue" did. :-)
  21. ArchFan
    I really enjoyed the photos in J.R. Gonzales' column this week in the Chronicle (not sure if I can link to them here). It was amazing to see that area, near the Port of Houston, as it was in 1914 as a pine forest traversed by a street-car line. It makes me wonder how many more areas there are that one would never guess were forested once and rather beautiful. My own family settled nearby in Harrisburg in the early 1920s, but alas, none of those who experienced it are left to describe what the neighborhood was like then. On a related note, I recall reading how beautiful the trip was to travel up Buffalo Bayou from Galveston Bay before it became industrialized. Perhaps such descriptions were exaggerated, but I seem to recall seeing photos that support the notion.
  22. ArchFan
    Apologies to the palm-tree-haters hereabouts, but I rather like the pool deck area ... :-)
  23. ArchFan
    Time to invest in some more opaque blinds. As certain areas of the city densify with highrises, that might be a good business to be in!
  24. ArchFan
    I'm definitely glad we saved and renovated our late-1930s city hall. I enjoy the Art Deco aspect, even if its not the most spectacular example of that style. OTOH, it is also interesting in its use of fossiliferous limestone on the facade ... which one also sees on buildings on the UH main campus and the San Jacinto Monument. I haven't noticed that elsewhere in my travels; does anyone know if that was more from of a Texas thing in those years? On a related note: the Julia Ideson Building next door to City Hall has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. I'm so glad we still have it; we've lost so many cool old buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries here.
  25. ArchFan
    Should be a cool addition to downtown, whatever they do :-)
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