citizen4rmptown

I'm surprised that the San Antonio zoo made the list! The last time I was there, in late 2006, it wasn't too impressive. It wasn't bad though; some of the enclosures just seemed kinda small.

We have to keep in mind that it's the Top10 for Kids, so kids might like it better than adults.

Also, that zoo has had new exhibits open since 2006.

They list Dallas but not Fort Worth? The magazine just lost all credibitlity with me.

I know, that's why i listed both in my post as zoos that i thought were in the top 25.

thanks for the construction updates

It's a bit old, but i couldn't find it in the forum so i thought better late than never.

It was from the May 2009 Issue of Parents Magazine.

Below a press release from the Houston Zoo.

Families across the United States today are finding out what Houston families have known for decades – the Houston Zoo is one of the 10 best zoos in the nation for kids. In fact, Parents magazine today has ranked the Houston Zoo number nine in the nation for children.

“We are thrilled to be recognized by a publication of Parents stature as one of the ten best zoos in the nation for children,” said Houston Zoo President Deborah Cannon. “The Houston Zoo has been a treasured community resource for more than 86 years. It’s quite an honor to see the hard work of our dedicated staff recognized in this manner,” added Cannon.

In addition to the Top 10 Best Zoos for Kids featured in the magazine, fifteen runners-up are posted on www.parents.com/topzoos.

The San Antonio Zoo also made it (ahead of Houston). I only looked at the top 10, though, so i dont know about others like Dallas,Ft. Worth,etc.

It would pretty sweet if the city of Houston had a website like this...

http://www.ci.dickin...x.us/rumors.htm

Its a little weird..

At first, i expected citizens to contribute and say if its F/Fic

Instead, the city controls it. Sure its more than likely that itll be true.

But really, your just reading what the city wants you to read..

Whatever, just my 2 cents.

^^^^lol. Great find.

Has Hubcap Grill been mentioned? Good burgers.

Yes.

An under 30-story glass box...

its more than that.....

a little corny....

not sure what to think of the video

You're right that the other sites' fora haven't taken off. That's the reason they all redirect to the Agoraphoria site. It's a catch-all for my non-HAIF forum needs.

The reason I think a DSFWA forum might have a shot is because there are a number of North Texans who are active on HAIF. If I can convince those people to contribute to the new forum, they could be the seed of something great. With the other city fora I've started from scratch. I hope that if I pursue this plan, HAIFers will help kick start the Dallas/Fort Worth site.

Starting a forum properly (instead of just piggybacking on an existing site like Agoraphoria or going with some lame free hosting service) is something that takes time and money. I wouldn't launch until November at the earliest, in part because I have to put together $200 to license new forum software and I have a lot of other expenses coming up this fall.

---

As an aside, since you brought up the other web sites -- you're entirely right -- the forum sections of those web sites have failed to thrive. The Chicago site did pretty well for about a year, but died when I merged it into Agoraphoria. Starting, running, and maintaining a forum isn't easy as evidenced by the former HAIF competitors that have gone out of business.

But interestingly, other forms of interaction are doing surprisingly well. For example, I don't promote any of the sites' Flickr groups, yet the London site has 89 members who contribute photos -- more than even the HAIF Flickr group, which does get some limited promotion. The London Flickr group has only been around for a few months.

Also, the Twitter feeds are remarkably popular for features that are not promoted.

And the Chicago Facebook page has 53 fans in three months, again with zero promotion; and the Chicago Blog has several thousand unique visitors each week, still with zero promotion.

I'm not sure what the lesson is here. Well, aside from the fact that I have far more properties than I have time to promote them.

Maybe the lesson is that the new forms of social media (Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, blogs) are more popular than the old forms (forums, etc...). I don't know.

Again, I'm still only just considering the North Texas site (trying hard not to call it a "Dallas" site). But if there are enough HAIFers who think it's a good idea, I might go for it.

How about it? Would any of you HAIFers participate in a Dallas/Fort Worth/North Texas forum?

You should cut your losses...but then if i had put half as much effort to create them, i wouldn't do away with them...

On the subject of participation, i'd look into the site.

Happy hour at McCormick & Schmicks at the Houston Pavilians and Cielo on Main & Congress. What do I win?

Make sure you get the happy hour prices.

who said you won??

Thank You For All The Responses. Ill take most of them into consideration

Nice shots.

The article doesn't say where the layoffs will be. I would think that with the consolidation to Houston, mentioned in the article, they may require additional office space, not less.

i agree

Here are some photos from this afternoon, finishing up the 27th floor and already starting on part of the 28th.

these were my favorite...Good updates

I think its a great idea, my only conscern, not that it matters, but you asked for an opinion,

is about site activity, specifically forum activity. Most of your sites, although informative, lack active forum activity.

At least last time i checked.

Take for example Southland Arch. , isnt this the newest site? Yet things haven't picked up...

Would a dallas site be a waste? Over time i think it will be a mini-HAIF, the question is how long..

Good luck in your future endeavors, Editor...

ill take 5 Allen Center over 3 Allen Center anytime....

Pasadena Citizen

"County seeks bids for new annex

The aging collection of north Pasadena buildings that comprise Harris County Courthouse Annex 4 and related offices will soon be replaced with a spacious new building on Richey Street at Highway 225.

Construction is budgeted to cost about $16.8 million.

The building will be named for local businessman John Phelps, and could be ready for opening by the fall of 2010."

http://www.hcnonline...house_annex.txt

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/other things/071609_courthouse_annex1.jpg

Texas isn't really an education/R+D state. I think Texas prefers to incentivize targeted companies/industries in a way that is guaranteed to bring in tax dollars in the short run. The education thing is too risky because it is possible (as someone else said on the thread) that the bright students will leave after graduating.

If giving companies tax breaks, etc. happens to attract educated people, then that's more of a coincidence than anything else. That is my impression as an observer.

I think its been established that students leave their schools and universities, the good ones,to be specific,

and then go find a job where the opportunity is, Texas.

If we educate our students, and the opportunity is STILL in Texas,

im sure they'll REMAIN in Texas. Sure, there would be students who leave the state just to place themselves in a different environment.

But, compared to other places, there would more students staying.

and isnt that what we want? the bright students staying...

I for one, am a risk-taker.

One problem that may come up, if there is competition for this high-speed rail,

is the population/area being served. I can think of a lot of other corridors that this rail will better serve.

All I'm saying is the people in the corridor ain't a lot, compared to others....

I mean "ALBUQUERQUE?EL PASO?"

Maybe because it was first, and because when it started there wasn't any competition. You'd think that the Chicago site would do better, but it's far from the only game in town. HAI doesn't really have much in the way of competing web sites.

that's what i thought initially...thanks

No, we're actually not very close. Chicago's estimated population as of July 1, 2008 is 2,853,114. Houston's is 2,242,193. The best-case one can spin from the numbers is to use the 2000-2008 growth of the two cities and extrapolate from there. That would mean Houston would gain approximately 38,000 per year on Chicago. That would require approximately 16 more years (2024) before Houston would match Chicago's population.

But Chicago in recent years has started to add population. The last two census estimates show small increases. Houston's growth has accelerated, but the net annual gain over Chicago has been reduced to approximately 23,000. At that rate of gain, it will take more than 26 years (2034) to match Chicago.

this seems reasonable... and i agree

to airbrush and to photoshop might as well be synonomous with digitally altering a photo. Why does the degree in which it was altered matter?

true, airbrushing of old was not digital.. but one can not airbrush today ( on digital photos ) without doing it through photoshop ( or other editor). It is a tool of photoshop.. how many tools of photoshop must we use on a digital photo before it is considered photoshopped ??

IN this CASE, some people seem to think A LOT...if the people in this thread seem to think it was photoshopped a little, we

wouldn't be having this conversation...now would we?

" Kind of like airbrushing a covergirl" that would be exactly photoshopping. So again.. you are 100% wrong.

i'd just like to point out airbrushing is not photoshopping....

technically, yes, but when we use photoshop in this context

i think we mean using almost every tool,

whereas airbrushing would just be a slight alteration

Does anybody have any reasonable estimates to when Houston might overtake Chicago?if at all?

Chicago's population is declining, and Houston's isnt....so when could it happen?

And don't forget about the Kemah Boardwalk and the Downtown Aquarium. Not exactly 'theme parks' but there are rides and attractions. Something could be brewing at the Flagship Hotel Peer later this year too. We haven't heard anything about that weird Snow Mountain project in a long while, but you never know.

Who knows, one day you might wake up to find that Houston has something for families to do on every side of the metro. But just to keep it in perspective, Houston doesn't have any real theme parks at the moment. However, I remain optimistic that all that will change in 2 or 3 years.

Those Earth Quest renderings are amazing. This could be the quality theme park I've always dreamed Houston would have. Grand Texas looks interesting. It doesn't look like it will be a real theme park in the traditional sense when it opens, but it could still be a great place to spend a day. Also, at 100 acres it sounds like there is at least a possibility that it could turn into something big one day. A lot of big theme parks started off small, with no rides or roller coasters and grew into something major.

At least Grand Texas has a website (cheezy as it may be). We've been waiting forever for an official Earth Quest website. But in this scary economy, I'm just happy that there are still signs that the project is moving forward.

I dont really consider the Downtown Aquarium a theme park...an attraction nonetheless

The closest thing to a theme park in Houston is the Kemah Boardwalk....it at least has a roller coaster

Earth Quest seems like a resort, though....(would that mean higher prices??)