august948

This article says late April or May.  Of course it was written in February, so who knows.  Can't wait though.  We got a fix last weekend when we were in Austin.

http://houston.eater.com/2015/2/2/7962791/krispy-kremes-houston-comeback-delayed-until-spring

Until then...

mmmm....hot donuts!

College station is not even a town. It's a village with a couple of roads and some tracks.

Obviously you haven't been to College Station, either.

Where should the horses be?  I would think they are closer in speed and scale to the bicyclists than the cars.

Maybe we need to add horse lanes, too?

It's actually a fun neighborhood. That's why it costs so much. That's why people are willing to pay that amount to live there. There is a massive demand. But keep talking from the outside looking in.

If i were in a fun neighborhood in NYC I don't think I'd spend as much time as you do posting to this thread.  Is the outside talking to the outside here?

For light rail systems, we currently have the 3rd highest ridership/mile, behind Boston and San Francisco.  Still very good ridership.  

 

Too bad we couldn't build heavy rail, that generates much more ridership than light rail. 

Can you post your reference?  The ones I found show Houston way further down the list.  It might also be relevant that Boston and SF have built out systems whereas we're still working on ours.  So, with lesser miles, the rider per mile stat goes up and might not be an apples-to-apples comparison.

Is there anywhere in the world where public transportation is free? Obviously they don't turn a profit but the ticket sales help fund them...

It has been tried before.  FWIW...here are the disadvantages from a wikipedia article on the subject...

 

Disadvantages

Several large North American municipalities have attempted zero-fare systems, but many of these implementations have been unsuccessful. A 2002 National Center for Transportation Research report suggests that, while transit ridership does tend to increase, there are also some serious disadvantages:^[3]

• A sharp increase in vandalism and hooliganism
• Transit vehicles turning into de facto homeless shelters
• In large transit systems, significant revenue shortfalls
• A significant increase in driver complaints and staff turnover, even though farebox-related arguments are eliminated
• Slower service overall (not collecting fares has the effect of speeding boarding, but increased crowding tends to swamp out this effect)
• Declines in schedule adherence
• Increased costs in security and vehicle-maintenance
• General increase in local and state/provincial taxes (including for those who do not use the bus)

This report suggests that, while ridership does increase overall, the ultimate goal of reducing emissions by enticing drivers to take transit instead is rarely met: because fare-free systems tend to attract large numbers of hooligans, vagrants and other "problem riders", zero-fare systems often have the effect of frightening potential riders back into their cars.^[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_public_transport

If your going to Manhattan, ride the subway. It's not the 1980s any more. You won't get mugged every other day as some here want you to believe. It's not super clean like the DC metro is, but within Manhattan it is absolutely the quickest and cheapest way to get around. NYC operates at a different wavelength than Houston does. My God do those people know how to power walk. It's not like living in the Houston metro region where we complain if there's not a parking space right at the door to where we're going. Walking a few blocks in NYC is "close". A couple of blocks (or parking too far from the door) in Houston is considered a workout.

 

But that's what's great about what we're doing here in Houston. A more urban walkable lifestyle that can provide the close couple of blocks walk to get things to make dinner is coming to Downtown/Midtown. At the same time if you enjoy buying two weeks of groceries at time and piling it all into your Expedition you can do that too. Not everyone wants this way or that way, Houston has something for everyone.

I may differ from a lot of my fellow Houstonians in that I also consider a few blocks "close".  Particularly if on a bicycle.  If you look around the city a bit, you can already find areas outside the loop and outside the beltway (even...gasp...in Cinco Ranch) where you can live within walking distance of groceries, restaurants, cafes, etc.

Broadway natural gets 4 stars on yelp and Green Bay marketplace gets 3.5. What's your point?

This is the problem. Other than one post in this thread nobody can even appreciate the advantages of the New York lifestyle. Instead it's no my way is better and I can't even see from the other perspective.

I'm sure the NYC lifestyle works for some.  Particularly if you are wealthy and single.  And can have whatever you need delivered to your door. 

I'm not so sure on the advantages, though, for the rest of us.  If you take away the unique cultural institutions and just focus on day to day living, how is it a great advantage to pay much more for far less living space and daily necessities? 

Not everyone buys a uhaul full of groceries every time they go to the store.

And not everyone can or wants to get by on a loaf of bread and a chunk of cheese.  Possibly both moldy given the reviews.

I think it's probably already too late.

 

At the rate Houston is growing, many freeways and surface streets will be pure gridlock in just a few years, maybe 3 to 5.

 

I can't wait for the solution the politicians will bring at that time when they propose a 50 lane highway. 

 

And it's not even mass transit we need more of. I think it's land use. Mass transit will be near useless in a suburban Houston.

3 to 5 years isn't enough time to get any kind of major infrastructure built.  So what will happen?  Will Houston collapse on itself and be consigned to the dustbin of history?  I doubt it.  Employment will move out of the core, closer to where the employees live.  Then it's a matter of expanding the highways further out, where it happens real estate is cheaper to purchase and there's more room for expansion anyway.  Look for expansions to the tollways especially in the next few decades.  Maybe, just maybe, they'll put in commuter rail, too.

More or less this has already started happening.

I didn't experience any crime. There is a huge presence of police. Your chances of having a crime committed against you are higher in Houston.

There's a big difference between walking and driving. And also if the store is 2 minutes away you can buy things as needed instead of hauling loads.

Good for you.  I haven't experienced any crime either living in Houston since I moved here 15 years ago.  Call us back when you've taken the subway day in and day out for 15 years in NYC and we'll compare notes.

Wait a minute...there's a Walmart and a SuperTarget within a 2 minute walk? 

We typically buy 3 to 4 gallons of milk, 24 packs of toilet paper, several pounds of meat, plus frozen, dry and can goods and other stuff in a single trip.  That must take forever to do walking back and forth to the store there.  Is it typical of NYC residents that their day is work, forage, sleep, repeat?

People move out I'll agree but New York also has the highest number of arriving people year in and year out also.

Houston has a higher crime rate than New York. New York is the safest big city in the country and has been for some time.

Also are those grocery stores a 2 minute walk from you?

Two minute walk, two minute drive...what's the difference?  Oh, wait, I know...I can haul 10 bags of groceries in my car.  Plus other sundry large items.  And get a better selection.  And get better prices.

How does the crime rate you are exposed to while riding the NYC subway compare to the crime rate I'm exposed to while driving down Westheimer?

Well, the Sam Houston Tollway has usually demands higher payment (*rimshot*)

Fortunately, I rarely take the Sam Houston Tollway, and then most of the times it's been because I wasn't paying attention and took the wrong exit off I-10 west bound.

You could not get from Astoria to Times Square in a car in 20 minutes, ever.

Also I guess if you have zero interest in baseball, basketball, or theater yes then there is no reason to go to the city center for you. But ironic as you stated its dull to stay within your radius

So much the worse for NYC residents, then.  What happens when there's a strike?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_New_York_City_transit_strike

Let me know the next time you hear about Houston roads going on strike.

I go to games and the theater from time to time and am at various locations inside the loop several times a week, but I go to the nearby grocery stores, other stores, and to restaurants nearly every day.  Better to live close to the things you need on a daily basis and drive a little further for the occasional things than vice-versa.  Besides, I can be inside the loop in less than 30 minutes and almost anywhere in Houston in 40 to 45 minutes or less.  With the wife and kids in tow.  And have room to bring back whatever we decide to buy. 

And I don't have to deal with panhandlers or being mugged at a station.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/daily-news-analysis-reveals-crime-rankings-city-subway-system-article-1.1836918

Not really. C town is basic, trade fair has ethnic groceries, and Broadway natural has organic. New York City is also the number one city people move to as well, and the highest populated city and financial capital of the country. There's a reason.

Walmart is basic, Viet Hoa and Phoenicia have ethnic groceries and Sprouts has organic.

Uh...no. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/10/top-cities-people-moving-to_n_4762327.html

http://nypost.com/2013/10/31/fleeing-the-nightmarish-northeast/

If you're in finance and make the big bucks to afford living in NYC, then I guess being in the financial capital of the country makes sense.  For the rest of us, not so much.

I appologize, I went to the site but couldn't find the stat. So, I will ask the question......

Is it 300,000 riders or "boardings"? Said another way, are we really speaking about 300,000 individual riders or 300,000 times someone got on a bus or train? (With bus transfers each counted as a "boarding")

I would think that is boardings.  It would be difficult to accurately count the number of individual riders.

I went to both c town and trade fair in the last few days and while they aren't gargantuan stores they seem to have what most people get: fruit, vegetables, poultry, fish, bread, cereals, frozen foods, milk, yogurt, other miscellaneous things. They maximize the space they have. It's just a matter of expectations. Here people are used to having space so they won't be happy without it. So just because they don't fit your definition of what you're used to doesn't make them illegitimate. Who's the elitist now?

That sounds like an Aldi's.  Not bad if all you want are the basics in life.  No wonder New York and New Jersey rank number 2 and number 1, respectively, in states people move away from.

Does your car have full right of way to the center of the city in 20 minutes at any time day or night?

I rarely need to go into the center of the city because where I'm at we've got full size grocery stores (HEB, Kroger, Randall's, Fiesta, Phoenecia, Hong Kong, My Hoa, Viet Hoa, the list goes on) 2 walmarts, 2 targets, enough restaurants that you can eat in a different one each day and it would take many years to hit them all, a couple of hospitals, too many pharmacies, banks, stores of all nature.  All well within 20 minutes, most within 5 to 10 minutes.

As the crow files, it's only about 3 miles from Astoria to Rockefeller Center.  If I lived only 3 miles from the center of the city, I could be there within 20 minutes at any time, day or night, and still have a larger place to live and a far greater selection of necessities and niceties. 

Except the subway can take you where you need to go.

That's interesting.  So can my car.  Or the Westheimer 82.  Or the Richmond 25.  Or my bicycle.

Yes in most neighborhoods you have what you need within a 1-2 block radius. It's great.

As long as you are willing to live a life limited to what you can get in 2 blocks, that's great.

From what I've heard, tow trucks swarm to an accident and then are selected by HPD on some random basis to do the work.  That induces as many trucks as possible to converge on the scene for a chance to get the business.  Lord help you if you are in the way while the trucks are trying to get to the scene.

The clanging at the port is a common occurrence at marinas and wherever there are a lot of boats tied up.

Metro is testing the new rail lines like crazy.  Last week it looked like they were running a regular schedule on the purple line near UH.

Has this topic "de-railed"? (Pun Intended)

It's a high speed derailment.

I guess you haven't been to gulfton. Go the the fiesta on bellaire and hillcroft it is the most diverse place in houston. Africans, Arabs, south Asians, Mexicans, central Americans and blacks it's quite fascinating.

 

I see the same thing at the Fiesta at Westheimer and Dairy Ashford, plus Vietnamese and Chinese.

Depends on whether or not they can keep it to facilitation and avoid picking and choosing winners and losers.

I'm guessing the "anti-suburban" shift was at me? Whatever dude. Sorry if that type of discourse is a bit to harsh. At least I'm attempting to take a true theoretical position that actually takes into account possible implications for the future. What has the other side brought to the table....nothing. Zero. Nothing at all to further the discourse or ask the real questions that need to be asked about HSR and it's affects on the landscape and city. Nope all anyone wants to do is talk about what they can get out of it now, or the demands of now when this project won't even be completed until 2021 in which we could be looking at a very different city.

 

Unless there is an update on this thing I'm done with this thread. Never thought that the coolness of the potential of HSR could be discussed in such a dull, bland manner or among a more cynical group of people who only ask for the bare minimum and who don't want to push it as far as it can go and really explore what could be possible. Experiment people! I mean there are Rural and Suburban stations that do work if that's the way some people want it, but there is not even an attempt at that either!

 

Nope, instead lets just dump it at NW, slap a parking lot on there and call it a day. Yawn. Peace, I'm out.

If you want to do pie-in-the-sky theoretical discussions on the future of transport in Houston, you should start a new thread and set the ground rules.  You can't just expect everyone to tip-toe around your opinions and then throw your hands up when you are challenged on them.