august948

1 hour ago, Texasota said:

The point is, while this might be better than the previous configuration, there's a *huge* gap between this and real high quality infrastructure. 

What would that look like in this instance?

2 hours ago, 004n063 said:

Yep. Not giving up until we're at outer-Amsterdam levels of bike infrastructure. Been stocking up on hopium.

I guess everyone needs a dream...😀

10 hours ago, 004n063 said:

Well, yeah. I'm comparing protected intersections to an unprotected one. A protected intersection has protected bike lanes in all four directions, dedicated bike & ped signals, short (<20ft) crossing distances (either for the whole thing or between islands), and never crosses multiple directions without an island. 

If you've been riding a bike regularly around west Houston, or around Houston in general for a long time, then your threshold for "terrifying" is probably a lot higher than the average person.

But if we are talking about "protected" bicycle infrastructure, I like to apply the "Eight and Eighty" test: if it's not safe for an unaccompanied eight year old or an unaccompanied eighty year old, it's not protected. I'd say this fails that test.

Eight and Eighty is a pretty high bar.  That would just barely pass on many two lane city side streets.

6 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Yeah now do that with people who spent their entire life in STATE GOVERNMENT (certainly takes a special kind) and whose leadership accomplishments evidently include banning last meals of choice at the jailhouse.  (Granted, I see why that'd be a major turn-on for some on here--you know, the evangelical Christian crowd . . . WWJD after all.)

Regardless, if it's good for the goose it's good for the gander.  I have zero doubt Bluey was one of those people regurgitating the nonsensical party line, "Biden didn't fix anything during the 40 years he was in the Senate."  (Maybe the distinguishing point here is that there has been, of course, nothing whatsoever to fix in Texas since 1973.)

But I'll wait and see how the campaign plays out, although I must admit the endorsement of everyone's favorite "Cerulean Canine" is not helping.

Calm down...I was just pointing out that there a lot of lifers in politics.  Probably the vast majority, if you look at it closely, on both sides.  Plus some wannabe's.

On 12/26/2022 at 7:32 PM, kennyc05 said:

Buzzbee had the money too and we see what happened.

Plus he had a tank...

8 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Or being in political office for 50 years (essentially his entire adult life)?

Lots of people spend their entire lives in political office...

And some want to SO bad...

1 hour ago, steve1363 said:

He killed a proposal to make it mandatory for freshmen to live on campus.  http://thedailycougar.com/2014/08/21/senator-singlehandedly-sunk-housing-requirement/

He’s a swamp creature.  I would prefer someone with fresher ideas.

I'm going to bet that freshman living arrangements don't move the needle much in a city-wide election.

4 hours ago, 004n063 said:

Yep. Gray at Austin is a protected intersection. MKT @ Heights Blvd is a protected intersection. Cullen at 45 is semi-protected intersection (still has the damn slip lanes on the east side, but at least cars tend to slow there because visibility of traffic coming along the feeder is limited). 

This requires crossing three lanes of traffic in each direction, not including the slip lanes, without a refuge island.

The Streetview tells you everything you need to know about this intersection: it's terrifying.

It's not terrifying.  I ride through there all the time.  It's much better than it used to be. 

You're doing a bit of apples to oranges.  Gray at Austin is a one way street intersecting a one way street.  Heights Blvd is one lane each direction separated by a wide median.

1 hour ago, steve1363 said:

What is a slip lane?  …never heard that term before…

A slip lane is the curved, separated lane you see in the picture above on the right and left sides of the intersection.

On 11/30/2022 at 10:17 AM, bookey23 said:

This is awesome news. I presume that the park will stretch from Emancipation to where the trail bends to cross McKinney. That's already a pleasant stretch, but this will make it fantastic! I hope the World Cup brings even more great new development like this, just like the last two Super Bowls did.

Here's to hoping they can fix the montrose bridge lights by then...😀

On 11/29/2022 at 8:09 PM, Blue Dogs said:

How many of these U of H campuses is the University of Houston planning to build ? 🤔

I would think that they'd at least build one in each major suburb.  Haven't looked to see if they have one already, but the Woodlands/Conroe area would be a good spot also.  Bear in mind that Houston has two of the five largest community colleges in the country...not the state...the country.  Having a nearby four year institution where you can complete or finish your degree without having to commute in is a huge benefit for these students.  Also, this makes it convenient for working folks to finish their bachelors or masters after the work day is done.

4 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Well I went to my second favorite Texas city San Antonio this weekend (I’m a sucker for the holiday lighting of the Riverwalk), took I-37 exit from I-10 and the first exit sign (on the official overhead interstate signage) was for whatever comes before Commerce but it also said University of Houston. Not University of Houston-San Antonio but University of Houston, at the same prominence as the exit off of I-45. 

So I looked it up, and it made total sense.

There is a UH-SA that is only an extension of the Hilton School. 

How great!

https://www.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2016/April/52HRMsa.php

UT started the war.  Now we are going to encircle Austin and defeat it.  If the legislature won't let us into the permanent fund then we'll have to explore other options.

Riverwalk lights are the best.

Apologies if this has been posted already, but I just ran across it and thought it was pretty cool.  Someone's keeping track of all the murals around town.

https://houstonmuralmap.com/

5 hours ago, mkultra25 said:

 

That should be their motto and on all their advertising...  🤣

On 11/3/2022 at 4:27 PM, hindesky said:

Guy was taking pics of the car he is going to sell, I think he said it was an '87 or '89 model, asking price is $60,000. It was in great shape. I offered to take a few and email them to him. He said he has a shop on Leeland St.

Did you take these picture while on a bike ride?  Cause if you're tooling around with a drone strapped on the back of your bike that's a whole higher level of awesome.  😃

On 11/17/2022 at 4:55 PM, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

I saw one of those, and I said "wtf is that".

 

Then I saw one of the new "Mustangs", and I said I wanted off this clown earth.

I decided long ago that if I am ever serious about getting a mustang, I'm going to take what I would have paid for a new one and buy as old a one as possible and put whatever is left into restoring it.

14 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Well of the two, at least one has social utility.  Think of it as Consumer Reports.  Surely you used that once or twice back in the day, no, Augie?!

There's a blast from the past! 😀

Consumer reports is awesome.  But it's thing is that it was unbiased.  Media Matters not so much.

19 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Damn!  They forgot to update their game plan!

 

Good thing Fox News exists...otherwise this guy would have to get a real job.

7 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

DeSantis (FL)

2018 share: 49.6%

2022 share: 59.4%

+19.8 pts improvement

Abbott (TX)

2018 share: 55.8%

2022 share: 54.9%

-0.9 pts improvement

Looks like someone has a way hotter set of wheels.  SORRY GREGGO!

 

Well, with things looking so down for Greg, maybe we'll get a DeSantis/Abbott ticket in 2024 or 2028 and Dan Patrick can take over?  Perhaps put Paxton in as Lt. Governor-in-waiting?  I know you'd love to see him eventually in the Governor's mansion.

4 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

/rant off and now a little gloating . . . if Cagle loses it will really be my favorite story of the cycle as it shows there's a price to pay for being an absolutely unserious and disingenuous blowhard . . . which is pretty rare in Texas politics.  (Well, being an absolutely unserious and disingenuous blowhard is certainly not rare, but paying a price for being one sure the hell is.)

If?  Didn't Hidalgo et al redistrict Cagle so it would be difficult for him to retain his seat anyway?  With the intention to make it 4-1 in favor of the Dems on the Court.  They've got the power now to go as progressive as they want (or can get away with).

5 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Don’t tell Greg Abbott

Greg didn't need a red wave to sweep aside sk8r boi.

1 hour ago, mattyt36 said:

Well, based on my analysis of the early voting totals, Lina may hold on.

She underperformed Beto by 24K in early voting but still led. Beto’s gap in Election day voting was 6K to his favor. 
 

I can’t see many Beto-Mealer voters.

But keep the faith in San Antonio. The wave never came but maybe it’ll start rolling out of the prairie somewhere around Seguin!

WELL nevermind I think the early voting totals that I am looking at may not be totals but only for the precincts that reported. I will therefore stop blowing west so as to keep that wave to a trickle.

You're looking the wrong direction.  The wave appears to be washing over the Floridian peninsula to the east.

1 hour ago, Ross said:

I need an editor in room 6, stat!

Too late, the patient is already dead.

I'd find an empty lot in the Heights and build this...

Just exactly as pictured...

2 hours ago, Ross said:

HISD announced that all schools in the district will be closed Monday

My son told me UH is closing at noon.

3 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Ah, then, my mistake!  Makes total sense now . . . how could I not see something so clear?  Houston is indeed just like London, especially when it comes to areas outside of downtown.  I have zero doubt that if you ask any of the nearly 20K native born Brits who live here now, they'll say, yep, they're developing so similarly, it's almost like they didn't leave home!  Maybe we can get the AIA Houston Chapter to jointly sponsor an exhibition with the British Consulate exploring the vastly similar urban fabric of these twin cities.  We can put aerial photos side by side and people will see, "Look, there's a tall building over there!  And there's one over there!  And another group over there!  It's like they're the same!  There certainly aren't any other cities in the world that can lay claim to this wildly unique development feature."

(It's always fascinating to see what hills people will die on.  I never would've guessed it would be claiming that Houston was developing like London, but this site never disappoints.  At least I did learn GreenStreet was downtown and therefore was not like Piccadilly Circus, had been admittedly confused about that one.)

It'll make more sense if you go to the Red Lion and drink gin and tonic until your vision starts to blur. 😛