samagon

https://www.txdot.gov/content/dam/project-sites/nhhip/docs/i45-nhhip-construction-phasing-timeline.pdf conceivably, the 3A caps could happen earlier than that, but yeah, from the above, the section of freeway near the stadiums is labeled as 3D, and will start in 2030, and complete in 2037. 7 years for a few miles seems excessive, but then, the whole project is that, so par for the course I guess.

yep, and he'll have a crosswalk on Westcott named after him, and some future politician that really works to make the parks a thing may have the cap park named after them.

another view of the groundbreaking, don't have your volume up too loud: https://www.instagram.com/p/DBNBF0IpljX/?locale=es&img_index=2

after 60 years now, the areas you mention as being connected again have been so long severed they have are truly different neighborhoods. removing the pierce elevated will allow for downtown to spill into midtown, that's about all we'll see in the next 60 years that will happen from this project. this isn't like the Berlin wall coming down and brothers who happened to be on the wrong side of the street haven't been able to see each other in 30 years are being reunited. it's a freeway being removed, people who were on the 'wrong side' have long since moved, and the areas have since grown in their own separate ways as a result. hopefully it doesn't take 15 years for the downtown section to be completed, especially since (at the moment) the entire project is said to take 18. if they complete the project in under 20, I'll be shocked. 20 years from now is a long time, the needs of the region will have completely changed by then.

https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/10/17/houston-mayor-john-whitmire-to-address-serious-allegations-about-conflicts-of-interest-at-city-hall/ this can't be real!!!!! glad the city is doing that crosswalk upgrade near his home while ignoring all the other pedestrian improvements around town though.

Greyhound is a private company, but they also have to have permits from the city. you also need to understand the difference between Greyhound and other bus companies, and also the role the Midtown station (and now the Magnolia station) plays in the prison system. https://ingehondebrink.nl/project/huntsville/ the thing you need to grasp is that the threat isn't the released inmates getting off the bus in Houston. understand that they are released with a specific kit, which includes distinctive bag (you can see in the image), and an amount of money, a cell phone and other stuff. the threat isn't these released inmates. the threat is people who know exactly what to look for, then they do some crime on the released inmates to take their things. so not only do you now have criminals targeting people, but you have people who were recently released, have criminal history, and are now stuck in the area. what do you think happens next? they can't exactly drop a dime to call a parole officer, no more pay phones and certainly the cell phone that's been given to them as part of their release has been stolen. if these former inmates are smart, they ditch the bag and lose anything that might distinguish them from the crowd, but even still, when they get off the bus in Houston, they likely don't have anyone picking them up and they are on their own to get to whatever halfway house they are supposed to get to. so yeah, this isn't just a normal Greyhound station. it has no business being in a neighborhood setting, the police were right to have heightened security, they should have kept it up. it's really great that there's a Tornado bus station near the heights, but there's nothing at all relevant between a regional bus company that primarily shuttles families to/from the valley, and a bus station that receives recently released prison inmates that end up being targets of crime because they are easy targets.

it's definitely a violation here too. https://www.houstontx.gov/parking/Parking-Regulations-and-Violations.pdf 20' of a crosswalk intersection. the thing is though, in Texas, any intersection by default is an implied pedestrian crosswalk, even if there's no signage, so it's really 20' of any intersection.

hrm, shouldn't the mayor be diverting the funds for this to underserved neighborhoods? didn't he say something about not installing 10' sidewalks when some areas don't even have sidewalks? shouldn't the same logic play here, not installing HAWK crosswalks when some areas (especially areas with higher pedestrian numbers) don't even have crosswalks?

I don't know about crime rates now, but I know at the beginning of the year the rates were up compared to before the midtown station traffic being diverted here, you can see an article I posted in January that stated exactly that based on actual data and not people's feelings. as far as the area and vibes, I can attest, living in the area for over 15 years now, that area has indeed shifted quite a bit, and it is 100% related to the Greyhound. the Whataburger has a security detail on site for the duration, where it never had one before. the Capitol Flea Market (on Capitol street about a block away from the station) has a Constable parked nearby every weekend, where before there wasn't one. why would they bother having such security presence if it wasn't justified? yes, Greyhound has operated here for a long time, but the midtown location was the primary Houston location, all their traffic was diverted to this location, so it now takes the full impact. I'm not some nimby, so I'm not going to say it doesn't belong here, but I will say to ignore the negative impact is not accepting reality.

guess that bullet train may be a good idea after all. might it go direct to the airport?

my snarky response: we can all rest easy knowing that in 30 years when this project is complete that people in Conroe will be able to shave 5 minutes off their commute into town. at least until the induced demand kicks in and congestion is just as bad as it ever was because people are going to move to the newest Houston suburb of New Waverly. not so snarky response: if someone is closing right now and blaming it on a project that hasn't had any measurable impact yet, well, yeah, they're just using an excuse for whatever the real reason for closing is. as Editor says, East Downtown may bomb, it may stay steady, or it may end up flourishing during the construction.

considering our infrastructure is built to be replaced every 30ish years, it doesn't seem to me that anyone these days is as excited about immortality through buildings as the Greeks, Romans, or other ancient cultures. imagine if we had a water system that lasted as long as the Roman viaducts? lots of people would be out of jobs, and we'd have to find a new way to spend all the tax money, maybe they could use it to build a new stadium? but then we might have a current stadium that was built as well as the Colosseum in Rome, and we'd not need a new one of those either. we'd have way too much tax revenue and nowhere to spend it, 15 lane highways for everyone I guess 🤷‍♂️ I think we're all just waiting on @shasta to give some specific examples of amenities, or game day experience that NRG lacks?

those are just pictures of stadiums. there are 7 stadiums with more capacity than NRG, all the way up to 82,000 capacity, where NRG is only 72,000. you'll have to provide some written detail pertaining to the amenities and game day experiences that other stadiums offer than NRG does not. for as infrequently as it is used there are only 4 other (5 total) stadiums with a retractable roof. NRG was renovated to include and update amenities for the 2017 Super Bowl. they got new turf, sophisticated internet. there are a lot of fan interaction zones around the field. most important to high roller types is there are nearly 200 luxury suites, everything from intimate 12-18 people, all the way up to being able to accommodate 150 people. sofi stadium to contrast has 260 suites, but their largest accommodates 40. so if NRG wanted to reconfigure some of those large suites to accommodate more suites, but lower capacity, I'm sure they could do it. I bet the Rodeo has requirements for larger suites though. just a guess there. luckily, at the end of the day, the Texans can rename themselves and go somewhere else, but the Houston rodeo is probably not going to move. although I don't think they'll want to leave soon, there's not a lot to gain from it. fun fact, the rodeo distributes as much money to local residents as the super bowl does. seems like that should make sense because it's an event that lasts over 2 weeks vs the super bowl is one weekend, unless you count the fan experience that runs for 2 weeks leading up to the SB.

it's all about the delivery I think. every transaction, you pay with CC 3% of that goes to CC, so a business only gets 97% of what you paid. sure, you get your cash back on your transaction, it's a fraction of what the CC is charging the business. big businesses, I don't care, starbucks, amazon, gas station, the shareholders can handle it, but in a small business where every % counts towards a bottom line, I'll carry cash and if that small business takes cash, I'll prefer to pay cash. anyway, a business telling me they prefer cash, I'm sure there's a nice way to say it, hell, even offer a 5% discount for cash (which is really a 5% convenience fee for the CC user), anyway, cringe or not, I always carry cash for small business. oh yeah, that also counts for the tip. you pay $100 for dinner, and put on a $20 tip? the CC is taking their 3% out of $120. so the owner has to make that tip whole and make sure the full tip gets to the people splitting that tip, so that small business is now paying 3.6% to CC instead of 3%. again, some Fertitta restaurant? I don't care, but just something to think about the next time you go to Huynh.

it's interesting to see where things have returned to a semblance of normalcy, and more interesting still, where things are still being affected by the pandemic. UH campus is certainly busier than it has been since 2019, but it still doesn't seem to have the level of activity that it did prior to the pandemic. the automotive industry is still in a horrible place, as is the housing industry.