samagon

It's less the park, and more the huge people aquarium that is going to transform the central part of midtown from a sleepy rail stop with plenty of horizontal view to a bustling corner with more vertical views.

and as far as street conditions go. La Branch and Austin are in far worse shape. There are potholes that are more appropriately named retention ponds. Caroline, San Jacinto, and Fannin are all in tip top shape comparatively.

The problem is people own that land. They choose to sit on it. If they could make $10 per spot for parking 7 days a week it would be surface parking lots with an attendant in a high visibility jacket and a flag. As it is, someone is sitting on those buildings doing nothing (and nothing is a relative term, they're doing something, maybe not what you want/like, but something is being done). 5 years ago it was worse, 10 years ago it was worse than it was 5 years ago. In 5 years time it may be demo'd for townhomes, or condos. maybe more strip malls. there are only 3 starbucks in the midtown area, and no mattress stores, so maybe that will happen. It seems like a good opportunity for Cracker Barrel to infiltrate the inner city market. Maybe someone will open another poorly designed club, those seem to last for a good 6 months in that area before disappearing. In all seriousness, I suspect once that superblock apartment gets built and tenants move in, you'll see some action in that area.

The most important quote from that article is the last one:

it seems to me that the bill to stop eminent domain for hsr is going to be a bigger waste of tax payer dollars if it gets passed than otherwise.

maybe picking hairs, but technically, those that voted, voted to not spend the money to turn the dome into a(nother) convention center.

That, is clearly a cheap impostor. Not even wearing a Hawaiian shirt? Come on.

You can't judge a person's intelligence based on their level of education. I hope this gets split off into off topic, cause I'm genuinely intrigued to see if you can come up with something that is a real answer, because this ain't it.

Not true, look to Amsterdam for an example. They are below sea level to begin with, their soil is much mushier than our own. They make it work.

isn't most of the slowdown thanks to the dollar being as strong as it is (and has been)? not only are imported good cheaper in America, but American goods are more expensive overseas as well. and then the cold weather was supposed to have been a reason for a slower 1st quarter in general.

The white dodge parked there makes me sad for humanity, the cop car parked there makes me angry.

so is there anything else this has to go through, and now we just wait 20 years for the unveiling?

memorial city parking lot: https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7798772,-95.5422118,18z/data=!1e3

45 through downtown: https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7626276,-95.3729215,18z/data=!1e3 59 near i10: https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7626485,-95.3520305,18z/data=!1e3 And a bonus from Paris: https://www.google.com/maps/@48.873792,2.2940892,18z/data=!1e3

The mosaic (those two towers on 288) were supposed to be condos, but that tanked and now they're apartments. I think I remember reading somewhere, maybe here, that only a very small population of Houston really wants to live in a condo, and that the number of condo units for sale vs homes is what builders look at when they consider a condo tower. It was probably years ago when I read that, so I probably am mis-remembering. I personally wouldn't mind a condo too much. I could maybe live with a decent sized patio, it would be really tough to curtail my carpentry habit, and without a personal garage (or large enough outdoor space) it would be impossible.

ooooh, now there's an idea, they should maintain some of the upper deck seating. Some of my most memorable moments as a kid were making paper airplanes out of programs and trying to reach the field from the upper deck.

Mattress Heights is probably a good name.

so, as the commercials state, mattress firm is where you go to get a great nights sleep, if mattress pro is the cheaper sibling of mattress firm, is that where you go to get an adequate nights sleep?

I think it would help if they had confirmed funding for part of it prior to the vote. From personal donations, to state and national help, to money thrown in from the Rodeo and Texans. And then, to have a clearly worded ballot.

Personally, I'd say that the money for parking should be fronted by rodeo and football, which leaves about $130 million for harris county residents. split 4.3 million ways is about $30 per person. I'll write a check today for me and 3 other people.

Not me. Someone did some exploring and took some pictures of the dome. http://imgur.com/a/vxGod

ha, so it was intentional I'm glad you know and do normally practice good gun safety. There's way too many stories of accidental death as a result of not following simple practices, and even though I don't know you, I'd hate to have to read a story about you like that. I'm sure some here don't know how to handle a weapon and may one day appreciate the tip if they have the opportunity.

Glad someone said it. I'm sure it's not intentional, but it's a bad habit to get into. It's like riding a motorcycle and not covering your controls when you are approaching an intersection. It may not be necessary (ever hopefully), but that one time you need to squeeze the brakes quickly, having your fingers covering your brake lever will mean an extra second in your advantage and may be the difference between a close call and an accident. In this case, best practice is to keep your finger outside of the trigger guard until you are pointing at your target and intend to fire.

yep, take out pierce elevated, you still have greyhound, you still have that other bus station (El Expreso), you still have all the homeless that congregate around St Johns and St Josephs. whether rationally or irrationally those should be barriers or not, they are. In fact, of the two 'barriers' the pierce elevated is the most irrational of the two. Why are people so afraid of walking under an elevated freeway again? You'd think it would be in the Midtown TIRZ best interests to beautify the area under there and light it up to bring more business from the downtown side of the freeway. as to the question of the thread, I think the major differences between Houston with zoning and without would be less about residential and commercial overlap, but residential and industrial overlap. the area along buffalo bayou and 225 starting at the valero refinery would probably be very different, but the galleria, greenway, all those places would still exist in much the same state as they are today.

The Green line bridge will be the Golden Gate bridge of Houston. It will bring tens of thousands of tourists from all over the world each year.