samagon

Separately, I continually am surprised when folks say Pheonica is not a "full" grocer. Two floors of stuff. Fresh, frozen, refrigerated, liquid, solid, ground or whole, packaged or loose for just about everything that is turf, and surf. The selections are certainly less (and tend to have a lot of ethnic stuff-- great if you are looking for something from "home") but, one could feed oneself at Pheonicia for essentially ever without a problem and without depravation.

I guess it all depends on how one defines 'full' grocer. Myself, I take that to include not just all different foodstuffs I would want (meat, produce, dairy, etc.), but odds/ends I need. Toothpaste, paper towels, deodorant, tooth brush, etc.

I don't like to have to go shopping for just one single $2 item, and if I were to use Phoenicia, that's exactly what I'd have to do.

See, I don't know where this whole "Afton Oaks doesn't want poor people riding through the neighborhood" rhetoric developed. I can't find a Chron article that actually references it or any other articles that reference it. Mostly what I could find involved things about not wanting the oak trees gone or maybe something about local street accessibility. There was even a forum thread on HAIF referencing a talk in the bar about light rail and Afton Oaks and the response was not getting to the restaurants they want, or something rather mundane like that.

What Culberson did was definitely unethical (I'm not debating that) but resorting to questionably sourced commentary as use for an argument is a rather poor way of gaining support for your side.

I'm surprised you can't find anything. The neighborhood was definitely behind the move of the line from straight down richmond to being diverted to go down westpark. 

The neighborhood was littered with yard signs when the rail line was being looked at.

99.9% of people can't drive safely at speeds over 65 mph, including every single person who thinks they are the exception to that rule.

It's not just the person that probably shouldn't be operating their vehicles that fast, a lot of the vehicles on the road are not well maintained by their owners and probably shouldn't be driving 65+ mph, let alone even be on the freeway.

blown out struts, brakes not sufficiently maintained, etc.

I mean, I know the state inspection is supposed to cover the safety of the car, but all they really do is make sure the lights and horn work and emissions pass/fail. otherwise, they could care less.

I personally am not against the speed limit on the freeways in the city being 55mph. it does reduce pollution (of all varieties), everyone will get better gas mileage, and people will have more reaction time to avoid incidents, especially in as tight of space as we all have to maintain.

Most trips around the city I'd say on average a person is on the freeway for 10 miles of the overall trip. the difference in time between those 10 miles at 55mph vs 60mph is less than a minute difference (54.5 seconds). as you bump the numbers up by 5, the differences get even smaller. for example, the difference in that 10 mile journey between 60 and 65 mph is 46.2 seconds. 65 to 70 is 39.6 seconds.

Is that minute worth the added safety and a less polluted environment to live in?

I guess I really do appreciate modern art, cause I think each of the areas posted have their own beauty that sets them apart.

But then, I also find the sterile cleanliness, perfect symmetry of everything and just the absolute orderliness in a place like Irvine California unnerving. It is in no way organic, and while yeah they have trees and plants, every single one of them seems to be tended daily through some city code, all of the trees are of a specific height, and distance. It's so... clinical as to ruin the actual nature of it. 

Houston, no matter where I go, it has an organic feel to it, even the areas with fewer trees and the only green is the wanton grass that is growing in the cracked sidewalk. It has the feel that everything just grew where it was, because that's where it was able to take root.

Even out in the ship channel, pasa-get-down-dina, la porte, all that stuff, all those tubes and lights, and conduit, it's so straight and confusing, it looks like one of those knotted balls of yarn, untangling it you feel like you're solving one of life's basic mysteries. You know there's a pattern to all that stuff, but not in a million years (at least not without some serious engineering degrees) could you figure out how it all fits together.

I don't use the beltway (or any of the tollways really).

More to the point, I stopped using them when the backroom decision was made to continue charging tolls once a roadway was paid off, which is not what was voted for.

Here are a few more of my favorite pictures of downtown.

 

 

 

Houston.jpg

I really like this photo.

OK, I wanna know how fast you guys drive on the road. I mean, I would've driven at 60 mph on the Beltway as signed in normal situations, but I drove much faster than most signed roads. Not super-fast, mind you, nor did I make a lot of lane changes...it was a balancing act to go fast enough to be "I'm a driver who wants to keep up with the crowd" and not too fast to be "I'm a jackass who's willing to put others' lives at risk so I can get to my destination 5 minutes faster"

I generally go somewhere between 60-65mph.

I yell and scream at people who aren't going at least that fast, and yell and scream at people who expect me to go faster.

The red mist descends when it's time to merge.

kombucha is activia for for the cool people.

 

just kidding. i eat activia and drink kombucha on occasion and do not consider myself "cool".  it's good for your gut and it tastes good.

 

montrose is just different, not "over".  all places and neighborhoods transition.  the east side down navigation is ripe for a bohemian enclave.  frenetic theatre, bohemeo's, moon tower, are all evidence that it could be happening.

 

it would be great fun to see a street culture emerge that direction that is unique, uncommon, and anti-bougie.  if numbers relocated (you know it's going to happen) and other "like" establishments to this area, we would again have an escape or alternative scene like montrose used to provide.  the one thing missing are aging apartments, bungalows, and mansions.

 

culture in general has changed as has technology; places like the way montrose used to be may be a thing of the past.  montrose isn't over, just different.

wha???

There are plenty of 4plex and 8plex apartments over here, lots of bungalows, and a metric ton of garage apartments. At least once you're out of the 'eado' section of the east end. eado is basically turning into (or has already turned into) midtown v2.0, keep going east down Leeland, Harrisburg, Canal, or Navigation, turn into a neighborhood street (any of them) and you start seeing these types of things.

Congrats!

 

For some real fun, try north on 45, then west on 59.  Try getting into the far right lane on the 45/288/59 connector where it merges with no warning onto 59 westbound.  With the right traffic conditions you'll instantly see why that whole thing should be torn up and rebuilt.

Child's play.

Or maybe I'm just an aggressive driver.

Besides, if traffic's bad enough on 59 it's not even worth trying to merge, just stay on 288 and take 610 west to 59, for the final piece of the puzzle to click into place, don't take the exit from 610 north to 59 south, go instead 610 north to 59 north, exit weslayan, uturn, enter 59 south. 

This may add a few more miles on the old odometer, but it saves you like 30 seconds, so yeah.

Yes they did. Does that mean TxDOT is reading HAIF? 

 

 

If so, we should start a thread: Ideas for TxDOT!

I hope it does mean they are reading, and if so.

they need to close the ramp from 59 south to 45 north, redirect traffic to take i10 west to 45 north. 

also close the ramp from i10 west to 45 south, redirect traffic to take 59 south to 45 south.

from reading that article though, it was open for a public hearing back in 2011, and I posted that suggestion about a month ago, so looks like they've been sitting on it waiting for the idea to resurface here.

This may be to make the way for more townhouses.

I didn't even think of the fiesta on san jacinto and wheeler station. that's a pretty decent option. as that area fills in with higher end apartments, it will become a very viable option.

I was thinking about this last night, everyone that is commenting here is thinking about the west end and how to make it work better/different than the original/last proposal.

What about the east end of the line? Most of what I saw the plan was the terminate it at the eastwood transit center, which is at lockwood and 45. 

I hope when this line can be seriously considered again, that they consider not terminating the line at the eastwood transit center (still have a stop there), but to extend it another mile or so to terminate at the green line on harrisburg, or if the railroad track at harrisburg is an issue, terminate it before the track, the walk from that track to the station on harrisburg is very short anyway.

This benefits by creating a connector into that line and making the whole thing a lot more travel friendly.

Amenities will be the key.

There's Randalls in midtown that's accessible by rail, which is a good option, but you have to walk through a 3rd world country (the area around greyhound station) to get to/from. Phoenecia is an option as well, but for fresh vegetables it sucks (well, I haven't been there in over a year, so that may have changed), they do well with pre-arranged meals, and snacky type stuff, but I wouldn't bet it would work as the single place you go to get groceries, unless artisan cheeses, coffee, tea, and summer sausage is the sum total of your sustenance. and then where do you fulfill needs like TP, toothpaste, deodorant, cat litter.

It would have been awesome to see a HEB, or central market go in at mcgowen and main (instead of another people aquarium). right on the rail stop, not a 3rd world country. Of course, with the east end line opening this december, and rumors of a grocery store going in at harrisburg and lockwood, there is a stop for the green line there. If the idea is not needing to use your car, yet still have access to amenities, once the green/purple lines open, there will be a lot more at the fingertips of downtown. Of course, these people will have to get beyond the fact that the areas look almost as sketchy as the area around the greyhound station is. 

But people drive nutty in Houston these days. Like they own the road and everyone else is in their way.

It's not a 'these days' kind of thing, people have been driving like they own the roads in Houston since the city was founded over 200 years ago.

To be fair though, I mean, technically we all own the road, so why not drive like you own it?

Thanks for the videos.  I'm a little confused the East Line Downtown goes westbound on Capitol and Purple Line goes eastbound on Rusk?  So from Downtown if you want to take the East Line you take the Purple Line and transfer at the BBVA Stadium?  The bad thing is cars will share the track that is not good! 

They'll both use the same track downtown, I imagine it will be noted at the station whether it's purple or green train that is coming to the station. kind of like when a bus stop shares with other buses. the signage says the bus numbers that will stop there, and the bus number is prominent on the bus. In places where they have sophisticated systems announcing the rail, they will have LED boards that show the next N number of trains to arrive at that station/stop, which line they belong to, and approximately how long before they arrive. As soon as a train comes/goes that one bumps off the list and the list gets updated.

if they do, I highly recommend an 'avoska bag'.

https://www.google.com/search?q=avoska+bag&safe=off&rlz=1C2GGGE_enUS452US457&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=McAFVPOcBNDwgwSWsoLoBA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg&biw=1600&bih=815

Dude, you guys are talking about stuff that happened before Justin Beiber was allowed to befoul stuff outside of Canada.

There better be a Texas cyclone and greezed lightnin or I'm not going. Ever.

I've loved every one of my Subarus (I'm on number 4 now), their safety ratings (and the real world examples I've seen of their ability to protect the occupants) are amazing.

Volvo has been moving upscale for a while now. The xc70 is really the only thing left in their lineup that I'd consider reminiscent of a real volvo.

 

 

This followed release of a state report this year that found gang membership across Texas may exceed 100,000 individuals and there is a high concentration in the Houston region.

My mind is wondering how they get this data? Do they look at the gang's tax returns and get a membership count based on dues collected?

 

Could we also include an aviary or would that present too many sanitary problems?  ​ To some extent there have always been, and will always bee be, flying creatures in the Dome though. Does anyone remember the not awful movie from 1970 "Brewster McCloud" starring a young Stacy Keach and Sally Kellerman (who also played Hot Lips Hoolihan in the movie "M.A.S.H." released the same year.)?

I was about to say, there's no way that they'd keep birds out of this place. maybe there wouldn't be grackles, pigeons, or bigger birds, but those little finch like brown things, I imagine they'd colonize that place immediately. If they put plants and trees as well as natural grass in there then it would be it's own little mini ecosystem with other insects and tiny creatures living there.

And exactly what indications are those? 

Not that I would put it past a news agency to provide bad news...

the article from the chron linked on the previous page:

http://www.chron.com/houston/article/Newest-Dome-proposal-to-be-announced-this-5712980.php#photo-2871431

states:

 

 

...The county's top elected official did not present any blueprints or renderings on Tuesday, but discussed a loose concept for an evolving air-conditioned facility that he said could....

Again, it's the news, they get things wrong, they may have misheard, they may have misreported, they may have just missed. whatever. indications are at this point that if the plan went forward, it would be air conditioned.

As far as reasons why it would be air conditioned, head on over to any warehouse without AC in the summer. hang out for a few hours in the warehouse itself, maybe blow a fan or two, doesn't really matter, open a few garage doors. You will be miserable. The heat will be stifling. By stifling I mean over 110 easily. I was an automotive technician after I graduated high school (seemed like it would be a fun job) I was miserable. the summers were hot, the winters were freezing. there was only protection from rain. Some days the shop floor would get to a sweltering 110 degrees before lunch and hang there until we closed the doors. If the wind was blowing, we considered ourselves lucky. If it rained we considered ourselves lucky.

If the plan is for this to be in any way a used facility, it will have to be air conditioned in some way, not just cross ventilation.

That being said, I can't imagine it would be kept it much below mid 80s.

The City of Houston will install the City’s first on-street protected bike lane along Lamar Street in Downtown, possibly as early as October, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Mike Morris. The two-way protected bike lane will help to connect Downtown to both the Buffalo Bayou trails and the Columbia Tap Trail. More from the Chronicle:

The nearly three-quarter-mile path, from the edge of Sam Houston Park to the edge of Discovery Green, will be painted green and separated from the remaining three lanes of traffic by a barrier of striped plastic humps sometimes called “armadillos” or “zebras,” said Laura Spanjian, the city’s sustainability director.

I can't wait to use it!

I read on chron that it was supposed to somehow connect into the columbia tap trail that just kind of ends on Dowling.