gmac

4 hours ago, Texasota said:

Do you feel the same way about drivers who blow through stop signs, or is it just cyclists?

Is it relevant to you that traffic laws were designed for cars with bikes only awkwardly included? 

Nope.

I get much more upset by automobile drivers who flout the laws. I've never seen a cyclist kill someone else by breaking the law.

Cyclists are fine as long as they follow all the traffic laws. Blowing through stop signs is a sure recipe to end up as an asphalt pizza with human topping.

6 hours ago, BeerNut said:

Don't Paris my Houston

Especially if there are Germans marching down the boulevard under said trees.

I was impressed with some of the ideas, not so much with others. The idea of moving Greenspoint apartment dwellers into high-rises is NOT a good idea at all, as it brings back bad memories of Chicago and London tower blocks that went straight in the dumper.

The storm-resilient homes looked very good.

Dawn Burrell was also an Olympian in track and field (2000) and the world indoor champion in the long jump in 2001. Her older brother, Leroy, is the former world record holder in the 100 meters and is currently head coach at UH. Quite a family!

32 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

Have you looked at the application? Maybe it's in there?

On the smaller floorplans, there is this note:

***Essential Employee Program - Maximum income limits on this floor plan. Call for details!

1 hour ago, hindesky said:

I'm guessing that anyone wanting rent relief is going to have to ask about getting it and they don't want to post that price publicly and piss off a bunch of renters because only a small percentage -20% will be eligible.

"The 300-unit complex, called the Exchange, will have 50 percent of its units reserved for renters making between 60 and 80 percent of the area median income (or as much as $42,750)"

This is the part that threw me. If 50% of the units are for lower-income renters, are those folks supposed to have some kind of secret signal that lets the complex know? I get what you're saying about not upsetting the other renters, but this is a bit secretive to me.

Cheapest place at The Exchange is $1260 for a 530 sf studio.

Yikes. I thought there were supposed to be some affordable units in this complex, according to some info previously posted in this thread.

3 hours ago, wilcal said:

Sun Country announced new service from IAH today.

Destinations:

CUN

MSP

LAS

LAX

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2021/01/25/sun-country-airlines-announces-16-new-routes.html

Wow! I remember flying Some Country (is where your baggage ends up) in the early 90s to MSP. Like a Greyhound with wings.

1 hour ago, Texasota said:

Yep, you've figured me out; I just love cholera. 

What a good, well reasoned response to what I was actually saying. 

You threw out a sweeping generalization about "suburbia", when there are actually very walkable neighborhoods in many of the outlying areas. People in Katy/Cypress/Spring can actually safely walk to stores, restaurants, churches, bars... you name it. The walk may be a half mile, or maybe a couple blocks, but it's eminently doable. What many people DON'T want is a bar right next door with the concomitant issues of noise and traffic. That's no more unreasonable than not wanting a bunch of storage units plopped next door.

OTOH, if the bars/entertainment were already there when you purchased your home... tough luck.

3 hours ago, Texasota said:

It sounds like s3mh actually wants to live in Spring. Or Cypress. Or Katy. A subdivision where all the noise and retail is on "a six lane road with 20 acre lots on each side" and the houses are on their little dead end cul-de-sacs and you have to drive everywhere. 

Too bad for them. That's not what the Heights has ever been. It's not a subdivision. It's a real, old-fashioned neighborhood, where you can walk or bike to most things. And that absolutely includes bars and entertainment and anywhere that serves alcohol. Putting bars on 6 lane roads is basically asking people to drive drunk. 

And I don't buy your excuse that Fitz's was fine because of sound dampening. I've been to Fitz's. Fitz's was fine because it was already there. Noise is not the problem. Change is.

Sounds like you yearn for the days of cholera and raging fires. Those were the hallmarks of a REAL old-fashioned neighborhood.

How many people in Houston have ever actually lived in an "old-fashioned neighborhood" like you describe?

8 minutes ago, s3mh said:

Fitz put a lot of money into that venue to sound proof.  My understanding is that the new bar will have some music on a patio.  

White Oak is commercial, but it is not a six lane road with 20 acre lots on each side.  It has a limited capacity for cars, bars and so on.  It is already overrun with cars and people and adding more and more bars and restaurants is just going to make it impossible.  

And that 7' penis is very anatomically accurate.  Not the kind of décor you will want if you are trying to sell $12 cocktails in the Heights.  

$12 what now?

That parcel would apparently be better used for a parking garage with storage units on top to meet the neighborhood's needs.

Love that forecourt. Much more useful than having a building jammed up against a street.

Would you feel any different if this was replaced with a dozen (or more) condos to increase density?

I am way late to this one, but an interesting 2014 piece in the Chronicle about the church:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/God-s-own-marquee-5814731.php

10 hours ago, Moore713 said:

 Omg ...quite nitpicking every damn thing... 

 

The point was  for a long time alot of  business were fine just setting up shop in Houston and didn't feel a need to engage the community....

 

All of that  and you locked in on a off hand comment about  " middle of nowhere " sheesh

Be more precise in your writing, then.

Businesses engaged with the community by providing jobs, many of them paying pretty well.

I imagine the corporations that built in Greenspoint and other non-downtown areas had a very different vision from yours. They likely wanted an accessible office complex with somewhat affordable housing potential in the general vicinity. I wouldn't have built anything corporate in a downtown area had I been in a position to do so.

"middle of nowhere"???

2 hours ago, Texasota said:

 

Your personal judgement as to whether this is "necessary" is not some sort of objective truth. Yes, there is already transportation available between the two cities; this project would increase the capacity of that connection. Just like the interstate. And air travel. It might be a mode you wouldn't personally use, but that doesn't make this a vanity project or a boondoggle. 

Duly noted.

44 minutes ago, Triton said:

Feels like we wouldn't even have NASA or subway systems if they didn't already exist. Feels like anything that is a major project is now a boondoggle and I don't feel like NIMBYism existed 100 years ago as it does today.

Disagree. I have no problem with necessary projects like early NASA and other infrastructure that served a large segment of society. You're comparing those with a vanity high-speed rail connection between two cities that are already pretty effectively connected.

6 hours ago, samagon said:

 

those too.

 

gas taxes do not cover all of it.

 

from federal funding the federal gas tax covers more than 3/4, but not all, that's covered by big rigs, and heavy trucks:

https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-highway-trust-fund-and-how-it-financed#:~:text=Most spending from the Highway,by state and local governments.

 

from state funding we have big shortfalls there and most of these have been overcome by pulling from the rainy day fund, and sales taxes.

https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/2016/may/road-finance.php#:~:text=New Revenue for Roads&text=The state's Economic Stabilization Fund,excess of fiscal 1987 revenues.&text=Under Proposition 1%2C %241.7 billion,fiscal 2015 for transportation projects.

 

not exactly sure what your point was, but the taxes the oil companies pay for 'production' end up being paid for by me at the pump, I pay sales tax same as everyone else, and I pay both state and federal gas taxes.

 

at the end of the day, and as it relates to my post:

the public highways are paid for by you and I.

this railway is a private venture funded not by state or federal money, it may be a boondoggle, but it's not my money, so I don't care how they waste their money.

My question was one of curiosity about how you pay directly for the roads.

As far as the rail project, if they will commit in writing under penalty of public hara kiri to never accept a penny of tax money and never use eminent domain to secure land, I would be fine with it.

1 hour ago, wilcal said:

 

TXDOT's budget is now only about 1/4 use taxes (gas/registration/etc). The rest comes from federal taxes and other TX-based taxes. 

 

 

This is a helpful explanation:

https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot-info/sla/education_series/funding.pdf

1 hour ago, Triton said:

Whatever happened to the America that could build big. I feel like today's America wouldn't have built the Hoover Dam or the Golden Gate Bridge 

Sure they would. Those were necessary projects.

1 hour ago, samagon said:

 

the i45 expansion sure is a boondoggle, and made worse that the budget comes straight from my taxes.

 

the HSR might be a boondoggle as well, but I have no idea whose boons they are doggling for this project, but it's not mine, so I don't really care whether it's a boondoggle or not.

Which ones? Gas taxes?