RedScare

So because we have a booming economy that means the question of building a world class transit system should be ignored? Quality of life is going down in this city as I'm sure you're aware.

LMAO! You are so laughably naive. I have lived in this burg for 36 years. I lived here when fish could not survive in Buffalo Bayou. I was here when it was named the dirtiest river in the state. I was here when downtown was empty at night, except for drunks, robbers and law students. I remember running to my car after class. I remember getting robbed at gunpoint in RICE VILLAGE!

I was here when over 700 people were murdered in Houston annually. I was here when the oil and real estate busts occurred. I was here when the air was literally brown every day, and we passed Los Angeles as the dirtiest air. 

Just because we haven't wasted billions of dollars on our trains you want to claim that our quality of life is in decline? You are such a sad pathetic troll. Houston has never had a better quality of life than it currently enjoys. We are expanding economically. Our inner city is densifying. We are redeveloping parks and bayous, and building new ones. People can walk...instead of run at night...downtown. We are praised nationally and internationally as a successful city that is attracting bright and talented workers. We are even beginning to renovate half a dozen old downtown buildings, which is EXACTLY what you complained about in starting this thread.

I am quite sure that you will alert the mods that I called you what you are...a pathetic troll. I will address this part to them. Mods, what is the definition of a troll? Look at these recent posts from this poster and see if you can honestly say otherwise. Feel free to delete this post and ban me. I really do not care. At this point, it is clear that this poster is a caricature. None of what he says is true, none of it supported by fact.

He is nothing more than a pathetic troll.

Uh-oh, you've trampled on the sacred cow of ground-level retail. You know this is going to escalate out of control when they hunt you down and force you to review the charrette they've created.

No doubt. Kind of like a new urbanist Clockwork Orange. Here is what I find incredibly annoying. The same people who scream and whine that the Heights not be allowed to densify turn around and demand ground floor retail on major thoroughfares for "walkability". Really? Can you people be any more schizophrenic?

History is important. Honestly I can't win with you and red and August. You guys are for sprawl and against history. You may have some that will agree in a houston forum but globally these are sad and laughable viewpoints.

It is not livincinco, August and I that you are in competition with. It is reality. MetroMogul put it best in another thread. Your views on mass transit in Houston are not based on efficiently moving people. They are a "child's wishlist". You demand rail without understanding its cost or usefulness. You eschew buses without understanding their value. You sneer at suburbs and claim they are in decline, at the same time that new homes and commercial properties are being built in the suburbs. You claim "other cities" do things, and that Houston should also. Yet, your shallow knowledge of those cities comes from reading a blog and occasionally visiting the city.

Most of all, when you are presented with well reasoned counterpoints to your "child's wishlist", you respond by claiming everyone is inherently stupid, and by claiming that our views are "sad and laughable viewpoints". What you fail to understand is that Houston did not become the 4th largest city...built on a swamp...by worrying what others thought of us. And you are not the first person to move here and tell us we're doing it all wrong. But, I'll tell you something. For being "sad and laughable", there sure are a lot of people and magazines talking about how Houston is doing it right. Do you really think that telling us that Europe does it better is effective, when Europe is stuck in a terminal recession?

I'll take "sad and laughable" Houston, thank you. Sorry to hear you are so miserable here. Reminds me of all the people that moved here from Michigan in the 70s who told us we were doing it all wrong.

Oh, and if I am preserving a 108 year old home, and you claim to be preserving 3 40 year old homes in Houston, how can you claim that Houston doesn't care about history? We have hundreds of thousands of homes 40 years old or older. This sounds like an exaggeration. 

Isn't it great to read these posts from people who went somewhere on vacation, liked it, only to return home and trash the town that made them enough money to go on vacation in the first place? And, we all know that they would be gone in a heartbeat if they could find a job that paid as well, or even find a job at all! Do I feel sorry for these people? Not a chance! All these posts reveal is inability of these people to lead fulfilling lives, instead needing a "vibrant cityscape", or a mountain, or a coast, or even a river or lake to fulfill their lives.

I could taunt these unfulfilled posters with the fact that I can get on my bike and ride the bayou trails, or kayak the bayou, or take a day trip to the coast or lake. They would then respond that our bayou is ugly, our beach sand is ugly, our lakes suck, we have no mountains, or some other remark that proves how unfulfilling their lives are. And because they cannot admit this, they would then accuse me of being a "homer". Well, you know what? I AM a homer! And, I am a much happier Houston homer than you Houston whiners, who spend your days whining about trains, cars, highways, Walmarts, historic preservation, apartment buildings, walkability and, of course, ground floor retail! What can I say? Sucks to be you!    

Oh, to bring this back on topic, ground floor retail at this location is a TERRIBLE idea! People complain about the 4 lane traffic ruining the ability to cross Yale, then claim we need ground floor retail on Yale? That is pretty much the definition of new urbanist groupthink, not Trammel Crow. Ground floor retail could work in Rice Village, Midtown, or even 19th Street. But, Yale and 7th Street? Please.

I wouldn't accuse Galveston of lacking civic sense. They got wiped out by a hurricane for crissakes. Those old buildings are all they have left. 

BTW, remember that thread where you said people that don't take the bus cannot critique it? Well...I am preserving a 108 year old home, and you are not. You have no right to critique Houston preservation of historic buildings since you have never done it. I have, and Houston preserves more homes and buildings than Galveston does.

I don't know. But I do know it's nearly atavistic superstition, or else a touching faith in the powers of your elected municipal representatives, to believe that increasing suburban sprawl is a trend to which Houston, Texas could choose to go "counter."  

Yes, some of us find it hard to believe that Suburbia is about to meet its demise when suburbia has not even begun to slow down yet. While it can certainly be argued that Suburbia cannot be sustained in its present form, that argument ignores the fact that humanity changes to adapt its challenges. If gas prices increase, we buy smaller cars and hybrids. If gas continues to increase, we start taking the park&ride. (Side note: some people say that park&ride ridership is low, while ignoring that 40% of downtown workers use mass transit). We could even decide to lay tracks and run commuter rail to Suburbia. Of course, what the new urbanists don't realize is that commuter rail would ensure that Suburbia survives. Otherwise, why waste money on commuter rail if the suburbs are going to die anyway?

One small example of how business adapts is to look at Anadarco and ExxonMobil, both of whom are building large office buildings 25 miles from downtown. That is a rather large investment to make in a "dying" area. As they say, I'll believe it when I see it.

I went to the railroad museum today,

Highlighted without comment.

So you don't believe preserving history?

So you don't believe in using common sense? It has often been said that economic stagnation is the friend of historic buildings. Galveston has had virtually no economy for over 100 years. Accordingly, there was no incentive to tear down their buildings. Houston, on the other hand, has added 6.2 million people in the last 113 years. We need the space. Where you seem upset that Houston grew into an economic juggernaut, but had to bulldoze a few old buildings to do it, I am impressed with Houston's stature as the best economy in the country right now.

Of course, if we were being fair, we would also be complaining about why New York, Chicago and LA tore down so much of their history as well. But, we are not fair. Some people look only at Houston and complain, while ignoring the fact that Houston has grown just like other cities have, only faster.

I propose we rename this thread, "Why Is Houston Leading The Country In Economic And Population Growth, But Galveston Is Losing Population?"

Same answers.

yes, I have to agree you have to really want it to live the Portland lifestyle...and yet, a lot of people choose to do so. I'm not just randomly visiting there - my So, yeah this argues that life in Houston is better than Portland, but yet...why are so many people willing to struggle in Portland who could be earning a handsome salary in Houston???

Perhaps a better question to ask is, if Houston sucks so bad, why have nearly triple the number of people moved here (6.3 million) as choose Portland (2.2 million)?

We talk a lot of smack on Dallas, but I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the members of the Dallas Fire Department for manning our fire houses this morning so that our firefighters could say goodbye to four of their own at Reliant Stadium. Also, thanks to firefighters from San Antonio, Fort Worth, Brenham and Galveston. But Dallas chartered two buses to come down to help.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Firefighters-from-across-Texas-fill-in-while-HFD-4579734.php?cmpid=hpfsln

This makes no sense.

The top tax rate is around 35% and SE taxes phase out around 100k.  How does "take home" get to 35%?

 

The allusion to capital improvements,etc... are all immediately recoverable for tax so it would reduce your taxable income immediately.   

He is suggesting that his profit on $400,000 is 35%, or $130,000. Of course, the tax rate on $130,000 is not 39.6%. It is 25%.

Well, since the topic question was completely and accurately answered in post #3, the only way to keep the thread going is to post only remotely...or not even remotely...relevant information to the thread.

It may seem trite, but if the demand wasn't there, the builders wouldn't be building them. When the two options in the Heights are old non-remodeled homes in the Heights versus new townhomes nearby, you'll likely find a much bigger market for the new and clean over the old and needing renovation. It takes a special breed to redo these old homes, especially in light of the added time and red tape that we now have. For proof, look at the price renovated homes command over non.

When I get time I'll try to split the topic into Walmart and non-Walmart.  Maybe another topic just for the insult posts. 

It won't work. Those who wish to blame Walmart for everything will continue to come back and post on the Walmart thread, prompting responses from others. Splitting it will only result in the same topic posted on two threads. This thread grew into what it is organically. You can't stop it without simply locking it. Better to just leave it alone. Leonard's question was more of a political statement than a request. I doubt he really wanted the post deleted. He just wanted to comment how far off topic it was, even for this thread.

Yeah, the greens started to figure out a while ago that ethanol sucked. They also figured out that corn as feedstock for cattle sucked, too. Almost everyone except for corn farmers and Iowa politicians has figured out that corn sucks.

Where is the person who removes off topic/boring posts?

Be careful what you ask for. The Walmart topic ended months ago. Now, it is crying about 380s and bridges of death. If you demand that off topic posts get deleted you'll probably end up with a closed thread. Where would you complain about caliper inches then?

My entire family comes from a similar situation and not one of them has any problem with public transit they actually prefer it. I'm not sure what your point is.

It is worth noting that while this may be true of you and your family, it is not true for the overwhelming majority of people. It should not be found to be surprising that most people prefer convenience. Automobiles represent convenience. While you may find a myriad of reasons why convenience is bad, from Peak Oil to healthy walking, it does not change the fact that most people prefer an automobile to public transit of any kind. That includes Third Worlders. It is human nature.

Apple has high prices, and people are surprised? Is this out of character for them? I am constantly amazed at the slack that Apple fanboys cut for them. As for ebooks, I still go old school, dead trees or not.

There is perceived status in the ability to pay more for something than others can afford. Women will brag on how much they paid for a purse. Lexus automobiles are not that popular outside the US, but here buyers enjoy paying more for them, because others will know the owner has disposable income. I have even had clients tell me that they wondered how good I was because my fees "weren't high enough". 

And, of course, imagine my surprise at finding the exact brand of berries that I saw at Whole Foods sitting in the produce section of Kroger...for 30% less.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Old-Savoy-Hotel-to-be-Holiday-Inn-flagship-4577185.php

Mako,

I sent you a personal message.

  So,  unfortunately for you, the world is not such a simple place where you are either with the Tea Party or you are just suffering from irrational hatred for Walmart.  In fact, your obsession with the anti-Walmart folks is basically your frustration that the world does not fit into your neat little categories.  There are complicated issues out there that require more than name calling and selfserving presumptions of bad intent. 

No, actually, some parts of the world really are as simple as they seem. Your posts have made it clear that you are a flaming liberal in all things, including hating Walmart. You are consistent across all subject matter. This 380 gripe is simply a red herring. Your posts at the end of this thread are undercut by your posts at the beginning of this thread. Which is fine. You are entitled to hate Walmart. You simply run the risk that no one takes you seriously on anything else.

Now, the really funny part is your attempts at pigeonholing me. Because the overwhelming majority of my posts on this thread are mocking the Walmart haters, it is impossible for you to accurately label me. I and those who know me laugh at your attempts to do so. This is why I keep coming back to this thread, for the entertainment value.

On another thread you just claimed to have a Mercedes. If that is true, then you do not rely on the bus system, you choose to use it. To say otherwise is a misrepresentation.

However, as I'm becoming increasingly convinced that you are trolling, I'm not sure what to believe any more.

He also claimed to walk to work in another thread. He travels more than all of us in still another thread. If he flies everywhere, walks every day to work, and has a Mercedes, he most assuredly does not take the bus daily.

But, he still wants to dictate what we should do.

True that. The salumi at Revival Market is the best I've seen anywhere!