RedScare

dalasboi, you are priceless.

This is exactly why the City invests money in downtown. Not only does expanding the infrastructure add more value to the highest value land in the city, conversely, NOT keeping up the infrastructure causes that high value property to depreciate, costing the city (and therefore, its citizens) tax revenue. Investing in neighborhoods returns little, if any tax revenue. Investing in downtown makes the city money. Downtown also happens to be the city's most recognizable feature. When I went to school downtown in the 1980s, it was a dirty, depressing, dangerous place. When I opened an office downtown in the 90s, it was only marginally better. When the city invested police, new streets and sidewalks, and METRORail, it changed dramatically. So did the taxable values.

Like shooting fish in a barrel. I've mentioned this before, but it always gets ignored by certain Dallas posters. I don't dislike Dallas. I lived there. I have family there. I DO hate the Cowboys, but that comes from growing up in North Carolina (pre-Panthers), where we rooted for the Redskins. The problem with the Dallas threads is that if ANYTHING that can remotely be construed as anti-Dallas appears, a contingent of "Dallas Uber Alles" types will swoop in and scream, "You hate Dallas!" Hey, I didn't make up the Dallas office vacancy figures! They came from Dallas real estate professionals. And, frankly, some of the posts are downright stupid. Saying that big companies are coming to downtown when the experts say they are not is a LIE. Saying that numerous small tenants will more than make up for the large ones that leave is wishful thinking. This forum is open to anyone who follows the rules. Dallas boosters must understand that the posts on this forum will sound a lot less like the Chamber of Commerce than a Dallas forum will. I have my opinions as to why downtown has persitently high vacancies, opinions like overly active developers, the city allowing downtown to detiorate, telecom busts, etc. If I want to post the opinions, I am free to do so, just as you are. However, if your post flies in the face of logic, I will state THAT, too. And, if you then become a crybaby, because my research is better than yours, I will then figuratively dance on your head. If you spent any time at all on any non-Dallas threads, you would find that a lot of us do this to each other, as well. Some fight back, others whine just like you. But, on HAIF, as in life, he who is unprepared is lost. If I could make a suggestion, it would be to concede downtown's anemic vacancy rate. You'll never put enough lipstick on that pig. Also, don't try to make Uptown and Victory a part of downtown. They aren't. Instead, brag about the fact that Dallas is sidestepping the ruin that is downtown into new digs a mile away. No one disses Uptown and Victory, unless you try to make it downtown. And, then there is banking214! I don't know, dude, why can't we lure hotels like W? Perhaps because we associate 'W' with failure? I know that's why I would never stay in one.

Pouting? I'm laughing!

I agree Dallas "thinks bigger". Houston just IS bigger. Oh, and sorry about your sweating problem. But, my 74 degree "heat" suits me just fine. I am so glad that you Dallasites are so proud of your downtown. Because, frankly, if it wasn't for you guys, NO ONE would be there. I never went to DT Dallas when I lived there, and my friends don't take me there when I visit (They don't have much to say nice about Victory either, but I'll leave that alone, since Victory is largely unbuilt). Fact is, I've never seen any listings of anything in DT Dallas that would make me want to go there anyway. But, that matters not, because you guys love it. So enjoy! And quit worrying what we think. BTW, Houston doesn't come up on Dallas forums, because we don't care enough to even read them. Funny how that works.

Boy, talk about your basic unsupported, generalized sweeping statements. Nice job, Niche.

Aside from wondering what a "cohesive unit" is as it relates to a city, one might ask if ANY big city functions as one cohesive unit, as opposed to dozens of villages governed by an umbrella government. Since everyone's favorite big city is New York, let us start there. Is a city comprised of five separate counties a cohesive unit? Is a city that consist of three islands and one peninsula a cohesive unit? Even Manhattan, a 23 mile long island that takes an hour to traverse, does not qualify. Moving on to Chicago, the North Side and the South Side are two separate and distinct worlds. Can it be called a cohesive unit? Do we even want to attempt to quantify Los Angeles? Even Dallas, a city half the size of Houston has its North Side and South Side (and even a West Side) and never the two shall meet. All big cities are a collection of neighborhoods, each with its own dynamic. The Heights marches to a different drum than Montrose, which in turn is different from Greenway, the Galleria, TMC or Downtown. Yet, all are within several miles of each other. The city limits are merely the government boundaries. The "cohesive unit" in any large city is much smaller than the city limits, regardless of how dense or sprawling that city may be.

Compared to what?

This could explain Fort Worth's "going" problem.

Yup. I drove by there an hour ago. There are two huge hole in the north side of the building. Looks like currently they are salvaging steel from inside the building. There is also a crane onsite. Get your pictures quick.

Actually, yes, some are going back. See VicMan's HISD thread about school population losses. Also, I have ready anecdotal stories of Thugs heading back to New Orleans to re-establish turf, and not particularly caring for Harris County's no-nonsense approach to crime. While none of this can really be proved from statistics, each may have an incremental effect. I think the methodical arresting of criminals as they are commit their crimest eventually thins the herd as well. I have always thought this would be a temporary spike, though it is WAY to early to say that yet. EDIT: Niche, the City Planning Department compiles its own estimates. As of Jan. 1, 2006, they estimated the population at 2,198,000. I think the estimate in the article is a typo. HPD does not estimate population. The UCR rates use the Census estimates.

He is among the league leaders in assists at 6.4 per game, so...umm...no, I don't think that way.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metrop...an/4341630.html The rate of violent crime, which includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, was down from 2004, after a spike last year. Nonviolent crimes, such as burglaries and car thefts, were down for the second straight year, according to the UCR. Gerstner credits the success to an overtime program that began Aug. 28.

Just how many tenants have signed on to Victory anyway? I know Haynes & Boone is the only tenant in Victory Tower. WFAA is moving from it's downtown digs. Obviously, The Mavericks and Stars left downtown. But, there is not much other office space out there right now, is there? So, all of this talk is really speculative, since only a couple of tenants have even signed. Am I right on this?

You're on!

The older model had three towers. I suppose there are two office towers and formerly, one residential.

I agree with you that posters on this board largely do not understand that developers are private entities, and not a division of government. Even if they do understand this fact, they ignore it when making blanket statements like "Houston doesn't do this", or "Dallas did that". Posters from both cities have this affliction. Haynes & Boone would never have moved out of Downtown/Uptown/Victory. Large law firms need relatively quick access to the courthouses, all of which are located downtown. While boutique law firms locate all over the city, the international behemoths stay close to the courthouse. Non-Dallasites DO get it. Uptown and Victory are on the opposite side of the freeway, just as Midtown is for Houston. We generally talk of them as separate areas because they have different dynamics, even though there is lots of crossover between the two, just as there is between Uptown and Downtown Dallas. However, real estate companies distinguish between Uptown and Downtown, and between Midtown and Downtown. I suppose one could lump the Uptown/Downtown areas together when talking about office leases, just as one could say Downtown/Midtown has over 20,000 residents, but there would be a bit of intellectual dishonesty in the statements. What I find most interesting is the announcement of construction starting on the House. They said that "nearly 50%" of the units have been sold. While I will leave it to those in the industry to snicker about what "nearly 50%" means, less than 50% commitment is far less than what we usually see in Houston before a project breaks ground. I know that Hillwood has secured financing for all off the buildings going up in Victory, so this probably allows projects to start with fewer commitments, but it does show that Houston developers (or their bankers) are more conservative than what we see in Dallas. It may also explain why the vacancy rate has remained stubbornly high for so long.

Ooh! Tough to top that one! I do wonder, though. How, did that smoking dog escape former councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs' campaign to rid the City of smokers?

What a great idea! Those crazy developments, like the ones around Reliant, Minute Maid and Toyota, would be fantastic.....if I was homeless.

There are 3,137 residential units downtown, with occupancy at 89%. If Finger's place and Texaco materialize, it would jump to 4,000.

And don't forget Chik-fil-a. Those guys are brutal. I'll take smoke bombs and tortillas over those pansies at UT throwing roses.

Note to self: Don't sit next to Midtown Coog at UH games. Total buzz killer. GO COOGS!

Oh, please! What a bunch of dawdling church ladies you people are. Of COURSE the smoke bomb was funny! Especially the Orange color. You guys sound like a bunch of Homeowners Association board members griping about the length of a neighbor's grass. But, REAL American Sports fans would never do that. Oh, No! Other than beer (Detroit Pistons fans), batteries (Phillies, Eagles, Jets, Mets), liquor bottles (LSU), sabres (A&M), and Disco records (Cleveland), I've hardly seen ANYTHING thrown by fans at AMERICAN sports events. And, boring? Have any of you been to a professional football game recently? Could anything be more exciting than watching a referee looking at a replay box while the theme from 'Jeopardy' plays on the sound system? How about the dead silence for two minutes after every change of possession, while the TV networks run their commercials. A 60 minute game now takes 3 and a half hours to play, because of the commercials. Not to mention that there is only 20 minutes of actual "play", since the rest of the time is spent in the huddle. And, don't even get me started on NASCAR, golf and bowling. Look, I am not trying to trash the sports we grew up with, and prior to this year, I did not watch much soccer. But, let the fans enjoy their championship. They don't dis the other sports. Quit jumping on theirs. Besides, you sound like a bunch of Yankees fans who can't admit there are 29 other teams that play baseball.

Just in case y'all may have missed it among all the hoopla over the Texans and Dynamo, the Rockets just blew out Miami by 22 points AT Miami. Oh yeah, Yao had 34 points to Shaq's 15.

Really? Does that include NCAA (as in UH Cougars)?