htownproud

roadrunner--nearly all the places you mentioned are thriving because there is no tunnel access. in my opinion, the tunnels kill any chance of downtown becoming a residential hot bed. to the extent there is residential in downtown, there is poor tunnel access.

The bridge was closed again on Saturday. Not sure about Sunday. I guess we are suppose to be tolerant of delays for a simple bridge.

there is already such a fountain. just outside the west side of the skate park is a big pipe/pump structure. it's part work of art/part fountain. if you pull the chain you will get a shower. http://swamplot.com/tag/buffalo-bayou-park/

incidentally, the picture in the chronicle shows the sheet metal affect i was talking about well.

i do like the part about the bikers getting a seperate lane. i run there every other day and can't stand them--part of the reason why I'm not wild about the additional concrete paths they are putting in (before you jump on me--i recognize that they have the right to be there too). i hope that the construction and rerouting of the bayou doesn't affect all the rabbits that live along the bayou--seeing them is one of the best parts about running down there in the early morning.

i saw they have put in some strange statues over on the Allen Parkway side--they looked pretty interesting at night. i would say that overall i do not like the way the interial railing looks. until you get very close to it, it appears as if they just put giant pieces of sheet metal all along the side of it. that said, chicken wire would have looked like garbage too, so maybe this is the bets they could do.

It's not just an opera and symphony crowd. Recall that Verizon Theater is right there, so after concerts these places will do very well.

this thing isn't going to be built by these guys. i think they should sell the property so that it can be put to some good use--i vote for a grocery store.

i walked by Chances last weekend, and it is need of some serious repairs and frankly is an eye sore. while im all for perserving old buildings, Chances looks like it needs to be knocked down. i hope these guys can somehow make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

RedScare--while you were out smoking and thinking of other's ignorance, did you check out the countless new strip shopping centers that now line Washington? Or, did you look to the east to see the Walgreens and it's parking lot? To the west to see the CVS and its huge parking lot? Perhaps you looked across from El Rey to see the Jack 'n the Box? (All that said, I will agree that the building that the 360 Lounge is in is the best new building on Washington in terms of creating something urban.)

washington is not an urban street. you cannot walk between any two restaurants or bars unless they are part of the same commercial center. we can debate whether that makes it more like 1960 or more like kirby or more like Holcolme, but at the end of the day, none of those streets are very urban, so it doesn't do much to add to the debate. the only areas in houston that i think are close to being urban are the village, midtown, and med center, and to a lesser extent parts of montrose/westheimer and the galleria (although walking is dangerous, it's still easy to do).

i don't read the article to say that the west gray location is closing (although i would certainly welcom that news). it appears to me that this east side station was operating out of the west gray location while the demo and rebuilt was being completed, and now that it is, they have moved back to the east side location.

i thought i read that metro was planning to move everything north of town. it's been a while since ive heard anything about that, so i thought it was dead. i could be mistaken though.

I live a few blocks away, and am not excited about the added traffic, but it will be better that the field that is there now. what's the rule about how close a bar can be to a school? obviously all the existing bars will be grandfathered, but this may prevent the land across the street (the old dr's office) and the empty land on gray west of the Wet Spot from getting developed as bars (gregory lincoln may have already prevented bars at those locations, but byzantio's is so close, i doubt it).

agree that it would have made more sense to put this school closer to better public transportation.

This is good news!

I have to say that I'm disappointed with the Whole Foods location on the property. It appears that the back of it will face Dallas and the front will face the AIG Building/Allen Parkway.

still surprises that rich's closed and this is it moved from midtown. the drive down san jacinto sure changed coming home from med center the other week. momentum went to washington clearly.

i went to Rich's last Friday night (8/27)--it was still open and still going strong . . . . .

kylejack,

while it is true that you don't have to be the owner of a place to criticize it, one’s criticism nevertheless should be warranted. if i went to a mexican restaurant and then flipped out because they didn't have italian food and went on to to tell everyone that i'm embarrassed to have such a mexican restaurant in my city and please spread the word--no one go there, then my criticism would be unreasonable. If i didn’t know it was a Mexican restaurant—that’s on me.

this person's criticism is unreasonable because he should have known where he was going.

and while hole in the walls are fun sports bar, i think you can have a dress code and still call yourself a sports bar.

the Wikipedia link is off point. i will let the poster speak for him or herself, but a plain reading of the post indicates that the poster was just saying that if the market thinks a dress code is a bad idea at a sports bar, then this place will close (not that if the bar remains open it necessarily means that a dress code at a sports bar is correct).

while undoubtedly location isn't the sole reason it failed, i think that it contributed to it. textile catered to a very high-end clientele, and the heights is surrounded on three sides with neighborhoods that could not afford it. furthermore, there are not many businesses and hotels in the area, both of which would provide business travelers and expense accounts to pay for such expensive meals (granted downtown isn't far away, but it takes awhile to get over there from DT). again, no doubt the restaurant had other issues, but if it had been in the Galleria, Village, Greenway, Montrose, or River Oaks it would have had a better chance of surviving.

it will certainly draw folks from well beyond the heights, which is the problem. i suspect it will draw on residents from the 5th ward, 3rd ward, and others from east of 45. they will all be getting off I-10 at heights/yale.

i rarely go north of allen parkway, so not really my fight to pick, but if i lived in washington heights or even the heights proper, then i would be concerned.

i find it hard to believe that you live in the area and didn't know what sort of bar this was. in any event, while sawyer park may not be my cup of tea, i think they have a right to enforce their dress code, especially on a thursday night. would it have been okay if i had worn my short running shorts in there on a thursday night? if i had come straight from the gym or a basketball game and not showered?

i saw this morning that they have put a fence up on about half the property . . . .

there is a new sign on the corner "announcing" the development, so maybe this thing will actually get going. fingers crossed.

my assumption is that building is for the construction of the bridge across buffalo bayou, but i don't know for sure...

since you asked, my number one concern is the traffic problem that will result from putting lines on richmond and post oak--that's why i suggested elevated trains (and hence the topic on what will happen to displaced businesses). if you can put light rail on elevated tracks, then im all for it (presumably with elevated tracks you can create stations that could hold more than two cars).

the ridership issue is secondary, and takes too much time to refute while at work (but by way of simple example, 9,600 passengers/hour * 16 hours = ~153,000 total capacity day; 40,000 riders per day currently; each train is approximately 25% full or right around 120 people per train . . . ).

gotta run for the day--cheers.

312, yes i meant highland village. thank you.

i hope businesses consider downtown, but i think it will be difficult to convince folks in Bellaire, West U, Afton Oaks, and River Oaks (areas primarily served by richmond between post oak and the main street line), to go downtown, which should ultimately drive the retailers' decision. Museum Distict and Montrose folks may be easier to convince.

also, i thought they would be done with Kirby by the time Richmond got torn-up, but then again it's been ongoing for what seems like years, so who knows. and here is the space on shepherd i was talking about: http://swamplot.com/all-that-empty-retail-on-south-shepherd-a-drive-by-photo-tour/2009-06-25/ , some of which is certainly not Class A space, as you note.

the difference i was talking about was between heavy gauge rail (e.g., the L, the T, NY, Bay Area, LA, DC, atlanta, phillly, and all the major cities in europe) and light gauge rail, like that in houston.

i would note that while boston does have numerous grade level lines with smaller cars, those generally service the more residential areas, albeit with downtown destitations (as i assume you know since you say you lived there). the T of course is the heavy gauge rail in boston.

red scare, i would appreciate it if you would read my posts before chastising them. i never said the current stations could only hold one car. i said we can't add any more cars--i.e., it can't add more than two. also, i asked "how many people does one of our mini-trains hold," while at the same time speculating it isn't much more than 100 (that's what too far north means). in my experience, there is never that many people on the train outside of sporting events/rodeo peak times. your 382% figure is a red herring, and we heard you say it the first time you posted.

in terms of where the businesses will move, i think they will move to kirby (which will be done with construction), shepperd (which has excess capacity now), washington (still lots of room to build), gray (already tight, but some expansion possibilities), and highland park (allegedly they are building the new two story retail center where tootsie's is).