Howard Huge

You keep bringing up cost.Can you tell me how much other cities are spending right now or recently on building rail or subway systems? Do you think they are free? Are you implying other cities build them for free? If youre not implying that, then are you suggesting that Houston be the only city that should not spend equal amounts of money on a rail system as countless other cities have??

Meanwhile, we dont mind spending almost $3 Billion dollars, and dealing with the worst traffic in the history of Houston, to exapnd the Katy freeway to a few more lanes (that you have to pay to use ), and not even seeing much of a difference in traffic.

Jesus christ. By yalls logic, no subway, light rail or commuter rail should EVER be built in ANY city unless: 1) Its free to build and costs literally nothing 2) It takes no construction to build it and doesnt tear up any street or cause any traffic anywhere. 3) Literally every single citizen of the city will ride it, even the people with cars 4) There is absolutely ZERO opposition to the rail. Like EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE CITY agrees to it and not one person is opposed to it.

Oh brother, I dont wanna hear all those lame excuses, what city didnt have to deal with all those factors, as well as spend alot money on their subways??

Jobs.

+1I hear you buddy, its not that people dont think were worth it, I think Annise Parker would LOVE to have a subway in Houston, she is very progressive and forward thinking. However, its paying for it and getting it approved thats the issue, and as long as we keep electing corrupt, payoff taking douchebags like Tom DELAY and John Culberson, they will continue to make it their lifes work to block any and all rail funding in Houston like the lives of their children depended on them KILLING THE EVIL RAIL LINES. Its the whole "good ol boy", "we wanna keep Houston a small country southern town like it used to be, you can keep all of that rail and big city stuff in New Yeorrrk Ciddie", and the usual suspects taking dirty money under the table from special interest groups to destroy rail and keep their constituents happy. Believe or not, for every subway/mass transit loving urbanists like ourselves in Houston, theres 1000 more southern, hillbilly rednecks who want to "Keep Texas Texas". To hell with progress and joining the ranks of the largest US and world class cities, 100 LANE FREEWAYS GALORE!!! YEEEHAAAWWWW!!!!!

This post. So much win.It irritates me to no end everytime I hear people regurgitate the same old "Houston cant have subway tunnels because we are below sea level. Yea, someone should tell that to the people who manage the Washburn tunnel, you would think they would have figured out you cant have underwater tunnels in Houston after 64 years.

Ive always said, a subway line from elgin and main all the way down to westheimer and hwy 6 would be a no brainer and the most prolific rail line in houston.

I agree, a guy who works for Big Oil in the energy corridor and wants to live as close as possible to work, who sees a billboard on I-10 that says "come live downtown, its awesome!", is not going to give two. However, a TELEVISION campaign touting how bad ass the NEW downtown is, showing off the trains, Disco Green, all the new skyscrapers, all the new resi high rises, and hell even throwing in Midtown (I firmly believe Downtown/Midtown should be considered ONE entity, it creates a stronger synergy, and they should be marketed together), and the glitz and glamour of the new Greenstreet/Allessandra, I wouldnt see anything wrong with that. As long as it wasnt begging people to "discover" downtown, or to "come live downtown", but if it was just SHOWING people what exists here and shows people the options of this lifestyle, I think it would be awesome, especially after downtown has been transformed before the super bowl. These ads should run at Super Bowl time locally too, (not during the game) to show all of our visitors all downtown has to offer, you never know, it may bring some curious people into the CBD

I, for one, love clouds "mini golf on the roof of greenstreet" idea that he keeps pounding us over the head with.

When I saw swtsig add some credibility to these rumors my heart jumped. He has given us the inside scoop on many projects and has never lied or been wrong, so there HAS to be something to the rumor of a $2B project, I trust him. Now whether or not it is a $2B TOWER or just a cluster of development, either way that is one gigantic project, something that puts itself on the map.

Thats so awesome, that would be so "Texas", like "eff yall, this is how we do it in Texas!" Ya know instead of like an italian restaurant, we ain't tryna be like New York, we do US, and we are PROUD!haha, luvit

My bad, thats correct ^

Portion of the block bounded by Hutchins, Pease, Jefferson. Beyonce and her destinys child band mate Kelly Rowland built the Knowles-Rowland Temenos place 1 in Midtown. This is phase 2 and will offer twice as many units for the homeless and less fortunate. http://www.temenoscdc.org/temenos-phase-2/

Just messing with you, thanks for the pics

Quote name="IronTiger" post="455089" timestamp="1396379925"] My point was that there's going to be people that spend WAY more time at the Galleria (more trips) than you or I ever would, skewing the average significantly and driving up the "number of visitors" at the Galleria. I think there are three questions at the core, all of them distinct and different but similar: 1) Are people living in downtown satisfied with what they have downtown, or do they need to leave for the simplest of things (entertainment, basic shops)? 2) Are Houstonians and others that identify as Houstonians (these include suburbanites living in the ETJ) ashamed of or proud of their downtown? 3) Would tourists ever consider downtown Houston as something to see in Houston? Yep. Thats pretty much everything I was trying to say in my previous post. Living downtown, all too often I find myself having to DRIVE to the Galleria to shop, or DRIVE to Marq-E to see movies or a big name comedy show, or drive to a Wal-Mart or Target for my basic big box store need, or DRIVE to HEB to grocery shop. Night life is about the only thing I dont have to drive to in downtown/midtown. But what I wouldnt give to be able to not leave midtown/downtown and go to a: 1) Target 2) Marshalls/Tj Maxx 3) H&M 3) Macys (I used to frequent the Main st location) 4) A non-indie movie theatre (Edwards, Loews, AMC) 5) Another grocery store like an HEB (not a specialty store like Phoenicia) 6) A 100% leased greenstreet with more than just bars and restaurants, im talking a wide selection of interesting and fun retail A man can dream right?

Did you take those pics with a potatoe?

100% agree with this sentiment, and I have been screaming for affordable apartments in Houstons core for years.

I fully endorse the previous 3 posts. ^ Not everyone is rich and im sure alot of people who work downtown in the restaurant/bar industry, office cleaners, garbage men, window washers etc would all LOVE to live downtown and not have to commute to work, ESPECIALLY the ones who dont have a vehicle. Unfortunately, in defense of the developers who are building all the residential downtown, they are in the business of making profit, and with the money they spend on buying the land, building the apartments, permitting, planning etc, building low rent apartments simply wont work, they would lose money.

A few things... 1) I don't care if anyone from Katy or the Woodlands ever comes downtown, thats not who we need to try to impress or beg to come downtown, that makes zero sense when everything they need (shopping, dining, entertainment/nightlife) is available where they live. 2) The people we need to "impress" or try to give a brilliant downtown to are the RESIDENTS of downtown/midtown, the 50,000 people who work downtown, and the large numbers of people visiting downtown for business or a convention or people from out of town who want to visit our downtown to see what its like Those are the people who need the amenities that our downtown lacks. I cant tell you how many times ive asked convention goers from the GRB and who are staying in a Hotel downtown what they think about our city and our downtown. 9 times out of ten it is a negative response, and these are all people wanting to simply WALK out of their hotel and find these things within walking distance... "Its very dead around here, especially at night, its like a ghost town" "Theres nothing to do or see right around the GRB, besides the park" "There isnt any shopping around here" (most of them remark about the lack of ground floor retail that you see in most other downtowns) "There isnt a movie theatre downtown" (please dont bring up sundance, not everyone is a douchey film elitist who likes the smell of their own farts, im talking about a NORMAL movie theatre that shows all of the blockbuster movies, Loews, AMC, etc) "There is a SEVERE lack of hotel rooms downtown, I always have a hard time booking a room in downtown houston" 3) As far as downtown residents (including myself), Im sure there is a laundry list of things we wish were downtown and that we didnt have to get in a car to drive out to but that is a whole other thread

Since were using anecdotal evidence like "most residents I know", most of the suburbians I know in Houston have told me exactly what I posted, that:A: I hardly ever go into Houston, or Downtown. For what? Especially since everything I need is right here in (katy, memorial city, baybrook mall, 1960 etc etc... B: The few times I have gone to downtown not for a municipal matter, it was to go to: 1) to a Rockets game 2) to an Astros game 3) to a Dynamo game 4) to the theatre district 5) to Discovery Green 6) to Fertittas Downtown Aquarium .....you know.....touristy stuff

I live in the basement of the Alamo.

The suburbians of Houston are not gonna come downtown until it is a full blown tourist destination with something to offer that is not available or able to be seen in the suburbs. Simple as that.

Awesome idea, I would love to see that.