VicMan

Wow, that seems so far out to be considered SISD. I guess I never thought of the students living East of 45 as Spring students. How far south does the district line go? Past the beltway?

Feel free to use the district locator to look at general maps of school districts: http://deleon.tea.state.tx.us/sdl/Forms/#

Spring ISD almost extends to the beltway.

what's the location of this place again?

DeKaney is at 22351 Imperial Valley Drive. The school has a Houston address (but is not within the city limits of Houston) and has a ZIP code of 77073.

Website: http://classroom.springisd.org/webs/dekaney.campus/

Actually:

* Spring ISD borders Aldine ISD

* None of Spring Branch ISD touches Alief ISD, but a bit of HISD is between Alief ISD and Spring Branch ISD. HOWEVER, the part of SBISD that changed is the northern portion bordering northwest HISD, NOT the southern portion close to Alief ISD.

Now, with some of them:

* All of Aldine ISD changed

* The eastern portion of Fort Bend ISD has changed

* Spring ISD: More or less Westfield HS has changed - Spring HS hasn't completely changed yet

* Humble ISD: Humble HS is changing, while Atascocita HS, Kingwood HS, and Kingwood Park HS (just opened) haven't changed yet

* Spring Branch ISD: Northbrook HS and Spring Woods HS changed, while Memorial HS and Stratford HS did not change

* Galena Park ISD: All of the schools are changing, with Galena Park HS changing to a higher degree

Does anyone know how to track changes in local schools' demographics from year to year?

I know that the Houston Chronicle has a yearly special insert on schools that does this for each area school for that particular year, but I can't find any online archival information for previous years.

Ah, changing demographics commonly occur in older suburbs (for instance, Spring ISD).

Are we speaking of the same list? I am referring to the one that was available as of last week. I read the rankings while in the grocery checkout line. Do you remember which magazine it was? I am trying to find it online.

I'm talking about the Jay Mathews list/Newsweek.

Are you talking about the Texas Monthly list?

Paris Hilton is back in prison, folks:

* http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/08/p...n.ap/index.html

I think Newsweek recently came out with a listing of the top 100 public high schools in the US (or if not Newsweek, Time or US News). Several Dallas schools were in the top ten, and the only Houston school to make the list was the one having to do with health professions.

No, I don't think DeBakey is on it because DeBakey, as an admissions only school, wouldn't be on it.

I KNOW that Bellaire, Westside, Lamar (Houston ISD), and Memorial (Spring Branch ISD) are on it.

The condo is in Houston ISD and is zoned to:

* J. Will Jones ES (K-5)

* Gregory-Lincoln EC (6-8 only)

* Lamar HS (9-12)

In other words, this means negotiating with the group which owns the railways to be used to allow METRO express trains to use the railways, correct?

I heard that METRO is in a dialog with Union Pacific regarding several of the company's railways.

The concept of METRO buying the rights to the railway from IAH to Downtown Houston (and on to Clear Lake and Galveston) (and therefore obtaining "a swath from galveston to IAH") sounds realistic.

Does METRO have to pay money for any modifications made to the track for passenger service? I do not know about the differences between rail systems only used for freight and rail systems used for freight and human passengers. Therefore, I am wondering if any modifications have to be made for the track.

ok...."some land" has to be aquired? we have to get past this before we can continue. don't even worry about stations or ridership at this point. to have 2 lines parallel to your proposed one would require a swath from galveston to IAH. that is more than some land. do you feel this is realistic? it would be similar to acquiring land for a new freeway in the middle of the city.

So, I wonder why the ridership levels would be low?

I understand airport employees would use this service. So would a number of international travelers and visitors. So, what number of travelers would make the line feasible? How could METRO encourage the number to rise?

Now, it is true that some land has to be acquired:

* At Bush Airport, a rail terminal has to be developed along the rail line, and the airport's inter-terminal train has to extend to the rail terminal.

* In Downtown Houston or the vicinity, land to develop a commuter rail terminal (this seems to be a given)

And if this goes to Galveston:

* A station has to be developed in close proximity to Clear Lake

* A station has to be developed in close proximity to Galveston

If we drop Galveston and Clear Lake and simply establish an express line between Downtown and Bush Airport, at what year do you feel it would be feasible?

realistically this won't work. ridership must be optimized. this "method" doesn't do that. calling it the red airport express would be a disservice as well. if it is coming from galveston to houston, i think houston should be the name....and then as it passes downtown call it something else similar to the freeways. if you're galveston and think airport express, i'd think of scholl's field and hobby before IAH

So, how should I alter the line to make the ridership optimized? Should it originate in Galveston and end at Bush? Or should it be strictly Downtown to Bush?

I'm in favor of simply Galveston-Clear Lake-Downtown Houston-Bush Airport and calling the line the "Intercontinental Express."

What could help with the naming issue and prevent "i'd think of scholl's field and hobby before IAH" is to call the line the "Intercontinental Express" or something similar to disambiguate the airport. After all, the line that I would model the train line after is called the "Narita Express" (There are two airports in the Tokyo area: the almost-completely domestic Tokyo International Airport in Ota Ward, Tokyo, nicknamed Haneda, and the Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture).

your nomenclature is odd. so it starts in galveston and is called the red airport express and the final destination is IAH or beyond? if i was in galveston and heard airport express, i don't think IAH would come to mind first.

Well, the reason it is named such is because the line would exist to quickly link major cities and centers of employment with the Bush Airport by using less stops (and not stopping at all between Houston's Central Station and Bush Airport).

See, if Bush Airport was located at the end of a peninsula or along the coast (this is why Galveston is the terminus), Bush would be the last stop. However, Bush is sandwiched between The Woodlands (a major Houston suburb that houses headquarters for some firms) and Downtown Houston. So, why have the airport express terminate at Bush when it can continue to serve major cities north of the airport?

there are buses that already go there quite frequently from downtown and more crowded areas. not sure if the soho express will be used.

In any event, the main reason I proposed the airport line was for fast service to Intercontinental.

Do you feel that the SOHO Hobby connection should be dropped from the (red) Airport Express Line and the Airport Express line should solely focus on connections to Bush Intercontinental Airport?

As for the fact that there are no tracks actually at Hobby Airport: That's easy to solve - Just put the station in or near the city of South Houston (where tracks exist) and then have bus shuttles to Hobby Airport

1. "i must be looking at a different map because there are more than four lines downtown on the map you posted."

What I meant was there are four lines from Galveston to Downtown AND beyond (I thought of adding Kingwood-Galveston after I wrote it):

* Red - Airport Express (As in that, from Downtown, there are NO stops to Hobby Airport, nor are there any from Downtown to IAH)

** Galveston <-> NASA/Clear Lake <-> Hobby Airport <-> Downtown Houston <-> Bush Intercontinental Airport <-> The Woodlands <-> Conroe <-> Huntsville

* Light Green

** Galveston <-> Texas City/La Marque <-> League City/Kemah <-> NASA/Clear Lake <-> Ellington Field <-> Hobby Airport <-> Downtown Houston <-> Jersey Village <-> Cypress <-> Waller <-> Prairie View/Hempstead <-> Navasota <-> College Station

* Pink

** Galveston <-> Texas City/La Marque <-> League City/Kemah <-> NASA/Clear Lake <-> Ellington Field <-> Hobby Airport <-> Downtown Houston <-> Greenspoint <-> Bush Intercontinental Airport <-> Spring/Klein <-> The Woodlands <-> Conroe <-> Willis <-> Huntsville

* Purple

** Galveston <-> Texas City/La Marque <-> League City/Kemah <-> NASA/Clear Lake <-> Ellington Field <-> Hobby Airport <-> Downtown Houston <-> Greenspoint <-> Bush Intercontinental Airport <-> Kingwood <-> New Caney <-> Cleveland <-> Shepherd <-> Goodrich <-> Livingston

The indigo line extends like this:

* Victoria <-> Bay City <-> West Columbia <-> Freeport <-> Galveston <-> High Island <-> Port Arthur <-> Nederland <-> Beaumont

So, two lines from Galveston end in Huntsville, one line extends to College Station, one line extends to Livingston, and one can go either direction to either Victoria or Beaumont.

The difference between the Airport Express and the Pink Line is that:

* People from Downtown have ZERO stops to the Bush Airport, while, with the other line, there is one stop

* People from NASA have ZERO stops to Hobby, while with the pink NASA riders have one

* People from Galveston have one stop to Hobby, while with the pink Galveston riders have four

Also, as earlier cited, I would use more "express" style trains with the Red Airport express lines, while trains meant to carry more passengers would be used by the other lines.

yeah their proposed intermodal setup will be key. at meeting i went to a few weeks ago, METRO had large graphics with the intermodal. and multiple layers of tracks. looks like it is supposed to be located where the current main street underpass is. but the 2 METRO people there i was speaking with mentioned how union pacific said METRO's plan is not workable because track usage has grown while METRO said they think they can find middle ground. will be interesting.

guess the wording "i'll have the kingwood line extend to galveston" was slighting confusing to me. the kingwood line goes downtown as does the galveston line.

There would be four lines to Galveston and Downtown.

One travels from Montgomery County to Downtown and then to Galveston

The second has a similar journey as the first but has less stops, and hence is the "Airport Express"

The third goes to Cypress-Fairbanks, Prairie View, and College Station

The fourth goes to Kingwood and travels northeast

I hope she LOVED those five days!

you have to remember commuter rail is one way. so the kingwood and galveston people will be both heading downtown at the same time.

Yep - I would make Downtown more or less the central station for METRO operations (Then again, so would the rest of us).

All general directions directly from Downtown would not need transfers.

nah not necessary. having riders transfer to a system slower than what they were on would most likely be a negative for some of these lines. not having to transfer is the way to go, unless the transfer leg is just as quick or quicker.

For that reason, I had the lines from northwest and north Harris Counties extend all the way to Galveston. I'll edit the draft I have an have the Kingwood line also extend to Galveston.

I tried to upload the full file to Photobucket, BUT the size was reduced. Should I try Geocities?

EDIT: http://www.geocities.com/viciouskatanaguy/...ommuterPlan.png

The colors show continuous lines - E.G. a person travelling from Galveston to Lake Charles would disembark at Beaumont and change trains

unfortunately this kid needs some glasses cause i can't see much. do the colors mean anything specific? this would appear to be a plan assuming that METRO has lines to hobby/etc completed. but then shows other lines (some extant and some non) out farther. building new lines is not feasible because of costs.

the stops are spaced farther apart which is good for travel times. but when you attach to METRO's proposed system, it might make driving easier because of # of stops for a short distance. for more people to hop on the bandwagon, real time savings must occur.

they should serve Harris county better before worrying about smaller cities way out.

Anyway, I would also like to know how far METRO's service should reach. I believe METRO should travel beyond Harris County. But, should METRO link with other regional transportation services? (I.E. VIA in San Antonio)

Here, kids: http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r129/Vi...muterPlan-1.png

1. I am not sure how far the line to Columbus should go. Should it go to San Antonio? (To link with VIA, San Antonio's rail system)

2. Ellington Field does not have to be on-site. I'm not sure how Hobby could be directly served.

3. I decided to give METRO Galveston serving lines with commuter rail with a train going a general Victoria-Freeport-Galveston-Beaumont route. Of course, several lines to Houston go from Galveston.

now we're back to reality. There is no rail to work with in the inner loop area you mentioned. connecting with the existing system is the only way to go.

Now, do you mind if I show you a map of somewhat-near-futurish rail service stops, and you can comment on which stops are reasonable given current rail tracks in the city of Houston? If you want, I can upload it to a Photobucket account and show it here

No, there are no tracks along Westpark inside the Loop.

However, I wonder if commuter rail could run to the terminus of the area for Westpark rail (I'm not sure where it would begin) and connect with light rail?

If rail could be connected along the tollway to an area near Uptown, perhaps a light rail connection could occur there.

True. I just don't know why that area needs a B&N. The Alabama seems to have a pretty good selection of books. Sure, it's not as big as the Borders on Kirby, but I have no complaints about the Alabama.

Remember when there was a bookstore on West Gray? I think it was near the Pier 1 imports. It closed, but then again, I'm not sure what led to it.

The Bookstop (formerly the Alabama Theatre) on West Alabama is a Barnes and Noble - hence, some people feel the Bookstop is threatened by a new B&N opening nearby.

it would be interesting to determine whether it is really community consensus OR just relatively a few vocal ones.

Ah, perhaps a polling of River Oaks residents could reveal this.

At any rate, my mother is opposed to the demolition of the RO Shopping Center period. My father does not care so much about the surrounding center, but is opposed to the demolition of the theatre.