VicMan

Vic where are the commuter rail tracks from downtown to greenway? to west u? to uptown? to westchase?....i haven't been farther out in a while so i'll stop there. the handwaving is nice, but at the same time we have to be realistic.

The train tracks along Westpark at least go up to the River Oaks Car Dealership (So, it is possible to have actual rail stops at West U and Uptown, and further out) - But, I am not exactly sure on how to link this to Downtown.

EDIT: Hmm... I wonder if the tracks at Westpark still exist - If you do not mind, I'll look at this....

Hey, since I heard that a Westpark rail can get to Katy, here's an idea for a next line:

* Downtown

* Greenway Plaza/West University Place

* Uptown Houston

* Westchase/Alief

* Katy/Cinco Ranch

* Brookshire

* Sealy

I envision METRO as both providing local transportation in Houston and regional transportation from outlying areas in SE Texas to Houston, almost in a similar fashion as JR East in Japan.

Developers are the primary actors that have sought to create and shape urban form throughout history. This is no different. You could've screamed the very same thing in the faces of the original developers of the RO Shopping Center because they had to pave over what had been there before.

The reason why RO is getting attention is precisely due to nostalgia and to the feeling that the center builds the character of near-west Houston. While I value the theater more than the center around the theater, I have a feeling that the destruction of the center somehow threatens the theater.

Anyway, what was on the lot that is occupied by the River Oaks Theatre? River Oaks was developed in the 1920s, and the theater opened in 1939.

Also, the statements that would be yelled to the Weingarten people weren't really meant to be accurate - they were meant to shame executives who would ignore community consensus (Hey, that's what propaganda is about - stir feelings of shame inside suddenly blacklisted execs to get them to leave town).

I feel that Weingarten ought to build that new B&N... however, the new store should not appear in the place of a half of a shopping center valued by the River Oaks community.

Since Eastwood, Second Ward, and Downtown are gentrifying, that B&N and a shopping center (perhaps across from Downtown in the warehouse district) would be beneficial for the loft and yuppie crowd moving into those areas. I understand that Eastwood does not have the demographics that River Oaks has, but a yuppie crowd should be more than enough to maintain an urban chain bookstore.

2,500 tops? Your just asking for overcrowding and another new school to come for residents further away from 1960...great move Spring

I agree; 3,500 should be the capacity.

The Weingarten family just lost all the goodwill they originally created in our community. Not only that, but the demolition of the center was the final straw, so, my husband and I have decided to sell our house in the neighborhood and move to Padre Island. And I'm a native Houstonian. Ciao, Houston.

What's that gonna do? all that will do is allow them to do it.

Tell all of the staff that their social lives will go to hell if the section falls. Why not try to exclude all of the employees from A-List parties? Bring megaphones when they are sighted and scream "HISTORY KILLER!" and "MONEY GRUBBER" in their faces?

Have you actually been to Deer Park?

Not that I'm a big fan of Deer Park, but once you get off of Center Street it's a nice looking place. North of 225 is a different story, but...smells like $$$ to me!

I have been to the San Jacinto Monument, but I never toured Deer Park extensively.

Also, I think a sister city relationship between Deer Park and Nara would be nice.

^^^^ I don't see much regarding the West Side, i.e. Katy area and the Energy Corridor. No commuter rail for them?

Especially from the newer communities to the Energy Corridor and Memorial City area.

m.

To get surface rail over there, we would have to demolish some homes and businesses - which may not sit well with some people.

If only people had the will to put up a subway for the westside...

I visited Nara, in Nara Prefecture, Japan. Nara had many live, tame deer roaming its public parks. Heck, Nara is so known for deer that the police department mascot is a deer.

So, what if the city of Deer Park had a deer park like Nara's. Well, it would (unfortunately) probably be impractical due to the industrial pollution. Still, it would be funny to see Deer Park like an American Nara.

Houston ISD has a department for special needs, which is described here: http://www.houstonisd.org/HISDConnectDS/v/...00052147fa6RCRD

"The Office of Special Education Services (713-556-7025) serves qualified students with one or more disabilities (such as mental retardation; auditory, visual, speech, or language impairments; and autism) by providing specialized services such as:"

And the office's page is here: http://www2.houstonisd.org/Departments/sit...3763099,00.html

That's way too many stops for commuter rail, Mr. Vic.

Six stops from Roseberg? As if!

Which stops do you feel should be eliminated from the Fort Bend list?

Do you feel Stafford and Westbury should not get stops?

I was just thinking that...don't you think METRO's ridership would jump if they would run the darn buses and trains through the better parts of town? Hobo's aren't the only ones that need transportation. Especially the way gas is going. Not to mention the thought of riding a train to work would influence people enough to catch a ride. I know when the lightrail opened from DT to the Med Center, we parked DT and rode it to the Med Center to go to the Museum of Natural Science. I strongly believe other people would do the same because it's a "train."

Yeah, I'm in favor of extending buses through perhaps more parts of Spring Branch, the westside, Kingwood, and the Clear Lake area.

Much of central Houston, even the rich areas (i.e. River Oaks, West U) already has bus service

1. I checked - Madison, Chavez, Jones, and Worthing have stops within 1/2 a mile; Willowridge, Dobie, and Sterling are near regular routes that do not bear stops within 1/2 mile of the schools.

Furr and Clear Lake are near Park and Ride routes. Actually, a bus serving CLHS AND University of Houston at Clear Lake may work as the graduate students at UHCL may commute from elsewhere.

2. What if the Greenspoint Line only ran during peak job hours to catch office workers?

3. What routes do you suggest that an IAH-Downtown-HOU line take? What existing rail would facilitate this?

this is unreasonable. there are quite a few schools that are too distant to be served by METRO.

I'm only talking about the Houston city limits (not all of Harris County) - Westside HS, for instance, is outside Beltway 8, yet HISD and METRO made a deal and opened a bus stop at Briar Forest and Briar Home when the school opened.

See the METRO system map here: http://www.ridemetro.org/schedules_and_map.../SysMap_web.pdf

And compare it to the city limits: http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/nbhd_svc...ap_w_links.html

Also, more or less all of the areas which the schools reside in have established bus routes, so only minute changes (new routes in areas with existing routes and added stops at or near the schools in existing routes) would be needed to satisfy this requirement.

As an example, I would link Kingwood with Greenspoint like this:

* Greenspoint -> Bush Airport -> City of Humble -> Kingwood College -> Kingwood Park HS -> Kingwood Park and Ride -> Kingwood HS (reverse route to Greenspoint)

For a slower airport route via commuter rail, I would use:

* Galveston -> Texas City/La Marque -> League City/Kemah -> NASA/Clear Lake -> Ellington Field -> Hobby Airport -> Gulfgate -> Eastwood -> Downtown -> Northside Village -> Northline Mall -> Greenspoint -> Bush IAH -> Spring/Klein -> The Woodlands -> Conroe

Also, there should be a rule that every single 9-12 high school and community college within the Houston city limits (regardless of the school district) must have a bus stop, although buses will only have to run during school hours.

Now, I want to find some way to get rail to the Katy area, but thanks to the boxing in of the I-10 area, this may prove to be extremely difficult.

If there was a magic way to bring commuter rail to Katy, I would be content with a City of Katy to Uptown and Downtown route.

in theory it could work, however METRO's current designs aren't express type trains rather they are more bus replacements to maximize ridership. the current IAH express bus from downtown would easily beat it by 30-45 mins. the last plan i saw regarding an IAH connection had it stop at greenspoint and you had to hop on a bus for the last leg which is bad.

We need to ask METRO to borrow the type of train used for JR's Narita Express. METRO does not need even an Acela-fast train - It just needs the kind needed to ferry people from Houston's Downtown to Bush Airport in a reasonable amount of time. JR's express trains include airline-style compartments and baggage closets to store bags. Also, JR has assigned seats and attendants selling drinks and ice cream during the ride. METRO's ride would be so short that the attendant would not be needed (although vending machines at the stations should do the trick).

Also, the Narita Express in Japan stops at Terminal 1 and 2. Therefore, METRO's express, between Downtown and the Woodlands, should stop at A, B, C, and D/E at IAH. Hobby only needs one stop.

I just got back from Japan, which has a lot of rail services.

I thought of a way to replace the bus airport shuttle.

When I went between Tokyo Station in Tokyo and Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture, I took a JR train called the "Narita Express." The train travels on a Yokohama Station - Tokyo Station - Narita Airport track. This simple setup allows for fairly quick travel to Narita Airport.

For a Houston line, I would set this up to facilitate quick travel to the airports

* Conroe

* The Woodlands

* Bush Airport

* Downtown Houston (or main train station)

* Hobby Airport

* NASA/Clear Lake

* Galveston

This allows for quick travel between the airports and Houston and some of its suburbs.

This line would not be the only line serving the airports, I would have other lines with more stops serving more areas (i.e. Cypress, Spring/Klein, Ellington Field) - This line is meant to ferry airport travelers and employees quickly from Houston's CBD to the airports.

EDIT: I found that other variations of the Narita Express may/also do stop at other stations. Nonetheless, the one I used traveled straight from Tokyo Station to Narita Airport.

TheNiche, when I go back to the USA, I plan to get the movie 1 8 7, which apparently accurately depicts inner city schools: http://www.rjgeib.com/biography/inner-city-blues/reply2.html .

I still maintain that merging is a good idea as it allows for students stuck in NFISD schools who wish to not attend any schools weighted by non-school appreciating communities to transfer elsewhere.

By the way, Richard Geib has a great website explaining why many inner city schools fail: http://www.rjgeib.com/biography/inner-city...s/innerblu.html

I call BS on you. I spent 10 years in McAllen public schools and am in an excellent position to make direct comparisons between elementary schools in the hill country and the rio grande valley because I've been there and done that. Most of the kids in the elementary school in McAllen weren't very receptive to learning; after that, I got segregated into the smart/motivated/preppy classrooms and for the most part didn't have to deal with the knuckleheads. Additionally, my mom was employed for 15 years at MISD. Also, a friend of mine went to an elementary school in Houston's 3rd Ward for several years; she got beat up and her personal items stolen because she had a white grandmother.

Neither of us were in environments conducive to learning as elementary school kids, and it seems pretty clear that the kids were influenced primarily by the household environment in which they were raised. Good parents tend to produce good kids (not that there aren't exceptions).

I do know that SBISD is incredible in such situations and really puts your tax dollars to good use.. Even HISD is known to be very effective in helping. Isn't TH Rodgers set up for such things?

Rogers, as far as I know, does not admit people solely because they have autism. Rogers has three categories:

* Vanguard/GT (K-8)

* Deaf (K-8)

* Multiply impaired, bearing both physical and mental difficulties - students may be able to hear or may be deaf (K-12)

I am in Japan right now; I will fly back to Houston tommorrow and I will do some research on the autism programs offered by HISD

North Forest and Aldine were predominately white but changed alot as we hit the 1990s..however, blacks have remained in NFISD while they've moved on towards Spring on I-45 and AISD is now mostly hispanic...

North Forest changed earlier...

Forest Brook was already almost all Black by 1989: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...674/school.aspx

Same with Smiley: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...684/school.aspx

Aldine's shift continued during the 1990s.

Aldine was slightly less than half White in 1988: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...057/school.aspx

Nimitz was slightly more than half White in 1988: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...063/school.aspx

Eisenhower was slightly less than half White in 1988: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...066/school.aspx

Macarthur was already almost half Hispanic in 1988: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...076/school.aspx

They have no TMC or anything even approximating its capacity for job-creation, should not expect a return of subprime lending, and are even further off-the-radar to most people than is south Houston.

As pointed by hcbu, the southern section of the NFISD area is bordering the 610 Loop, so it is fairly close to Downtown. The far northern part is somewhat close to Greenspoint and close to Bush Airport.

I would agree, though, that NFISD at the moment does not have a major break (like the Intermodal Terminal in the former WHISD).

HCBU: Has a group written a story about NFISD? It would be nice to see exactly how the district developed.

When a merge with HISD happens, I picture sprawling new developments (just like in the Houston southside) with residents new to Houston, residents new to the United States, and residents coming from gentrifying areas of town slowly appearing in the Lakewood and Scenic Woods areas. The big factor inhibiting development of southern Dallas proved to be WHISD. With DISD and the new intermodal terminal in southern Dallas and Wilmer and Hutchins, I suspect that development will explode in the area. Likewise, I suspect that development will become more attractive if HISD takes northeast Houston.

One other development: I'm officially a high school graduate now!

A 'fix' to the problems will basically be left to the district's elected officials...but if the voters keep putting incompetent or corrupt individuals in power, nothing much should be expected to change. Rather than contaminating other districts with this one's problems and/or voters, let residents with kids vote with their feet and move to better districts; seems like they already are.

That sounds a lot like Wilmer-Hutchins ISD. After looking at WHISD, the ultimate fate of the district lied in closure and consolidation... into Dallas ISD. WHISD residents not only moved, but also used charter schools and fake addresses (as in to get into DISD and Lancaster ISD schools) to get away from Wilmer-Hutchins.

This article on Clipfile: http://www.clipfile.org/2005/07/15/797/ explains the story of WHISD.

Part of the reason why I am for consolidating NFISD into HISD is because I feel that NFISD will eventually implode due to a loss of population.

At what point will NFISD's population be so low that it will not poison HISD's current political system? Do you feel a merger is needed at that point?

Now, do you believe that NFISD should be kept as a school district? If so, how would you solve the issues of NFISD that began in the 1980s while keeping the district boundaries intact?

Also, regarding insurance, what if the area is in a flood plain? I believe most of the North Forest area is prone to major flooding, but I need to see flood plain maps to see how much of the area is considered to be flood plain area. NFISD is confined to a small geographical area in the northeast, while HISD has a large area spread throughout Houston and Harris County. Also, the Chronicle did not mention that HISD has no insurance; judging from the reply, do you believe that HISD took a small amount of insurance for schools in easily-flooded areas?

I stand by my conclusions.

With respect to insurance, most governmental entities funded by property taxes don't need it...certainly not much of it, if any. It is usually less expensive to self-insure or raise taxes at some point down the road to service debt for repairing known losses than to have another company cover you for an uncertain future on top of which they'll take a cut and necessitate that you raise taxes in the present.

I'm sorry, but I just don't any benefit in trying to match up various political boundaries. I also don't see a lot of sense in the argument that they should be merged so that books can be donated to poor families.

In response to that statement about cultural change, I'd like to warn you that social engineering is fraught with unintended consequences. People don't always do what you want them to do. Its worse than trying to herd cats.

Regarding no. 2, that's precisely the reason why I do not foresee any change any time soon in attitudes in schools like Berendo Middle in Los Angeles. In other words, the reason why I support school of choice is because this seems like the only reasonable, somewhat short-termish solution that could benefit school districts.

Now, one problem with North Forest ISD is that the kids stuck in NFISD schools, aside from charters, have no free alternatives to their zoned schools (and W. G. Smiley, which I do not believe is very prestigious). People zoned to Kashmere High School in Houston ISD may at least apply to various schools in other parts of Houston. The other MAJOR problem is that the boards seem to be incompetent; I would think that the board members would have completed their "homework" (to see if the move to fire Dr. Simpson would have worked) before trying to fire him: Simpson was reinstated by the state: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...ro/4824175.html - In short, HISD may have some political issues and bureaucrats who receive too much money, but NFISD seems to be stuck in a total mess!

And, "so that books can be donated to poor families" wasn't the primary reason why I proposed this (I cited this as an example of a city-wide effort that could be made by a school district) - The primary reason is to expand eligibility and volume to expand public school choice in the city; in other words, a person living in any neighborhood ought to be able to at least apply to attend Clear Lake, Kingwood, Bellaire, Lamar, Kingwood Park, Stratford, HSPVA, or any other public high school in the city.

Anyway, I understand that bringing all of Houston into one district is a bit of a long shot. Yet, I feel that bringing NFISD into HISD is crucial.

Let's look at some articles about NFISD:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metrop...ay/4799167.html

"Almost by definition, those boys are at risk, and no one argues that they're already well-served. References to the area's public school system, North Forest ISD, are often preceded by the word "troubled.""

And this one: http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=2007_4315917

""We look at North Forest," he said, "and these kids have no choice: They either go to Forest Brook or they go to Smiley, and to have both of those schools be Tier Three schools, that's not where they need to be.""

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=2007_4311563 - This one talks about annexation

"THE story has been the same for years in this small, poor, mostly black school district in northeast Houston: Financial problems, shoddy recordkeeping and low test scores prompt sanctions from the state.

Employees get indicted on criminal charges. The school board fires the superintendent. The district might improve some but then falls again.

In the past decade, enrollment in the North Forest Independent School District has dropped 35 percent to fewer than 9,000 students. Today, eight of its 11 schools are rated academically unacceptable, and its average SAT score - 748 out of 1600 - is nearly the worst in Texas."

And this article compares HISD's damages and NFISD's damages from Tropical Storm Allison back in 2001

"The Houston Independent School District estimates $3 million to $5 million damage to about half of its nearly 300 schools."

"The North Forest ISD, which does not have flood insurance, suffered an estimated $8 million damage, officials said."

Why, NFISD was in hot water back in the late 1980s! http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1988_591510

Why can't Weingarten simply build a new B&N in the East End?

I bet there are parcels of land with non-significant and unused old factories. Since East End is becoming yuppieland, why not have a new B&N with the same design as what Weingarten wants to put in River Oaks?

Oh, I meant to say "Clear Lake," not "Clear Creek" - DOH!

Anyway, I meant to say that Clear Lake would, in my proposal, go to Houston ISD, while Clear Creek would remain with CCISD. For some pieces of the CLHS zone such as Seabrook/El Lago/Taylor Lake Village, I would have a new HS built in Seabrook ("Clear Bay HS") to serve them, as they would remain in CCISD.

Under my proposal, Clear Lake HS would serve, more or less, Clear Lake City (including the tiny bit in the Pasadena city limits - Yes, this would be the exception to the general "city limits" rule that I have in mind). I would also add a space sciences program to Clear Lake HS. Yes, Madison HS in Houston ISD has one, but CLHS is more convenient to east-siders and southeast-siders, and people may prefer the academics of CLHS over those of MHS.

Also, yes, it was strange how Webster, Kemah, and Seabrook used to have their own high schools (apparently).

Back on topic - James Simpson, who used to be the principal of my high school, was reinstated as superintendent of NFISD by the state of TX.

Hey Vicky,

Clear Creek High School is in League City (Galveston County), but Clear Lake High School is within Houston city limits (Harris County), while Clear Brook High School is in the Harris County portion of Friendswood city limits, which is mostly in Galveston County. CCISD covers territory in both Harris & Galveston counties, which is the result of a merger of the four common school districts of Webster, League City, Kemah and Seabrook back in the late 40's, but oddly CCISD is a member, actually the largest member, of the Galveston County Central Appraisal District. Confused enough?

1. Yes, in a sense that is already happening in HISD. I thought about the scenario of some neighborhood schools and decided to read about them.

Richard Geib, who taught at LAUSD's Berendo Middle School, wrote about his experience here: http://www.rjgeib.com/biography/inner-city...s/innerblu.html

This particular statement stands out, especially growing up in a household where I was read to regularly: "and I suspect this does not change so very much in later grades. If this be true, it tokens ill for so many Latino immigrant students who grow up in households barren of books and regular readers."

After reading it, I thought that maybe the best way to improve neighborhood schools is to try to provoke cultural change in the neighborhoods. A change in culture, though, would take a long time to occur, if it is successful.

But, what I am saying is that I want to see all sections of the city form a union that I could characterize as a confederation and coalition that allows the city to act as an educational unit in the same sense as the city's fire and police services.

Also, I feel that, until civil environments may be established at some inner city schools, the best an urban school district can do is to try to establish some choice schools so that district residents have a chance to attend different schools.

As for magnets, there are articles about HISD's magnet program and the effects on low-income neighborhood schools:

* This one in http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=2005_3900502

* http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/specia...06/4677688.html

""What bothers me about this is that both of my girls have not experienced a neighborhood school ... Their friends live in other parts of town ... It is all so disjointed."" - In a way, her statement is true, as friends in magnets often do live in different neighborhoods.

I've never really had a truly "neighborhood" school as, after going to a private school in Spring Branch, I then went to River Oaks ES, T. H. Rogers MS, and my soon-to-be alma mater (high school, yes, I am graduating tommorrow) - all public magnet schools.

So you'll have the very best kids or the kids of the most involved parents getting shipped out to better-performing HISD schools...how does that solve the problems associated with neighborhood schools? Seems like it'd make them worse.

Also, I don't see any sense in trying to configure HISD in such a way that it unites a municipality whose borders are essentially arbitrary. It'd be a nice and fuzzy idea to have a single school district that captures a highly diverse population (which it already does), but I revert back to my statement from earlier that the effectiveness of a school is most frequently determined by its demographics, and that (except for magnet schools or a very few that are highly sought after) an integrated school district does not equate to integrated ethnicities or cultures.

Likewise, bringing books to poor kids is another touchy feely kind of thing, but can you make them read? ...and does it necessitate that the districts be merged?