Makeover For Westheimer Rd.

[kzseattle]

Westheimer is the central artery of the city, its primary boulevard. It is, unfortunately, rather ugly. Is it even possible to beautify it? Well, if we could turn the clock backward then we could do away with all those parking lots and big box retailers. Of course, they arent going away anywhere. Even with them, consider Highway 6 in Sugarland which is their version of Westheimer. It has many of the same retailers that we see on Westheimer yet I wouldnt call it ugly. Some of the things that could be done with Westheimer:

1: Plant lots of trees. Big trees. Along the entire length of the road or at least from Highway 6 to Uptown. I personally like palms trees, like those tall ones on Sunset strip in LA. Or maybe Oak trees like those on Rice blvd forming a green canopy along the road and providing much needed shade. Or maybe a mix of them.

2: Replace concrete median with grassy one. Throw in something called flowers, a rare species in Houston.

3: Rebuild the sidewalks and landscape them.

4: Grow hedges at least 5 feet tall along the sidewalks to "shield" the drivers from the sea of parking lots.

5: Remove all those ugly road side signs and bury the electric wires.

6: Order the businesses like neglected/abandoned strip malls to get their act together and fix themselves up. May be, after all this work, the area could become prime real estate forcing offensive businesses to go away and be replaced with nicer ones.

Now all this doesnt seem too hard, only if the city has the will to do it! The road doesnt have to be ripped up. And, unlike Main street, no work is needed to install light rail.

[UrbaNerd]

Sounds good! Now that it snowed in the Houston area, anything is possible!

[Lowbrow]

I would love to see a major initiative taken on Westheimer west of the Galleria. This stretch of road reminds me of one of those country highways at the begining of a boom, like 518 in Pearland... if I even absorb 5% of the retail spam out there I'd be suprised. I've been driving down Westheimer twice a day for about 7 years now and I couldnt tell you more than 20 or so of the businesses along my route. (Expo, Guitar Center, Tweeter, DSW, Fadis, Borders, Einstein Bagels, Miyakos, Cicis, Starbucksx3, Barnes and Noble, Verizon..... oh and Electric Chair Tattoos) I'm sure I'm missing a few tanning salons, car audio places and nudie joints.

Maybe I think if I ignore them they will go away.

[bachanon]

speaking of flowers kz? have you been here in the spring and summer? houston's semi-tropical environment allows for a unique mix of vegetation not known in other climates. the last few winters have been mild enough for my hibiscus bushes to get enormous. they've been blooming almost year round. in march/april/may we have an enormous amount of blooms from crabapple trees, dogwoods, "tulip" trees, azaleas, etc. all summer long we enjoy crepe myrtles.

of course, westheimer isn't the best place to view this rich flora. i guess it could (should) be.

i think westheimer from elgin to 6 should have some sort of mass transit. consistently timed buses or light rail. however, i don't see how light rail would fit in some places and would exacerbate existing traffic.

[MidtownCoog]

The best thing would be the super street concept from 610 to BW8.

[Guest danax]

Since we will "always" have a disorganized, free-form, patchwork, "free-enterprise" (per Mattress Mac) , non master-planned, libertarian experiment look to our city, we need to visually tie certain areas together with something other than buildings.

Westheimer could be landcaped with a central theme for as many miles as we want to give the eye the relaxing, unified feel.

Careful landcaping is essential to any effort to enhance Houston's look. Our sub-tropical climate is an underutilized asset . We have potential for much more beauty.

[MidtownCoog]

Then it's up the the property owners...

HEB at Fountainview, for example, does have some landscaping, but with not much room to work with, it's limited.

I think there may be 12" of green before you hit the sidewalk.

[Lowbrow]

I do appreciate the trees along the front of the Carillion and down in front of Charrascos and Benihanas. Its something anyways.

There are also the trees in front of the Randall's at Gessner. That is the kind of stuff I like to see.

[westguy]

If they could move the on-street parking in front of the antiques stores off the street and into parking garages or parking lots behind the buildings, they could free up enough space for a center turn lane. Two lanes with a center turn lane would move traffic more efficiently than what is there now. Medians for trees and other plants could then be inserted into the middle of the road in certain parts. Also, people would no longer be driving in the lanes of oncoming traffic because the road is too narrow and there would be less risk of hitting the telephone poles that stick out too close to the road.

I think Westheimer should be rebuilt from the ground up. It's only been two years since resurfacing yet some of the major potholes have returned. The utility lines underneath it are probably a real mess. There are also no sleeves to reach the center lanes to allow for landscaping irrigation.

[bachanon]

aren't there utility easements that the city could work with? a 10'-15' easement on each side of westheimer could be designed to bury existing phone/electrical wires, create a usable sidewalk system, install uniform lighting, bus stops, planters and allow for tree space. business/property owners who are so inclined could be given incentives to enhance and add to the new design/landscaping elements where their properties meet the improved easements.

a consensus of property/business owners along the corridor (businesses would be hurt during construction), city, county, metro, trees for houston, local chambers of commerce, etc. would be necessary.

it is fun to dream isn't it.

with the efforts of so many organizations with the main street project and buffalo bayou revitalization, downtown/midtown redevelopment; i wonder if houston's business community and government entities have the resources to add new master plans for transportation corridors and capital projects?

[MidtownCoog]

We are talking Apples to Oranges if we are comparing Lower Wetheimer to the parts out near Chimney Rock, etc.

[bachanon]

the original statement referred to westheimer from hwy 6 to uptown. lower westheimer is indeed a whole other animal.

[MidtownCoog]

Westguy was talking about the antiques stores.

I actually like that funky traffic jam, but am adept at avoiding it as well.

[Guest danax]

Westguy was talking about the antiques stores. 

I actually like that funky traffic jam, but am adept at avoiding it as well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's a potentially great boulevard due to it's length and varying scenes. That funkiness can be an asset, as long as there is some unifying thread like street trees that are perfectly spaced, same size, same species, for all 30 miles or whatever it is. Logistically, it wont be easy but I think it's the key to turning the current mish mash headache into something more soothing.

The banners downtown designating the different districts sort of creates that effect.

[MidtownCoog]

Just becuase it's one street does not mean it has to act like one.

That road must be 20 miles long. It defines the boundraies of the uniqie hoods along the way, from where Elgin ends, all the way to where Buffalo Bayou begins.

Why should it all look the same?

[Guest danax]

Just becuase it's one street does not mean it has to act like one.

That road must be 20 miles long.  It defines the boundraies of the uniqie hoods along the way, from where Elgin ends, all the way to where Buffalo Bayou begins.

Why should it all look the same?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Exactly. The chaos and diversity in developments are fine and add color and charm, as long as they are balanced by their opposites, order and sameness.

It's no different than art. If Houston were a painting in a competition, it would get ok points for use of color and form, but fail in overall compostion.

Beauty, harmony and balance are all related. Our no-zoning chaos won't change, it just lacks balance. They all must be present to make the eye say "Ah".

[westguy]

I like a consistent streetscape, but I wouldn't want all the buildings to be beige (like in Sugar Land).

I also think the street needs better care from the city and state. If they continue to neglect it, it will probably turn into a graveyard of big box stores. It won't be pretty once they all turn into flea markets. Houston needs to keep its retail corridor neat and tidy.

[citykid09]

I like a consistent streetscape, but I wouldn't want all the buildings to be beige (like in Sugar Land).

I also think the street needs better care from the city and state. If they continue to neglect it, it will probably turn into a graveyard of big box stores. It won't be pretty once they all turn into flea markets. Houston needs to keep its retail corridor neat and tidy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's true the further away from the Galleria area you get the worst Westheimer looks. there are a bunch of ugly shopping centers, and that Wal-Mart that closed down so that they could open the new one across the street all needs to go.

[UrbaNerd]

What if they place some sort of theme, like on Post Oak, with the arches and such? Maybe Westheimer could get its own form of "road art", in combination with landscaping...

[jmancuso]

yeah, upper westheimer is fugly; crappy apartment complexes, cheapo cokkie cutter strip centers with parking lots the size of rhode island, billboards and tons of unsightly utility lines.

[tw2ntyse7en]

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[The Great Hizzy!]

I actually like the streetlights lining Shepherd north of Loop 610. It would be nice if Westheimer had unique looking streetlights lining it.

However, what really needs to happen is a tying in of the scenery between Uptown and Westchase, and from Westchase to Hwy 6. I think a median and sidewalks lined with shrubs and trees helps beautify the strip.

As for billboards... I think an even bigger issue on Westheimer are the signs of the various businesses. I think there needs to be a height restriction on signs and there should be a limit on the number of various monikers listed on one sign. I mean, who is reallying going to have the time to sort through eight or ten names on a sign to see if it lists the place they're looking for anyway?

The monikers really should be on the buildings themselves while the sign should really speak to the shopping complex overall, like, Westheimer Square or Hillfcroft Commons.

You shouldn't have a sign that has: TSO, Hunan Express, Easy-Read Used Books, The Dollar Tree, Sharp Eye Photography, Jamba Juice, So-N-So's Used CDs and Records, Shipley Donuts, All Nite Photocopying, Joe Blow's Biscuits, Blah-Blah-Blah And Sons, and so on all on one sign.

It's overkill.

[tw2ntyse7en]

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[ssullivan]

Oh, by the way, I absolutely love those Street lights used on Shepherd. Anytime I'm in the back of the Ambulance with a patient, I can always tell when we've turned on to N. Shepherd. I haven't seen that light design anywhere else in Houston, or in the world for that matter. What about a pale blue version of those for Westheimer?

Glen

Those lights on Shepherd are kind of relics, and some of them have recently been replaced with newer fixtures that are like what we're used to seeing. The long lights on Shepherd are low-pressure sodium (LPS) fixtures that use less power than the more widely used high-pressure sodium (HPS). However, they have the downside of truly awful color rendering; it's hard under LPS light to see anything other than shades of black and yellow. HPS lights also cast everything in a yellow haze but not nearly as bad. LPS bulbs are also more expensive to replace. There used to be a lot more LPS lights in Houston. 288 inside the loop was lit with those lights when it first opened, as well as some short segments of the 610 South Loop near 288. Over the years TxDOT has pretty much replaced all of the fixtures of that type but most of the ones on North Shepherd persist. Until about a year ago North Shepherd was lit with those the full distance from 610 to 45, but on a segment near 45 they have been upgraded to HPS fixtures. There's also an old lone LPS light at the entrance ramp to the 610 South Loop eastbound from the frontage road, right after the direct connector from South Post Oak enters the freeway. And there's a Metro Park and Ride lot lit with those fixtures on the east side of the Gulf Freeway just a few miles south of downtown.

[tw2ntyse7en]

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[Lowbrow]

Those blue lights are HID's (High Intensity Discharge) and I can only imagine what they would cost. About $1000 for headlights. It is now illegal to upgrade a non-HID car to HIDs. Not exactly sure why as you can still buy new cars with HIDs but I think people werent aiming them correctly and blinding other drivers.

There are also plenty of fake HIDs out there to for the ricer crowd.

[ricco67]

I still wouldn't mind tying a rope around some billboards and do a scientific study on how much stress it would take before those pillars would collapse.

[tw2ntyse7en]

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[ssullivan]

Those blue lights are HID's (High Intensity Discharge) and I can only imagine what they would cost. About $1000 for headlights. It is now illegal to upgrade a non-HID car to HIDs. Not exactly sure why as you can still buy new cars with HIDs but I think people werent aiming them correctly and blinding other drivers.

There are also plenty of fake HIDs out there to for the ricer crowd.

HID headlights aren't really all that different from the technology used in regular streetlights. They're actually very similar to mercury vapor street lights, which were the standard before HPS took over. Mercury vapor produces a bluish white light and some street lights scattered around town that Reliant has never replaced still use this type of light.