10 things you hate about Bryan-College Station

[IronTiger]

1. The total lack of decent ethnic food. For things that aren't Mexican, you've usually only got one, overhyped restaurant with mediocre food, high prices, and less-than-stellar health reports. Chain restaurants are also missing. However, burgers and pizza seem good.

2. The lack of a second mall or better. Post Oak Mall is pretty lame when you realize that, while the city has grown in leaps and bounds, the mall hasn't added since 1982. The food court and specialty stores are pitiful. There's no theater.

3. Corrupt city officials.

4. Swimming pools are overpriced, overcrowded, and also sorely lacking in amenities.

5. Corrupt city officials. (ex: Romei)

6. Obsession with sprawl

7. No entertainment options (unless you like Gattitown, Chuck E Cheese, Grand Central Station, or the bars...)

8. Long and dangerous stoplights (particularly along Texas Avenue)

9. Not on Google Maps Street View

10. Always a "too little, too late" feel to it all.

[citykid09]

1. No transit system

2. No Interstate freeways

3. No large dense mix use urban areas

4. Unbalance in development (more on College Station side than Bryan... starting to change)

5. No grocery stores and little if any retail development on the Westside of town (central 2818)

6. The new A&M Health Science campus is away from the central city.

7. No theme or amusment parks near by.

8. The cops follow you like big brother, wanting you to mess up so you can get a ticket.

9. No................I forgot what I was going to sa, but I will put it down if I think of it.........................

10. We need a new entertainment district that apeals to everybody.

6.

[20thStDad]

1. Fake military aggies

2. aggies

3. aggie weddings

[TexasVines]

1. all those aggies

2. all those cult like people in maroon running around everywhere

3. CTs

4. 2%ers

5. that big ugly concrete thing with the broken lighting where maroon clad people go to watch milkmen cheer for losing football

WOW you two so far have a big WISH LIST.....in fact I am not sure even dreaming of things that will never come should even be called a wish list other than #1 on the list of the OP with better ethnic restaurants and maybe #9 one day as well

I will spare you the 100s of reasons why most on those list will probably never happen.....I guess an entertainment area would be good, but all it is probably waiting on is your money to invest in it and for you to buy up over priced, under maintained, properties in key areas and knock them down to redevelop

[BryanS]

1. Lack of diversity

[IronTiger]

The fact that I didn't bash the Aggies is that Texas A&M University does sustain College Station and supports the economy. That said, here's 10 more!

1. Most buildings are really ugly. Whether it's Pebble Creek's McMansions or the tall but hideous buildings...that's why there's no "BrazosArchitecture.info".

2. SH-21 is a pretty pitiful excuse for a highway for an east-west highway.

3. The fact you've got these over-sized bike paths in the southern part of town but not even so much as a sidewalk in other parts.

4. Uneven restaurant and store distribution.

5. The fact that they didn't expand Wellborn Rd. when they had the chance.

6. The way they hacked out all those trees to expand SH-6, thus encouraging more worthless sprawl. What they should've done is made the frontage roads one-way until the Texas World Speedway, two way until Peach Creek, then divided the rest of the way, with adequate turn-around points.

7. Remember those old telegraph poles that used to go down on Wellborn south of FM 2818? They tore those down circa 1999. I will never forgive.

8. Nothing in town that isn't tied to the college somehow. What if A&M pulled out? The economy won't go with it if it has other sources. For example, Waco will survive if Baylor pulls out, it has a factory that makes the region's candy!

9 and 10...they don't exist. But I do have 18.

[TexasVines]

as for #8

I don't ever think B/CS will ever really need to or want to grow without TAMU being the factor for the growth for a number of reasons

and there are large non-TAMU related businesses around B/CS just probably not in any industry you work in

as for the person that mentioned the oft too often used "diversity".......it is that much harder to be "diverse" when much of the "diversity" has a very "non-diverse" school of their own just right down the road and another failed one in central Houston.....why try and force things down people throats....there are plenty of options out there as it is maybe everyone at TAMU likes it just fine how it is......and maybe the 2% that don't picked the wrong school

[editor]

Is there anything that TAMU can/should do to help the B-CS area more? Is it doing enough, or does it isolate itself from the community?

[Mark F. Barnes]

I know a few around here need to thank your lucky stars I don't hold the keys to this thread. I really think the originator needs to seek professional help. I'm not sure if it classifies as manic or not, but it darn sure is suspect. You start a thread first wanting to improve the BCS sub-forum, and bump it with no real response. Then you turn around and start a bash fest, and you see this as improvement?

My family being one of the original settlers of Booneville, my roots go very deep in the Brazos Valley. (settle there in 1833 from Iredell County, NC.). I say if you don't like the way it is, stay the hell away, nobody invited you in. The area was settled before Houston, and has managed without you just fine. It's when the flighters from the south moved in, that things got so miserably screwed up.

And yes TAMU is a huge supporter of the local community, I don't think that there any more that it needs to do. The only thing negative you here out coming out of the area, are people that weren't born and raised there, it's normally outsiders that move there, wanting changes to suit them. The locals, like it the way it is, and move at their own pace. The locals like it simple, and easy going. If you want huge shopping malls and skyscrapers, stay in Houston.

And to make a statement that BCS has an obsession with sprawl? My answer to that is "Just say No". Place the crack pipe at your feet and walk away. You have no idea what an obsession with sprawl truly is. Go move the Fort Bend County and then start talking about sprawl obsessions.

[westguy76]

#1. Typical aggies running around looking and driving like jerks. Let me paint a picture for you. Chevy truck lifted at least 2 inchs, obnoxious stickers on rear window, grill guard for no reason, truck nuts hanging perhaps. driver seat buzz cut jerk with an attitude. same tired look from 15 years ago. it never changes, sounds like my high school. And no I wasn't picked on.

And I have nothing against Aggies or the university.

[crunchtastic]

Let me paint a picture for you. Chevy truck lifted at least 2 inchs, obnoxious stickers on rear window, grill guard for no reason, truck nuts hanging perhaps. driver seat buzz cut jerk with an attitude. same tired look from 15 years ago. it never changes, sounds like my high school.

I've been wondering about these truck nuts. Seeing them everywhere now. I find the whole idea hilarious-- no need to broadcast one's overcompensation issues with a 'vette or a hummer, just hang some nuts on any old ride and be completlety unabashed about it! Cracks me up.

[Pumapayam]

Is there anything that TAMU can/should do to help the B-CS area more? Is it doing enough, or does it isolate itself from the community?

When is was there, I was bored to tears, and would spend weekends in Houston or Austin.

The only weekend I spent in CS was a Saturday EIT exam my final year.

[Highway6]

#1. Typical aggies running around looking and driving like jerks. Let me paint a picture for you. Chevy truck lifted at least 2 inchs, obnoxious stickers on rear window, grill guard for no reason, truck nuts hanging perhaps. driver seat buzz cut jerk with an attitude. same tired look from 15 years ago. it never changes, sounds like my high school. And no I wasn't picked on.

And I have nothing against Aggies or the university.

Nothing against aggies? Then you would have started your rant with "Typical small % of college students at every university in the south, running around looking and driving like jerks.... etc"

Oversized trucks and the kind of people that drive them are hardly unique to A&M or even Texas.

As for the others and their comments about C/S would be nothing without the school... Well Thanks for stating the obvious.

There was no City of College Station or a need for an additional city outside Bryan until the school came along. Even Bryan was barely on the map until the railroad and school came through in the 1870s. College Station the City would have no reason to exist if not for the University... so complaining about how the City is nothing but the University is missing the glaringly obvious.

Also.. I'd like to officially report the few of you haters on here as hijacking a thread. Gratuitous school bashing doesn't belong in a Civic thread on an architectural/civic forum.

[TexasVines]

just to be clear I like TAMU and think it is a top university and I even worked for TAMU off campus outside of B/CS for nearly 4 years

I think their traditions should the envy of any school that cares anything about pride.....even though I started college at UT I have been to bonfire and midnight yell and it is an amazing tradition and I was pretty hurt when bonfire collapsed and I feel TAMU needs to start it back up ON CAMPUS where it belongs with student cutters

the Corps has my highest respect they put more men and now women into the US Military than any school but the Academies and they are a strong part of TAMU and should stay that way PERIOD those that don't like it have hundreds of other schools to choose from and they should

Having lived in 4 "college towns" in Texas and having visited several others I think TAMU is a great college town and the only flaw I see in it is that it is a bit close to Houston for people to run home on the weekends.....but if you want to have a kegger or a decent party and just meet new people than TAMU is a great environment for that as long as you were smart enough to know what TAMU was when you started there which is a conservative school that stands by their past traditions and believes in them....they should fix the Kyle Field lights $Bill

as for the improvements....I am not sure I ever heard of a freeway as an improvement

"sprawl" can't be helped in this particular school and areas case.....TAMU has a VERY large main campus and they own LARGE holdings for ag research and engineering research way to the north of campus and west of campus and are not going to sell them off for commercial development......then you mix in that it has a ton of students that should rightfully live near the large campus and everyone else is pushed out further

B/CS should be glad they have ONE mall for a town it's size....thinking about a second is thinking about seeing a dead mall somewhere

the TAMU Med School facility should have been near campus....in Bryan is a mistake

Traffic is going to happen in a small place that has 30,000+ people move in and out seasonally many that are new

redevelopment of any area is only waiting on you to buy out landlords that are perfectly happy with their ROI and will command a high price for the property

Ethnic restaurants are just YOUR INVESTMENT away from happening

not sure I ever see an amusement park coming to B/Cs....not sure why anyone would ask for that specifically...any other entertainment will always seem as though it is geared towards TAMU students because for a business to be successful in B/CS you need to draw in the students because that is who lives there for the most part....is there something wrong with going to Lake Summerville to ski, fish, swim....going hunting....hitting a round of golf....not sure what other options you are looking for in what is a VERY SMALL TOWN even with a large university

cops can either be weak or tough....New Orleans = weak cops.....other places usually don't unless you like drunk students speeding all over the place....with all the "lifter up truck nutters" you must be doing something pretty bad to get pulled over before them

as for aggie weddings.....again it is called "pride" some schools have it (like schools that are tops in the USA for alumni giving) and some schools don't (like those schools filled with students wearing TAMU, UT and TTU shirts to class every day)....there are tons of schools to choose from in Texas....sounds like some picked the wrong one.....if every school was full of people with no pride in their school with nothing but bad memories that could care less that is where they received some of their most important education and possibly met their spouse then that would not be very "diverse" now would it......it would just be a bunch of blah schools full of whining malcontents that wondered why no one thought their school was unique from any other...not sure what some want in a COLLEGE TOWN with a large college....other than the college.....it is a SMALL TOWN even with TAMU....it that hard to understand

there are other industries in Bryan College Station....like the very large poultry farm on 21.....small bioscience startups and some small software developers....again it is a RURAL town....not sure what you are looking for

as for the buildings....TAMU was growing at a time when Texas was short on cash....so they built the big ugly boxes on every campus....add in TAMU was an all mens school with a military focus and you can see why the buildings are the way they are....with no real central focus of the architecture and still growing fast and in need of "space" what is the point in trying to shove some type of style of architecture on to campus at this point....so people can say"what the hell is that doing here" when one building gets build in a different style

I am not sure what some are looking for in a RURAL town with a large campus (in space and student count) that clearly lets people know what they are about before you even get within 100 miles of the place.....sounds like some picked the wrong school and or the wrong place to live

having said all that lets get back to bashing aggies!

[BryanS]

^ I agree 100% with TexasVines... and is exactly why I did not choose Texas A&M. God Bless the University of Texas.

[travelguy_73]

"From the outside looking in, you can't understand it. And from the inside looking out, you can't explain it"

I had a terrific undergrad experience at A&M. There are aspects of Bryan and College Station I don't care for, but they were mainly related to the subpar student housing (cheap, though!) and the missed opportunities for additional mixed use developments close to the school, instead of all the suburban-style apartment complexes. Still, it is a fine place to attend school, and my couple of friends who live there permanently live there because it is perfect for them.

Would I love for it to look like Ithaca (my ideal college town), all hilly and full of little shops and crunchy granola students? Sure that would be cool, but my housing would have cost twice what it did and I probably wouldn't have been able to get away with having my education fully paid for.

I think it is silly for those who have never lived there, and don't know anything about it other than random trips in and out, to criticize. We hate it when people do that to Houston and its residents, why act all high brow with BCS?

[IronTiger]

I know a few around here need to thank your lucky stars I don't hold the keys to this thread. I really think the originator needs to seek professional help. I'm not sure if it classifies as manic or not, but it darn sure is suspect. You start a thread first wanting to improve the BCS sub-forum, and bump it with no real response. Then you turn around and start a bash fest, and you see this as improvement?

My family being one of the original settlers of Booneville, my roots go very deep in the Brazos Valley. (settle there in 1833 from Iredell County, NC.). I say if you don't like the way it is, stay the hell away, nobody invited you in. The area was settled before Houston, and has managed without you just fine. It's when the flighters from the south moved in, that things got so miserably screwed up.

And yes TAMU is a huge supporter of the local community, I don't think that there any more that it needs to do. The only thing negative you here out coming out of the area, are people that weren't born and raised there, it's normally outsiders that move there, wanting changes to suit them. The locals, like it the way it is, and move at their own pace. The locals like it simple, and easy going. If you want huge shopping malls and skyscrapers, stay in Houston.

And to make a statement that BCS has an obsession with sprawl? My answer to that is "Just say No". Place the crack pipe at your feet and walk away. You have no idea what an obsession with sprawl truly is. Go move the Fort Bend County and then start talking about sprawl obsessions.

Well, well, well, Mr. Barnes, aren't you trying to pick a fight? I live in CS because I'm not yet in college. The plush tiger as my avatar? That was bought at a football game gift shop at my high school. I've grown up in College Station all my life, lived with the Aggies. I've also traveled a lot. Houston (placing behind Waco) is the second-most visited city of my life. The reason I've made all those earlier threads is because I was really curious about the city I've grown up. The Pooh Park sign...Kmart...Manor East Mall...Roly-Poly Rolled Sandwiches...those are all things that I've witnessed the end of and I wanted to see the beginning.

While I generally get answers that I post in the College Station/Bryan forum, a twinge of jealousy sets in. Granted, Houston is a much, much bigger city than College Station, but there you've got thousands of threads dealing with anything one would want to know about Houston, but the College Station forum is much smaller, smaller than a proportion would be.

So I start a thread on improving the BCS forum. But there were days that went bye when no one answered. And finally some people started to give me not-so-serious answers. Then I got mad. "Find topics that people are passionate about." OK. So I whipped out a list of what I thought what I hated about College Station. A similar thread on Simtropolis worked pretty well.

My complaint about malls and entertainment destinations? Like I said before...I'm a <21 male. I can't get drunk and party with friends at Northgate (I'm under 21). I can't eat pizza with my friends and then play games at Gattitown (I'm over 11). And I can't max out credit cards buying clothes at the mall (male). Similarly is the pool issue. I don't have a swimming pool at home. If I did, I wouldn't complain about that fact.

You didn't even complain that I put the "too little, too late" policy in there. Think about it...H-E-B (not Pantry) was installed 2002, Home Depot 2003 (or 2004?), ice rink 2005, Kohl's 2007. Ask anyone else about how cool it is to have such a place. They'll laugh you off. They've had those things...even in smaller cities...for years. I wasn't around in the 1980s. How could they build a durable, large mall (by 1982 standards) then have people living off scraps in the 1990s, losing more than they gained? How can we have restaurant shells that haven't been touched in years (aforementioned Roly-Poly, Egg Roll House, Kettle on University) sit? Why is it the only mini-golf in town is a small, overpriced glow-in-the-dark establishment inside Grand Central Station? Why did the pool remove one of the few diving boards in town after some moron hit his head on it? Why is that? This is College Station, "Home of the Lame". TAMU is a blessing and a curse. Both my parents are employed there, but every year brings new, dumb, shaved-heads, maroon-obsessed students that don't know how to drive well and luxury student condos in areas where it can't handle the traffic. Every new park is some fakey, sanitized place with oversized bike paths and named after whatever developer stuck enough money in their hands.

So, Mr. Barnes et. al., don't call me some drugged-out manic that needs professional help. There, I've said my piece. I'll get off the soapbox, you get off my case. Sound fair? Good!

Edit: Sorry TravelGuy, my rant took a long time, and I wrote it before you posted it.

[Highway6]

. This is College Station, Home of the Lame. TAMU is a blessing and a curse. Both my parents are employed there...

You live in a college town... and the college was there before the town..

Considering your parents work for the school.. not only does your town owe its existence to the school, but you owe your livelihood to the school.

Half the population of your town are students.

Blaming everything on the University gets you nowhere.. forgetting the fact that without A&M, CS wouldnt exist.. without it, you would live in just another small rural town, maybe 10,000-20,000 folks, with maybe one mall, and still nothing to do.

I do feel sorry for you, really.. I always thought when I was a student there, how much it might suck to have grown up there. Not only because it is growing up in smalltown america, but because you really dont have a place to fit there... because it is a college town.

But you're barking up the wrong tree... go blame your parents for choosing to be employeed at a school in a college town instead of an urban setting.

As for you're "too little too late comment"....

You need to realize that CS population, including the students, was only 67,000 just 8 yrs ago and has only been growing by about 15k a decade.. It still is a small town. Personally, I lament the Kohls, and Home Depot, and all the new retail that has infiltrated Texas and University avenues. College Station the city has become so generic just in the last 5 years...... That is what I hate about B-CS... the recent generic explosive growth of the past decade.

[TexasVines]

Well, well, well, Mr. Barnes, aren't you trying to pick a fight? I live in CS because I'm not in college. The plush tiger as my avatar? That was bought at a football game gift shop at my high school. I've grown up in College Station all my life, lived with the Aggies. I've also traveled a lot. Houston (placing behind Waco) is the second-most visited city of my life. The reason I've made all those earlier threads is because I was really curious about the city I've grown up. The Pooh Park sign...Kmart...Manor East Mall...Roly-Poly Rolled Sandwiches...those are all things that I've witnessed the end of and I wanted to see the beginning.

While I generally get answers that I post in the College Station/Bryan forum, a twinge of jealousy sets in. Granted, Houston is a much, much bigger city than College Station, but there you've got thousands of threads dealing with anything one would want to know about Houston, but the College Station forum is much smaller, smaller than a proportion would be.

So I start a thread on improving the BCS forum. But there were days that went bye when no one answered. And finally some people started to give me not-so-serious answers. Then I got mad. "Find topics that people are passionate about." OK. So I whipped out a list of what I thought what I hated about College Station. A similar thread on Simtropolis worked pretty well.

My complaint about malls and entertainment destinations? Like I said before...I'm a <21 male. I can't get drunk and party with friends at Northgate (I'm under 21). I can't eat pizza with my friends and then play games at Gattitown (I'm over 11). And I can't max out credit cards buying clothes at the mall (male). Similarly is the pool issue. I don't have a swimming pool at home. If I did, I wouldn't complain about that fact.

You didn't even complain that I put the "too little, too late" policy in there. Think about it...H-E-B (not Pantry) was installed 2002, Home Depot 2003 (or 2004?), ice rink 2005, Kohl's 2007. Ask anyone else about how cool it is to have such a place. They'll laugh you off. They've had those things...even in smaller cities...for years. I wasn't around in the 1980s. How could they build a durable, large mall (by 1982 standards) then have people living off scraps in the 1990s, losing more than they gained? How can we have restaurant shells that haven't been touched in years (aforementioned Roly-Poly, Egg Roll House, Kettle on University) sit? Why is it the only mini-golf in town is a small, overpriced glow-in-the-dark establishment inside Grand Central Station? Why did the pool remove one of the few diving boards in town after some moron hit his head on it? Why is that? This is College Station, Home of the Lame. TAMU is a blessing and a curse. Both my parents are employed there, but every year brings new, dumb, shaved-heads, maroon-obsessed students that don't know how to drive well and luxury student condos in areas where it can't handle the traffic. Every new park is some fakey, sanitized place with oversized bike paths and named after whatever developer stuck enough money in their hands.

So, Mr. Barnes et. al., don't call me some drugged-out manic that needs professional help. There, I've said my piece. I'll get off the soapbox, you get off my case. Sound fair? Good!

Edit: Sorry TravelGuy, my rant took a long time, and I wrote it before you posted it.

1. the roads are mostly STATE roads so it is out of the hands of B/CsS when or where or how they get widened

2. restaurant shells stay vacant because no one knows what to put in them to make a profit and usually in a town like B/CS they stay vacant because idiot landlords would rather sit on a vacant building for 5+ years than lower the rent to something reasonable.....this is nothing new to B/CS or any college town

3. K-marts are dying left and right nothing new to B/CS or any town its size

4. The city pool took the diving boards down because of idiot trial lawyers and idiot insurance companies.....it has happened all over the USA it is not the fault of B/CS it even happened in Lakeside Estates where I grew up in Houston and at Walnut Bend next door and I know it has happened at city owned pools all over Houston and the USA this is not the fault of B/CS and I would imagine since your parents work for TAMU you could join up in their pools and gyms and swim there.....and why don't you do like any other under 21yo kid that lives in B/CS at a place with no pool and find an apartment complex with a pool you like and walk in like you own the place and swim there....as long as you don't act like a fool and pretend you know you belong I am about 100% positive you will get away with it 99.999% of the time and the time you get "caught" you will be ask to leave and nothing more....and I doubt you will get caught

5. 21 yo drinking age is stupid and I am glad to see some people actually debating its worth.....but it is not the fault of B/CS...even then getting plastered can get old

6. every kid especially a male under 21 but over 11 in a small town has the same issues.....most don't even have a mall, never had a pool with any diving boards, never had GattiLand, putt putt, or anything close to what B/CS has....most of those kids go sit in the town square and or drive around in circles around the town square hoping that some kids from another town over swing by to either "fight" or to "hook up with".....you might swing over to Navasota or Brenham or Caldwell and see what is "going on" there....you might also learn to hunt or fish like most other kids in small towns or wrap yourself up in Church like they all do

7. Condos will go up closest to campus if they want to command a high price....closest to campus will have the most traffic....this is just how it works....you think B/CS traffic is bad take a drive down Guadalupe some time in Austin during the semesters....or well anytime of the year....or for that matter drive anywhere in Austin....having said that TAMU could run a much better shuttle bus system

8. as for boring parks.....welcome to nearly every city in the USA....if you are too big for GattiLand then you are too big for the swings and forts...not sure what you want....plenty of golf available, plenty of tennis, plenty of basketball courts, plenty of soccer....if none of those things are for you then I doubt an outdoor sculpture garden is coming to a local B/CS park anytime soon and you should be able to find plenty places for an RC car, boat, or plane not in a park that is near B/CS

over 11 and under 21 is a tough time for a kid in any place, but B/CS should be one of the less tough places for any small town kid....even growing up in Houston me and my friends would "run out of things to do"......how many times can you go to LameCity in one week....how many times can you go to the same clubs and get in under 21....how many times can you get drunk at the vacant development in CityWest or on top of the office building garage at 10,000 Richmond....how many times can you hit golf balls from putt-putt on Westheimer into traffic and then climb the billboard....when I moved to San Antonio it was worse....how many times can you go to "midget mansion" or the place where the ghost pushes your car up hill off the tracks or go party at the abandoned "casa blanca" until the cops run you off, or go to Malibu and Castle Golf and Lames....and 20 malls are just like 1 mall....they are all the same

my suggestion to you is get a fire extinguisher and blow the yellow crap out of it....remove the pressure guage and put in a bike stem......un screw the top and fill it half full of water and then charge it up with air at the gas station and let rip on vagrants around town away from where you live....that never seemed to get old and most need a bath anyway....save up for a jet ski (the stand up ones not the lame sit down ones) you can get an old 550 for probably $500 dollars and with a wet suit you can use it year around in Texas...just run it often to keep it working and get a trickle charger for the battery...or get a go cart or a dirt bike....if your parents won't let you then get one and keep it at a friends....you are a kid you are suppose to do what your parents don't want....it sounds like you will be out of the house soon anyway so how long can they stay pissed off

if you are over 11 and under 21 you are way too young to be sitting around worring about how to redevelop a place that won't take your advice and is not geared towards you...if you are that bored and have skills spend your cash on one old crappy rental property and fix it up and next thing you know you are the property barron of B/CS...your age is tough anywhere you live....B/CS is what it is for reasons out of your or anyone elses control....and trust me most kids in Waco would die to get out of there

also not to speak for others, but I doubt most on here knew what age you are....most kids under 21 don't sit around on a forum like this wondering about redevelopment/development of their town....they are out trying to raise hell and chase girls or make money....you might try it

[IronTiger]

1. the roads are mostly STATE roads so it is out of the hands of B/CsS when or where or how they get widened

2. restaurant shells stay vacant because no one knows what to put in them to make a profit and usually in a town like B/CS they stay vacant because idiot landlords would rather sit on a vacant building for 5+ years than lower the rent to something reasonable.....this is nothing new to B/CS or any college town

3. K-marts are dying left and right nothing new to B/CS or any town its size

4. The city pool took the diving boards down because of idiot trial lawyers and idiot insurance companies.....it has happened all over the USA it is not the fault of B/CS it even happened in Lakeside Estates where I grew up in Houston and at Walnut Bend next door and I know it has happened at city owned pools all over Houston and the USA this is not the fault of B/CS and I would imagine since your parents work for TAMU you could join up in their pools and gyms and swim there.....and why don't you do like any other under 21yo kid that lives in B/CS at a place with no pool and find an apartment complex with a pool you like and walk in like you own the place and swim there....as long as you don't act like a fool and pretend you know you belong I am about 100% positive you will get away with it 99.999% of the time and the time you get "caught" you will be ask to leave and nothing more....and I doubt you will get caught

5. 21 yo drinking age is stupid and I am glad to see some people actually debating its worth.....but it is not the fault of B/CS...even then getting plastered can get old

6. every kid especially a male under 21 but over 11 in a small town has the same issues.....most don't even have a mall, never had a pool with any diving boards, never had GattiLand, putt putt, or anything close to what B/CS has....most of those kids go sit in the town square and or drive around in circles around the town square hoping that some kids from another town over swing by to either "fight" or to "hook up with".....you might swing over to Navasota or Brenham or Caldwell and see what is "going on" there....you might also learn to hunt or fish like most other kids in small towns or wrap yourself up in Church like they all do

7. Condos will go up closest to campus if they want to command a high price....closest to campus will have the most traffic....this is just how it works....you think B/CS traffic is bad take a drive down Guadalupe some time in Austin during the semesters....or well anytime of the year....or for that matter drive anywhere in Austin....having said that TAMU could run a much better shuttle bus system

8. as for boring parks.....welcome to nearly every city in the USA....if you are too big for GattiLand then you are too big for the swings and forts...not sure what you want....plenty of golf available, plenty of tennis, plenty of basketball courts, plenty of soccer....if none of those things are for you then I doubt an outdoor sculpture garden is coming to a local B/CS park anytime soon and you should be able to find plenty places for an RC car, boat, or plane not in a park that is near B/CS

over 11 and under 21 is a tough time for a kid in any place, but B/CS should be one of the less tough places for any small town kid....even growing up in Houston me and my friends would "run out of things to do"......how many times can you go to LameCity in one week....how many times can you go to the same clubs and get in under 21....how many times can you get drunk at the vacant development in CityWest or on top of the office building garage at 10,000 Richmond....how many times can you hit golf balls from putt-putt on Westheimer into traffic and then climb the billboard....when I moved to San Antonio it was worse....how many times can you go to "midget mansion" or the place where the ghost pushes your car up hill off the tracks or go party at the abandoned "casa blanca" until the cops run you off, or go to Malibu and Castle Golf and Lames....and 20 malls are just like 1 mall....they are all the same

my suggestion to you is get a fire extinguisher and blow the yellow crap out of it....remove the pressure guage and put in a bike stem......un screw the top and fill it half full of water and then charge it up with air at the gas station and let rip on vagrants around town away from where you live....that never seemed to get old and most need a bath anyway....save up for a jet ski (the stand up ones not the lame sit down ones) you can get an old 550 for probably $500 dollars and with a wet suit you can use it year around in Texas...just run it often to keep it working and get a trickle charger for the battery...or get a go cart or a dirt bike....if your parents won't let you then get one and keep it at a friends....you are a kid you are suppose to do what your parents don't want....it sounds like you will be out of the house soon anyway so how long can they stay pissed off

if you are over 11 and under 21 you are way too young to be sitting around worring about how to redevelop a place that won't take your advice and is not geared towards you...if you are that bored and have skills spend your cash on one old crappy rental property and fix it up and next thing you know you are the property barron of B/CS...your age is tough anywhere you live....B/CS is what it is for reasons out of your or anyone elses control....and trust me most kids in Waco would die to get out of there

First off, I'd say you're stereotyping. A lot. The whole focus here isn't that "I'm bored" and its not "the Aggies suck". I was just merely venting my frustration about the city. Part of it is the city's fault. Part of it is the state's fault. Kmart did die early, but the fact that it died in 1996...it was different back then. Yes, I know that the Rec Center does have a high-dive, but...OK. Maybe I'm complaining. A lot. And not better anywhere else than here. This thread has spun out of control already. First, it was a thread on expressing dislike on BCS, then the Aggies, then you're getting on my case. All right. I can't take it anymore...lock this thread, but before that, I want to hear Mark F. Barne's response to my complaint...

[TexasVines]

First off, I'd say you're stereotyping. A lot. The whole focus here isn't that "I'm bored" and its not "the Aggies suck". I was just merely venting my frustration about the city. Part of it is the city's fault. Part of it is the state's fault. Kmart did die early, but the fact that it died in 1996...it was different back then. Yes, I know that the Rec Center does have a high-dive, but...OK. Maybe I'm complaining. A lot. And not better anywhere else than here. This thread has spun out of control already. First, it was a thread on expressing dislike on BCS, then the Aggies, then you're getting on my case. All right. I can't take it anymore...lock this thread, but before that, I want to hear Mark F. Barne's response to my complaint...

I am not on your case....first I and many others did not realize your age

second I feel for you, but kids your age go through the same things no matter where they live....20 putt putts are just like one putt putt once you have been to one....asteroids and defender are the same games at every arcade...unless they are broken at one

you need to be creative....and you do have it better than most kids even in a town the size of B/CS.....not getting on your case....I have been your age and been bored with the options available and that was in Houston at a time when drinking under 21 was much easier and clubs for over 21 were much easier to get into and the consequences were less...and the Houston cops had better things to do than chase 17-20yos that were not making much trouble

save up for a jet ski, a boat, a gun, a car, a go cart, or learn how to invest because stocks will probably never be lower than now and the next few months....If I had taken the 8K+ I had in 1986 and put it in the market in the right things I would probably be retired by now....but I bought cars and a jet ski and other crap....but I have a lot of good stories to go with them....make your choice....save your cash like an adult or make it and blow it like a kid.....but if you do it right either way you will look back with no regrets because you either have a nice portfolio or a portfolio full of stories you can't remember because you were hammered and she was hot....sitting around trying to better B/CS will not get you either of them

I would welcome your ideas to better the place, but all I have seen so far is what you don't like...we have all been there at your age....but blaming it on the place where you live is not the answer....perhaps you need to offer one specific thing you WANT in B/CS and people on here can help you make it happen.....kids younger than 21 have made a lot for themselves when they went after the goal instead of listing what they don't like about a place

[Mark F. Barnes]

Well Tigger, I am not going to get into a pissing contest with you, because you seem to think you have it all figured out. You have your opinion and you are entitled to it. But hey you are under 21 and I can understand some of it, you'll grow out of it. All of my kids are grown and left the nest, so maybe my tolerance and my savvy on the current uptake it a little out of calibration, hey I'm just an old fart, that's set in my ways.

I guess you lived there your entire life, I really couldn't be certain from your rant. And I was aware of some of your earlier posts, asking questions about Post Oak and Keysers, and things long since past. And if you remember correctly, I answered most of those questions for you, and was glad to do it. I'm rather proud of the way town use to be. Back in the 50's and 60's, it was a great place to grow up, kids now days take too much for granted. Vines mentioned going to Navasota or Hempstead some Friday or Saturday night, to see how things are going there. I'll bet down in Hempstead they still cruise from the edge of town out towards Prairie View to the railroad tracks and back for most of the night, until they find someone who can buy beer and then they sit on tailgates at the railroad tracks and drink beer, make out, and crash at somebodies house, who's parent either don't care or are out of town at a roping or a playday. Only difference will be the faces, but they'll be doing the same thing they were doing 50 years ago. Those kids are probably having a good time too, because they don't know anything else, and they make good with what they have. Same thing with Caldwell, or Navasota, cruise around, hang out and go home. BCS has multiple mega screen theaters now, I can remember when we had the Queen downtown and the Drive-in, that's it. Those kids in Caldwell, Navasota, or Hempstead don't have that. Kids in those towns would say you have a great life and would do about anything to be in your shoes. Speaking of shoes, that reminds me of an old Jewish Proverb:

"I felt sorry for myself because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet."

I remember when there was no mall whatsoever, and the old Woolworth downtown was it for shopping. I can remember driving to Houston to go to a Sears & Roebuck or JC Penny. And I don't mean driving to Willowbrook, there was no Willowbrook, it was a hayfield back then, and 1960 was called Jack Rabbit Road. We had to drive in to N. Shepherd Dr, because they had a new one there just outside the Loop, and it saved driving to the one on North Main. Forty years ago, people in College Station came to Bryan to shop, because there was nothing in College Station, except the College, and a few old shops on College Main and Boyett streets. College Station didn't come in till later, when some of the older town cronies in Bryan refused to budge when it came to improvements and progress. Before the days of Wal Marts and and Kmart's, you probably don't remember those days. But there was a time when things weren't so convenient, and life was a little tougher. See we didn't have a Nintendo or PS2 to occupy our time. We had chores to do, and then we hit the woods with a box of 22 shells and a croaker sack, to scare up some squirrels, that went damn fine with brown gravy and rice. Or hit the tanks with a fishing pole and a bucket, for fresh catfish. Damn sure didn't lay around the house, because Grandma would put your ass to work shelling peas or something. If you are bored one day, drive out the bypass to Tabor Road. Get off on Tabor Road and go east, just past FM 2223 Dilly Shaw Tap road "Y's" off to the right. Go down just past Riata Ct on the right, and you will see the corner brace fence posts painted green and white and the matching fence on down the left side. As far as you can see on that side of the road, and on up past Fawn Lake on both sides as far as you can see, is the Dairy I grew up on. You can drive all the way to FM 2776 and not run out of the dairy. A little over 7500 acres of cow pies and hard work, it's the largest independent operating dairy in the the state, and they still milk 5000 head twice a day there. If you read my Blog here on HAIF, it will talk about life there and how I got my way off the business end of that shovel, and my feet out of rubber boots covered in cow crap. You learn to appreciate things a little better, when you remember where you came from.

You have to understand, things have come a long way over the years. Bryan was an Oilfield Boom-town in the 60'-late 80's, but in 1987 things were hit very hard, and things came to a stand still in development. The housing was way over-built, there were new homes just sitting vacant for several years, until the town recovered. The Large Wells Fargo you see at Briarcrest and the Bypass, I watched it change hands 4 time in 4 years. That was a new bank in 1987, and then one day there was a closed out of business sign, hanging in the lobby entrance, people had to file their FDIC paperwork to get their money from the insurer, and that bank was up and down several times, before it finally settled down. I have banked in that building for years, and I currently am a Wells Fargo customer. Point being, things have come and gone, over time. The TAMU enrollment is fifty thousand now, a far cry from where it was. But you know something, it's not a bad town. How many stop lights do you pull up to that have pan handlers out there wiping windows for wine money, or homeless standing on the corners with signs saying they'll work for food, (knowing damn well they won't), or some pitiful message claiming to be a Vet and needing help. You just don't see them in BCS. It's kinda nice not to have to deal with that. It's nice to turn on Channel 3 News and not see multiple killings in town every night. I mean BCS has it's shortfalls just like any town or city. But all in all, BCS serves it's purpose. College Station gives a base for the University, and Bryan serves as a County Seat for the Area. You have to understand, it's the biggest town in a very rural County, believe me it gets worse in other counties. Try San Jacinto for instance, the County seat is Cold Spring, population less than six hundred. The biggest thing that they have is a miniature Brookshire Brothers.

See your life is just beginning, you are way too young to be so damn miserable. I don't know if you are still in school or what, but if you aren't get out and work your way to someplace, you're a little more happy with. If you're still in school, hit the books hard and make it a little easier on yourself. Either way, cheer up and good luck.

[IronTiger]

Well Tigger, I am not going to get into a pissing contest with you, because you seem to think you have it all figured out. You have your opinion and you are entitled to it. But hey you are under 21 and I can understand some of it, you'll grow out of it. All of my kids are grown and left the nest, so maybe my tolerance and my savvy on the current uptake it a little out of calibration, hey I'm just an old fart, that's set in my ways.

I guess you lived there your entire life, I really couldn't be certain from your rant. And I was aware of some of your earlier posts, asking questions about Post Oak and Keysers, and things long since past. And if you remember correctly, I answered most of those questions for you, and was glad to do it. I'm rather proud of the way town use to be. Back in the 50's and 60's, it was a great place to grow up, kids now days take too much for granted. Vines mentioned going to Navasota or Hempstead some Friday or Saturday night, to see how things are going there. I'll bet down in Hempstead they still cruise from the edge of town out towards Prairie View to the railroad tracks and back for most of the night, until they find someone who can buy beer and then they sit on tailgates at the railroad tracks and drink beer, make out, and crash at somebodies house, who's parent either don't care or are out of town at a roping or a playday. Only difference will be the faces, but they'll be doing the same thing they were doing 50 years ago. Those kids are probably having a good time too, because they don't know anything else, and they make good with what they have. Same thing with Caldwell, or Navasota, cruise around, hang out and go home. BCS has multiple mega screen theaters now, I can remember when we had the Queen downtown and the Drive-in, that's it. Those kids in Caldwell, Navasota, or Hempstead don't have that. Kids in those towns would say you have a great life and would do about anything to be in your shoes. Speaking of shoes, that reminds me of an old Jewish Proverb:

I remember when there was no mall whatsoever, and the old Woolworth downtown was it for shopping. I can remember driving to Houston to go to a Sears & Roebuck or JC Penney. And I don't mean driving to Willowbrook, there was no Willowbrook, it was a hayfield back then, and 1960 was called Jack Rabbit Road. We had to drive in to N. Shepherd Dr, because they had a new one there just outside the Loop, and it saved driving to the one on North Main. Forty years ago, people in College Station came to Bryan to shop, because there was nothing in College Station, except the College, and a few old shops on College Main and Boyett streets. College Station didn't come in till later, when some of the older town cronies in Bryan refused to budge when it came to improvements and progress. Before the days of Wal Marts and and Kmart's, you probably don't remember those days. But there was a time when things weren't so convenient, and life was a little tougher. See we didn't have a Nintendo or PS2 to occupy our time. We had chores to do, and then we hit the woods with a box of 22 shells and a croaker sack, to scare up some squirrels, that went damn fine with brown gravy and rice. Or hit the tanks with a fishing pole and a bucket, for fresh catfish. Damn sure didn't lay around the house, because Grandma would put your ass to work shelling peas or something. If you are bored one day, drive out the bypass to Tabor Road. Get off on Tabor Road and go east, just past FM 2223 Dilly Shaw Tap road "Y's" off to the right. Go down just past Riata Ct on the right, and you will see the corner brace fence posts painted green and white and the matching fence on down the left side. As far as you can see on that side of the road, and on up past Fawn Lake on both sides as far as you can see, is the Dairy I grew up on. You can drive all the way to FM 2776 and not run out of the dairy. A little over 7500 acres of cow pies and hard work, it's the largest independent operating dairy in the the state, and they still milk 5000 head twice a day there. If you read my Blog here on HAIF, it will talk about life there and how I got my way off the business end of that shovel, and my feet out of rubber boots covered in cow crap. You learn to appreciate things a little better, when you remember where you came from.

You have to understand, things have come a long way over the years. Bryan was an Oilfield Boom-town in the 60'-late 80's, but in 1987 things were hit very hard, and things came to a stand still in development. The housing was way over-built, there were new homes just sitting vacant for several years, until the town recovered. The Large Wells Fargo you see at Briarcrest and the Bypass, I watched it change hands 4 time in 4 years. That was a new bank in 1987, and then one day there was a closed out of business sign, hanging in the lobby entrance, people had to file their FDIC paperwork to get their money from the insurer, and that bank was up and down several times, before it finally settled down. I have banked in that building for years, and I currently am a Wells Fargo customer. Point being, things have come and gone, over time. The TAMU enrollment is fifty thousand now, a far cry from where it was. But you know something, it's not a bad town. How many stop lights do you pull up to that have pan handlers out there wiping windows for wine money, or homeless standing on the corners with signs saying they'll work for food, (knowing damn well they won't), or some pitiful message claiming to be a Vet and needing help. You just don't see them in BCS. It's kinda nice not to have to deal with that. It's nice to turn on Channel 3 News and not see multiple killings in town every night. I mean BCS has it's shortfalls just like any town or city. But all in all, BCS serves it's purpose. College Station gives a base for the University, and Bryan serves as a County Seat for the Area. You have to understand, it's the biggest town in a very rural County, believe me it gets worse in other counties. Try San Jacinto for instance, the County seat is Cold Spring, population less than six hundred. The biggest thing that they have is a miniature Brookshire Brothers.

See your life is just beginning, you are way too young to be so damn miserable. I don't know if you are still in school or what, but if you aren't get out and work your way to someplace, you're a little more happy with. If you're still in school, hit the books hard and make it a little easier on yourself. Either way, cheer up and good luck.

Of course. Good point. I wasn't miserable either, but sometimes when I start to complain I can't stop. I almost forgot about the telegraph lines or whatever, and BCS is a good town. The cops do their job, the housing is cheap, and the bums are non-existent (though I have seen a few hang out near the Bryan Wal-Mart Supercenter). I was always curious about BCS. One more question: the IGN railroad (now Jones-Butler Rd., Marion Pugh Rd., and I&GN Rd. depending where it is) was abandoned, I read somewhere, in 1964 (but might have continued after sale), but by 1995 nothing remained except a grassy undeveloped strip. When was it torn up completely? And where was the railroad depot pictured here?

P.S. Don't call me Tigger.

[Mark F. Barnes]

I'm pretty sure that old UPR Railroad Depot was on South Main in Bryan, right near where Roach Oil is. That Picture was probably taken in the early to mid 80's, standing on the Northeast corner of Homestead and So. Main.

[houstonmacbro]

1. The total lack of decent ethnic food. For things that aren't Mexican, you've usually only got one, overhyped restaurant with mediocre food, high prices, and less-than-stellar health reports. Chain restaurants are also missing. However, burgers and pizza seem good.

2. The lack of a second mall or better. Post Oak Mall is pretty lame when you realize that, while the city has grown in leaps and bounds, the mall hasn't added since 1982. The food court and specialty stores are pitiful. There's no theater.

3. Corrupt city officials.

4. Swimming pools are overpriced, overcrowded, and also sorely lacking in amenities.

5. Corrupt city officials. (ex: Romei)

6. Obsession with sprawl

7. No entertainment options (unless you like Gattitown, Chuck E Cheese, Grand Central Station, or the bars...)

8. Long and dangerous stoplights (particularly along Texas Avenue)

9. Not on Google Maps Street View

10. Always a "too little, too late" feel to it all.

Sounds like a real happening place. No, honestly, I have never been, so don't have anything to add or subtract from this list.

... BUT ... if this is what's going on there, I doubt I will visit any time soon.

[N Judah]

About a week ago there was an op-ed in the Chron about infrastructure ideas for the region.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editor...ok/6114218.html

One of the ideas is a commuter rail line from Bryan-College Station to Houston/Galveston. Do you guys think that something like that would be good or bad for B-CS? Also, is there preexisting demand for such a line to justify the investment? Just wondering.

[BryanS]

About a week ago there was an op-ed in the Chron about infrastructure ideas for the region.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editor...ok/6114218.html

One of the ideas is a commuter rail line from Bryan-College Station to Houston/Galveston. Do you guys think that something like that would be good or bad for B-CS? Also, is there preexisting demand for such a line to justify the investment? Just wondering.

Building rail between Houston and BCS would be a complete waste. If we cannot get rail between major cities in this state... why would it make sense to link aTm to Houston? There is nothing in college station other than a university and the supporting BCS strip mall infrastructure.

[IronTiger]

Building rail between Houston and BCS would be a complete waste. If we cannot get rail between major cities in this state... why would it make sense to link aTm to Houston? There is nothing in college station other than a university and the supporting BCS strip mall infrastructure.

The Amtrak pulled out years ago. And adding an Interstate would also be a terrible waste. One thing that could happen is to add a SH-21 bypass, but...

[HtownWxBoy]

Conservatives / Aggies ... enough said!