Greyhound Bus Station At 2121 Main St.

[bobruss]

You can trust your car, to the man who wears the star!

[dbigtex56]

KTRK 13 carried a story about the Main St. McDonald's. Seems they've installed what's called a "mosquito alarm", which emits a high pitched shriek at intervals, in the hopes that it will deter people from congregating and hanging out on their property.
Don't know how the homeless community feels about it, but those who are domiciled nearby are going nuts (understandably, in my view).
Can't get the link function to work but here's the URL: http://abc13.com/society/midtown-mcdonalds-alarm-system-can-be-heard-blocks-away/3571381/
 

[cspwal]

Quote

It's called a 'mosquito' alarm, aimed at preventing loitering. When Eyewitness News was there, it did not appear to be working. There were still 15-20 people hanging around outside.

 

[terra002]

Maybe if the city did more to clear the area, mcdonalds wouldnt have to do that. Its an absolute mess over there. 

[BeerNut]

1 hour ago, terra002 said:

Maybe if the city did more to clear the area, mcdonalds wouldnt have to do that. Its an absolute mess over there. 

People talk about the Pierce being a physical barrier.  That area is an olfactory and verbal barrier to me traversing on foot.   

[dbigtex56]

4 minutes ago, BeerNut said:

People talk about the Pierce being a physical barrier.  That area is an olfactory and verbal barrier to me traversing on foot.

Pleased to meet you, BeerNut. I'm the other non-homeless person who braves that stretch of Main St.

[UtterlyUrban]

How many “homeless” are over there?  Answer:  perhaps zero — Assuming you define homeless as folks, without addictions, who got laid off from a job, had an unexpected large bill, hit a hard patch, lost their apartment and are struggling to try to get back on their feet.

 

Now, how many addicts are over there?  100?  Shows how few people it takes to mess up an area.  I have no sympathy for them.  Rather, I sympathize with the homeowners, apartment dwellers, business owners, and bus riders who have to deal with the trouble that these addicts cause.  The city MUST do something.  Turner will not get my vote unless he acts decisively.  

 

 

[dbigtex56]

Update: Something must have gone down 2-3 weeks ago.
Suddenly the groups of 5 or 10 people have dispersed, there aren't many people hanging out at the Texaco station, and generally fewer street people in the blocks surrounding the Greyhound station. Don't know where they are now, but happy trails.

[j_cuevas713]

11 hours ago, dbigtex56 said:

Update: Something must have gone down 2-3 weeks ago.
Suddenly the groups of 5 or 10 people have dispersed, there aren't many people hanging out at the Texaco station, and generally fewer street people in the blocks surrounding the Greyhound station. Don't know where they are now, but happy trails.

Prob Midtowns monthly clean up. The same used to happen near my spot by the Sears building. Then the following week they were all back. It was nice that even an area underdeveloped yet clean, felt so much better and safer.

Edited September 29, 2018 by j_cuevas713

[BeerNut]

Anyone have more information about plans to move Greyhound station?

[houstontexasjack]

On 4/7/2019 at 2:06 AM, BeerNut said:

Anyone have more information about plans to move Greyhound station?

I sent the Midtown Super Neigborhood an email to see if I can get more information.

[Brooklyn173]

I went to the meeting and the bus terminal was not discussed. I asked about it after the meeting was over and was told that the City was discussing a move but there wasn't anything to add just yet. But there is likely to be more information/discussion at a future meeting. 

 

It sounded to me to be in the very conceptual phase right now.

 

Now that's my read and I've been wrong before.

[intencity77]

Where ever it ends up moving to, the city better not even attempt to relocate it to EaDo/East End/Eastwood. We already have way more than enough of the inner city’s “undesirable” facilities, not to mention the coming demolition and arterial street cut offs from the downtown freeway project. Be prepared for a fight from residents if that’s the case.

[Ross]

13 minutes ago, intencity77 said:

Where ever it ends up moving to, the city better not even attempt to relocate it to EaDo/East End/Eastwood. We already have way more than enough of the inner city’s “undesirable” facilities, not to mention the coming demolition and arterial street cut offs from the downtown freeway project. Be prepared for a fight from residents if that’s the case.

My wife's idea when we lived in Midtown was to move it somewhere out near IAH, in the middle of nowhere. That's still looking like an attractive option.

[thedistrict84]

56 minutes ago, intencity77 said:

Where ever it ends up moving to, the city better not even attempt to relocate it to EaDo/East End/Eastwood. We already have way more than enough of the inner city’s “undesirable” facilities, not to mention the coming demolition and arterial street cut offs from the downtown freeway project. Be prepared for a fight from residents if that’s the case.

 

I will definitely help lead this fight. The East End is not going to be a dumping ground for the City’s “undesirables.” After the City and others snuck the New Hope SRO facility in at Harrisburg and Sampson near the Green Line with very little advance notice or opportunity for input from residents, everyone around here is paying much more attention. 

[intencity77]

38 minutes ago, thedistrict84 said:

 

I will definitely help lead this fight. The East End is not going to be a dumping ground for the City’s “undesirables.” After the City and others snuck the New Hope SRO facility in at Harrisburg and Sampson near the Green Line with very little advance notice or opportunity for input from residents, everyone around here is paying much more attention. 

 

Don’t get me wrong all of these facilities have a place and a right to exist for those who need and utilize them. The problem is the heavy concentration of them in one area of the city. In recent years the East End and EaDo have been taking in many of these facilities that were once in Downtown, Montrose, Midtown or elsewhere. East End/EaDo residents have definitely taken notice of this pattern, more so than in recent years. It won’t take much more to break the camels back for residents IMO. Such facilities should be spread throughout the inner city/city. It is the only fair approach for ALL city residents and for those who utilize said facilities. 

[BeerNut]

EaDo/East End had/has large parcels of land that can be acquired cheaper than those other neighborhoods while still being close to the inner city.

[thedistrict84]

On 4/14/2019 at 12:04 PM, BeerNut said:

EaDo/East End had/has large parcels of land that can be acquired cheaper than those other neighborhoods while still being close to the inner city.

 

Land value is definitely one part of the equation, sure. But it will not benefit the City long term for a neighborhood/area with exponential potential to have its growth stunted by a high concentration of these types of developments.

Edited April 15, 2019 by thedistrict84
Grammar

[ADCS]

The best location would be in one of the parcels off of N San Jacinto opened up by the relocation of I-10 and I-45. That area is never going to redevelop due to the jail locations there, and already has good access to transit.

[phillip_white]

I don't think the Greyhound Station itself is to blame for the current state of the area, and losing it would actually be a negative in the grand scheme of a well-connected interstate transit option. You have the Megabus station as well as the Metro transit hub nearby and those two don't get nearly as much negative attention. There needs to be an increased police presence for a while to show these ne'er-do-wells, pimps, and drug dealers that they don't have the run of the place.

 

[Triton]

But why is it specifically Greyhound with this problem? I've never ridden it before... is the bus fare super cheap or something? This and the McDonalds (which now has an iron fence around the place) seem to be hot spots for the homeless, more so than other areas.

[BeerNut]

5 minutes ago, Triton said:

But why is it specifically Greyhound with this problem? I've never ridden it before... is the bus fare super cheap or something? This and the McDonalds (which now has an iron fence around the place) seem to be hot spots for the homeless, more so than other areas.

 

It's usually the first stop for people getting out of prison in Huntsville. 

https://www.npr.org/2015/04/12/398763933/newly-released-texas-inmates-prepare-for-a-long-ride-to-freedom

Edited April 15, 2019 by BeerNut

[Brooklyn173]

I think most bus terminals end up being undesirable locations. The Port Authority Bus Terminal was terrible in NYC for decades until a concerted effort to upgrade it (and the surrounding area). Atlanta is miserable and lots/most other cities have the same problem.

 

The few bus terminals that seem to work for the community have a lot of other activity in the area. The Jane Jacobs sort of 'eyes on the street' effect. 

 

With that in mind - now please don't shoot me - I think it may make sense to move the intercity bus terminal to the proposed parking/retail development at the TMC transit center. Lots of people, many constituencies with a vested interest in a successful operation, 24-hour activity, and easy access to the rest of the city. Maybe put the bus terminal on the second level of the parking structure (GFR on the ground floor) to help provide a security cordon and additional commuter parking above that. A true multi-model site with light rail, local bus, intercity uses and auto storage.

 

Btw, the site across from the current Greyhound terminal that had some cleaning and fencing going on recently, now appears to be set as a restored parking lot. Some new asphalt is going down.

[houstontexasjack]

There’s a parcel at 1021 N. San Jacinto next to the eventually-to-be-freed-up I-10 ROW:

 

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1021-N-San-Jacinto-St-Houston-TX/15743657/

[cspwal]

This would address an issue with the greyhound bus station; namely, it's not very friendly to buses to get in and out of (they have to turn in off main street, going over the light rail tracks)

[phillip_white]

On 4/30/2019 at 10:22 AM, Brooklyn173 said:

Btw, the site across from the current Greyhound terminal that had some cleaning and fencing going on recently, now appears to be set as a restored parking lot. Some new asphalt is going down.

 

Here's a crummy drive-by pic of the striping done on the lot MRA owns across from the bus station.

 

[BeerNut]

Greyhound bus service is for sale after British owner gives up

 

 

[cspwal]

This was a weird line from that article

Quote

Greyhound survived and is now the only operator of scheduled intercity coaches in North America, carrying around 17 million passengers a year and serving some 2,400 destinations.

 

What about Megabus, Flixbus, El Expresso, etc?

[dbigtex56]

20 hours ago, cspwal said:

This was a weird line from that article

 

What about Megabus, Flixbus, El Expresso, etc?

It IS odd that these companies (especially Megabus) weren't mentioned.
I've taken Megabus several times to Austin, and it's cheaper (if tickets are bought well in advance) much more comfortable, and generally less hassle than Greyhound. I suspect that the savings from not maintaining a permanent bus station are passed on to the consumer; a trailer in a parking lot suffices.

[Two]

Do we know if the i45 project is still slated to demo the station? People aren't wrong, it's a huge blight, Houston, like Austin, is unfairly put in the position of having these ex cons as well as a shuffled about homeless population in nation wide game of hot potato simply dropped off here with no prospects or housing, no plans, etc. these are people with a record of not so great prefrontal activity, drug addiction and mental illness and criminal records that knee cap their ability to get things back together. Its a backward recipe for disaster. They're immediately met with ... not a social workers ... but a literal enclave of drug addicts ... a perfect trap for them.

 

Another thing to add is it's well known in Texas that other non-profits in other cities rather cynically use everything from state grants to local tax money meant for taking care of their homeless to buy them bus tickets to one of the big cities. Most of small city Texas and surrounding states cities do this. There was even an article about an unfortunately perfectly legal scheme which spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in Lubbock, not on taking care of their homeless,  but funneled to religious non profits that then took the cash and cynically housed the homeless for a couple days then literally shipped them off to Dallas, Austin and Houston. We are talking thousands of people over the course of a year. 

 

I drive past or take the rail through this place on the daily. I've seen it all there, naked crazy people, guy masturbating in the middle of the street, dude pooping on the side walk, people tweaking out, guys pounding on my window for change, harassed on the rail for change, see them getting into fights weekly, doing drugs in the open, and this is all just me in transit  through the situation - just a momentary glimpse of that bus station fueled dystopia. The drug dealers I see always visit at the same times, they make there way over there at dusk and dawn on their bicycles and deal right out in the open not even trying to hide anything.

 

Theres a second enclave that's grown larger along the same road over the past 2 years and that's the one right next to that scuzzy pay by the week looking motel by the Rice innovation district, it shares the same patterns including the punctual drug dealers that make the rounds on their bikes. 

 

They're building a bigger halfway house complex in midtown too, but as was stated previously there already are many many halfway houses in the area most of these people in these enclaves aren't in the same part of the process as homeless people go, if they even want to change or aren't stuck in place due to mental illness as well as addiction. Unfortunately I see this as a state/national level problem I don't know how to solve it, because the cities themselves only shoot themselves in the foot for allowing the bus stations to exist while building the homeless infrastructure at the same time, they invite these cynical cities to parasitically offload their own population onto ours by the literal thousands all while having the gall to pretend like it's for other reasons they don't have homeless problems.