Elseed Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 The tunnels are terrible which completely destroyed downtown street life we should've never had and I hope it goes away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 The tunnels are terrible which completely destroyed downtown street life we should've never had and I hope it goes away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 I don't think the tunnels need to be destroyed - they just need to be less opaque. Maybe with more residents they might be able to be open later? I know the Capitol tower garage is supposed to have a lobby that connects into the tunnels, maybe that can be a start? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 The tunnels are terrible which completely destroyed downtown street life we should've never had and I hope it goes awayWe never should've had downtown street life? OK, I guess. Your words, not mine. In fact, I originally read your post as The tunnels are terrible which completely destroyed downtown street life we never had and I hope it goes away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elseed Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 We never should've had downtown street life? OK, I guess. Your words, not mine. In fact, I originally read your post as I meant.....we never should've had the Downtown tunnels...they've completely destroyed street life and I hope we get rid of them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 I meant.....we never should've had the Downtown tunnels...they've completely destroyed street life and I hope we get rid of them...Do you live and work Downtown? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilioScotia Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 The tunnels are not city or public property. They're owned by the owners of the buildings above them. Houston Downtown Management District Director Bob Eury says it helps to think of the tunnels as scenic basements, extensions of the upstairs lobbies. That's why they're only open from 6am till 6pm Monday through Friday. They close when the buildings close and they're not open on weekends. Eury says people who live downtown would like to have them open after hours and on weekends, but that's not likely to happen, for a variety of reasons, mostly having to do with security for the buildings above them. The tunnels were designed and built for the convenience of people who work downtown, which is why they don't try to attract people from outside downtown. They don't want the tunnels to be an attraction that would compete with what's up on the streets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEM Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 A flash light and a .45 ........................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumber2 Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 Is there still that non ADA portion in the Esperson building where you have to step up and then step down? It was quite annoying for us tradesmen that worked in different buildings on different days as we were usually pushing a dolly full of tools between one building and another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilioScotia Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 Good question Plumber. I haven't been to the Esperson Bldg or the Tunnels in so long I'm hopelessly behind the times. You would think the Esperson owner would have the good sense to make its tunnel access ADA compliant. Can anybody else here answer this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 I've heard that many of the areas cannot become ADA compliant easily because of the slope required and the ceiling height difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 The Esperson tunnel level has no stairs. The steps up were under the streets to accommodate its tunnel level, and Chase's, being below the Houston Club tunnel level. The Capitol Tower tunnel level appears to be at roughly the same elevation as the surrounding buildings, so the only remaining rough spot that I can think of is trying to get into Houston Center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchFan Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 As a native Houstonian, I've found the downtown tunnels to be a fun hidden amenity, although I have never worked or lived downtown. That said, it does seem obvious that their existence has inhibited having a lively street environment. (And, I'm old enough to remember when we did have some of that, remnants from an earlier era.) I don't know that having a similar system elevated above ground is likely to happen here, although that aspect would avoid the difficulties associated with our occasional floods. When I first explored downtown Calgary, I was impressed with their skyways and especially with the tropical gardens they connected with. Pretty cool, being an office worker there, who could enjoy their lunch sitting amid tropical foliage above street level, while the temps outdoors were below freezing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggie92 Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 I meant.....we never should've had the Downtown tunnels...they've completely destroyed street life and I hope we get rid of them... I just spent several days in Toronto staying downtown. They have a great tunnel system full of shops, services, and food courts. Their tunnels are very similar to Houston in terms of structure and accessibility but they have a far more extensive number of businesses. I wondered the same thing regarding street life but honestly I thought they had equal amounts on the street as they did under. The big difference was the number of people living in downtown Toronto who used the tunnels as their primary method to get to and from places. This was proven to me the one morning that I went down for a coffee in the tunnel at rush hour. It was packed with people using it to commute to work. My opinion is that once more and more move downtown then this will increase the need for the tunnels even more and actually force more planning into how they should be utilized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 The Toronto "PATH" is coordinated by the city since the mid 1980s, and there's common signage and better directions. It still has individual owners, but the coordination helps it presents itself as a single entity rather than a patchwork like Houston's is.I think that as residential increases downtown, we will see more activity above and below ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabasushi Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 I came across a booklet in my files named "Discover Houston Downtown - Tunnel Walk and Rail Tour" by Sandra S. Lord. It's about a dozen pages with some black-white photos and maps. It's free to the first person who asks (as long as you live in US and don't mind not having tracking info as tracking costs more) -- just PM me with your mailing address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabasushi Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 By the way, I think this is from 1980's or 1990's -- I couldn't tell as I couldn't find a copyright year on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driveinfan Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 I would like to have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 7 hours ago, sabasushi said: By the way, I think this is from 1980's or 1990's -- I couldn't tell as I couldn't find a copyright year on it. Very nice of you to give this away. But, it can’t be from the 80’s or 90’s with that light rail picture on it...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 Please do scan it, though...a while back I had this 1980s-era Houston tourist guide (with restaurants and 1980s ads) and scanned in all 24 or so pages, and sent the link out in a PM chain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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