Highrise Tower Posted November 19, 2023 Share Posted November 19, 2023 I didn't know where to post my random thought about the Texas Medical Center. Thought I'd create a thread dedicated to random things related to the TMC. This afternoon, I thought to myself how many vacant parcels are there left in the TMC? What exactly is taking developers so long to buy and build on these high-profile lots? - 7200 Main - 7100 Fannin - 1500 Old Spanish Trail Does Hines or Hanover have a luxury residential tower in the TMC? Hanover TMC sounds so good! 7200 Main: 7100 Fannin: 1500 Old Spanish Trail, includes the parking garage: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted November 19, 2023 Author Share Posted November 19, 2023 Has anyone also noticed that in some TMC parking garages, taking a parking ticket is no longer an option? You insert your credit card, to serve as your parking ticket. Kinda crazy but it makes sense! Why should TMC pay for parking ticket rolls when they're not needed? Paper is expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 On 11/18/2023 at 10:33 PM, Highrise Tower said: Has anyone also noticed that in some TMC parking garages, taking a parking ticket is no longer an option? You insert your credit card, to serve as your parking ticket. Kinda crazy but it makes sense! Why should TMC pay for parking ticket rolls when they're not needed? Paper is expensive. Paper is cheap. Parking companies pitch these machines to companies like TMC so that the parking companies can collect data about who comes and goes, how often, and how long they stay. Giving your credit card number to anyone for anything other than making a purchase is dumb. Matching up a credit card number with the tracking profile of a human being is cheap and easy. Google buys 90% of credit card transaction information to build its profiles on everyone, whether they use Google or not. And most of the other big tech companies, advertising companies, and data brokers do the same. Moreover, requiring a credit card for anything is bad. According to the FDIC, there are six million households in America that do not have a bank account. But it gets worse when you break it down by race. 40% of Black Americans do not have a credit card. What are they supposed to do? In certain cities, businesses have been using the "Sorry, no cash!" signs as a way to keep certain races out of their stores. It's why more and more cities (most recently Los Angeles) are making it illegal for retailers to not accept cash. Every time I go into a store in Houston and see a sign that says "No cash" I read it as "Go be poor or Black somewhere else." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted December 6, 2023 Author Share Posted December 6, 2023 On 12/4/2023 at 5:03 PM, editor said: Paper is cheap. Parking companies pitch these machines to companies like TMC so that the parking companies can collect data about who comes and goes, how often, and how long they stay. Giving your credit card number to anyone for anything other than making a purchase is dumb. Matching up a credit card number with the tracking profile of a human being is cheap and easy. Google buys 90% of credit card transaction information to build its profiles on everyone, whether they use Google or not. And most of the other big tech companies, advertising companies, and data brokers do the same. Moreover, requiring a credit card for anything is bad. According to the FDIC, there are six million households in America that do not have a bank account. But it gets worse when you break it down by race. 40% of Black Americans do not have a credit card. What are they supposed to do? In certain cities, businesses have been using the "Sorry, no cash!" signs as a way to keep certain races out of their stores. It's why more and more cities (most recently Los Angeles) are making it illegal for retailers to not accept cash. Every time I go into a store in Houston and see a sign that says "No cash" I read it as "Go be poor or Black somewhere else." The credit card payment system was disabled after 2 weeks. This was either a temporary measure due to loss of physical tickets, or a trial gone-wrong. On a different campus, Baylor College of Medicine's new parking system seems to be RFID? You don't have to actually swipe, or insert, your ticket. The recognition is done within reach. I wonder if that's a bad thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 At the Houston Airports, one has the option of taking a paper ticket or inserting a credit card and then using the same credit card to exit. Personally, I love the credit card option. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big E Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 On 11/18/2023 at 8:57 PM, Highrise Tower said: I didn't know where to post my random thought about the Texas Medical Center. Thought I'd create a thread dedicated to random things related to the TMC. This afternoon, I thought to myself how many vacant parcels are there left in the TMC? What exactly is taking developers so long to buy and build on these high-profile lots? - 7200 Main - 7100 Fannin - 1500 Old Spanish Trail Does Hines or Hanover have a luxury residential tower in the TMC? Hanover TMC sounds so good! 7200 Main: 7100 Fannin: 1500 Old Spanish Trail, includes the parking garage: That top parcel actually is owned by a developer that was planning a massive development, but they've not done any major work there, and nobody's seen any current plans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 There's a metal fence being installed a long South Braeswood near Moursound. At first thought I thought this meant the TMC Garage 5 is about to be demolished, but I'm pretty sure MD Anderson is far, far, away from that. I wonder if there's about to be electrical/ground work for the forthcoming MD Anderson Rotary House Hotel expansion? Something pretty significant is about to happen. Maybe for pedestrian safety? I wonder if there was an accident. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 The fence now has a blue screen on it. I saw some work men across the street on Holcombe at the Rotary House. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 McRay Crane & Rigging was out on the side of MD Anderson's Main Building this weekend. The UT Police were blocking roads and enforcing traffic management. I was able to grab this photo of the heavy duty part. I wonder what it is, and I wonder which building it was for? The TMC is always working on something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 McRay Crane & Rigging out again this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 Random photo of some road construction a long Moursund Street that I noticed today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted March 31 Author Share Posted March 31 Road construction continues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted April 7 Author Share Posted April 7 I've been thinking HAIF can play a game. Really dorky and nerdy but I had the idea. Since the TMC is recognized globally, I wonder if HAIF can spot all 50-state license plates around the Texas Medical Center. In one parking garage today I saw 3 states! It really is amazing how people from all over come here for treatment. Indiana. Georgia. New Jersey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted June 20 Author Share Posted June 20 I've noticed on the Best US Hospitals list, none of the TMC institutions for (general hospitals) rank in the top ten. MD Anderson, Texas Children's Hospital, and Menninger Clinic are leading in their field of course. Is John Hopkins or the Mayo Clinic really the best? I'm guessing the ratings are splitting hairs at that point. I'm sure Houston Methodist is just as good! https://www.newsweek.com/rankings/worlds-best-hospitals-2024/united-states 1 Mayo Clinic 2 Cleveland Clinic 3 The Johns Hopkins Hospital 4 Massachusetts General Hospital 5 UCLA Health – Ronald Reagan Medical Center 6 Stanford Health Care - Stanford Hospital 7 Brigham And Women's Hospital 8 The Mount Sinai Hospital 9 Northwestern Memorial Hospital 10 University of Michigan Hospitals - Michigan Medicine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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