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BLVD Place Mixed-Use: 1700 Post Oak Blvd & Upcoming Development At 1800 Post Oak Blvd.


Subdude

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:-)  Actually, there are some good places to walk.  E.g., I like what they've done with McCue.  The main reason I am so conscious of the dangerous aspects of the area, for pedestrians, is because I live on one side of 610 and work on the other.  Experiencing that makes me more aware of how people who just exited the freeway apparently want to continue driving as fast as they can.

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I think making Uptown and Highland Village pedestrian friendly would be easy. Instead of, or in addition to those arches in Uptown, they could do some cool elevated crosswalks. At least at Post Oak and Westheimer. The biggest problem is crossing the streets. And at Highland Village, instea

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Oh, you guys and your "game changers" :-)  I apologize for teasing about that; i have similar feelings, but i have been through enough that i am a bit cynical.  

 

but, despite that, i think this area will develop into a cool place.  Despite the nay-sayers, I think it is good to have people who are outspoken about wanting their city to develop into a place that nurtures what is best in human beings. 

 

 

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I think it takes more than just orienting the buildings to the street to make an urban space. A good example of how things can change is the Cotswold project in the downtown historic district. First this is an area where the buildings already are oriented to the streets,

I mean how urban can you get in a downtown, however up until they overhauled all of the east west streets from Commerce to Texas it didn't have much of an urban feel. Granted when all of the occupants run around in the tunnels all day it never will feel really urban. My only complaint about the tunnels is that it keeps the streets empty.

Not until they addressed front end parking, took away two lanes of traffic, added trees and better lighting and useful signage did this part of town feel more urban and actually work for the businesses that operate on those streets. I know, I ran Cabos when it first opened and it changed the whole feel of that area.

I don't think that the Uptown area will ever be able to accomplish that frankly. Its just too spread out, with way too many parking lots. The thing about huge parking areas is there dangerous hard to get across and create great barriers that stifle walking.

Now if they say empty one or two and created a park, large plaza or a grand mall with gardens and fountains that might begin to help.

Except for the waterwall there is no open space that can serve as a park and thats unfortunate. There has never been a conscientious effort made to create that type of an atmosphere in Uptown. Its all about the car and the buildings not interaction and relaxation.

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I'll just say this. I know we all want things to be as pedestrian friendly as possible, but even in NYC drivers don't obey cross walks and speed limits. So as pedestrian friendly as NYC is, people complain about cars almost running them over. Trust me I've got plenty of friends from NYC who all tell me the same things. And they don't get why we are so worked up about some of our crossings not being as pedestrian friendly as others. And I agree, mainly because this is the city, and a lot of times its about being a bit of an jerk and demanding your right of way.

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Its not just about people getting hit.

Uptown isn't as pedestrian friendly because of how is was built.

1. Each building was built as a destination with little regard to what's next to it. Street level integration and activity is some foreign notion there.

2. The size of the lots makes getting from independent island to independent island harder.

3. Apart from getting hit, waking doesn't provide a visually appealing experience. Downtown for example is turning around with more of a push towards storefronts in New buildings. In uptown, you dodge cars, huge ugly parking lots, lots of blank walls. The trees do help though. Houston does trees well.

4. With all the residential around uptown, entertainment options are rather low. Abd not just stuff for adults. There is a shortage of parks and stuff for kids. Downtown has the aquarium, the zoo is a short two miles away on the rail, plus there are tons of parks all around.

Anyway as is Houston custom, there is nothing like uptown anywhere else in Texas. Are of or skylines are unique. Nothing as big with as many amenities as Downtown Houston anywhere in Texas. Nothing anywhere near TMC in Texas. And Uptown is just a beast. Driving down 610 that place already makes San Antonio look like a tiny town. If that thing fills in it will be a monster.

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I don't really understand the uptown/downtown bashing. Downtown is walkable and so is Uptown provided you looking both ways before you (run) cross the street. Downtown doesn't provide many options for a resident of downtown to walk to. I looked at living downtown but in Uptown I can walk to my gym, walk to the mall, walk to meet friend for drinks, and soon can walk to Whole Foods for my groceries. It's not perfect, nor will we all ever agree it is, but Uptown has a compelling mix of commercial, residential, and retail. Downtown hasn't been able to really get the residential/retail side of the equation right. They are both great developing areas and i hope both areas continue to see a lot of growth. Downtown also has the homeless issue to contend with that Uptown hasn't developed yet. I've always wondered why there aren't many homeless people around the Galleria. Do the cops force them out or something?

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Go west. There are plenty of homeless people along Westheimer/Richmond etc west of Uptown. 

And yes, downtown is more walkable than uptown, largely because of scale. Individual blocks are much, much smaller than Uptown, and they're laid out in a consistent, predictable grid. That makes it much easier to get between places, and to adjust your route if you change your mind after you've already started walking.

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Downtown doesn't provide many options for a resident of downtown to walk to. I looked at living downtown but in Uptown I can walk to my gym, walk to the mall, walk to meet friend for drinks, and soon can walk to Whole Foods for my groceries.

 

I guess it depends on what one wants to walk to.  In downtown, one can walk to one's gym, walk to meet friends for drinks, walk to Phoenicia for groceries, walk to church, walk to any number of performing arts performances pretty much any night, walk to Rockets games and concerts at Toyota Center, walk to MinuteMaid Park, walk to BBVA Compass Stadium, walk to Discovery Green, etc., etc..

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