How Does The Mayor Get To Work?

[editor]

I was just reading an article in the New York Times and there was a passing mention that Mayor Bloomberg takes the subway to work. What a nice example to set for others.

Hands up all those who believe the mayor of Houston takes the bus.

[UrbaNerd]

The mayor either drives around in his prius (RIIGHT.....)OR, he goes around in his limo, which is most likely the answer.

[dbigtex56]

Nubians and a sedan chair

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[editor]

I'm not sure where he lives. Unfortunately, he has a very common name, so 84 Bill Whites come up on the voter registration lists.

Hopefully he has fewer bodyguards than Lee Brown. I used to work at a place where he had a standing weekly appointment. We always knew when he would be coming because four Secret Service agents would show up an hour ahead of time to scope the place. Then other would stand guard along the route that he would walk from his car to where he needed to be. Yes, they really do talk into their sleeves like on TV.

Brown always justified this by reminding us that he used to be Clinton's drug czar and that there might still be South American drug lords with a grudge against him. I think he's too full of himself. The only people outside Houston who know his name were people driving in from the airport who saw his big picture on the sign and forgot about him five minutes later.

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[713 To 214]

I think it's funny that the last mayor's name was Lee Brown, and the current mayor's name is Bill White. Who's next. . . Joe Black?

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[2112]

God do I agree. The funny thing is that I was talking with a friend the other day and I forgot his name! 

Glen

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

who?

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[westguy]

Mayor White lives in the Memorial Area, so perhaps he uses I-10?

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[ricco67]

If I remember correctly, he lives in a gated subdivision just north of Westheimer @ Chimney Rock. I think he goes up along 59 or memorial drive.

Ricco

[westguy]

I guess I am far off. I remembered something about one of his neighbors' houses going up in flames, and the local news said this was in the Memorial area. I do think it is outside the loop where Memorial Drive isn't a very good way to commute.

Does Bloomberg live in Gracie Mansion, or his own home? He's a billionaire, so I guess the city's mayoral residence is little more than a double-wide to him.

[ricco67]

I think we both may be a bit off. I remember the exact same story, but I thought it was closer to the gallera near Chimney rock. I honestly don't remember, but I think it's in that general area.

Ricco

[ssullivan]

I guess I am far off. I remembered something about one of his neighbors' houses going up in flames, and the local news said this was in the Memorial area. I do think it is outside the loop where Memorial Drive isn't a very good way to commute.

Sometimes the local news is geographically challenged. I hate it how they'll say something is in southwest Houston and then it turns up the address is something like Montrose and Richmond or Kirby and Westheimer. To me southwest needs to be a little more south and west of downtown than that! Channel 2 is especially bad about that.

As far as Memorial being a bad commute outside the loop, much of it really isn't that bad. Even though the section from the Memorial/San Felipe split (a little west of Voss) to just west of Chimney Rock is only two lanes, it moves because only local residents use it during rush hour. The worst backups on Memorial are the section between the Briar Forest and San Felipe splits, where two streets are merged into one. That short stretch can be a nightmare in rush hour and was the reason why my commute which increased in distance by nearly two miles when I moved into town from Westchase was cut in time by 15-20 minutes.

[Montrose1100]

I use to take Memorial to Work, when I worked Downtown...

[Lowbrow]

I used to take Memorial from TCJester to Gessner and back every day no problem. Alot better than I-10 or Westheimer. I now use it from Chimney Rock to Gessner... same pleasant drive.

[shasta]

I've seen the mayor in a limo- he has a driver.

[firstngoal]

Well, certainly not all the time. I'm real skeptical about some of the statements about him having a driver (at least all of the time). Perhaps he does while conducting official business for the city, or perhaps it was for a special function....

All I know is that I had breakfast with friends on a Sunday a few months ago and Mayor White and his family drove up to the restaurant in a '98 (approx) Lexus. A few months earlier, I saw him hop into the same vehicle after the Art Car Parade. He drove the vehicle on both occassions. Sooooo..... one could conclude that he drives himself at least part of the time.

I think Mayor White is terrific... a far cry from what we endured for the 6 years prior to his administration.

[firstngoal]

And Mayor Brown had a driver... all the time.

[debmartin]

i seem to remember something about mayor brown causing an accident on westheimer at potomac, near augusta. i cannot recall if he was driving or if he had a driver at that time. could have been he was just in an accident and the other driver was at fault. anyone remember?

[tony]

I guess I am far off. I remembered something about one of his neighbors' houses going up in flames, and the local news said this was in the Memorial area. I do think it is outside the loop where Memorial Drive isn't a very good way to commute.

Does Bloomberg live in Gracie Mansion, or his own home?  He's a billionaire, so I guess the city's mayoral residence is little more than a double-wide to him.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

By a very strange quirk of fate, I was in Gracie Mansion once. It is excellent and certainly up to the standards of Mr. Bloomberg's position as the mayor of that hallmark of American cities. If he considers it a double-wide, which I'm sure he doesn't, all his taste would be in his mouth. I don't know whether he actually lives there but the mayor of New York is a 24/7 job and he probably does at least some of the time. President Bush II is wealthy and he only has an apartment on the second floor of the White House. Does he live there? Well, at least some of the time. (lol)

[nmainguy]

If I remember correctly, he lives in a gated subdivision just north of Westheimer @ Chimney Rock.  I think he goes up along 59 or memorial drive.

Ricco

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He lives in a gated community at Memorial and N. Post Oak Ln. called Stablewood. I would guess he drives on Memorial straight on to Bagby, takes a right and a few blocks south is City Hall.

Here's a Chron article: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/side2/3170417

[RedScare]

He also drives his Toyota Prius most of the time. He says he loves that car, especially since it has room for his bicycle, which he rides a lot.

He has the use of a Lincoln Town Car and a driver, as did Brown, which he uses when picking up dignitaries at the airport, and other official duties.

[sevfiv]

i seem to remember something about mayor brown causing an accident on westheimer at potomac, near augusta.

[editor]

Sometimes the local news is geographically challenged. I hate it how they'll say something is in southwest Houston and then it turns up the address is something like Montrose and Richmond or Kirby and Westheimer. To me southwest needs to be a little more south and west of downtown than that! Channel 2 is especially bad about that.

The TV stations use what's listed in the Keymap books, which are sometimes wrong, and sometimes factually correct but not colloquially correct.

For example, some parts of the city are marked "Upper Montrose." Who says that besides the Keymap?

[editor]

And Mayor Brown had a driver... all the time.

And a fleet of bodyguards. He used to visit the office I worked in once a week for about a year. I could tell he was going to arrive within an hour because the Secret Service folk would fan out across the building. It's a leftover from when he was Clinton's Drug Czar. He thinks there are still Central American drug lords out to get him.

Come to think of it... he did as good a job fighting drugs as he did running the city.

[Casual Observer]

..It's a leftover from when he was Clinton's Drug Czar.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He was the Drug Czar? Well, I was high pretty much throughout that administration..

[RedScare]

Yeah, and Lee P. was looking for you, too...but, like most everything else he attempted, he apparently failed.