mollusk

I acknowledge being more than a bit ticked at the idea of toll roads being our current way of expanding the highway system, and even greater aggravation that some roads are only accessible to those with the RFID sticker.  (Lexus Lanes, anyone?)  I spend most (but not all) of my life away from places where the toll roads go.  Regardless, it is what it is.  When I take my place at the top of the kleptocracy I promise to fix it.  Until then...

Getting an EZ Tag costs $15, plus loading the account with $40 and a credit card number to eat from when that $40 gets low.  I remember being a student, and I paid my own way through school.  Ramen wasn't invented yet, but I became quite familiar with other equally gross and cheap alternatives.*  Tige, Uncle Mollusk says that unless you're pretty certain that someplace like Patagonia or China or the EU is in your very immediate future, go ahead and bite that particular bullet since the EZ/TX/whatever tag is not only statewide, but also generally (but not universally) active elsewhere (like West Virginia, where much to my surprise the gate just popped open).

* I drove an exceptionally unreliable VW Variant at the time, then a Pinto wagon, followed by a Chevette.  Life does get better.

The Woodlands has a street "grid" only in the most Dali-esque sense, which undoubtedly contributes to its traffic suckitude.

That doesn't explain the logic of taxing smaller and smaller increments of land at multiples to larger lots.  In fact, you are arguing that the opposite should happen.  Larger lots have more value per sqft because they can be subdivided.

The logic is that the land value is based upon X price per square foot.  Not all larger lots can be subdivided, usually because of deed restrictions or a prevailing lot size ordinance.

I would wager that The Woodlands or other influencial property owners need access and road frontage to maximize their property values. The Woodlands owns at least some property east of the current end of Woodlands parkway.

Traffic in that area is an absolute beast, and it's only going to get worse without additional capacity.  As it is, there are almost 100,000 residents plus others coming in to work each day, all sharing roughly a half dozen access points, most of which are two or four lanes, and that includes those pointing towards Magnolia.  Talk about the ultimate cul de sac...

(note to self... remember not to feed the trolls...) 

The issue with the HOV lanes is that while lots of people use them, METRO was on the hook for construction costs.  Which was close to a billion dollars. 

 

The HOV lanes carry buses that generate about 30,000 riders/day.  I really wish that TxDOT picked up most of the tab for these lanes, as they are utilized well by drivers, but not necessarily P&R buses.  If METRO had constructed a $1 billion commuter rail system that only got around 30,000 daily riders (less than the original Red Line which cost $300 million) there'd be outrage. 

Yep.  Because everybody knows that roads > choo choos. 

I hadn't realized that people were so lathered up about this:  http://montgomerycountypolicereporter.com/those-against-the-road-bond-are-tools-of-satin-according-to-prayer-in-commissioners-court-monday-morning/

Those are two of the more offensive comments I've seen in a while. Especially coming from someone who apparently has some level of college education. You obviously don't get out much in rural areas. Those folks aren't stupid, many of them are better educated than you, and they all have far more class. They do tend to see things from their own perspective, which is reasonable, but they are willing to listen, and will change their minds when the arguments are convincing. However, they are never happy when they are told "suck it up, that's how it will be".

Crikey, I'm actually agreeing with Ross.  

IIRC the impetus for setbacks was the Woodway Canyon, just one of many choke points in that part of town.

Not true, look to Amsterdam for an example. They are below sea level to begin with, their soil is much mushier than our own. They make it work.

But Amsterdam (and the Netherlands in general) also has a significantly more robust method of dealing with storm surges.  As for Sandy and New York, all that salt water did no favors to the subway tunnels whatsoever.

(***sigh...***)

I haven't done the research to back this up, but I'll be willing to bet that the cracked rails, etc., etc. are a result of what is euphemistically called "deferred maintenance" (in other words, "we don't have the available cash so we can't do routine preventative maintenance.  We can, however, sometimes get the greater amount of cash to fix what's broken").

This is the same sort of penny wise and pound foolish result of "limited gummint spending" that also sends bridges into the Mississippi, etc., etc.

"Taxes are what we pay for civilized society" - Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1904

Maybe one or two more - the tenant floors start with #12.  The break will be easy to see, since the slabs will be placed a bit further apart in the tenant space in order to accommodate 10' finished ceilings.

really? That's awesome. I would like to see some pics. I think the next bike lane they should tackle is one exactly like this connecting downtown to the Med Center.

Main seems ideal for this purpose, considering that it is only one public vehicle lane each way from the bayou all the way down to Wheeler, complete with some interruptions, and then not all that busy from Wheeler down to the top end of Hermann Park.  Not that many people drive on it anyway, now that half of it got eaten by the train tracks.

Are they parked?  I interpreted the photos as the cars were using the bike lane to drive in (which would be worse)

If the cop car was driving, his brake lights would be on.

HPD and METRO cops both have a really nasty habit of parking in the crosswalks downtown, particularly on the Main Street crossings - which would get the rest of us towed tout suite. 

Reading the tea leaves in the form of crane base delivery, it appears that at least the garage portion is a go.  I stand to be corrected, but it doesn't seem like a tower crane would be needed to just finish things up to the street level, as another commenter suggested.

That's definitely not the Chronicle's garage, which is directly behind this site and would not be rendered from this perspective as International Tower would completely block it from view at Market Square. 

 

Also, note the setback from top of garage to the residential tower above ....no question this is Residences at Mkt Sq rendered.

 

It may be nothing and this may still be dead - but this also seems to suggest that this may be a new rendering. Why would a dead project have updated renderings from Gensler? 

My mistake, you're right about the Hines project now being in there - I got too hung up on the idea of looking at the bottom right. 

One more thing: Bottom right rendering shows the pedestal for Residences at Market Sq - IIRC the first time this project has referenced it's neighbor going up next door.

Is this a new rendering? (likewise for revisions rendering) Im still under the impression this dead...

I think that's the Chron garage, not the Residences pedestal.  

And SOMEONE'S got to do April Fool's. 

I realize that the guy who named everything at Infiniti something beginning with Q has his stated reasons for going to CT#.  Still, what's wrong with Seville / DeVille / Fleetwood / Eldorado, or if you MUST be numerical, go back to the 30s with 50 (which was actually badged LaSalle), 60, 61, 62, 65, 60 Special, 70 (badged Fleetwood), etc.?

One thing about near production concept cars is that they are tarted up a bit with things that aren't really all that dandy for something that will be mass produced and mass driven.  In particular, they donk up the wheels, reduce the mirrors to the point of being unusable, and bling out trim elements beyond what can be economically produced.

But the Conti is pretty, and it looks like it hits a place that Lexus has pretty much to itself right now.  I can't wait to see Matthew McConahey laconically extolling its virtues while contemplating his boogers.

I'm not clutching my pearls just yet.  Skanska is still actively marketing the office component; my guess is that since the office market is taking a pause they've reorganized the project path and schedule to do all of the parking garage component first, rather than just half of it, in order to start getting some cash coming in.  The garage was always planned as a podium taking up the entire block for floors 2 - 11; all of the office space is above it.  With that, there's no readily apparent reason why the lobby and tunnel levels wouldn't be built out as planned.  Granted, it's a glorious lobby for a parking structure.

Another wild guess is that Those Whose Parking Shall Not Be Disturbed are perhaps a bit annoyed at having to use umbrellas to get around downtown, and were willing to sacrifice the parking to get their tunnel connections back.

I get the idea of increasing drivers' awareness of people on two wheels, having ridden both self and motor powered bikes for a loooong time.

I'm fine with sharing the road, even when that means I've got to jam on the brakes to avoid hitting some entitled Fred Spandex running a stop sign or pulling a J hook even when my right blinky is on and the light is green.  The sidewalk, however, is not the road.  That's why its called a sideWALK. 

This is good news. You're getting a brand downtown that people are familiar with that they might actually go out of their way to get to.

Agreed.  Also, a good hamburger is not as easy to find downtown as one might think.

What we ended up with there really isn't that far off the Weems proposal...

While the massing is similar, the texture is different... IMHO a little better in the real version, and I'm usually not a concrete grid and blue glass fanboy.

I'm waiting for the install of a Mattress "Standard" next door to the Pro lol Maybe Mattress Basic or Mattress Trail Version xD

Perhaps REI could name a section for that last one... 

Is there a Farmer's Market downtown on the weekends or a place where people sell stuff they make in stands?

There is one on Wednesdays, morning through lunchtime, at City Hall.  It's seasonal, though - it's not run during the winter or the height of summer.