Mister X

Yes, nothing EVER gets built in or near Houston. There is nothing here but an empty field with 6 million people just standing around looking at each other. Seriously, there is great reason to believe this project will be built. But if you want to only focus on the cool things that don't get built in Houston - knock yourself out and have a good life, I'm sure you'll be very happy and go far.

Earth Quest finally has a website. No real new info about the park, but there is contact info and another new rendering. http://www.earthquestadventures.com/ http://earthquestinstitute.org

That's what a lot of people said about the Houston Pavilions, a light rail system, the Astrodome and a lot of other things in Houston.

And don't forget about the Kemah Boardwalk and the Downtown Aquarium. Not exactly 'theme parks' but there are rides and attractions. Something could be brewing at the Flagship Hotel Peer later this year too. We haven't heard anything about that weird Snow Mountain project in a long while, but you never know. Who knows, one day you might wake up to find that Houston has something for families to do on every side of the metro. But just to keep it in perspective, Houston doesn't have any real theme parks at the moment. However, I remain optimistic that all that will change in 2 or 3 years. Those Earth Quest renderings are amazing. This could be the quality theme park I've always dreamed Houston would have. Grand Texas looks interesting. It doesn't look like it will be a real theme park in the traditional sense when it opens, but it could still be a great place to spend a day. Also, at 100 acres it sounds like there is at least a possibility that it could turn into something big one day. A lot of big theme parks started off small, with no rides or roller coasters and grew into something major. At least Grand Texas has a website (cheezy as it may be). We've been waiting forever for an official Earth Quest website. But in this scary economy, I'm just happy that there are still signs that the project is moving forward.

Southpoint is going to be so cool. I can't wait.

I wonder what people said about the Galleria 6 months after it opened. I wonder what they would have said about it if the economy in 1970 was a scary as it is in 2009. I think it was incredibly naive of anyone to think that HP was going to change the entire retail landscape of dt Houston in its first 6 months of operation even in a booming economy. I walked through HP the other day and yes it's no Galleria, but there is a great potential. And again, I'd rather be looking at 3 blocks of empty storefronts than 3 blocks of parking lots. At least now we have infrastructure and not just a pipe dream. One more point - Be glad something was done with those blocks when it was, because any further delay of the construction of HP would have probably meant those 3 blocks would have remained parking lots for many, many more years. Give it time. Any if your REALLY concerned about HP, buy all your books at Books-A-Million and do all your shopping at Forever XXI.

I am really starting to think that nobody at Metro gives a rat's a$$ about citykid's rants anymore. That must be very frustrating. I hate to be the one to break it to you Mr. Kid, but Metro is NEVER going to build the rail system YOU think Houston should have. Let's face it, it's just too hard to accommodate every internet crack pot in cyberspace these days. I suggest you show your disgust with Metro by going to Atlanta and riding MARTA all day, every day for the rest of your life. I'm sure that act of defiance will make them find a way to magically whip up the extra 5 billion dollars to scrap their current plans and build a subway, in order to show Atlanta who has the longest trains in the south. No offense, sillykid.

Maybe 'uptown' is not the best name they could have come up with (it isn't very geographically accurate), but it IS better than the whatever "area" any day. Uptown Houston has an identity of it's own, a distinct, recognizable skyline, and is a major business center in this state and even the country. Somehow having to use the word 'area' every time you want to refer to it really weakens the impact of such an important business district. Plus, it's really simple. 'Uptown' sounds better, it rolls off the tongue better, it's easier to remember and it is quicker to say than 'the Galleria Area'. And anyway, the ball's already rolling. There's no stopping it. So 'Uptown' it is. End of story. Anyone that feels a need to hold on to it's former, rather lame, name should stop living in the past and except the Houston of the future. This is not opinion, it is fact. Don't question me. Now do as you are told and stop saying 'the Galleria area'. It takes too long and I have too much to do today to have to say 'area' again.

I would sure hate for Houston to miss out on the chance to finally become an alpha-town just because our trains are too short and and our rails intersect. We should all sign an extremely powerful internet petition to FORCE Metro to halt construction, tear up the red line and start all over from scratch. We need cool subways and monorail systems in order to keep up with Atlanta. I'm sure Metro would be willing to throw out all the work they have been doing over the last ten thousand years and force another city election just so we all have a cool way to get to the zoo. Then finally, New York and Chicago will allow us to call ourselves 'urban' and we can sleep easy at night. I just can't stand the thought of people from other cities laughing at the length of our trains. Yes, I think it is about time we start taking this issue seriously around here! It's obvious that Metro is listening to HAIF and doesn't have so much opposition already that they have nothing better to do than make sure every suburban yahoo on the internet is happy with their current plans.

I think anyone who is able to support an opinion with a few stats, figures and facts that can be verified on a google search engine MUST be full of hatred and rage. Therefore they MUST also be the devil! BTW, is that why they call you Red Scare? Just kidding, please continue setting these maroons str8, red.

I don't want to seem overly and constantly negative, or like chicken little, or like some bozo loser who got beat up a lot in high school, but I bet Houston Pavilions gets cancelled and torn down any day now. Who would have thought the entire fate of downtown (and yes, the entire city of Houston) would ever rest with a bunch of yuppie bowlers. And this is only the beginning. I've heard that the economy is so bad that they are actually going to start dismantling Williams Tower, Discovery Green and the Galleria. I bet everyone in Houston is going to be laid off this year. Great Depression II will probably never end in Houston. But sit back and watch Dallas and Atlanta continue to get all these cool projects while Houston sits stagnant! I bet all our pro teams move away soon too! Will this torturous existence ever end! Me and 'WACS told you so. :wacko:

Maybe it's just that no one is THAT interested in seeing a super bowel if the Arizona Cardinals (9-7) somehow managed to be in it.

The bay above the subway that runs under San Francisco bay is flooded 24/7. If they can make it physically possible to run trains under a bay, they can make it physically possible to run trains under the ground in the flood prone areas of Houston. In fact, if I remember correctly there was/is a tunnel under the Houston Ship Channel. Subways in Houston may be a long shot, but they ARE possible.

As long as we are all fantasizing about subways. I say the first real subway line should be built under Westheimer /Elgin. Just look at all the retail and residential complexes that would be connected and that people could get to without a car: Galleria, High Street, River Oaks District, Highland Village, West Ave, Montrose area, and The Mix complex. All these places (and more) are on or will be on Westheimer/Elgin. In fact, I think a subway should go under Westheimer all the way out to Beltway 8 to the west. Think about all the people who already live within walking distance to Westhimer right now that wouldn't have to get in there cars to get to all those cool places I listed. Since at grade rail has already been ruled out of the question for Westheimer, what could possibly ever work better and be more convenient than connecting all these places with underground transportation.

O then please correct me. Like you, I'm no expert on this subject. But unlike you I will at least admit it. Maybe somebody WILL miss the buildings at HP that didn't get built and maybe there WERE more than 2 buildings that didn't get built. I wrote what I did because I can tell by some of the earlier renderings that in addition to the retail part (which doesn't look scaled down at all) there were going to be 3 mid rises, one on each block. 2 are not being built, but 1 is along with the rest of the project on the renderings. So it appears to me that the project was scaled down by 2 buildings. I don't know anything more than that, so sue me. But whatever, I wouldn't be judging the Deyaar building's prospects or anything else going up in Houston on HP removing 2 relatively insignificant residential mid rises in an unproven market. I don't care how many subsidies were granted. I didn't want this to turn into a thread about HP, or who knows less of what the hell they are talking about. But who cares. This entire thread has a negative connotation right from the get-go so who cares if it gets high-jacked. Imagine, anyone NOT wanting an 89 story tower (however realistic or unrealistic its prospects might really be) to built anywhere in Houston - and have the nerve to speak against it BEFORE a rendering is even released. And BTW Gary, I didn't really intend on sounding overly hostile about people not knowing what the hell they are talking about. I don't exactly think it is a crime for people to write their opinions, or gossip, or post info they think might be credible. I like reading stuff at Haif - no matter what the source, overly positive opinions, dismally negative opinions, and fact or fantasy. They are all a form of escapism for me. But I would never bet the house on ANYTHING I read on this forum. I don't usually believe everything I read unless there are few credible sources to back it up. No one should be offended by that. One can only hope that the good stuff is true and the bad stuff is false. Common sense ought to be enough to indicate whether a project has legs or sounds like it is based in fact or fiction. Personally, it does not sound inconceivable that someone will build an 89 floor building in Houston at some point. However, if there is one thing I HAVE learned about reading posts on internet forums, it is that USUALLY those who know anything - don't say anything. And those that know nothing - do. Of course, there are always exceptions. And I certainly hope Encons is one of those exceptions. His info, at least, sounds plausible to me. I can at least credit him with keeping his 'insider info' short and sweet (unlike like this long winded post of course). And the fact he doesn't have thousands of postings here means he might be spending more time listening to real info than making it up. Anyway, I certainly hope he knows what the hell he is talking about because I believe an 89 floor tower would be awesome for this city. It would be like being awarded a trophy for this generation's oil boom, just like the Texas Commerce tower was for the 1970's-80's oil boom.

Let it go already. The point is, after a lot of people said HP would NEVER be built, they were proven to be wrong. And I would NOT say the doubters were half right at all. 3 surface lots were replaced downtown and only 2 buildings in HP didn't go up - something that will hardly be missed at all. There are plenty of projects that get built in Houston that don't get scaled down. West Ave, OMP, OPP ect. Think about those and you'll feel better. And anyway, what was scaled down at HP wasn't going to make THAT much difference anyway. HP will make it's mark at its location, so don't be so sure this 89 story tower won't get built. Nobody at this website knows for sure either way. Some people like to blow up balloons, some people like to pop them. The only thing you can count on for sure is that nobody at this website knows what the hell they are talking about - ESPECIALLY the ones who underestimate Houston's potential.

Hey, I've been trying to get HAIF to close the DFW section for years now. I think it causes nothing but trouble. If you want to know anything about what is going on in DFW, why the hell would you come to a website called Houston Architecture Information Forum. Why not go to Dallas Metropolis. And if you don't think that will give you a better idea of the projects going on why not go to City-Data.com or Skyscraper City or Skyscraper page or any of the other more 'neutral' ones. A lot of DFWer's use the DFW section of this forum to bash our beautiful city. Some just create posts to let us know what's going on in Dallas. But YOU are in a class by yourself. I haven't even seen ONE person (from Hou or Dal) that has agreed with ANYTHING you have said on this website. At least the other DFWer's would support each other's views (however misguided they might be) which might make me give them SOME credibility (however little). But you have ZERO here. You have made too many really stupid, flaming and inciting comments just to get a reaction to be taken as anything more than a troll. I think it would be best if you retired the nucklehead account and started over with new one. At least then someone might entertain one of your weird ideas for half a second. Just don't let Editor catch you again.

And still no one outside of DFW ever heard of LC. I think you are making LC to be a lot more important than it is (that's an understatement). AT&T moved to Dallas so it could make use of DFW airport, but they didn't move to LC, did they? Coors didn't even choose DFW at all. There is more to running a business, let alone being HQ than being really close to an airport. Like I said DT Houston is only about 20 minutes or about 10 miles to IAH. That isn't exactly far away is it? Besides all major metros have airports. Moving to an office park just to be near an airport in another city might make some sense for some companies. But when you say it is a threat to Houston's energy industry you are all washed up.

If only your philosophy professor could see you now. Trolling Houston architecture websites (from DFW) and creating threads so that you could make some crazy predictions in order to 'educate' Houstonians about the DFW real estate market with a lot of fantastic assumptions, no sources and no numbers to back up his outrages claims. I'm sure he would be proud that all his teachings were put to good use. Ad hominem my butt. I think it's o.k. to use personal attacks on internet trolls. Sometimes they get scared off.

If there is anything I can say to get this thread closed I will. I find it completely pointless. Your predictions will never come true so why should this thread stay open. It serves no purpose at all except to give you an audience of hecklers. The DFW section at HAIF has sunk to an all time low. You can be proud of that much nucklehead. Even the regular Dallas guy's won't touch it.

And when the oil boom reemerged, where did that happen? It begins with an H. And 20 years after the last oil bust most people still are not even aware of LC's existence outside DFW. BTW, It's my job to think outside the box, but you are thinking outside the brain. There are too many X factors in you logic that you are not even considering. To think outside the box one must establish what the 'box' is, but your logic is in a world of your own. Have you ever even met one person who shares your vision of Las Colinas becoming the energy capital of the world? Never mind, it is scary enough just thinking that there is one of you out there loose on the streets. LC will never be capitol of anything. It may be a threat to the office parks on I-35 E, or maybe the Dallas Galleria Area, but it makes no sense to move a HQ and relocate thousands of people just so they can be closer to an airport. The oil companies in Houston would build their own version of LC in Houston before they would move to LC.

I was really wondering what the strategy was in letting nucklehead continue to distract at HAIF. I guess it will blow over eventually, but it's a real shame to allow nucklehead all this power. It's so hard reading these crazy predictions based on far fetched assumptions and not try to discredit them. I guess next nucklehead is going to tell us the the port of Houston will also be relocating to Las Colinas after all our energy firms move there so that everybody will be close to DFW airport. What comes after that? The Williams tower will be moved to Las Colinas. And then San Jacinto Battle ground. And then the beaches of Galveston. That all follows the same logic to nucklehead arguments. Eventually, Las Colinas will swallow up the entire state of Texas so that we can all fly out of DFW airport and live in a great big (albeit lowrise) community of office parks. End this madness and lets all get some lunch.

How many oil companies has Houston lost to Las Colinas? You are basing your entire argument that Las Colinas will draw oil companies away from Houston so that it is easier for the executives to get to the airport from their offices. Have you ever driven from DT Houston to IAH on the Hardy tollway? It takes about 20 minutes. Why would a company move its HQ away from the energy capital of the U.S. so that they could knock 10 minutes off their travel time. You are crazy. Las Colinas will NEVER be a threat to Houston. YOU ARE CRAZY!

I don't now nor will I ever consider Las Colinas a threat to Houston. Or Las Colinas to a threat to Dallas for that matter. Now, Houston and Dallas will be a threat to one another until the end of time. But all this Las Colinas stuff nucklehead has been pushing down our throats for the last few days is just mindless dribble from a bored lunatic. No offense, nucklehead but it is.

At first I was annoyed by this thread, but now it is really is starting to make me laugh out loud. I guess next, nuckledhead will tell us that within 10 years Las Colinas will surpass New York City in population and that from now on DFW will be referred to as the Las Colinas metropolitan area and Dallas and Ft Worth are just suburbs of Las Colina, Texas (where ever that is). In reality no one outside Texas (and few outside DFW) ever even heard of it. It isn't even on the map. If nucklehead can start a thread called 'Crazy predictions' then maybe we all should. I predict that within 1 year DFW will have been eaten up by global warming and everyone will have moved to back to where they came from. It was 107 today, it's supposed to be 108 tomorrow. I think this explains all these nonsensical and incoherent ramblings coming from the north.