There is no doubt that the Houston area WILL get another theme park. The only question is when. There is a large demand in the Houston area and more than enough people to support it. A new park will probably be built somewhere in the suburbs 20-50 miles away from downtown where land prices are less expensive. Just about every major metropolitan area in the U.S. has a theme park within a 50 mile radius. Very few cities have large theme parks within the city limits. Houston was the exception, and that as much as anything else led to it's closure. I predict that this summer the downtown aquarium, Kemah boardwalk, and the waterparks will be packed with people looking for a place to fill the void that the loss of AstroWorld has created. I have no doubt that some smart local billionaire will eventually see the potential and capitalize on the local demand. AstroWorld made a profit for Six Flags for most (if not all) of the years that it was in operation. This community can and will support a major theme park. Just be patient. It will probably take several years of planning and fundraising for a new park to come to fruition. Just hope someone has the vision to make it a GOOD park. AstroWorld had some nice potential, but was severly handicapped by the lack of space to expand, parking issues, and bad publicity. Six Flags had to tear down rides in order to build new ones. Expansion was not as costs effective at AstroWorld than at other Six Flags parks. Even when I was a kid, and AstroWorld was in it's heyday, people always complained that the park was too small, compared to other parks. In recent years I have only heard bad things about AstroWorld. The park was unclean, rusted and decaying. Rides were closed too often. There were reports of riots. Worst of all, year after year there were no new rides or expansion. AstroWorld was suffering from a lot of negative publicity. My family stopped going there years ago. The chances of the Houston area getting another or better theme park than AstroWorld were never very good when AstroWorld was in operation. Although AstroWorld left alot to be desired, any other company that might have built in the Houston area would have had to compete with AstroWorld's ten (mediocre) roller coasters, WaterWorld, and an existing asortment of attractions. But now with AstroWorld gone there is a much better chance that the Houston area will eventually get a park that people will actually like. There's no local compitition. I would not expect a large theme park company to build a park in the Houston area. Most of the theme parks in this country were built by small companies or individuals with local interest and were later sold to large theme park companies. (big mistake) When the Oilers left Houston in 1996, a lot of people thought that Houston would never have an NFL team again. But Houston only had five seasons without pro football. Don't give up on a new theme park for the Houston area yet. AstroWorld has not even been gone a whole year.