IronTiger

I understand trains still run to Galveston island, but they ran to Pelican Island too, which is what the article was discussing. Trains haven't run to Pelican Island in decades, of course, though I screencapped some pictures of Google Street View, as seen on my old blog here, a nearly four-year-old post that's describing something that I remember from almost a decade ago (wow, it's been that long??) The point is, there seems to be talk that they want to build a railroad line as part of the new Pelican Island bridge, which is weird, as I mentioned before, as there's no infrastructure in that direction as it was torn out decades ago.

I've been reading some articles (many behind paywalls) about the state of the Pelican Island Bridge in Galveston. As you may know, earlier posts by me on the subject indicate that in 2005, I was fascinated by the railroad paralleling it (though components were already gone in 2005, and sometime post-Ike, the abandoned railroad leading up to it was stripped out: the line is on an extremely tight R.O.W. with not much room on the waterside or the road side. So upon realization that the bridge dates to 1959, and that the bridge is in poor condition, I have a few questions: 1) How bad a condition is the old bridge, anyway? Some scouring damage was mentioned, and studies are due for revealing more damage. 2) This article discussed a railroad bridge out there as well. Given that the last trains probably went there in the 1980s and the line post-bridge is completely gone (and has been for many many years), what would they need a railroad out there for anyway? 3) Are the elevated viaducts the same age? 4) What do you think the turn-out will be? Personally, I could imagine a new bridge going out to Pelican Island with the old one closed to vehicular traffic and used as a pedestrian/bikeway.

I've read about some of the things about Houston's historic crummy reputation and the appalling crime/pollution in Houston in the past, but how bad did it get? I know for a fact that at a point prior when I was born (we're talking late 1980s/early 1990s timeframe here), when my father was looking for a job away from Corpus Christi, Houston and the surrounding area was at the bottom of my mother's list on places to live. It's not like she had no experience in the area, her brother lived in Baytown as a white-collar Exxon employee during research, and while she tended to have an aversion to large cities, Dallas or San Antonio was somehow more acceptable...but she hated Houston with a passion. So knowing some of the legitimate concerns about pollution and crime in that era, was it really that bad in Houston (hence the topic title), or was it just a bad reputation?

Ha, that was my first guess. I had pulled up this before you posted next.

There's some rumors (not on this thread I don't think) that Albertsons would throw in the towel if H-E-B ever came to Dallas. While I'm not sure how true that rumor is, it is true that they are afraid of them, and besides, the ONLY CITY IN AMERICA where Albertsons and H-E-B co-exist anymore is in Cleburne, Texas (until 2011, New Braunfels, Kerrville, and College Station could claim that, but no longer). I think that the "Albertsons has high prices" thing isn't quite as true as it was, but reputations like that are hard to shake. Personally, I haven't stepped foot in an Albertsons since the CS one closed.

Rapid acceleration is kind of necessary for getting on freeways, especially if curves or shortness forces you to be slow on part of it. And WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T STOP BEFORE ENTERING THE FREEWAY AND TREAT AS A YIELD! You'll get rear-ended and/or P.O. the people around you...unless it actually is a metered ramp, but only a few of those exist in Houston.

Yeah, it's closer to Cypress and is now a facility for Sysco.

They could build a temporary parking lot at Cambridge and Lamar Fleming with shuttle service while they complete a parking garage, as that would end up closing some parking. However, I also tend to agree with others that a parking garage would ruin the aesthetic at Hermann Park (different thread). I disagree that somehow moving the zoo ~5 miles south would somehow add an hour to commute time.

It's Sparkle Signs nowadays, I mentioned in the new version of the page (seen here) that until relatively recently you could see an old McDonald's sign and other stuff behind it, but it's too overgrown from the highway to see anymore. I always liked that sign. New updates:

They could move to a new location. How about Almeda and Feldman? If they expand Kirby past Holmes and connect it to Almeda, that area would become a lot more accessible as a zoo, more parking, trees, relatively accessible. Yeah, it would be a lot of infrastructure to leave behind, but they could recycle that somehow--like incorporating that into a new aquarium, or something.

Supposedly, the new owners are using the new name illegally, which means it could have one of two outcomes: 1) The old owners win the suit and demand the current Marfreless change its name and branding, possibly with damages, possibly closure 2) The old owners did lose/transfer the name somehow and don't like the direction the new owners are taking it.

How do they handle cross streets? From what I see, Sawyer Street and Houston Avenue cross the "closed" area. Will they have cops there directing traffic or just put up barricades and expect drivers to work their way around?

One more for you--some of the things on the page were taken from a video I shot, which you can view here on YouTube. It does do a few jump cuts. Can you identify the areas filmed?

So it was actually an old Kmart that the Randalls moved into, probably late 1990s after the Venture reopened as a Kmart? Fascinating...but why would Randalls move into a smaller location, and why would the Randalls location be bigger than the Kmart location in the first place?

Indeed it is. However, I think the width of Dunlavy as it is, when properly striped, would still allow parked cars and bikes depending on the width. The street in Dallas I'm thinking of did encourage more bicyclists after it was restriped, even though on-street parking was still allowed.

Well, sort of. Dunlavy was never really a four lane road, it is merely a two lane road with some extra ROW for parking or bypassing other cars. In fact, around H-E-B and the Susanne, it's two lanes with a left hand turn lane. I do know of a road in that other major Texas city that's not Austin or San Antonio that did something just like that. It technically connected two highways, but it was always heavily residential in some parts. They converted the extra wide ROW to a dedicated hybrid parking/bike lane. Assuming the car is on the curb properly, it still leaves plenty of room for cyclists. To be honest, it all depends on the street itself, and Dunlavy is a good street to do that.

Yes, having two Krogers within the same proximity of each other is a bit confusing--they maintain that set-up for at least a decade, then both close within 3 or 4 years of each other. ...wait, Academy closed? Really?

Of course, I've taken that as to what he said and what's been repeated. If there were ulterior motives I can't say.

I kind of feel that he does have some nobility in releasing it: he didn't have a particular grudge with the government (as some people in recent times have done), he wasn't doing it for money, and he wasn't actually working for the other side (I think). Doesn't change what he did, but does make him more sympathetic.

If he went back to the U.S. for trial, they would find him guilty, and he'd pretty much spend the rest of his life in jail.

Yes, it would be very illegal...and there's already enough politicians and others working to manipulate the law behind closed doors. I like my "hanging gardens" idea nonetheless.

So a while back I was touting my new 290 Demolitions page, which was an attempt to catalog demolitions on Highway 290 as they happened. A funny thing happened, though, and I decided that I would be better off not cataloging demolished buildings but more about my memories of the freeway and what I liked it about it. Things I've seen consistently dozens of times, and things that are no longer. So I began revising it and taking it apart, coming up with a new version that maintains the URL, and in the process, a whole new original endeavor. While I'm working up a "v2" of the page that includes new pictures, and covers everything from Frenchy's to Northwest Mall, it's something I wanted to share and wanted feedback on. It covers some history before my time as well, including an appearance of a Handy Dan Hardware store... link.

I suppose one way to really test any "Pierce Removal" ideas is to just close off the Pierce Elevated completely for a trial period of 3 months, which could swing either way for removal or not. The trick would be convincing people what the real purpose is for: a "test to see what would happen if we removed the Pierce" has all sorts of negative connotations, no one will buy "maintenance" that would require total closure for months, and the most likely explanation is that TxDOT is doing it as some sort of cruel prank. Which is why they shouldn't do it at all. So here's my proposal...Behold! The "hanging gardens"! A combination elevated/sunken highway with tons of greenery, four lanes each direction, and even a wide/pedestrian lane. Of course, some buildings will have to come down...

The media and the general public. Not the administration, geez...