IronTiger

Uh-oh, he's back to copying and pasting forum threads again. Here is a big hint: telling us the same thing over and over again isn't going to change facts. And copying and pasting forum threads/articles us the impression that you are not only a liar (given the multiple-choice backstory), but a simpleton who cannot understand the magnitude of highway projects and a troll who cannot think for himself.

They were thinking something like around $20 for lunch for two.

Fairly urgent here: some relatives of mine (not me) are going to the Theater District to watch a play on Saturday. They're asking me if there's anyplace nearby (they don't want to walk half a mile) to grab lunch afterward. I've only been downtown twice in my life, and never to that part of downtown (I'm happy to say that I was able to visit Macy's before it closed, and I have had a beer at a bar off Main Street). It seems like a lot of the cheaper places to eat are in the tunnels, which are closed. Is there a place to go, or should they just give up and head elsewhere?

Well, Slick, you successfully evaded the question. The question was "burying highways", not "removing highways", and I didn't ask for things in "planning stages". You failed to keep into the account of "last five years". You've also failed to understand why freeways are replaced with boulevards. Since you seem to admire outside blogs, take a look at http://keephoustonhouston.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/no-not-really/'>this, but I'll explain to you why each of those happened, starting from Milwaukee. - A pre-Interstate standard highway functionally replaced by a newer freeway. Portland also had the same issue, don't bother bringing it up. - These were spur systems that were never built out, so their use was already crippled. Also, they were patched up after the earthquake and never fully utilized the same way again. - Seoul had built their freeway on a river. While the river needed to be restored, accounts seem to suggest that it was ill-advised the way it is now. - Seattle is talking about burying the Alaskan Viaduct. No other discussions have been planned. - Vancouver never built any freeways to begin with. - Paris I have no information for. Please describe? - New York City removed one that was never open--it was damaged soon after a section was built and never reopened. With the exception of Seoul (which is an entirely different issue), all of these were either out of date or so poorly utilized it didn't make sense to maintain them as freeways. The only place in Houston where you could even make a case of removing is Spur 5, and even then, would be a viable, modern standards highway if they finished it.

OK, Slick, I'll bite: name five cities who have dug trenches or built tunnels (completed or started) for their downtown freeways in the last five years. Don't write proposals to do so, and don't copy and paste from forums.

Yeah, because reworking highways is exactly like SimCity, right?

Milwaukee demolished a freeway that was pre-Interstate standard and had already been functionally replaced. The Embarcadero was part of a system that never went to completion, so it was razed and replaced with a wide road. Boston's Central Artery was pre-Interstate standard: it had too many ramps, little merging room, too sharp corners, etc. Burying it created one of the most expensive road projects ever. That's not a goal to shoot for.

Well, I remember some pictures from the 2000 flood that made the highways look like small rivers, so there's that. US-59 has already been sunken in parts, and the bridges look fantastic. I like the idea of the Pierce Elevated being sunken, but I can already see logistical problems with it. The US-59 interchange will have to be rebuilt. Yeah, it is old and probably outmoded--but it's an awfully expensive project just to create a park. Klyde Warren Park worked because the freeway was already sunken. If they wanted to create parkland, try the Fifth Ward. Cap Interstate 10 from Waco Street to Lockwood. Restore Schweikhardt Street and Calles Street, removing those unappealing pedestrian overwalks.

The problem with closing it, even more important than loss of business: - The train is still there, and it would in theory increase the number of jaywalkers across the tracks, especially since there's no more crosswalks. - There's still other streets that cross Main. Personally, I still think the tracks should be depressed outside of the former Macy's, and restore traffic.

It looks like the building was built c. 1989, so it's plausible it was built as Fiesta.

Confirmed that Mariel's was near Post Oak Mall, not Weingarten's. Safeway was in Townshire at a point in the past, plus downtown, Culpepper Plaza the old Weingarten's at the bend (the only Weingarten's in town--later moved to north Bryan), catty-corner to the current Village Foods (later moved to the current spot). AppleTree inherited those, shuttering the downtown one early on, with the other three hanging on. The Culpepper Plaza location closed in 2002. It's now Spec's and OfficeMax. The other two kept on trudging through, converting to other names in 2008 (VF) and 2009-10 (the other one) H-E-B had Pantry locations in north Bryan, mid-Bryan, and College Station. These were opened in the early 1990s and closed over the years, with the Bryan one in 2004, north Bryan in 2011, and College Station in 2002. Tower Point did not replace a Pantry location, opened 2010. Kroger opened at Manor East, then moved to the Texas Avenue in the mid-1970s, then moved out to the bypass in the 2000s. The first CS location (still open) opened circa 1981, then the Rock Prairie one opened in 2000. Piggly Wiggly took over Brookshire Bros. at Redmond Terrace but died later. Piggly Wiggly was where Jacque's later was too (briefly a Jewel-T) and in the old Kmart Foods spot (in the late 1970s, a Lewis & Coker). That's all I can think of off the top of my head now.

Weingarten's got into the real estate business after it dumped their stores in the '80s. It by no means proves it used to be a Weingarten's. When I can sit down at a computer again, I might be able to nail down when the building was built.

Your comeback to livincinco is a triple post of news articles? ...I think you just lost.

The Rust Belt cities from Detroit to St. Louis, weren't afforded the luxury of annexation and as a result were hemmed in while the suburbs thrived. But Detroit has a bigger problem than that. The riots in 1967 were spun into a race issue, and having a mayor that branded every white family that moved to the suburbs a racist didn't help much. You also had unions who were stuck in the past when it came to new foreign competition, and a legacy of corruption stretching for decades. And you're talking about not having a light rail that caused them to be where they are now. Unbelievable, simply unbelievable.

The parking lot, even when accounting for the adjacent strip, is quite large (about 3-4 rows were cut in the highway expansion), too large for anything but destination furniture stores. It wasn't STØR, I know that much. Kroger doesn't make a lot of sense: why would they abandon it for the nearby old AppleTree? Winn-Dixie didn't have it either (no Houston stores). Mystery indeed.

The store I was asking about was at Blalock Market at Blalock and Interstate 10. I have a strong feeling that although it used to be a Fiesta, didn't start out as one. Rice Epicurean, perhaps?

The fancy Fiesta is in Sugar Land, in a former Gerland's. It has a sushi counter, Caribou Coffee, and other rare (for Fiesta, at least) features.

Prior to the new fancy Fiesta Market Place opening last summer, I didn't think that Fiesta operated any "fancy" stores. I'm aware that the 99 Ranch Market (or Ranch 99 Market, one of the two) opened in a former Fiesta on Interstate 10 (Fiesta closed during the Katy Freeway widening). Problem is, I'm having a difficult time believing it opened as a Fiesta, since it seems to be at home with second-run grocery stores (old AppleTree/Safeway stores, particularly). Was the Interstate 10 Fiesta originally something else? Sure seems like it.

The road will be extended to merge in with Westheimer, probably near Stanford. Demolition of a few buildings would be required. Speed limit would be 35 mph.

They tore down a restaurant in College Station, that many years ago was a Sambo's.

For that narrow part of Westheimer, you could reconfigure Avondale and have it carry the westbound traffic of Westheimer...you can even keep the street parking. Of course, this will inevitably make lots of people upset, but isn't that the spirit of redevelopment?

I remember that when a (now former) teacher of mine went to an Astros game downtown, he felt it was cheaper to pay a homeless person to watch the car instead of paying downtown rates. Since his car wasn't on cinderblocks afterward, I guess it worked?

I knew it! I'm getting a Houston library card so I can see the Chron articles again (new pay database, apparently).

1900 Old Spanish Trail, now a Kroger, but sure doesn't look like it was built as one. Was that a former Safeway/AppleTree?

When I ate at Katz Deli a few years back, I'm pretty sure we parked across the street but didn't have any problems with crossing Westheimer. At least that's what I remember.