IronTiger

You wouldn't happen to have copies of that commercial, would you?

Wow, that's pretty cool. How many square feet was the Foley's flagship at its heyday? I imagine it was at least 700k.

So I've doing more research on the subject, I gathered a few newspaper articles on Auchan and stuff, learned that bigg's is closing, and then came up with questions again. Such as the question of how Auchan was pronounced: was it "aww-chan" or "oh-shun", or possibly even "oh-sha" or "oh-shawn" (Wikipedia seems to indicate it's the third one, but wouldn't that make the "n" silent?) Secondly, I'm fascinated by the 2000 store on 610. It's 180,000 square feet...the approximate size of a Wal-Mart Supercenter...yet they say a Target was there before? Surely there had to be a co-tenant...Target rarely builds stores that are 180,000 square feet, and certainly not in the 1990s or before. A quick look on Google Earth reveals that the 610 Auchan building was around in 1978! Intriguing, yes...does anyone know what it was in the past?

Rick Perry was quoting something along the lines of "I don't see why we need traditional textbooks in four years" citing ebooks as a replacement. It's not enough to make me vote for Bill White, but geez, what an idiot. Fiscal conservative he is not.

Probably not. They recently repainted (removing "Supercenter" from the sign, oddly) and remodeled the Caldwell store. I should go to Navasota's (rather small) Wal-Mart to see an "small-town" Wal-Mart before it's too late! Google Maps has updated, letting you see the expansion of the Wal-Mart from the air.

Last week, the original entrance doors have finally closed.

According to 1974, this section was completely different. In 1974, if you were looking east from the Pelican Island Causeway, instead of a lake near some industrial areas, it was all completely different warehouses and stuff. The swampy lake area happened AFTER 1974...

Also, Google Earth has updated Galveston recently as well with a 1974 pic. And I haven't seen the Galveston pic on Historic Aerials. While not nearly dramatic as Houston I did find the swampy area north of Harborside Rd. was some sort of warehouse area. The Pelican Island rail spur is also fully intact.

Well, CityKid said some "facts" that weren't true, and almost everyone agrees that METRO sucks and Annise Parker needs to do something about it. I'm still with the "private company with a government contract" idea.

It is implied in this thread that toward The End, the tracks were in really bad condition. Can anyone confirm this?

Yes, I did realize that the Boston/Philly/DC/NYC/etc. megalopolis is closer together than the Austin/DFW/Houston/SA triangle. Now, if they were in the same state, we'd all be screwed. In terms of outdoor activities, every state DOES offer something...but the "lesser" states often have golf and fishing as their main selling point.

Yeah, the space next to it has a sign that says it will be a power center anchored by H-E-B. Of course, that sign has been there for at least two years...

I personally believe, that with the government's exponentially increasing debt* and possibly even Houston's, I would suggest that METRO award a contract to a private company to run and build the LRT. What do you think? * (debt has increased recently, but maybe not exponentially. It was just put in for emphasis)

For all intents and purposes, Dallas-Fort Worth counts as one. Yes, I do realize that they are one, but as an MSA they count as one. I was going by MSAs, really. See, if I counted real cities (which I did not), I should've counted places like Sugar Land as individual distinct cities in the Triangle. Maybe the phrase "nothing to offer" was a bit too strong. If I could edit posts (which I can't...grr) that should be "not much to offer". The sad fact is, most of the other states in the Union often have golf courses as the top thing in the tourist guides because there's not much else...

There's a certain group of people around HAIF who always dream up ways to make Houston a superior, world-class city, comparing it to many other American cities: Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, and Dallas. But as much as we'd like that to come true, consider this: when you look at Texas as a whole, you get four fine cities, all wrapped up in a triangular interstate system. Can you imagine New York without NYC? Or Massachusetts without Boston? Or Illinois without Chicago? Or Georgia without Atlanta? Of course not, because beyond their Flagship City™, they have nothing to offer. But in Texas, we not only have Houston, but San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Austin. And when you throw in the other interstate cities (Waco, for example) and other cities not terribly away from the perimeter of the triangle (College Station-Bryan) you have a full house. So if you feel like Houston is not big enough or grand enough, take a look at Texas as a whole, a world-class state in itself.

An AboutTown press mentioned that at the apartments, "vermin of all types were evicted". I'm sure they meant more than just mice...

It's a terrible idea. With only cloverleafs and flyovers (and limited ones at that), it would be difficult to exit and enter the freeway. Miss an exit and you're doomed. Things along the freeway have no access to anything, and instead of thriving with commercial and whatnot, everything withers. Land value drops along the freeway, and the city becomes rather unattractive. See: New Orleans, Baton Rouge, other areas like that

I don't want to see Sugar Land become a low-income wasteland, but I think Sugar Land could use some downgrading. Not so much that it's no longer nice, but more to the extent bringing it closer to the blue-collar sugar-manufacturing land it once was. Waco has the Mars candy factories, though...

I'm mostly exploring and finding history via Google Earth and Street View, because the MKT just didn't run in areas that I've been in Houston. When I was younger, I didn't pay much attention to the railroads below (I wouldn't have seen it easily going past the 610 exchange), the inner-city parts were areas not explored (except for the museums), and by the time I got to driving on I-10, the MKT grade was completely gone. It was basically gone before I knew it.

- Well, the spur does go behind where St. Arnold's Brewing Company was as of June 2009 (I don't know if they've moved yet) - According to satellite imagery, it looks like said spur was abandoned in the early 1990s. - From Google Maps, it does look like 7th Street was dangerously close to the railroad. - I just saw a video of wigwags in action. It looks a little disorienting (a moving, flashing red light at night...that's crazy!) - At Old Katy Rd., it looks like the railroad ROW is way too close to the road, but it seems that they expanded post-abandonment. - The railroads were at least intact in 1995. By 2002 it was completely gone. Scars existed (such as Gessner Rd.) I'd still like to know the abandonment date. At least now I know the main reasons for the MKT's abandonment. 1. Redundant trackage 2. Traffic problems with road 3. Dangerous and antiquated crossings.

About Dacoma, it's a bit hard to see on Google Maps, but it resembles a railroad crossing thing with one light. Is this what it looks like (sort of?) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wigwag_signals_near_Devil%27s_Lake.jpg On a slightly related note, said railroad spur goes straight to where St. Arnold's Brewery is (was?) Was 7th Street (near the Cortland crossing) lit at all?

Looks like mostly apartments. Given the relatively recent "Woodlands of College Station", I hope that this isn't a trend of knocking off Houston neighborhood and suburb names for apartment projects. Sadly, LTAWACS, there's no indication there will be bars like the real Midtown in Houston. However, looking at the area as seen on Google Maps there are some improvements/barriers to overcome. 1. The area is very close to the railroad. 2. There used to be a surplus store up the road. It was always kind of interesting, as there was a sign that had a lit neon border but there was no name. Now it's a sex toy store. That could be evicted or something to help spruce up the neighborhood. 3. There was a major redevelopment of Townshire done several years ago, and a the carcass of a short-lived Albertson's is there. Something needs to be done!

Sounds great. Can't wait to visit.

On a slightly related note, I thought that the gates at what I think is the access road for Barker-Cypress Road (now gone, but Google Maps still traces it) went down awfully late for the train rolling down...

Sears is closing at Greenspoint in May 2010. And I thought Greenspoint was going back uphill.