JJVilla

We've talked here and in others posts about flood control so I though that the following Quora post about Toyko flood control could provide some great ideas for improvement in Houston system:

Quote

 

Tokyo is protected against flood by gigantic constructions under the ground.

They are invisible in our daily life, but they sure help us to remain safe when Tokyo is hit by torrential rain.
 

One such example is the Kanda River Underground Retention Basin made up of 4.5 km tunnel 40 meters under the ground.

 

 

More details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanda_River and http://www.5election.com/2013/10/27/kanda-river-retention-basin-one-of-tokyos-protection-system/

So you think that all those luxury buildings with resort style living and luxury furnishing has REALLY and CLEARLY added value to our education system.

The analog that jumps out to me is what I've see is the school situation here in New Orleans. We have a kid in Pre-K3 that costs $5k in a great area while my of my co-works is looking at almost $15k for Pre-K3 in New Orleans Uptown. Yes, the location is slightly richer but the average salary from where I live and Uptown NOLA is very similar. So do you think that the extra luxury of the other school is work $10k at this level.

Getting back to the exact question at hand - I know that those luxury amenities on campus (not even talking about private housing off campus) has not helped the education at UT (or would wager that at any other or not many school that's built them). I know for a fact the ranking of my department (according to US News) has NOT moved at all since I graduated (when these luxury amenities were being opened) compared to the present when they've been open and expanded exponentially. People that have graduated in that last few years would tell you this too since I've spoken with them myself regarding this waste of resources and is the main reason many of don't donate to any University-wide fund! It's just put much more money in the Administration's and construction company's pocket.

Yeah no that's cleeaaaaarrrllllyyyy all I hear from this argument and I'm glad I typed out my eloquent analysis on the state of American higher education on a small localized architecture forum in so few words at 1 in the morning...

Edit: I probably said too much again.

 

The subject of my post was that some of the jobs that are going away in this bust may never come back. I put a little too much detail into it. Suffice it to say that the management of my company is saying that some energy industry jobs that will come back but they will be in China instead of Houston.

Energy jobs going to China - this could cover a wide spectrum under "energy" but I would guess these are commodity type manufacturing focus or did I miss something? I doubt Exxon and Shell are moving upstream jobs to China.

Allen Pway to southbound 45 is one of the best heart-pounding, white-knuckle experiences to be had in our otherwise bland city. For best effect, make the trip when 45 traffic is light and really moving, and have a raging guy with doolies on your back bumper.

 

Im gonna miss it.

Funny you mention this because when I bought a nice sporty car that's where I was taken on the test drive and the second time. It definitely sold me on the drive and car!

Currently live in Long Beach but formerly lived in Uptown.

In this case it means mostly best for sellers although it does imply that buyers are still getting good value compared to other markets for the current economic conditions.

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If you ask me, this whole "fiscal cliff" thing is the biggest scam since "Y2K" (the end-of-millennium panic over nothing). The world is not going to end come January 1st. I suppose there will ever be a cottage industry of politicians and blowhards (if that's not redundant) with us, trying to stir up the populace for some reason or another. Their motto could be "this just can't go on!".

This bold part explains mostly what I was trying to state in my previous post.

This "fiscal cliff" talk and scare tactic is just is just another trick for politicians (on both sides) to fleece us. They make it sound so complicated and/or scary so that they have to "compromise" to save us (aka stuff their pockets with our money by buying each other out).

Yes, being being a millionare in CA means you just can afford an average living. I am mostly kidding.

The crane is where the elevators will go?

Nice. I have never been to Frankfurt even though I have connected at it many times.

The great news is that Wal-mart has already started to decline since their demographics and source of cheap products will soon be exhausted.

They have unique items, and their own line. Worth checking out when things calm down.

People from the NE and Cali I'm sure are excited because it was a staple for them back home. If I moved to Cali and they decided to open a huge Spec's I would be there opening day. I actually did hear a girl on her cell saying "I just checked out at Trader Joe's, it feels like I'm back home".

You can say that again! I would trade a Trader Joe and all the Bevmos for a Spec's. Bevmo is the closet to Spec's in SoCal.

Gross, hell no. Diet sodas and artificial sweeteners in general are nasty. I can do the real sugar and I'm nowhere near fat. It's call moderation and getting off of your ass on a regular basis. This would be as idiotic as the gulf oyster ban. How about people take responsibility for themselves and their kids?

Potatoes, namely french fries, are far more responsible for the fatness of America than soft drinks.

It's funny you say this since we talked about this at our compnay lunch & learn yesterday (the speaker was a nutrionist) but to keep it simple her main point was that the less something is processed the better it's for you (buy more at the perimeters of the grocery store where the natural, raw food is found) and read the labels carefully. Labels can be sneaky since they are resorting to splitting up the salts and sugars so they hope you think it's healthy since "sugar" and "salt" are not listed.

So going back to your point - moderation and education are the key and the potatoe itself is great but NOT good when fried in low quality oil and salt. Unless you are diabetic I would also stay away from diet, light or other products with artificial sweetners since the jury is still out on how bad they are. This is like the butter-margine battle where hydrogenated fat/trans fat was prematureley being promoted as better than butter (till 1990s). Some of the sweetners were derived by accident and one was suppose to be weed killer!

Drove by today, and I must say that this is an absolute game changer for Houston, plus it compliments West Ave further down Kirby. I was in absolute awe, and trust me when I say, the more these dense mixed use developments get built, the better for Houston. They add so much to an area its unbelievable. With the addition of BLVD Place, Regent Square, and River Oaks District, Houston is going to be a home run urban city with nice organic infill like Rice Village.

Yes, the development of the inner Houston/Loop and projects like these are catching many people's attention. I spoke to someone that works for Archstone here in LA who stated that they will be developing 2 projects in the loop area and will keep this in their area of focus.

I don't think he has really derailed the thread. He is merely daring you to think, and to investigate. Rather than take at face value what the "greens" tell you, Niche dares you to research it for yourself. Truth be known, Niche Reduces and Reuses himself. He simply does not recycle much. But, he is just as cheap...possibly moreso...than you, and apparently for the same reasons. He, as you, sees little value in paying outrageous prices for ambiance (especially faux ambiance), or for products that you wish your friends to see you with. In fact, Niche sees right through the whole green movement. He knows that green hipsters are largely hypocrites, purchasing huge amounts of 'green' products, when simply using less of a product is actually better for the environment. He knows that Whole Foods brings in products from all over the world, at great cost of fuel, while Walmart is buying locally grown, but unhip, vegetables.

The hip are not content that you conserve. You must conserve for the right reasons. It matters not to them that Walmart is the country's largest user od solar energy, because Walmart does so to say money. It doesn't matter that buying all of your staples in one trip to Walmart saves gas. They drive their Prius to WF, Central Market and soon, Trader Joes, and buy some crap they claim saves the planet, oblivious what they did to the planet to get it.

The reason plastic is cheap is because it cost little to make it. The reason it cost so little to make is because it uses less energy. Less energy is good for the planet. That the plastic will not decompose is a dubious claim, since it will be buried in a landfill that no one will ever dig up. What does it matter? This gets us back on topic. Houston is looking to ban plastic to burnish its 'green' bonafides. We could stand to look better to the world, given our Energy Capital status. But, don't think we are saving the world by banning plastic bags. We will simply consume something else that takes more energy to produce.

This is true but the sheeps (or hipsters) can't comprehend. Don't buy something that you don't need, even it's green, or reuse what you have!

^{I just don't see this happening here. But, would this include produce bags?}

If they follow the Long Beach example the produce (i.e. veggie) plastic bags wouldn't be impacted and you would be able to get paper bags for a nominal fee (5 or 10 cents each).

We are under a plastic bag ban here in Long Beach and I'm not against it but it did give China more business for cheap bag whereas the plastic bags were made in the USA, which put those companies out of business or hurt severely (according to local article highlighting unintended consequences). Also, having these plastic bags for bathroom trashliners or small amount of smelly garbage helps. Target and the likes were except from this ban, at least for the short-term, so I still get the free small trashcan bags.

Buying power - most people don't understand, way underestimate or choose to ignore. Another aspect that people always talk about is quality of life when trying to downplay Houston but in other places it means that you need 2 incomes to live in a decent place, have a huge commute or have many roommates unless you're filthy rich (then you can live in Moscow, NYC, London, etc and have your San Diego/Miami penthouse condo). Living in these cities with low buying power also means having no to minimal savings and/or safety net (emergency fund, life insurance, retirement savings, etc) not to mention disposable income.

Woolie, everywhere has a set of problems, but Kinkaid is right. Honolulu is especially problematic.

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(Please note, my perspective on the matter is that I lived with a Samoan emigre for a couple years, and he and I had talked about this. He hated Hawaii for pretty much all the same reasons that Kinkaid stated, citing lots of examples from within his own family.)

Learn something new everyday. I think some of the pros of living in large, diverse city like Houston (or LA) can be overlooked or not appreciated sometimes.

Just more bad news to pile on the plate:

http://finance.yahoo...-013013400.html

Southwest literally beat the snot out of United in Denver. Southwest has been serving that market for just a few short years and they've totally chipped away at United's market share.

Also, Southwest announced double daily nonstop flights out of Hobby to Indianapolis and a single daily nonstop to Orange County starting in November. Looks for United to stop flying to Rio de Janeiro as a result.

OC to HOU would be great for me.

HEY, dont pick on Champions, its my hood

As far as the complaining about the schools being ghetto or falling by the wayside because kids from the lower end of the economic scale are attending them, thats garbage. If people in these areas are so concerned about the schools going down hill, send the kids to private schools. My guess is, some of the complainers about kids from a lower tax bracket are themselves living pay check to pay check and are drowning in debt. Take a stroll through some of the areas above that are mentioned and look at the for sale signs and look at the number of foreclosures and you will get my point. Many of the people with thier homes up for sale have lived in them for less than 5 years. Amazing

Right on and agreed about stressed people not living within their means.

I graduated from KF in 1998 and was one of those "lower economic" kids that lived in Willowood. It's become a bit messy within the HS boundaries these days but denying someone the opportunity to attend a quality school because of where they live, within the boundaries, is wrong and not sure where I would be without that chance. A bit of perspective would go a long way and the HS, even with issues, is much better than most in the county (if not state).

Just want to be clear - I know nothing of Chevron coming. It just seems like one of the more logical outcomes considering all of their investment in downtown over the last 10 years or so, California's less than inviting business climate, Houston's energy status, etc.

One of the main reasons for Chevron & Oxy not moving their HQ from CA to TX is PR/business advantage. If they were to move their HQ from CA to TX then they would just be another outside company trying to get business in CA plus they would lose their "pull" or barrier to entry advantage. The main question is how long and how much this advantage is worth to them compared to opportunities elsewhere vs. threats in CA.

An article supporting various points mentioned here:

Cincinnati, Ohio and Houston/ Bush had the highest air fare averages at $504 and $494, respectively.

While Long Beach finished second to Atlantic City, it closed the gap, as the East Coast airport's average flight cost rose from $167 to $189 over the course of the quarter. Las Vegas was third at $267

http://www.presstele...urce=rss_viewed

http://www.bloomberg...n-busy-hub.html

They would also do well to add some flights to El Salvador when this expansion goes through.