VelvetJ

This is great news. The more unique, the better. This has already gotten Six Flags' attention. They will soon announce a new attraction for the long neglected Six Flags SplashTown in Spring. I hope this new "competition" will shake them into improving AstroWorld as well.

Statements like this scare me to a degree because IMO Houston has a tendency to think being behind is ok to a fault. It's great not caring how the world views us.....to a point. I don't think it's a situation of Houston existing at the mercy of outside opinion or city comparison, but also I personally am not content with Houston being "behind" for a city it's size. I generally am also pleased with the direction the city is going in, but I am also on pins out of fear that something like another Mercer and a Walmart Supercenter is going to show up on the rail line in Midtown, simply because a single developer believes he can make money. Danax, I hope you are correct about the proposed "back door zoning" because I think we all know the "free for all" atmosphere in Houston for developers can retard the potential that a place like midtown has and set the city even further back in creating that lone traditional urban neighborhood type of environment that can make a city attractive to so many people.

The Mercer is definitely a black eye to the Uptown Skyline. I could only wish it really looked like those renderings in the photo above. The windows on the back of the building look much smaller in real life. Until you are absolutely close to it, it looks like a 40 story solid slab of beige, which from a distance looks horrid. The profile view of it is just as bad due to the very small amount of windows. From what I understand, the back was left mostly solid to reflect sunlight which would help the residents keep their electric bills down. I don't know, but I wonder if this building would have been allowed to be built in Uptown Dallas or Buckhead in Atlanta. I hate to continue to compare Houston to other cities but it seems more architectural consideration has been at hand in buildings within the last 10 years in other cities than in Houston. I have really been impressed particularly by the designs that have been going up in Atlanta. Plus the one's that have broken ground recently and the one's on the drawing board are even better. IMO, some of our stuff appear to have been taken down the cheapest road possible and has come off as a little blah.

From what I understand, the High Five in Dallas is also scheduled to have the changing fibre optic lights like on the bridges over 59 in Montrose. Does anyone know if the West Loop and the West Loop/59 South exchange will be painted when finished or will it stay the color it is now?

Quick question here for anyone. Why are some of the support structures on Houston's freeways left exposed to rust and create those rust stains on the support columns? I actually have brought this up in the past and was told by someone here that it's too expensensive to maintain painted freeways. I then see photos of some of the freeways in Dallas and those particular sections of their freeways are painted. Does anyone know the true answer? I personally am not a fan of the rust look like in the pictues below. Link

Check out these pics of the High Five in Dallas. Link

I'm hungry.

I say we all go celebrate our victory with a nice fattening dinner at Niko Niko's.

I don't think anyone here has said Houston should become a "tourist town". That's not what it is. What has been stated is Houston should do a better job on it's tourism characteristic. Kzseattle mentioned that there isn't anything that "screams Houston" like in most other cities of our size. Many times, those things that screams the identity of a city happen to attract tourists. Wanting to attract more tourists does not mean our economy should be dependent on it. Dallas isn't characterized as a tourist town but they do a better job at tourism than Houston and see the results from it. When I mentioned in one of my earlier posts about Houston having it's own version of a space needle and honoring our space heritage in some way all over the city, it was meant to help Houston define itself more which in itself can lead to more tourism. Lets be honest about something....Dallas fits that "Texan" identity that most of the world recognizes (I still don't think the name "TEXANS" with the colors Red, White, and Blue, fit a football team for Houston. Houston isn't a red, white and blue type city IMO. I see that more for Washington D.C. or New York). We have a surname that is the "Bayou City" but honestly, when most people hear the word bayou, they think of Louisiana. I can't tell you how many people I have encountered that think the Bayou City is New Orleans. But, we DO have a Space Heritage, and like I said earlier, "Houston, We have a Problem" is automatically connected to Space. Our country's astronauts train and live in our city. Houston was the first word spoken from the Moon......guests entering our city on that drive or bus ride down JFK or Broadway from our airports should be reminded of this. Can we have TOO many museums dedicated to space in Houston? How about one in or near the museum district near the rail line? Houstonians have to get to a point where we truly understand that living in a city that outsiders WANT to visit, is not a bad thing. We don't have to be a place where the only people excited to move or visit here are people from small towns in Louisiana and small towns in East Texas. We can be a place that Chicagoans, and Seattlites, and Atlantans, and San Franciscans WANT to visit instead of them HAVING to visit or move here because of their job. Great Hizzy, I think Kzseattle's 11:52pm response addressed your reference to places like Miami, New Orleans, Orlando and Las Vegas.

kzseattle, you basically answered for me. Also note my initial post when I said, "tourism is never going to be Houston's bread and butter". I know Houston is a business town but my point was to say Houston can do SO much better in the tourism department. As I mentioned earlier, we as Houstonians can be complacent and blind to a degree and some of the responses so far have shown that again. Personally, I am not satisfied with the phrase referring to Houston as, "a great place to live but a terrible place to visit". Personally, I don't like the fact that many say Houston looks great from a high distance but on ground level it's a mess. Personally, I think it is indeed possible to incorporate our Space heritage more into our city and tourism. But sometimes it takes a series of leaders with a vision, and a gradual changing of a mentality. It has been my experience that we as Houstonians pride ourselves on our large freeways, and gigantic shopping malls and good suburban schools, things most "World Class" cities do not boast about. But not only that. Even on the business front, many business leaders here pride themselves on being able to literally do as they choose, many times with no regard to others (will someone please smack the owner of that Zone D' Erotica in Uptown?). Mattress Mack, whom I have a lot of respect for, actually defended and supported the appearance of I-45 north (the entrance to our city) because in his words, "it shows free interprise" . That says a lot. It's time to look beyond Houston being JUST a business town. Business and making money having STRONG priority over citizens and quality of life must be eased if we are going to another level. It's time to move beyond building the Taj Mahal in the middle of a slum then patting ourselves on the back, fooling ourselves into thinking we have made it and deserve a "Big Boy" crown. We should really shake ourselves. It's great not caring what the world thinks of us.......to a degree. There are times when it's ok to ponder how outsiders view us. If anything it at least makes us think. Welcome kzseattle.

I'm sorry to change the subject here but kzseattle, I must say I have enjoyed your posts so far. You have a lot of great ideas. It's nice hearing the opinion of a "outsider" that has taken the time to see where we need improvement. We as Houstonians I think get complacent about our city and that causes us to become blind to certain things. I loved the fact that you mentioned that there isn't really anything in this city that "screams Houston", and how you coupled that with the word tourism. I have been saying for a while that one of the major areas Houston should really put a lot of it's energy over the next 10-20 years is tourism and increasing it's "cool" factor. On a number of occasion, I have been struck down with, "Houston is a business town", and "Just be thankful for what Houston has now", but I think tourism is a major key in taking our city to the next level. One common ingrediant that most "world class" cities have is tourism, and IMO in order for Houston to really be the world class city that we already say we are, we have to do a better job in the area of tourism. I think we should really step back and take a look at the basic ideas of cities that have a lot of tourists and build from there on something that is uniquely Houston's or at least unique in our part of the country. Tourism is never going to be Houston's bread and butter but can sure help the city in so many ways. I would love to one day hear people in Atlanta, and Seattle, and Philly, and Frisco, say "we're going to Houston next year for vacation". Heck, I would love to hear people in Dallas and San Antonio say they are coming to Houston for the weekend. It's possible. I am encouraged by what's happening on Main Street and also Galveston but we could use a grand plan. We need to start to see our jewels in a new light. We need to nurture the Montrose and the Heights, two of our most unique neighborhoods. We could really make Sharpstown a destination with the right plan. And by all means, we should really take advantage of one of the most common positive images of our city to the outside world and that is SPACE!!!!!!!! "Houston, we have a problem" is known by most of the country and that is of course from our Space connection. Not to mention our "futuristic" skyline adds to that. IMO there should be honors to space all over our city in some form or fashion. We should refer to the city as "Space City" more. Why not our own version of a "Space Needle" or "Reunion Tower" near downtown Houston? Ok, I'm rambling but I love this city and that's why I have so much passion for the betterment of it. Houston has so much potential that it is just overwhelming what can be done.

Ironically enough, 59 inside of the loop from the edge of the Greenway Plaza area through the Montrose will look somewhat similar to what was done on the Central Expressway in Dallas. Once the construction is done, the ivy and vegitation has matured more, and all of the bridges with the fibre optics are finished, it is going to be just as attractive, if not more so.

I'm with you. There is more to life than someone making money.

It's nice but I still would have preferred something other than a "box".

That pano is AWESOME!!!

I have to say that the building is growing on me. I didn't like the design initially but it's turning out to look better than I expected. I also agree that Houston seem to have lost it's cutting edge spirit in a lot of things including building design. This is suppose to be Space City. Personally, I would have loved to have had Minute Maid Field, this new Criminal Justice Building, a lot of the new condo towers going up, some of the new projects in the Medical Center etc., with a more "forward" cutting edge look. It appears Atlanta has taken the "future" cutting edge title Houston used to have. Houston, shouldn't forget what it is.

Well, although I think he may be in the hunt for the Astros, a theme park would be great for Houston and it would be nice if he were indeed going that route. Six Flags has taken advantage of Houston for a long time now by not investing in the park because they know they don't have to, and the end result has been AstroWorld "going down the tubes" and is a national disgrace in the theme park community. Personally I would love to see a Universal Park, like Islands of Adventure in Florida. That park is perfect for what I think would work in Houston. It is a mix of a kiddie/family park with thrill rides. There are a lot of "traditional" styled families in Houston and there are a lot of young people. A park like that would cater to both. When I worked at AstroWorld, one of the common complaints was the kiddie area was not large enough and most of the rides in the park were too big for kids. On the flip side, due to space issues, AstroWorld/Houston has never had what is called in the Amusement Park community as a "Big Ride". We marvel at Texas Cyclone and Serial Thriller, but compared to many other parks those rides are "small change". Islands of Adventure is a fine mixture of both, that is so incredibly themed, it literally looks like it is not of this earth. Universal Texas could have a Texas Themed section, a Space/Future section(Houston), a large Kiddie/Family land, a area themed after a character or movie like at their other parks with rides like those that are found at Universal Studios, and possibly a Safari Section since Tillman is into exotic animals now . The themeing alone would be a draw. With regard to location, I think out 288 would be perfect. Someone mentioned a possible theme park idea next to the Race Park they are building down there, but I haven't heard much else. That location would be great in so many ways. It would be in relatively close proximity to NASA, Galveston's Beach, the Cruise Ships, Moody Gardens, Schlitterbahn, Gulf Grehhound Park, and even Kemah. It would also be not too far from Reliant Stadium, Hobby Airport, and Downtown. Not to mention a possible rail connection to all of these places in the future (I can dream can't I?) It would be ideal IMO. Tillman building a park would be great if no other reason than to teach Six Flags a lesson for taking advantage of this city. Who knows, maybe Six Flags will finally sell the park to the Rodeo like they have requested in the past and end it's days in Houston to make room for another park.

Uh, I'm trying to figure out why that statement was even introduced. Help me, please.

Thanks for that answer, I think my "emotion" scared everyone away. I have wondered about this for a long time, so thanks again for the answer Although I hope you are wrong, essentially, paying to drive on the freeway is the direction we are going in?

It's been said a few times that "xyz" will be for future use by Metro, and certain pieces of land is set aside for future use for Metro. At what point is commuter or light rail viable for Houston? Rail in this city is inevitable, so the longer we wait, the more expensive it was going to be. In the 90's commuter rail down existing tracks along 290 was dismissed and deemed too expensive. If we thought it was too expensive then, what about 10-15 years from now? Tomv said, "Our population will probably double in the next 20 years. There could be 12 million people in the area by 2040. Many of these people will drive cars. " The million dollar question is WHY will many of these people be driving? Is it simply because people will not get out of their cars? Seriously, why not invest more in rail now? What makes Houston that much different than Dallas? Why is aggressive rail expansion in Dallas so much more of a good idea than in Houston? Again, as gas prices continue to climb, flooding continues to get worse, and our air continue to get worse, Houston does not seem to be going in the right direction fast enough. We are retarding and deluding ourselves by planning more pavement and sitting on a hope that the arrival of a alternative to the automobile in 15-20 years is the most feasible answer to the issue.

If I'm not mistaken, I think I read on this site that there was going to be a SuperTarget placed there. HoustonRetail, where are you?

I was downtown at 12:30am Sunday morning (although it was chilly, the whole area was "jumping" with activity. Partiers on every street) and The Jefe was closed. If it is closed for good, I hope this is a opportunity for a more established reputable business.

Maybe not all but a significant amount, yes. Let's face a few things. As a whole, when are Houston's freeways their most congested.....during rush hour. Where are most of these people going during rush hour......to their places of employment and back home. In between those times of rush hour and on weekends, our gigantic freeways can sometimes look relatively empty for the amount of people that live in this city. So, IMO one of the biggest keys to easing Houston's congestion at it's worst is to get people out of their cars, or basically reducing the amounts of automobiles on the roads. How do we do that? Create a attractive, convenient, comfortable, fast, smooth, and cost friendly alternative to the automobile. Rail is a very good option for that. And for those that say there is no difference between riding a bus and riding a train, is fooling themselves. If rail already existed for residents of Katy or Sugarland but they also had the option of riding the bus, I'm willing to bet most would use the train. We have to ask ourselves WHY most would use the train instead of the bus. Now understand what I am NOT saying. Do I think Houstonians as a whole will begin to sell their cars, no of course not. Am I saying those that have the rail option for commuting won't ever drive to work again, of course not. Houston is too sprawled for, as a whole, it's residents to "get rid of their cars". Also, there are times when people have to run errands or have alternate plans after work and taking a train would be too inconvenient. But, let's be honest here, most people on our highways during rush hour are going directly to work and directly home. And if there are errands to be run like grocery shopping, or dry cleaning, kids at the daycare, etc., more times than not, they do those things at locations that are relatively close to their homes. The point is most days, commuters are going directly to work and back home, so most days rail would be the best option to the automobile. Also, the face of the city would change and if given a resonable option there are tons of people that would choose to live along or near the rail line, also reducing congestion. If Houstionians had the option of riding a train that they could use to go shopping, to the movies, to restaurants and to work, there are tons that would choose to do so. Look at what is happening in Dallas, particularly in Plano. Although it is not completely built out, imagine a train letting passengers off in the heart of the Sugarland Town Square. Those people that currently live in those apartments would be in WALKING distance of a train to work, a mall, a ice skating rink, a AMC 24 movie theater, a gym (the new Houstonian Lite Club), a TON of restaurants, a great relaxing foutain next door at city hall, and a hotel for visiting family members . The only thing that would be missing would be a grocery store, but there is one a mile away via car. If a train existed there, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand for highrise living in that area. Imagine pockets of scenes like this all over Houston. Imagine walking out of your apartment at Sugarland Town Square and catching a train that takes you to Downtown, where you would change trains and get on another that takes you to the heart of the Strand in Galveston. It's possible. But it has to be an option. Again, people will always drive in Houston, but with the price of gas (which we all know is not going to get any cheaper), our horrible air quality, our flooding situation that literally gets worse and worse every year, and our frustrations with congestion, Houston needs as many alternates as we can get. IMO, in cities the size of Houston, the automobile should be a OPTION not a requirement.

I have an idea, lets make Memorial drive a tollway from Downtown all the way out to Highway 6. How about turning Kirby Drive into a tollway from Shepard all the way to Reliant Stadium. Tell me Westheimer doesn't need to be a freeway from Midtown all the way to WestOaks Mall. IMO, Bissonette should have been a freeway from Highway 6 all the way to the Museum of Fine Arts, a long time ago. It would be for the greater good wouldn't it? I mean wouldn't it make automobile trips faster? Just because something CAN be done doesn't always mean it SHOULD be done and a tollway through the Heights should NOT be done.

A hardy welcome to you Glen. So removing those rail lines and placing a tollroad there was the correct thing to do? Only to one day add rail tracks again at a higher cost? I wonder when Metro will really be allowed to place commuter rail alongside that toll road....., when the toll road becomes packed with traffic? But then, won't that take money away from the tollway when people begin to take the train instead? Clearly our leaders would not want that . What exactly are the right circumstances for commuter rail to be viable in Houston? Even though Houston has some of the largest freeways in the world, apparently they are not yet large enough and are STILL packed with traffic everyday. I actually am not asking you these questions directly Glen, I am venting more than anything else. There is too much concrete in this city, a place nationally known for it's bad air. There is too much concrete in this city, a place that is prone to flooding to the degree Houston is. And the plan for sooo much more concrete in our future is discouraging and disillusioning. Please do not take this post personally. I hope I haven't scared you off.