Houston19514

Here's a link to a May 29, 2008 invitation to a ULI event focused on the Mix @ Midtown. Note that it describes it as a 5-block development and shows a picture of the 24-Hour Fitness building and specifically states the project will include 24 Hour Fitness. The Mix @ Midtown

Yes, having the arena in Victory is marginally better for downtown Dallas than having it along some freeway in a suburb. But having the arena IN downtown Dallas would have been immeasurably better for downtown Dallas than having it at the far end of Victory, across a freeway from downtown Dallas.

The whole multi-building development, on both sides of the street, was always "The Mix"

Yeah, I think they made them so they have platform level loading (i.e., you don't have to go up steps to get on the train car.) You know, like Houston's very first batch of cars...

I see what you are saying (although at 200 MPH, the 35 or so mile advantage that DFW would have becomes pretty insignificant). Now, if DFW gets all direct service with no changes required and we don't, then we'd be getting screwed. That should just not be acceptable (and not just for Houston, it would be giving Texas a very mediocre system)

That is only if you assume that a connection is required for travel on the Houston leg; something I don't think we actually know. It is very possible there could be just as many direct trains from Austin/San Antonio to Houston as to Dallas. I really doubt if they actually have the operations planned to that detail.

Why does Dallas keep doing the same thing with regard to sports facilities downtown and apparently each time thinks it will turn out differently. Like American Airlines Center/Victory Park and the Reunion Arena/Reunion development before it, while this is a nice development, it will do almost nothing for downtown Dallas.

Yes.

But before it came to Houston, it was at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC too.

Yea, that exists, but it doesn't really contribute much of a hole to the skyline, especially in the shot they posted. (and more to the point, the quote spoke of mulitple 50-story buildings next to multiple one-story buildings.) One of the major oft-overlooked contributors to the so-called holes in our skyline is the fact that we have very small blocks downtown, so there is, in most cases, only room for one large/tall building per block, and it's completely on a grid. They also could have used a picture taken more recently, say sometime since 2001. There would be fewer "holes".

Where are all of those "50 story buildings" next to "one story buildings" that supposedly leave holes in our skyline?

Wasn't that, or at least most of it, already in the stimulus package?

It's the same federal map for high-speed rail corridors that has been out for many months. There doesn't really seem to be much ground-breaking news here.

I don't think so. But, in any case, more prohibitive for their use here is the resoundingly negative reaction the idea has received when it's been proposed (eg West Loop, Southwest Freeway)

Exactly right. Problem solved. And Burlesona really went off the tracks with the last paragraph: "Clearly, there is no way in this universe that 12.4 million people are going to be efficiently served by a single freeway. How, then, is building the Grand Parkway "just like building the loop" or "just like building the Beltway?"" How are we suddenly trying to serve 12.4 million people with one freeway? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the Grand Parkway plan includes tearing out all of our existing freeways... ;-) I presume what he meant to say was that we would be serving 8.4 million people with one freeway. But of course that is equally wrong. First, in his theory, the 8.4 million people would all live between the Beltway and the Grand Parkway. They would obviously be served by both freeways. Second, they would also continue to be served by the spoke freeways. In fact, many, if not most, of the boxes on his map show two freeways serving the territory.

Nonsense. There will be no 3-hour commute AVERAGE in 10 years, 20 years, 26 years, or 50 years. For the reasons clearly explained by several posters above.

I've told you this before. Yes, I am a frequent bus rider. I have never seen an unsanitary bus or experienced notably bad service. No, I do not know numerous people in the organization, but that doesn't really seem to have served you very well and it certainly does not entitle you to make up "facts" or spread unfounded rumors. (Ask yourself this, how could your insider tell that it was an armored vehicle?) BTW, J. Liggins, even you expressed a little doubt about your rumor in your exchange with Mary Sit on the Metro Blog... Odd that you would proceed with posting it here when you admit he might have been riding with someone else and that you hope it's not true. (and again, how do you or your supposed insider friend tell by sight that a car is armor-plated?)

Or, here's a thought. . . you could keep it to yourself until you have any evidence at all.

Pretty much what I said. Except I guess the Cinco Ranch and Sugar Land campuses report to the System, not to any of the individual universities. The confusion I feared was regarding UH-Clear Lake. The way you wrote it, I was afraid you gave the impression it was completely stand-alone and was not run by the UH System.

I think you are unintentionally confusing matters. All UH universities and campuses are run by the UH System. The UH System includes a number of separate universities. UH UH Downtown UH Clear Lake UH Victoria, I think The Cinco Ranch and Sugar Land campuses are part of UH I believe, meaning campuses of the central university.

double click on the video and it can become full-screen

VERY cool. I love that they are at least thinking big. I hope this can happen.

Ditto (and without even seeing it, I'm prepared to call BS on it. AN AVERAGE three hour commute? A lot of people in this town currently and will continue to have very short commutes, such as myself - 10 minutes - For every ten minute commuter you'll need a person with a 5 hour and 50 minute commute to average to 3 hours. Even if they are talking round trip, it takes a 5 hour and 40 minute commuter to balance every 10 minute commuter. Assuming it's round-trip numbers, for every 1/2 hour commuter (and there are LOT of those in Houston) it will take a 4 hour commuter to offset. Even a lowly one-hour commuter would require 2-hour commuter to average out to three hours. This strikes me as completely absurd.

exactly.

Not just pretty much. They dropped the Texaco portion completely from the company name, pretty shortly after the merger. Its name is "Chevron Corporation." Texaco only exists as a brand name, no longer as a company.