Jump to content

Houston19514

Subscriber
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    8,942

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    31

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Houston19514

  1. Houston19514
    Yes, the space in Pearland is all for detention. Pearland has beautification plans for those detention areas, but they are in connection with the construction of (and following) the Brazoria County Expressway project, which I don't think is even done yet. FWIW, in the last five years, 288 has been expanded and the intersection with 518 reconstructed.
  2. Houston19514
    Vary interesting. Thanks for posting. The entry labeled as Pennzoil Place south, is actually for the total of both towers of Pennzoil Place, correct?
  3. Houston19514
    That is dreadful. The street level looks decent, but we have GOT to stop allowing parking garages to be built like this, especially in the center city areas like the Museum District. They are destructive to neighboring properties and to the city.
  4. Houston19514
    The model apparently was more representational than a precise replication of the plan. The tubes being installed are very much what was described from the beginning (and shown in the renderings).
  5. Houston19514
    In the case of Sugar Land, the land on the east side of University is owned by the city and Newland Communities (the developer of Telfair) and the vision is for a convention center hotel complex plus a community visual arts venue on the city land and there is some plan for a mixed-use development on the Newland property. I suspect the land west of University is owned by UH and I imagine they have expansion plans.
  6. Houston19514
    The Supreme Court case did not give private developers the ability to use eminent domain. Generally, the power has to be exercised by a governmental authority. The Supreme Court allowed governments to use eminent domain for the purpose of assembling property for private development. However, the Texas Constitution does not allow eminent domain to be used for private development as was allowed by the US Supreme Court. The ability of Texas Central to use eminent domain (which, contrary to your post, I'm pretty sure they have not exercised) arises from Texas Law that grants certain eminent domain powers to railroads and pipeline companies. It is not available to private real estate developers.
  7. Houston19514
    The glass tubing IS translucent. Pretty sure there has been no change in this particular design element. They are etched glass, just as originally planned. When the design was presented, Steven Holl (the architect) used these words: Regarding the skin of the building: “a cool jacket,” composed of “sandblasted glass tubes” that “allow the building to be a glowing, translucent, matte-finish presence.” .https://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2015/01/translucent-complementary-contrast-steven-holls-alluring-expansion-of-mfa-houston-with-video-2.html
  8. Houston19514
    Demolition of the old Terminal C North concourse structure is well underway. You can see it in this YouTube video.
  9. Houston19514
    I think the construction in the second pic is related to the renovation of the old clubhouse building. https://www.hermannpark.org/plans-projects/historic-clubhouse/
  10. Houston19514
    FWIW, the lots were already cleared last June (2019). Townhomes seem like a good guess. OR, might The Post Oak School have expansion plans?
  11. Houston19514
    I'm basing it on what I see in the video. Carefully watch the portions of the video where they show passengers boarding. The floor level of the vehicle is higher than the level of the station platform. That wouldn't be ADA compliant and is not what would we call level boarding. Pretty difficult to board in a wheel chair.
  12. Houston19514
    It appears they built the thing with platforms that do not provide level boarding. Once built, building higher platforms is hardly a "simple fix".
  13. Houston19514
    It's BRT with electric vehicles, but apparently without even having level boarding. IMO, the quick-charge battery powering is the coolest part about it. While it is theoretically "autonomous" (self-driving). It appears they do not operate them without drivers.
  14. Houston19514
    It's really not that simple. First, everyone dies. The analysis has to consider how much earlier people die than they otherwise would have. I read recently that a substantial number of corona virus deaths are elderly or otherwise-compromised people who likely would have died within a year even without the virus. The analysis has to consider that, along with the possibility that in the long run, many millions of people might have shorter life spans as a result of the lower prosperity caused by the economic shutdown. Plus, there remains the unanswered question of exactly what is expected to be accomplished by the economic shut-down. Flattening the curve does not necessarily mean fewer deaths from the virus. It just spreads them out further.
  15. Houston19514
    Really? It seems like there might be different data and electrical service and/or HVAC requirements, not to mention different load-bearing capacities if there might be medical equipment such as MRIs etc.
  16. Houston19514
    Not exactly. The Texas Commission on the Arts has designated the "Washington Avenue Arts District" as a (not the) state-designated cultural district (one of five such designated districts in Houston, seven in the metro area). Demonstrating Houston's difficulties with successful branding, the state designated it (presumably at the district's request) as the Washington Avenue Arts District, the street signs in the area say "First Ward Arts District" and it seems to operate at least on the web, as "Arts District Houston".
  17. Houston19514
    A massive economic slowdown is not a remotely possible outcome???? It's already happening. At the margins (which is where everything happens), there are already millions of people whose future health outlooks are diminished as a result of the shutdowns, and millions more to come. As a society, we will in fact be less prosperous and therefore have reduced health outlooks. I don't pretend to know where the crossover point is, but it's a discussion that should be had, openly and honestly, without hyperbolic claims that to have the discussion means you want to sacrifice 2% of our population or all old people.
  18. Houston19514
    Interesting. I had not idea buildings in Houston had been destroyed by the 1900 hurricane.
  19. Houston19514
    Just to be clear, the harms to health that can be expected to arise from an economic shutdown (or massive slowdown) are not due to civil unrest. It's about the million little things that would not longer be economically viable... money no longer available to invest in medical care, medical research, better building standards (there's a reason wealthier societies generally suffer fewer casualties from earthquakes, hurricanes, etc.), better food production and distribution . . . Not to mention the fact that, without jobs (and income), it's kinda hard for people to buy food, shelter, medicine, and healthcare. Indeed, we hope there will continue to be medical discoveries, but without an economy to support that research and production...
  20. Houston19514
    The point isn't to sacrifice x% of people merely to avoid economic harm. The point is that, at a certain point, economic harm is also bad for society's health and could in fact cause more deaths than the x% being "sacrificed".
  21. Houston19514
    I think it had started. I believe they had reached the point where the crane base was installed in the last week or so.
  22. Houston19514
    That is based on a number of assumptions that are far from evident. (1) All or any substantial number of businesses can operate efficiently for the long-term with all or a substantial majority of workers WFH (probably not the case; certainly not the case for a very large number of businesses/employees.) (2) All or a substantial majority of the reduction in traffic we are seeing is the result of people not going to work (pretty clearly not the case); (3) No further growth.
  23. Houston19514
    Just to clarify, that it is not exactly what was reported. It was reported that "10% fewer cars on the roads would mean a 40% reduction in traffic jams." https://www2.deloitte.com/be/en/pages/strategy-operations/articles/future-of-mobility-press-release.html More important, I don't know where that conclusion came from. I cannot find it anywhere in the actual study.https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/be/Documents/strategy/FOMBrochureFinalVersion.pdf It's in the press release about the study, but it does not seem to be in the study.
  24. Houston19514
    2019 metro area population estimates were released yesterday: July 1, 2019 population: 7,066,141 July 1, 2018 population: 6,976,147 2017 population: 6,900,090 2016 population: 6,806,503 (they revise each year's estimates) 1 year increase: 89,994 Growth rate: 1.3% July 1, 2010 population: 5,947,236 9-year increase: 1,118,905 Percentage growth since July 1, 2010: 18.8%
  25. Houston19514
    Agreed. I wish I had more confidence in our city's leadership, including police department leadership. I'm hearing way too many first-hand accounts of police taking ridiculous amounts of time to respond to true emergencies (e.g., 45+ minutes to respond to an active home invasion, with homeowners hiding in their home). Combined with the out-of-control homeless throughout downtown, midtown, Museum District etc, we're starting to have the feeling of an out-of-control city, and not in a good way. I love all of the park projects and bike-lane projects and such, but if we don't take care of the basics, they will have been a huge waste of money.
×
×
  • Create New...