The entire area around NRG and the complex sucks. There is NOTHING pleasant about it, it doesn't represent the city well and is far worse of a concrete jungle that what is in NYC, CHI or other places. That should be a major hub for the city of Houston.... mix in some greenery, mix in some character, keep the area nice and safe and people will come.... I don't get the Houston aversion to this type of thing.
In the 80s the area around the Astrodome was the original Bissonnet Track. Maybe bring that back and it'll perk the place up.a bit. IIRC they cleaned it up for the 1992 Republican National Convention at the Dome because they were worried too many of the delegates would get picked up for solicitation.
and its not like there hasn't been stuff going on there since the stadium was first built.... That being said, I do consider the medical center/herman park to be close enough to the Astrodome, and that area has been very well (almost too well) developed.... but I don't think either site relies on the other at any point.
lol, nobody is living within the NRG complex fence... and nobody is going there to eat/drink unless they're going to an event there. Its been an event complex solely since the 60's. Expecting it to morph into anything else now is completely unfounded. If there was a plan that was a slam dunk moneymaker, it'd have been done already.
That's because it's currently a massive wasteland and massive parking lot, of course no one would want to live there as it's currently configured. My point was if there's more reasons for people to be there outside of events, that could change. There are several examples of stadiums with apartments and entertainment districts nearby. That whole neighborhood next to NRG is all apartments already.
It’s more that this has been established as event space since the 60’s. It’s also space owned by the county with full use permissions authorized solely by a sports team and HLSR. They aren’t interested in giving this space back to the city for development. They’re also not interested in being landlords or building their own livable spaces. Most of your examples are entertainment areas owned by the team. I’m struggling to think of prime living/real estate that are currently situated to football stadiums. They ultimately want a project or development that will generate revenue… but it’s obviously not a slam dunk/obvious option or else it wouldn’t take another 30 years to come to fruition.
@Astrodome, they are talking about your yard, basically. Doesn't seem fair. Everyone wants to park next to you but then they also want to rag on what that means for your front and back yards. Like, all you humans imagine what your yard would look like if thousands of cars and trucks parked on it and spilled beer on it and barfed on it for like sixty years.
I don't mean this as an insult, but respectfully, I think that mentality of "it's always been like that, it would never work" is exactly why this site has languished since Astroworld got torn down. One example of a stadium with new development nearby and removal of parking lots for garages is Lumen field in Seattle.
Is gambling legal outside of native lands in Tex yet? Because a casino would probably kill if they had lodging.
Having been in Seattle, that site has always been fairly integrated into the city with the baseball stadium (and mixed use development) right adjacent. Its downtown, its not isolated... works out well. The Superdome was also built in a central/downtown location. As was Ford Field. Meanwhile, check out Philadelphia and their massive sports complex with three (used to be 4) stadiums/arenas all sharing the same parking lot, same grounds. Same with KC and their football/baseball stadiums. There aren't livable condos or apartments being built there. If there are entertainment/restaurant options, they're all owned by the teams and usually aren't frequented when there are not games. Jerry-World, SoFi stadium, new Vegas stadium, Miami's stadium, Arizona's stadium... very similar setups to Houston. The Astrodome was put in the middle of an underdeveloped area simply for space purposes (as was IAH). Houston has tons of space. Houston also has plenty livable and mixed used entertainment options in the area (some of which have closed or not overly saturated due to poor demand). Is there a need for livable areas by the Astrodome? Are there restaurant/bar options that would be visited year round on non-gamedays that make economic sense? The site languishes mainly because that surrounding area is not (and has never been) a marquee part of Houston that is prone to further development, tourism, or urban growth. Houston has done well with surrounding downtown, midtown, uptown development.... and then of course the suburbs. Houston will build/invest in places that make economic sense.
Hard to believe it's been over 20 years since the last big event at the Astrodome and this prime real estate is still a giant concrete desert. Austin would have had a space like that filled with skyscrapers, parking and a big park in the Astroworld area.
Turning the old Astroworld lot (across 610) into something similar to what Jerry World has would force them to do something with the Dome. That has to be 100 acres with a cool pedestrian bridge over the highway.
Already here... my point was just the crazy rate that new buildings are going up in Austin. Leaving such a prime area near downtown Houston barren for 2 decades is frustrating -- at least funding is in place for the dome. 2011 2024
The Astrodome is not near downtown houston…. And the area surrounding the dome has been barren for 5 decades, not 2. Downtown Houston has also seen tons of new buildings and growth in the adjacent areas.
And this pretty much epitomizes how Houstonians rationalize “distance”. Downtown Houston has plenty of surrounding areas: Eado, midtown, Allen parkway/tinsley park (and all of those have seen significant growth as well). Astrodome/South loop is not one of those. Hell, the Heights is closer to downtown…. And I just consider that area the Heights (also another growth area). The implication that Houston hasn’t seen urban growth, or wastes empty space, is simply false. The surrounding Astrodome area hasn’t seen that expansive growth since 1965 because it’s a shitty area of Houston…. And putting lipstick on the Astrodome won’t all of a sudden have people coming there on non gameday events. I’m for making it “something”…. But it would have to serve to augment NRG stadium or the convention center experience, because that’s why people do spend time on those grounds.
