Improving Houston

Is there enough demand to justify the cost? I mean it's not like the northeast with NYC, Philly, Boston and D.C.

 

Other than NYC, those Texas cities are just as large. The catch is that inbetween the cities in Texas, there's nothing. In the Northeast, states like Conneticut and New Jersey are packed with people.

Another problem is that in the Northeast, the cities are densely populated and they have really good public transportation systems. What happens to a Texan who takes a train from Houston to say Arlington? Does he take a cab everywhere? Renting a car would seem to defeat the purpose.

I think the benefits of a train system woudn't outweigh the costs. Not unless each city had an efficient public transportation not called waiting at a bus stop for half an hour in 95% weather or pouring rain.

 

Move all the live music clubs to Washington Ave. Do not let them go out of business and turn into hair salons, pizza places, parking lots or banquet halls. Washington Avenue should be our version of 6th Street.

Lose that silly HOV lane and replace it with a monorail. Or at least open up the HOV lanes on weekends. There is no reason those lanes should EVER be closed both ways. Ever.

All road construction should be done between 10pm and 5am on weekdays.

Fix the traffic lights downtown! You should be able to drive all the way through downtown at 30 mph without stopping at all.

 

I think Houston should get a monorail. Houston should try and capitalize on the space city image as much as possible. I think those big silver round traffic lights around the Galleria is kind of a good luck. Do little things like that all around Houston to make it have a Jetsons kind of feel. We should hype NASA as much as possible, lobby to bring other aeronautic, technology, and science businsesses and facilities to Houston.

I haven't lived there for a long time now, but I still consider Houston home.

 

Having a subway/monorail/etc. means jack if the city isn't pedestrian friendly, and Houston isn't one of those cities. Most places don't have sidewalks, and crossing intersections by foot is a dangerous proposition all around the city.

To better illustrate my point, I'll use Paris as an example since I was there this past summer.. Say you're trying to get to the Musee D'Orsay from anywhere else in the city. There aren't any subway stops next to the museum, so you have to get off 5 blocks away and walk. It's not a problem in Paris, because the the streets have sidewalks and there aren't any dangerous intersections to cross.

Now, imagine that Houston has a subway system, and there's a stop inside the Galleria. You're trying to get to the Hotel Derek, on the other side of the loop. To get there, you'll have to:

1) Exit the Galleria, and walk to the intersection of Westheimer and the west side of the West Loop.
2) Cross Westheimer to get to the other side. Good f'n luck.
3) Cross the 610 feeder on the west side.
4) Walk under the 610 overpass.
5) Cross the 610 feeder on the east side.
6) If you're still alive, congratulations! Welcome to the hotel.

Don't get me wrong: I think light rail or a subway would be great for Houston, since it would spur development in the immediately surrounding areas. However, it won't be as useful as in other cities, because it's a huge hassle to walk to other places which are only a few blocks away.

 

Same basic condition as an airport, but much easier problem to solve. People fly from Dallas to Houston all the time. It wouldn't take much to upgrade public transportation systems in Houston to connect all of the major business hubs in town. There are only 3 - downtown, galleria, medical center. People in need of other accomodations could call taxis or rent cars.

Besides the fact that it would work, developers are constantly upgrading infrastructure prior to the capacities being needed. The system itself would generate more businesses and hubs along the way. In Texas it is a tradition with roadways, utilities, etc, but not public transportation systems. Public transportation certainly doesn't work in Texas when travelling from areas of low densities (surburbs) to areas of high densities (downtown) yet, but Dallas has created a successful rail line that runs from central Dallas to north Dallas. That is a pretty good start. Austin also just funded a rail line from central Austin to northwest Austin.... the jury is out, but we'll know more in a few years. I can't imagine a public transportation system that was cheaper and faster than driving and flying wouldn't work.

If the train travelled at 150 MPH a trip from Dallas to Houston would probably take:

Home to parking - 15 minutes
parking to train station - 10 minutes
board train - 10 minutes
Dallas to Houston - 100 minutes
train station to destination - 15 minutes
TOTAL - 2.5 hours

Driving - 5 hours

Flying - 4 hours ?including parking, early boarding, long drive to airport, etc?

 

Other positives:
1) You don't have to worry about hijacked trains as much, so security is a little easier.
2) Bags are not checked, so you just go through one checkpoint rather than baggage check and then gate security, so it is faster.
3) It is cheaper, and fuel costs are rising.

 

How do you get from the train station to destination in 15 minutes? rent a car? taxi (add the cost for taxi commuting into your plan)? Walk?

 

Did you know that the only thing that can be sold on Houston sidewalks is ice cream? Forget about hot dog stands or newsstands, or anything else.

Car dealerships can't/don't sell cars on both Satuday and Sunday - leftovers from the blue law.

We're a big city with a stupid, small-town mindset. Our entire city government would need to be a lot more cosmopolitan if we want to run with the likes of Chicago, NY, or LA.

-- droxford

 

More like two blocks. Or, if you switch to the yellow RER, there is a stop across the street.

I think a giant invisible energy dome should be built over the city that allows pollution out but does not allow humidity in. I suggest we all go out and watch Highlander II to see both how it is done and how it should not be done.

 

That was a hypothetical. The chances of you needing a taxi go down since the train would drop you off in a business district, but if you needed one, the ride would certainly be a lot shorter and cheaper than a ride from the airport.

 

Perhaps the coolest idea I saw was from a professor at Rice. They should create a lake where Allen Parkway and Memorial run ito downtown. It is already a flood plane, could easily be done. Houston's skyline would look great next to a decent sized lake.

 

I think Minute Park should have been turned around so when you look into the outfield you can see the Houston Skyline and maybe that gold cross from Incarnate Word church/school. It will give that Notre Dame TD Jesue appeal. But instead you see a huge crane that is building this one huge wall of building dead center.

 

I think Houston should get its fat ass in the kitchen and make me a sandwich.

 

HELL YES.

 

more trees. they're already doing this on some sections on the interstate.

and i like that energy force field idea. that sounds positive.

 

Interesting idea.