No, just use commuter rail to connect places like Katy and The Woodlands with Downtown. It's apart of METRO's plan actually. Connect the suburbs to the city via commuter rail and have light rail + buses in the city to move those people around.
I rent a 1 bedroom / 1 bath in Wicker Park (right at the corner of Milwaukee/Damen/North...hardly a crappy part of town ). Rent and utilities certainly aren't "cheap", but I pay far less and get far more than I would in NY and SF. I am, however, single, don't have a car (blue line is 10 feet away), and don't own any property...so maybe that has something to do with it.
Baylor WILL merge with Rice, the approval should come through within the next 3-6 months. It is mainly because Baylor is facing pretty big deficits and Rice was looking to add a Med School either way. This option will be beneficial to both schools and pretty much formalize the solid relationship between them. As for Baylor losing its teaching hospitals, I don't know what you are talking about. If you are referring to Baylor dissolving its connection with Methodist, that was back in 2004 . Baylor is building the 600 bed Baylor Clinic Hospital to provide more autonomy in terms of clinical research, etc. This hospital is a major reason why the merger is necessary. C'mon man, The TMC is stronger than ever!
