Kiplinger Names Houston #1 City to Work, Live & Play

excellent post.

all this growth needs guidance, though. i'm not an advocate for zoning, but the city should (and perhaps they do) provide incentives to developers to build sustainable and viable urban areas, where residents can live, work, and shop all in the same area. encourage developers to put these projects on or near mass transist lines and provide the citizens with inviting and efficient mass transist stations.... it's all within our reach, and i think we're making a lot of headway in these areas, we just need a little more help.

 

My feelings exactly. Even back in 2001/2002, Sugarland was still alright, not too crowded and just right. Now it is horrible imho.
I don't live there anymore but I have a lot of family there and I go back every holiday and it just sux when I think about how less crowded it was only a few years ago and it wasn't on the best place to live rankings of every stupid magazine.

 

Not so dissimilar from my own situation. I think that this is the future of urban living... people are going to begin living and working in the same neighborhood. Long car commtues are going to be a thing of the past. It seems like bad news for folks that would like to work downtown but live in Alvin, but as single-occupancy car commutes become more impractical I think transit options from bikes to buses and shuttles will become more prevalent to pick up the slack. It won't happen overnight, but the trend seems clear at the moment.

 

ok from conroe is a reach.

but some type of hike bike trail linking houston w/in 610 would be a nice start. or at the very least, wider sidewalks or bike lanes so that bikers dont have to worry about getting side swiped by a car.

 

the people who need the HOV lane to begin with aren't the people that will utilize the bike trails anyways, so it's a moot point. although riding one's bike b/w the months of june-september in any part of the city isn't really a viable option anyways (at least for anyone who has to wear a suit and tie).

the way energy prices are soaring (and according to most will continue to soar), the only way to achieve sustainable growth is to either live where you work (by either moving into the city or developing employment cores in the suburbs, ala the woodlands) or provide an efficient form of mass transportation.

 

it is sustainable depending on your work place. if your job has a locker room and showers, commuting by bike is an excellent solution. you kill 2 birds w/ one stone. get exercise while going to work.

i think the biggest barrier is getting over the fact that driving is so convenient and comfortable.

 

i wonder if these trails will be bike lanes on roads or dedicated trails.

i must admit that cycling during the day is like stepping into a sauna. hey, im killing 3 birds w/ one stone.

 

Well, at my old job, there was a shower on campus so that you could bike to work in your Lance gear, shower, and change into a suit from your locker. This was a pretty forward-thinking company, but this can easily be done at a LOT of places. I agree that currently biking in wearing a suit ain't a great option, but that can change without too much fuss. Heck, a lot of offices have gyms with showers nowadays, and I think that'll increase in coming years.

Just think of the "cores" Houston already has. I guess downtown is considered the "central business district" by default, but in reality there is no central business district. You got downtown and Galleria/uptown already competing for the same tenents, with clusters starting to come into their own at I10/Beltway, the Woods, Med Center, and Clear Lake. There are other pockets, as well. Connecting them will be a trick, as will integrating housing into each area, but I see progress. It seems pretty do-able.

 

Well, the original post said "from the suburbs to downtown" so I assumed that meant suburbs outside the beltway, which the HOV lane is designed for. But is was a joke anyway, so forget it.

No argument here, but IMO the Park and Ride is ALREADY an efficient form of mass transportation. I don't understand why people who want mass transportation never mention it. There are almost 30 locations. I also don't understand why more people don't use it. Even if you don't work downtown, you can catch a bus there (every 10 minutes) and ride to anywhere else in the city like I do every day.

 

back when i was in Htown I rode the Park and Ride.

Memories:
Bus taking off cause I'm like 10 seconds late parking.
Bus driver waking me up in the morning when I missed my stop downtown.
The AC breaking down on the bus when you are wearing a suit in August.
Watching other people getting into accidents on 59 or 610.

Thanks [insert big oil company] for paying for it.

 

I think this article bears mentioning again:


Texas passes New York on Fortune 500 list

Texas is king of the hill when it comes to corporate headquarters.

The Lone Star State passed New York as home to the most big companies in the latest list compiled by Fortune magazine.

Texas now boasts 58 headquarters, three more than New York, the previous No. 1, and California, with 52.

Business experts say it's a matter of simple economics – Texas attracts companies with its low taxes, affordable land and large labor force.

"Cost is overwhelmingly the No. 1 driver," said Albert W. Niemi Jr., dean of the business school at Southern Methodist University, who wrote his doctoral thesis about companies leaving the Northeast for the Sun Belt 30 years ago.

Irving-based Exxon Mobil Corp. remained the biggest Texas-headquartered company by 2007 revenue, and No. 2 nationally, behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Exxon Mobil, however, was more profitable, earning $40.6 billion.

High oil prices helped land another Texas oil company, Houston-based ConocoPhillips, at No. 5 in the national rankings, according to the magazine. San Antonio-based AT&T Inc. jumped from No. 27 to 10th place.

Four of the largest six corporations in Texas last year were oil companies, but the state's economy is more diverse than it was a generation ago.

Other Texas companies on the magazine's list include technology, such as Dell Inc., three of the nation's biggest airlines, two of the biggest homebuilders, an insurer, a hospital company and the largest garbage hauler around.

Houston has the most Fortune 500 companies in the state, 25. Dallas boasts 12 – its suburbs are home to seven more – and San Antonio has four.

A few smaller cities also got in on the act: Grapevine, Pittsburg and The Woodlands have one each, as does El Paso.

Texas has been attracting big companies from out of state for nearly three decades, including American Airlines in 1979, and Exxon (before it bought Mobil) and J.C. Penney in the following decade, all from New York.

In recent years, Fortune 500 companies such as Tenet Healthcare Corp. and – just last year – engineering and construction company Fluor Corp. moved in from California.

The reverse Gold Rush from California to Texas has concerned West Coast officials for years. In 2004, consultant Bain & Co. surveyed big companies for a California business group and found that half planned to shift jobs out of state or at least stop expanding in California because of high costs, including taxes. Of that group, 27 percent said they would go to Texas, more than any other state.

Lyssa Jenkens, chief economist for the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, said there is a snowball effect – once a few big companies move in, others follow.

"If you move to Dallas-Fort Worth or Houston, you're in the company of other large companies," she said. "They like to be near each other because there are all kinds of services for corporate headquarters – law, accounting, engineering, (information technology) services."

A spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry's office said it's just good business for companies to move here.

"Texas is a state where people can risk their capital with the opportunity to see a positive return on their investment," said Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle.

"Part of the overall success of the Texas economy is a result of corporate CEOs choosing to relocate and grow their businesses in Texas where we have what they need to succeed: smart people, regulatory certainty, low taxes and a quality of life unmatched by any other state," she said.

Some companies look at Texas but walk away. The state engaged in a very public courtship of Boeing Co. in 2001 but lost to Chicago.

By several measures, the Texas economy has performed better than the national economy recently, although it hasn't been immune to the broader slowdown.

The unemployment rate in Texas rose in March to 4.3 percent, but it remained lower than the national average of 5.1 percent. The number of jobs in Texas has grown 2.1 percent since March 2007, compared to a nationwide increase of just 0.4 percent.

Texas employers have added jobs in trade, leisure-related businesses, health care and oil and gas exploration, according to state figures.

The rapid growth, however, threatens to overtax the state's roads and schools and add to air-quality problems.

Traffic is already daunting in Houston, Dallas and Austin. Niemi, the business school dean, said he's seen projections that the Dallas-Fort Worth area could grow to 9 million people in 15 years.

"The negative of all this growth is the problem of infrastructure – traffic and air quality," he said. "Can you imagine Dallas with 2.5 million more people in 15 years?"

 

Anyone check out the other cities that made the list:

1) Houston
2) Raleigh, N.C.
3) Omaha
4) Boise
5) Colorado Springs
6) Austin
7) Fayetteville, Ark
8) Sacramento
9) Des Moines, Iowa
10) Provo, Utah

Compared to most of these other cities, Houston is Disneyland.

 

Big changes won't happen overnight. But if you take a step back and see how much Houston/downtown has changed in the past 5 years, I think you would be pleasantly suprised how much progress has been made. Minute Maid, Toyota Center, and Discovery Green alone has brought a lot of people to downtown alone. The Houston Pavillions are set to open in the near future and I think that will help out a lot as well.

While it isn't there yet, downtown has made some HUGE strides compared to what it use to be. Like I said, the Pavillions are gonna have a bunch of restraunts, bars, etc...check it out.

http://www.houstonpavilions.com/tenants.php

 

WALGREENS, WE NEED MORE WALGREENS!

 

Im going to start hitting the PNR pretty soon here too. I live about 7 minutes from W. Little York PNR and with gas prices soaring like they are - its pretty much inevitable. It takes a while to get to Greenway Plaza with all the stops through the Galleria on Post Oak. If I take the 7:15am bus, I usually make it to my stop (Richmond/Weslayan) at about 8:05am - not exactly a quick trip, but cant argue with the price. The biggest pain in the ass is the trip back. The bus is almost never on time. I could get out to my bus stop at 5:30 and not board until 5:45, 6:00, or even 6:15pm. Its very random.

I think the reason people don't use the PNR as much as they could is because alot of jobs require a car (visiting clients, appointments, sales, meetings, etc.). The other problem is that people might live in Clear Lake and work in the Energy Corridor (I-10) - Or someone from Katy might work in Greenspoint. Lots of office buildings are popping up all over the Beltway, but I don't believe there is any bus transportation there. The fact that we have so many different areas to work - and the population sprawled out in every direction makes the PNR less of an option.

Another reason is the sense of security Texans have with their car. We are used to commuting long distances - we feel a certain level of comfort and safety when getting in each morning - and then there is the whole control element that drivers like to experience.

The concept of a bus is foreign to most people who grew up in the burbs with their mom taking them to soccer practice, and eventually getting their own set of wheels. Houstonians especially are conditioned to be drivers from day one.

Even I had to psyche myself up to take the PNR. METRO sure could do a better job of marketing and education newbies how to ride, where, what cost, etc. Their website sucks and you have to download all these freaking PDF maps, there is no place to buy a damn Q Card at the station (W. Little York), so you have to have $1 bills and coins. There is much room for improvement on that part.

I think in theory it makes sense for more people to carpool, vanpool, bus to work, but the concept needs to be nurtured for Houstonians/Texans to grasp the idea.

 

Come on now, I know you're joking right?

My place is virtually next door to one of this BBS' very own coffee shops, Dominican Joe, owned by Major. It's one of those fair trade coffee shops. Surprisingly, there is a Starbucks downstairs on my property, but there's better options within a block or two: Dominican Joe and Jo's. Not to mention the proximity to a kickass outdoor patio bar, Doc's. As far as restaurants, I can walk over to Guero's, Fran's Hamburgers, South Congress Cafe, Homeslice Pizza, Zen, or Magnolia Cafe.

One of my favorite things about this address though is that I'm a 2 minute walk from Town Lake and the hike and bike trail. There aren't any neighborhoods in Houston that can offer that level of convenience.

 

Ah, the Alexan...my favorite apartment ever.

 

if you mean sweaty, crowded, hot... yes

boise, co springs, austin, sacramento are all pretty good cities. you should go.

 

When gas hits $6.00 a gallon public transportation won't be such a "cute" idea anymore.