Houston Chronicle
January 15, 2010
Metro's University light rail line and other local public transportation projects stand to benefit from revised federal rules for funding new rapid transit systems, officials said.
The new rules could put Houston in a stronger competitive position because the planned expansion of its light rail system focuses on moving people among major urban activity centers — such as downtown, Uptown and the Texas Medical Center — rather than on commuter trips from urban workplaces to suburban homes, transportation experts said.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said this week that the Obama administration would consider “livability issues,” such as environmental benefits or economic development, in its evaluations of requests for federal money for new rail or bus rapid-transit systems.
The formula used by the Bush administration, LaHood said, essentially weighed the costs of new projects against time saved and distance traveled for commuters.
MORE
Showing posts with label Houston. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Houston. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2010
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Houston one of five cities that will rise in the new economy
Houston Strategies
November 30, 2009
The Christian Science Monitor recently named Houston one of five cities that will rise in the new economy, along with Boston, Seattle, Huntsville-AL, and Fort Collins-CO. Not bad company. In fact, they open the main article with us:
November 30, 2009
The Christian Science Monitor recently named Houston one of five cities that will rise in the new economy, along with Boston, Seattle, Huntsville-AL, and Fort Collins-CO. Not bad company. In fact, they open the main article with us:
In Houston, the Texas Medical Center is expanding so quickly that it will soon become the seventh largest downtown in the US. By itself. The hospital complex brims with restaurants, shops, and hotels, and employs 100,000 people – the population of Billings, Mont.Later they mention the power of affordable housing to attract young talent. They also have detailed profile article on Houston with some good excerpts:
The article also includes a couple of nice Houston pictures here and here....Many say the city is poised to do well because of its ties to the global marketplace. Houston is home to NASA, as well as the largest medical complex in the world, the second-busiest port in the nation, and a strong international business sector.
...“To me, Houston is the perfect intersection of old industry stepping up to advance leading-edge industries,” says Vivante’s founder and president, J. David Enloe Jr.But Houston has much more than energy experience powering its future. It is the largest US port in foreign tonnage and the second largest in total tonnage. (including strong exports)
...
Then there is the Texas Medical Center, which may be Houston’s version of the Great Pyramids, only with windows and an antiseptic smell. More than $3 billion is going into expanding the Med Center’s footprint from 30 million to 40 million square feet – making it larger than the size of the area inside Chicago’s Loop. The complex currently serves up to 65,000 patients a day, says Richard Wainerdi, the CEO.
Still, even with the port, the medical center, and NASA, the petrochemical industry remains the flywheel of the economy – accounting for about half the area’s total output. Eager to be in the vanguard of the New Economy, city officials are trying to redefine Houston as more than just an oil and gas capital. They want it to be an energy capital – including renewables.
Last summer, for example, Houston became the No. 1 municipal purchaser of green power in the nation, with 25 percent of the city’s total electricity load coming from wind energy. (Texas leads the US in wind-energy production.)
Saturday, October 31, 2009
DFW & Houston -- Low Transit Ridership
From: The Transit Pass
September 14, 2009
September 14, 2009
Here are the most total rides per day (for the first quarter of 2009), according to the American Public Transportation Association.
- New York (MTA/Long Island Railroad/Staten Island Railroad): 10,758,600
- Chicago: 1,635,700
- Los Angeles (MTA/DOT/RRA): 1,608,300
- Washington, DC: 1,421,200
- Detroit (including Flint): 1,322,100
- Boston: 1,217,500
- Philadelphia: 1,145,100
- San Francisco: 1,060,900
- Atlanta: 487,900
- Seattle: 449,700
- Baltimore: 408,900
- Miami: 349,900
- Portland: 323,000
- Houston: 307,700
- Denver: 292,100
It is exciting that there are eight metropolitan areas in the United States transporting over 1,000,000 rides per day. However, there are several major metropolitan areas that are missing from this list.
The following are the top 17 largest metropolitan areas and their populations according to Wikipedia. I cut off at 17 as these are all metropolitan areas of 3,000,000 people or more.
- New York: 19,006,798
- Los Angeles: 12,872,808
- Chicago: 9,569,624
- Dallas: 6,300,006
- Philadelphia: 5,838,471
- Houston: 5,728,143
- Miami: 5,414,772
- Atlanta: 5,376,285
- Washington, DC: 5,358,130
- Boston: 4,522,858
- Detroit: 4,425,110
- Phoenix: 4,281,899
- San Francisco: 4,274,531
- Riverside/San Bernardino/Ontario: 4,115,871
- Seattle: 3,344,813
- Minneapolis: 3,229,878
- San Diego: 3,001,072
The cities from the population list that are most conspiculously missing from the ridership list are Phoenix (214,000 rides per day) and Dallas (217,000 rides per day) as well as Houston’s low ridership.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Houston’s Texas Medical Center May Outgrow Downtown Dallas
From: Bloomberg.com
By: David Wethe // August 21, 2009
Houston, the fourth-largest U.S. city, has been buoyed by construction in the Texas Medical Center, an area with 3,000 job openings that is likely to become larger than Dallas’s downtown, said Jeff Moseley, chief executive officer of the Greater Houston Partnership.
As a result of the medical center’s expansion, Houston may emerge from the economic decline quicker than the rest of the nation, Moseley said today in an interview. His group serves as a chamber of commerce and economic-development agency for the area.
MORE
By: David Wethe // August 21, 2009
Houston, the fourth-largest U.S. city, has been buoyed by construction in the Texas Medical Center, an area with 3,000 job openings that is likely to become larger than Dallas’s downtown, said Jeff Moseley, chief executive officer of the Greater Houston Partnership.
As a result of the medical center’s expansion, Houston may emerge from the economic decline quicker than the rest of the nation, Moseley said today in an interview. His group serves as a chamber of commerce and economic-development agency for the area.
MORE
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Houston Moves to Encourage Pedestrian Zones
From: Houston Chronicle
By: Mike Snyder // August 19, 2009
Passengers stepping off trains in Houston's expanding light rail network will be more likely to encounter walkable environments and interesting destinations because of action taken Wednesday by the City Council, city officials and transit advocates said.
The council unanimously approved changes in development codes intended to promote dense, urban-style development along the Metropolitan Transit Authority's Main Street rail line and five planned extensions. The pedestrian zone requirements and incentives were developed through more than three years of work by city officials, consultants, development experts and others.
Councilwoman Toni Lawrence said the changes, coupled with plans to expand urban development regulations from Loop 610 to Beltway 8 and high speed rail proposals under consideration for commuters, will have a major impact on automobile-dependent Houston. The measures take effect immediately.
“I'm excited about it,” Lawrence said. “We're behind cities our size to move forward with rail.”
MORE
By: Mike Snyder // August 19, 2009
Passengers stepping off trains in Houston's expanding light rail network will be more likely to encounter walkable environments and interesting destinations because of action taken Wednesday by the City Council, city officials and transit advocates said.
The council unanimously approved changes in development codes intended to promote dense, urban-style development along the Metropolitan Transit Authority's Main Street rail line and five planned extensions. The pedestrian zone requirements and incentives were developed through more than three years of work by city officials, consultants, development experts and others.
Councilwoman Toni Lawrence said the changes, coupled with plans to expand urban development regulations from Loop 610 to Beltway 8 and high speed rail proposals under consideration for commuters, will have a major impact on automobile-dependent Houston. The measures take effect immediately.
“I'm excited about it,” Lawrence said. “We're behind cities our size to move forward with rail.”
MORE
Would High-Speed Rail from Dallas to Houston Make Sense?
From: The New York Times
By: Edward Glaeser // August 12, 2009
How large are the environmental and other social benefits of high-speed rail?
I’ve now reached the halfway point in this series of blog posts on the president’s “vision for high-speed rail.” The national discussion of high-speed rail must get away from high-flying rhetoric and tawdry ad hominem attacks and start weighing costs and benefits.
Environmental benefits are one potentially big plus from rail lines.
Today, I focus only on the social benefits that come from switching travelers from cars and planes to rail, not any indirect benefits associated with changing land-use patterns. I’ll get to those next week, when I also discuss high-speed rail as an economic development strategy. As I did last week, I use a simple, transparent methodology, focusing on costs and benefits during an average year. Today, I’ll estimate the environmental and other social benefits that will help offset the costs of rail.
I’d like to include buses, but this post is too long already. Only about 2 percent of inter-city vehicle miles are traveled by bus, and a Center for Clean Air Policy report has convinced me that buses wouldn’t make much of a difference.
I’m going to ignore fatalities for both rail and air and noise externalities (typical estimates for these are modest), and ignore any traffic congestion associated with getting to and from the airport or train station. For both air and rail, the only social cost will be carbon emissions. For cars, I’ll add in traffic deaths, congestion and local pollution.
As in the previous two posts, I focus on a mythical 240-mile-line between Houston and Dallas, which was chosen to avoid giving the impression that this back-of-the-envelope calculation represents a complete evaluation of any actual proposed route. (The Texas route will be certainly far less attractive than high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor, but it is not inherently less reasonable than the proposed high-speed rail routes across Missouri or between Dallas and Oklahoma City.)
MORE
By: Edward Glaeser // August 12, 2009
How large are the environmental and other social benefits of high-speed rail?
I’ve now reached the halfway point in this series of blog posts on the president’s “vision for high-speed rail.” The national discussion of high-speed rail must get away from high-flying rhetoric and tawdry ad hominem attacks and start weighing costs and benefits.
Environmental benefits are one potentially big plus from rail lines.
Today, I focus only on the social benefits that come from switching travelers from cars and planes to rail, not any indirect benefits associated with changing land-use patterns. I’ll get to those next week, when I also discuss high-speed rail as an economic development strategy. As I did last week, I use a simple, transparent methodology, focusing on costs and benefits during an average year. Today, I’ll estimate the environmental and other social benefits that will help offset the costs of rail.
I’d like to include buses, but this post is too long already. Only about 2 percent of inter-city vehicle miles are traveled by bus, and a Center for Clean Air Policy report has convinced me that buses wouldn’t make much of a difference.
I’m going to ignore fatalities for both rail and air and noise externalities (typical estimates for these are modest), and ignore any traffic congestion associated with getting to and from the airport or train station. For both air and rail, the only social cost will be carbon emissions. For cars, I’ll add in traffic deaths, congestion and local pollution.
As in the previous two posts, I focus on a mythical 240-mile-line between Houston and Dallas, which was chosen to avoid giving the impression that this back-of-the-envelope calculation represents a complete evaluation of any actual proposed route. (The Texas route will be certainly far less attractive than high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor, but it is not inherently less reasonable than the proposed high-speed rail routes across Missouri or between Dallas and Oklahoma City.)
MORE
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Houston Pavillions Off to a Good Start
From: Houston Chronicle
By: David Kaplan // July 18, 2009
Depending on where people view it, they could make a case that the 9-month-old downtown Houston Pavilions is either succeeding or hurting.
Stand on the corner of Dallas and Caroline, and you'll see a lively scene at the House of Blues.
But on the second level, between Fannin and San Jacinto, there are vacant retail sites.
Sixty-two percent of the massive Pavilions is leased, and about 50 percent of it is occupied.
Although it's still half-empty, the project is off to a very good start, retail analysts say, when you factor in the economic downturn and gloomy state of retail.
By: David Kaplan // July 18, 2009
Depending on where people view it, they could make a case that the 9-month-old downtown Houston Pavilions is either succeeding or hurting.
Stand on the corner of Dallas and Caroline, and you'll see a lively scene at the House of Blues.But on the second level, between Fannin and San Jacinto, there are vacant retail sites.
Sixty-two percent of the massive Pavilions is leased, and about 50 percent of it is occupied.
Although it's still half-empty, the project is off to a very good start, retail analysts say, when you factor in the economic downturn and gloomy state of retail.
But if the project were to fail, it would be a major blow to the downtown area near the George R. Brown Convention Center. The three-block-long Pavilions was designed to be that district's entertainment hub and make downtown Houston more of a nighttime and weekend destination.
The $170 million Pavilions is a mixed-used development combining retail, entertainment and office space.
MOREHouston - Groundbreaking marks MetroRail Expansion
From; TAMU Real Estate Center
July 13, 2009
Houston's light rail is expanding. METRO held groundbreaking on two additional light rail lines - one on the southeast side of town, and the other up north.
The newly built north corridor is expected to run more than five miles from University of Houston-Downtown to Northline Mall.
On the southeast side, the new line will stretch 6.5 miles, running from downtown, past Texas Southern University and University of Houston to Palm Center.
The $150 million tab is being picked up by the federal government.
METRO Chairman David Wolff says Houstonians should celebrate that. "In the president's budget, there are only five light rail projects in the U.S. that got into that budget. Of those five, two of them are ours,” Wolff said.
The $1.4 billion vision for Houston's light rail is to add the east end, university and uptown lines by 2013.
The addition of the north and southeast rail lines will give 60,000 Houstonians jobs.
July 13, 2009
Houston's light rail is expanding. METRO held groundbreaking on two additional light rail lines - one on the southeast side of town, and the other up north.
The newly built north corridor is expected to run more than five miles from University of Houston-Downtown to Northline Mall.
On the southeast side, the new line will stretch 6.5 miles, running from downtown, past Texas Southern University and University of Houston to Palm Center.
The $150 million tab is being picked up by the federal government.
METRO Chairman David Wolff says Houstonians should celebrate that. "In the president's budget, there are only five light rail projects in the U.S. that got into that budget. Of those five, two of them are ours,” Wolff said.
The $1.4 billion vision for Houston's light rail is to add the east end, university and uptown lines by 2013.
The addition of the north and southeast rail lines will give 60,000 Houstonians jobs.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Houston's Impressive GDP Ranking
From: houston strategies
July 10, 2009
The NY Times had an interesting story yesterday about how the transportation stimulus funding is overly biased towards rural areas, which doesn't surprise me at all given the geographic nature of politics and the obvious fact that a road network will be more expensive per capita for a dispersed population than a concentrated one. We have more people inside the 610 Loop than in the entire state of Wyoming - whose road network do you think is more expensive to build and maintain?
But the really interesting item from the story was the graph below. Not because it shows Houston underperformed securing transportation stimulus vs. most other cities (inc. DFW), but because of the interesting GDP share numbers.
Note that Houston is the 5th largest GDP metro in the country, and ahead of DFW and Philly, even though they have larger populations. Atlanta and Miami have similar populations to us, but are significantly farther behind in GDP. San Francisco and Boston, which are 1 to 1.5 million smaller than us, but packed with highly productive, educated, creative class types still end up notably below us in GDP share - and Detroit, Phoenix, and Riverside with populations similar to both of them fall well below them in GDP. LA has more than twice our population, but less than twice our GDP share. Chicago has 67% more people than us, but only 41% more GDP share. We even slightly edge out NYC proportional to our populations.
U.S. better at avoiding traffic jams; Houston's not
From: Houston Chronicle
July 7, 2009
WASHINGTON — Drivers are spending less time stuck in rush-hour traffic for a second straight year, the first-ever two-year decline in congestion as high gas prices and the economic downturn force many Americans to change how they commute.
In individual cities, Los Angeles traffic is getting better but is still the worst in the nation. Washington's is getting worse, now ranking second.
The average U.S. driver languished in rush-hour traffic for 36.1 hours in 2007, down from 36.6 hours in 2006 and a peak of 37.4 hours in 2005, according to a study being released Wednesday by the Texas Transportation Institute. Total wasted fuel also edged lower for the first time, from 2.85 billion gallons in 2006 to 2.81 billion, or roughly three weeks' worth of gas per traveler.
The records go back a quarter-century, to 1982.
The last time traffic congestion had declined was in 1991 amid a spike in oil prices during the first Gulf War.
This time, demographers attributed the decrease to a historic cutback in driving as commuters reduced solo trips, took public transit or carpooled after gas prices surged toward $4 a gallon and then the economy faltered. The housing downturn beginning in 2006 also has played a factor by reducing U.S. migration to far-flung residential exurbs.
But it won't last, assuming the economy recovers.
"Congestion won't be as bad as before for a while, but it will still be very frustrating, very unreliable and it will take a lot of time out of your day," said Tim Lomax, researcher at the Texas Transportation Institute, which is part of Texas A&M University. "The average traveler still needs 25 percent more time for their rush-hour trips."
The Los Angeles metropolitan area, with its car pool lanes and emerging mass transit, shed two hours of wait-time in rush-hour traffic. Still, its sprawling freeway system remained the nation's worst for congestion, with drivers wasting an average of 70 hours in 2007.
Other large metro areas showing congestion declines were San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and Seattle.
In contrast, the Washington, D.C., area had more bumper-to-bumper traffic, surpassing Atlanta as the second worst in congestion. With the Washington regional economy faring relatively well, drivers heading to work in the nation's capital and surrounding suburbs wasted 62 hours in rush-hour traffic in 2007, up from 59 hours.
Houston, Las Vegas, Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., had worse or equally bad traffic compared with the previous year, victims of a fast-growing population that outpaced roadway capacity.
What Happens Once You Get Off the Train?
from Dc.StreestsBlog.org
By: Ryan Avent
July 8, 2009
My question is simple: how could you take rail from Dallas to Houston and cope once you got there? San Antonio I can see, at least provided you will camp out in city center (a mistake, but that's a question for a different day). I am willing to be converted, but what are the odds of such a line attracting significant patronage, with or without ongoing subsidy to the fares and not just to line construction? Or is the vision that everyone takes the train and then rents a car on arrival? According to Matt Yglesias, the plan won't even directly link Houston to Dallas. By the way, here are some of the other planned links from Texas. Will people really take trains from Houston to Meridien, Mississippi?
I don't really understand why Tyler thinks this is a problem. People fly between cities all the time, and airports, unlike rail hubs, are miles from central business districts. So what will people do once they've taken a train from one city to the next?
TX Smart Growth and Houston Urbanism
From houston strategies
June 29, 2009
In case you missed it, Governor Perry vetoed a smart growth bill that came out of the recent legislature (Houston Tomorrow, Kuff, HRG). Setting aside all of the negative impacts that have come from smart growth plans elsewhere (the CA housing bubble, among others), and as relatively toothless as it was, I roughly agree with Perry and the Austin Contrarian that it was a misguided attempt to impose a state solution on what is fundamentally a local problem.
Where I disagree somewhat with AC is his comment on TXDoT and community control of their transportation. While the agency has run a bit roughshod, transportation is fundamentally a network that connects places, and that means it needs a master architect with control rather than every locality going their own way. Think about how master-planned communities prefer cul-de-sacs over street grids - nice for residents, totally unhelpful for people trying to pass through. Imagine that approach on a larger scale. Cities decide they don't like pass-through traffic so they constrict incoming boundry roads to 2-lanes - or worse put big tolls on them. Imagine if Bellaire could decide they don't like the 610 loop and they tore down the segment inside their city limits? Everybody wants the big infrastructure somewhere else - NIMBYism run amok is what we'd get. TXDoT has to have the power to break through those NIMBY barriers, even if it's not always pretty.
Where I disagree somewhat with AC is his comment on TXDoT and community control of their transportation. While the agency has run a bit roughshod, transportation is fundamentally a network that connects places, and that means it needs a master architect with control rather than every locality going their own way. Think about how master-planned communities prefer cul-de-sacs over street grids - nice for residents, totally unhelpful for people trying to pass through. Imagine that approach on a larger scale. Cities decide they don't like pass-through traffic so they constrict incoming boundry roads to 2-lanes - or worse put big tolls on them. Imagine if Bellaire could decide they don't like the 610 loop and they tore down the segment inside their city limits? Everybody wants the big infrastructure somewhere else - NIMBYism run amok is what we'd get. TXDoT has to have the power to break through those NIMBY barriers, even if it's not always pretty.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
How urban can Houston become?
Big changes to our development code loom, but some worry flooding, parking and other problems will follow
By MIKE SNYDERCopyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
June 28, 2009, 10:44PM
Density hasn’t been kind to Cottage Grove, a small neighborhood with narrow streets, few sidewalks, poor drainage and scarce parking for the owners of its many new homes and their guests.
Like many neighborhoods inside Loop 610, Cottage Grove in recent years has experienced a flurry of construction of large townhomes that loom over 80-year-old cottages next door. Two or three dwellings crowd sites where one house stood previously. Streets are cluttered with vehicles parked every which way. Water stands in the streets after heavy rains.
“It was shocking to see this jewel of a neighborhood in this condition,” said former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy, a senior fellow with the nonprofit Urban Land Institute who toured Cottage Grove two years ago. “It was about the ugliest thing I’d ever seen, to be honest with you.”
MORE
By MIKE SNYDERCopyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
June 28, 2009, 10:44PM
Density hasn’t been kind to Cottage Grove, a small neighborhood with narrow streets, few sidewalks, poor drainage and scarce parking for the owners of its many new homes and their guests.
Like many neighborhoods inside Loop 610, Cottage Grove in recent years has experienced a flurry of construction of large townhomes that loom over 80-year-old cottages next door. Two or three dwellings crowd sites where one house stood previously. Streets are cluttered with vehicles parked every which way. Water stands in the streets after heavy rains.
“It was shocking to see this jewel of a neighborhood in this condition,” said former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy, a senior fellow with the nonprofit Urban Land Institute who toured Cottage Grove two years ago. “It was about the ugliest thing I’d ever seen, to be honest with you.”
MORE
TX Smart Growth and Houston Urbanism
by Tory Gattis
http://houstonstrategies.blogspot.com/
In case you missed it, Governor Perry vetoed a smart growth bill that came out of the recent legislature (Houston Tomorrow, Kuff, HRG). Setting aside all of the negative impacts that have come from smart growth plans elsewhere (the CA housing bubble, among others), and as relatively toothless as it was, I roughly agree with Perry and the Austin Contrarian that it was a misguided attempt to impose a state solution on what is fundamentally a local problem.
Where I disagree somewhat with AC is his comment on TXDoT and community control of their transportation. While the agency has run a bit roughshod, transportation is fundamentally a network that connects places, and that means it needs a master architect with control rather than every locality going their own way. Think about how master-planned communities prefer cul-de-sacs over street grids - nice for residents, totally unhelpful for people trying to pass through. Imagine that approach on a larger scale. Cities decide they don't like pass-through traffic so they constrict incoming boundry roads to 2-lanes - or worse put big tolls on them. Imagine if Bellaire could decide they don't like the 610 loop and they tore down the segment inside their city limits? Everybody wants the big infrastructure somewhere else - NIMBYism run amok is what we'd get. TXDoT has to have the power to break through those NIMBY barriers, even if it's not always pretty.
You might have also caught the Chronicle's front page story today on coming changes to our development code. Given the success of what we've seen inside the Loop, I'm all for expanding it out to the Beltway. But I agree refinements might help. Requiring some minimal guest parking is prudent. Make the new higher-density developments retain more runoff and drain it more slowly to prevent flooding. A simple barrel or underground tank linked to the gutter system should do it. If trees are removed, require the developer to sponsor new equivalent greenery coverage on site or elsewhere in the neighborhood (street medians, bayou edges, parks, etc.). These are relatively minor costs that would mitigate most of the issues.
http://houstonstrategies.blogspot.com/
In case you missed it, Governor Perry vetoed a smart growth bill that came out of the recent legislature (Houston Tomorrow, Kuff, HRG). Setting aside all of the negative impacts that have come from smart growth plans elsewhere (the CA housing bubble, among others), and as relatively toothless as it was, I roughly agree with Perry and the Austin Contrarian that it was a misguided attempt to impose a state solution on what is fundamentally a local problem.
Where I disagree somewhat with AC is his comment on TXDoT and community control of their transportation. While the agency has run a bit roughshod, transportation is fundamentally a network that connects places, and that means it needs a master architect with control rather than every locality going their own way. Think about how master-planned communities prefer cul-de-sacs over street grids - nice for residents, totally unhelpful for people trying to pass through. Imagine that approach on a larger scale. Cities decide they don't like pass-through traffic so they constrict incoming boundry roads to 2-lanes - or worse put big tolls on them. Imagine if Bellaire could decide they don't like the 610 loop and they tore down the segment inside their city limits? Everybody wants the big infrastructure somewhere else - NIMBYism run amok is what we'd get. TXDoT has to have the power to break through those NIMBY barriers, even if it's not always pretty.
You might have also caught the Chronicle's front page story today on coming changes to our development code. Given the success of what we've seen inside the Loop, I'm all for expanding it out to the Beltway. But I agree refinements might help. Requiring some minimal guest parking is prudent. Make the new higher-density developments retain more runoff and drain it more slowly to prevent flooding. A simple barrel or underground tank linked to the gutter system should do it. If trees are removed, require the developer to sponsor new equivalent greenery coverage on site or elsewhere in the neighborhood (street medians, bayou edges, parks, etc.). These are relatively minor costs that would mitigate most of the issues.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Johnson Development Takes Major Role In Long-awaited Imperial Sugar Redevelopment
Fort Bend Now, June 9, 2009
Johnson Development Corp., developer of projects including Sienna Plantation and Riverstone, has become project manager for Sugar Land’s Imperial Sugar redevelopment project, FortBendNow has learned.
Placed on hold for the past several months, the highly touted mixed use project is being managed by private equity firm Cherokee Investment Partners of Raleigh, N.C.. Cherokee partnered with the Texas General Land Office to purchase several hundred acres in and around Imperial Sugar Co.’s historic char house and sugar plant at U.S. 90A and State Highway 6.
Johnson has replaced Southern Land Co. as project developer, according to sources in the real estate community and City of Sugar Land. Neither officials with Cherokee nor Johnson could be reached Tuesday morning. However, City of Sugar Land sources said Cherokee was about to announce the new project manager.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Houston -- New rail lines closer to reality
New rail lines closer to reality
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- It has been five years since METRO unveiled its light rail, and plans to expand beyond the seven and a half mile line have been in the works ever since. But now the new lines are one step closer to becoming reality.
The Main Street line might finally have some company. The north and south lines, which have been in the works for a long time, are actually scheduled to be under construction next month. It's all because the federal government is slated to give METRO up to $150 million to build those two lines.
While METRO officials are very excited to get this project underway, along the routes where the trains are scheduled to be running soon, opinions are still mixed. ...
Houston Metro firms up funding for Light Rail
Houston Metro firms up funding for Light Rail
12:30 PM CDT on Friday, May 22, 2009
HOUSTON—Metro plans to break ground on three new Light Rail lines in June.
The agency firmed up the necessary funding Thursday to get the projects started.
The East Line will be paid for entirely with local tax dollars.
The North and Southeast Line will be paid for half with local tax dollars and half with federal money.
Metro will get hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government – the most ever for a transportation project in Texas.
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