Ft.W Project Progression News (Houston, Fort Worth: apartments, floor, warehouse)

[JJG]

Originally Posted by John Shaft

Man, I posted this huge comment/reply about some of the potential pitfalls of going the Portland route, and the anti-spam system (where you type in the characters in the image) wasn't showing the image so I could enter the characters. I lost a great 15-minute essay!

So could you just give us a sentence of what the essay was about? I know for every positive, there is a negative.

[beowulf7]

Ironically enough, while in Sundance Square, I was talking to someone yesterday at a bar who was visiting FW for the first time. He lives in Portland, OR, so I thought about JJG's link and asked him how he compared the 2 cities from what he's seen so far. He confirmed that Portland cannot expand beyond a certain boundary and that they seem to be more mass-transit friendly. He said he also noticed the smaller city block of Sundance Sq.

[JJG]

I have noticed that Sundance Square's blocks are kinda small. The TRV is supposed to expand downtown to twice the size it is now, but that is something to think about. And while Ft. Worth is still expanding its city limits, there are several spaces that currently exist inside the city for development. As a matter of fact, there's a HUGE piece of land right next to my high school's football practice fields.

[John Shaft]

Originally Posted by JJG

So could you just give us a sentence of what the essay was about? I know for every positive, there is a negative.

I can't remember all the details now, but the general points/"negatives":

* Urban planning/urban density (the urban growth boundary) has resulted in extremely expensive housing prices in Portland relative to salaries. You'll pay 2.5x what you would in Ft Worth for a comparable house (and even then the yard size will be signficantly smaller). Also "infill" construction has resulted (not always, but often) in some very odd houses of 3 stories that are more staircases than anything else. This presents significant challenges to making housing available to middle class families (hence the decline of enrollment in Portland schools in favor of the burbs).
* IMO Portland has emphasized mass transit (esp. light rail) to such a degree that they are not adequately tending to their road infrastructure. Light rail in their opinion is THE way to travel, not merely one piece of the transportation puzzle.
* Geographic differences play a big part in what the two cities can (and maybe should?) do. The hills that give Portland natural beauty also limit how roads and buildings can be constructed--another factor to the dense building beyond urban planning. Ft Worth, on the other hand, has lots of flat land and is capable of constructing more efficient freeways.
* Portland's planners are really in love with the central business district model. I'm not sure this is the best city model for the 21st century. Multiple business nodes may reduce traffic because not everyone is commuting to the same place, and technology is removing the need for all businesses to be located near each other in a CBD (just look at the D/FW area). Despite their efforts some suburb-edge office parks have grown up against their will.

[JJG]

New pics of the Omni Hotel

[JJG]

Originally Posted by John Shaft

I can't remember all the details now, but the general points/"negatives":

* Urban planning/urban density (the urban growth boundary) has resulted in extremely expensive housing prices in Portland relative to salaries. You'll pay 2.5x what you would in Ft Worth for a comparable house (and even then the yard size will be signficantly smaller). Also "infill" construction has resulted (not always, but often) in some very odd houses of 3 stories that are more staircases than anything else. This presents significant challenges to making housing available to middle class families (hence the decline of enrollment in Portland schools in favor of the burbs).

Well one of the last things this city needs is expensive housing, especially with so many people coming in.

* IMO Portland has emphasized mass transit (esp. light rail) to such a degree that they are not adequately tending to their road infrastructure. Light rail in their opinion is THE way to travel, not merely one piece of the transportation puzzle.

I'd like to see Fort Worth with some kind of light rail system just to ease some of the traffic. It wouldn't be much, but it would be something. I know the whole DFW area is a car area, but with the Dart rail in Dallas and the TRE, why not have a rail system for this city?

* Portland's planners are really in love with the central business district model. *I'm not sure this is the best city model for the 21st century.* Multiple business nodes may reduce traffic because not everyone is commuting to the same place, and technology is removing the need for all businesses to be located near each other in a CBD (just look at the D/FW area). Despite their efforts some suburb-edge office parks have grown up against their will.

*Which city do you mean? Portland or Ft. Worth?

Thanks for the points. Sorry for the late reply.

[beowulf7]

Originally Posted by JJG

New pics of the Omni Hotel

Yes, it does look good. I saw it yesterday while taking I-35W S. to I-30 W (as a passenger, so I was able to gaze for a while).

[JJG]

Originally Posted by beowulf7

Yes, it does look good. I saw it yesterday while taking I-35W S. to I-30 W (as a passenger, so I was able to gaze for a while).

Yeah. I can see it all the way from Altamesa and McCart.

[beowulf7]

Originally Posted by JJG

Yeah. I can see it all the way from Altamesa and McCart.

Nice, that's several miles away, near LA Fitness. I looked toward downtown from there. Then again, I don't think I've been in that area during daylight hours.

[JJG]

This article from Fort Worthology explains progress and more support for the potential streetcar system.