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Houston in the 1920s had a dense walkable downtown.
Then came AC. People no longer needed to go downtown for shopping and for other necessities and amenities. They could take care of life’s needs in a suburban air conditioned paradise. As these services decentralized, buildings were razed and parking lots and garages were put in their place.
This is a true statement, but you are attributing it to the wrong reason.
The buildings that were razed were done so in anticipation that a newer highrise/tower would come in place, given the 70s boom period in Houston. But with the 1980s oil crash, many of the projects never came to be, and so the undeveloped lots simply were left for automobile parking. It was never the intent to cater to the suburban crowd, at least not entirely.
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Originally Posted by Pine to Vine
The once dense walkable downtown looks like this today.
The "current day" photos are a completely different area of downtown from where the first photo was taken. The old buildings are still intact (though they've obviously had cosmetic modifications since then).
I disagree that Houston has the same downtown - the street grid remains, and there are some areas near Main and Preston that retained some of the old downtown structure, but most of downtown was replaced by car-centric development, and there is no longer a significant downtown shopping district remaining.
Those old areas of downtown Pine To Vine showed in the historic photos are still intact on the streets you described. Most of the buildings that were torn down in Houston's development process were those outside of what was considered "downtown" historically.
If that former Macy's in downtown was any indication, then Houston's old shopping district simply was the same climate-controlled, fully indoor experience that took action away from the street level. It wasn't a huge loss as far as urbanity was concerned.
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Originally Posted by kyb01
Pine to Vine lived in Houston for 26 years. His attitude about it is absolutely valid.
And yet still isn't above putting forth obvious skews in the issue in order to further an agenda.
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Originally Posted by JMatl
Houston also endures scorching heat for several months of the year, not exactly the conditions to induce walking to transit.
Many Asian cities would disagree with you on this.
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Originally Posted by That_One_Guy
I’ve heard of tunnels in Minneapolis and other cities in Canada for people to not have to go outside during Winter, but I’ve never heard of tunnels made for avoiding heat. Is Summer in Houston really that bad? Or is it like SpringSnow said just an excuse for people not to go outside since Americans generally don’t like walking outside?
Correct in bold. Especially aggravated in Houston during the 20th century, as there always was a tendency to engineer its way of its setting, rather than embrace it in the urban fabric.
The summers in Houston have average highs in the low 90s, lows in the 70s, with periodic storms, similar to NOLA and other Gulf cities. Nothing worth building a tunnel for, really.
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And how effective are these tunnels really — In terms of beating the heat? I know here in NY underground gets unbearably hot, sticky, and gross in the Summer. Are these tunnels in Houston just ventilated really well? Idk this whole thing just seems so weird to me. The last place I want to be in The Summer is an underground tunnel.
Houston's indoor retail is probably related to the fact most retail around the USA is indoors. It's rare to find a city that embraces the outdoors in the USA. I don't see Houston to be any more exceptional in this regard.
Precisely. In fact, Houston in particular, throughout the 20th century, has made it a habit to pave over/wall off its outdoor setting, rather than embrace it. Don't believe me, just look at how often they keep Reliant Stadium's roof closed, even during comfortable weather conditions (i.e. like in Super Bowl LI).
All the sprawl, indoor retail, tunnels, etc of the city are there simply because of the utilitarian mindsets many leaders of the city held, not because the climate was too harsh to handle.
The "current day" photos are a completely different area of downtown from where the first photo was taken. The old buildings are still intact (though they've obviously had cosmetic modifications since then).
I agree with this. I’m not a fan of cold weather (but I live with it and always have) and I also agree with people saying that extreme winter weather can be just as unpleasant as summer weather. I walk everywhere I need to go in all 4 seasons regardless of weather (don’t have another option), but without a doubt I spend less time outside in the winter than other seasons. Other than walking for transportation purposes, I don’t really spend much time outside at all during winter, with the one exception being for when it snows. I love being out while the snow is still falling. Or right after it falls — before it turns into sludge.
But Spring, Summer, or Fall I’m always outside. Unless it’s raining.
Is that stigma really that bad? I know that it exists in most of the country — you can see it right here on CD sometimes, but I’ve never witnessed it in person. It probably helps that I’m from the one part of the country where NOT driving is the norm and what is expected of people, but even when I lived in South Jersey, which is over an hour from NYC, they didn’t seem to have that stigma there either.
Its the same as southerners talking about the "Cold" when it is 40 degrees out. Highs in July of 85 in NYC are pretty mild compared to the south. We had 75 degree weather earlier this December. NYC doesn have months on end of sustained over 90 highs like you get in alot of Texas with weeks on end over 100 as you get in Dallas. Houston has slightly lower highs, but the humidity is worse. Everyone I personally know who has lived in both cities say Houston has worse weather than Dallas for this reason.
The University I went to here in Dallas had about half out of State students and it was a general theme that everyone not from NOLA or South Florida though the weather was way too hot. You get summer like weather into November most years.
The stigma isn't terrible, life is just easier if you do have a car. If you live downtown or uptown and choose not to own a car most people will think of that as exotic. If you live in a less trendy area, you will be expected to buy one at some point. Only the poor and (a small number) of privileged or young professionals don't own cars in DFW.
The stigma isn't terrible, life is just easier if you do have a car. If you live downtown or uptown and choose not to own a car most people will think of that as exotic. If you live in a less trendy area, you will be expected to buy one at some point. Only the poor and (a small number) of privileged or young professionals don't own cars in DFW.
I'd imagine the "privileged" have cars. All my neighbors in Brooklyn (I have a property there) have automobiles, and if they have it in Brooklyn, why not in Texas? If they don't have a car in Houston, the only reason I could entertain is they can't afford it or they're trying to live some environmentally friendly lifestyle against all odds.
Do you have a picture of people dining outside in the winter next to heat lamps?
I have dined next to a heat lamp in San Francisco when the temperatures were in the 50s, kind of brisk, but ok if not terribly windy and sunny. But snowy, and subzero temperatures, I'm genuinely curious if anyone attempts to eat outside.
Do you have a picture of people dining outside in the winter next to heat lamps?
No, I don’t have pictures of every aspect of life up north. You can accept that the several dozen such restaurants id’ed in my link do, indeed feature outdoor winter nosh, or choose to believe I fabricated the article. Fake news, I guess.
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Originally Posted by SpringSnow
in . . . snowy, and subzero temperatures, I'm genuinely curious if anyone attempts to eat outside.
Now you’re being silly. That sounds about as much fun as dining outdoors in 100 degree temps in Miami.
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