Why is Houston slower than Dallas on urban development? (Richmond: mayor, building)

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by stoneclaw

I see what Htown s trying to say, Houston has a string of urban development that run in a long vertical line from the Medical Center all the way up to Downtown,

lol, I am not even talking about that corridor.

was talking about the heights down to washington ave, down to Allen parkway down to 4th ward, down to midtown, down to montrose down to Midtown down to Museum district down to TMC and rice Village, Kirby areas while skirting the area where the rail runs.

[Bornhouston]

Of course Dallas seems more urban and connected because everything is already so close together.So it's not going to take that many developments for it to seem denser. Houston's area is larger so of course it is going to take longer for it to seem dense because it is going to take alot more buildings to fill in the spaces between these areas but we are getting there and you will really be able to notice over the next few years. It may seem like Houston is at a disadvantage because our urban areas are spread apart but think about how large, dense, and urban Houston will be when TMC, Dowtown, and Uptown grow together.

[stoneclaw]

Originally Posted by Bornhouston

Of course Dallas seems more urban and connected because everything is already so close together.So it's not going to take that many developments for it to seem denser. Houston's area is larger so of course it is going to take longer for it to seem dense because it is going to take alot more buildings to fill in the spaces between these areas but we are getting there and you will really be able to notice over the next few years. It may seem like Houston is at a disadvantage because our urban areas are spread apart but think about how large, dense, and urban Houston will be when TMC, Dowtown, and Uptown grow together.

I don't see downtown and Uptown connecting anytime soon, at least in our lifetimes but Houston does have alot of development. Htown, i totally kind of dismissed the W Dallas street developments and the heights area.

stoneclaw/C2H (ComingtoHouston)

[jbarn]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

Same thing here. Midtown here is connected to Montrose, it is connected to Allen parkway area, it is connected to Downtown it is connected to the Museum District, it is connected to 3rd ward it is connected to Binz.

I don't think you guys are appreciating how small the higher density areas around uptown Dallas are. And it is not as connected as you guys are making it seem.

It may seem that way, but there are clear breaks.

also look at the density maps:
Dallas: Mapping the 2010 U.S. Census - NYTimes.com
Houston: Mapping the 2010 U.S. Census - NYTimes.com

no contest, while the areas around DT Dallas has a smaller area with mainly 6000 ppsm Houston has a huge area with densities at 8000 ppsm.

Houston has a ton more urban development around its core

Where are you getting those density numbers? From that site, it looks like the density for Dallas Uptown and surrounding areas has 9-12,000 per square mile, and the density for Houston's areas are around 2-8,000. What site is it that you are seeing when you say that it is a fact that Houston is the most densely populated city in Texas?

[jbarn]

Originally Posted by Bornhouston

Of course Dallas seems more urban and connected because everything is already so close together.So it's not going to take that many developments for it to seem denser. Houston's area is larger so of course it is going to take longer for it to seem dense because it is going to take alot more buildings to fill in the spaces between these areas but we are getting there and you will really be able to notice over the next few years. It may seem like Houston is at a disadvantage because our urban areas are spread apart but think about how large, dense, and urban Houston will be when TMC, Dowtown, and Uptown grow together.

Unless you are depending on the tear down of tons of low density development that is currently in place, it will be many, many years before those areas grow together.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by STLTexan

First off, my first post after many time just coming to read. I lived 15 years in Houston, and now reside outside of Dallas in Coppell, lived in Uptown for 2 years till last year.
Uptown Dallas is not as "walk-friendly" as many of you people say. Even the Uptown area is broken down into different sections within Uptown. I think the way you have to look at it as Houston has a few more "uptown" areas than Dallas's main hub. The Dart is still a huge joke to the western half of the city..I use and love it, but it doesn't help me get anywhere but downtown, anything else is a car ride on one of the tollways. The cities are plain and simple two different cities and the cultures reflect that, and they will never seem the same. Which is good gives us Texans more places to visit that are not the same all the time!

Yeah DART is mostly a N-S system. There is very little of any resembling a true E-W connection. I believe that is where DART will focus on whenever the next expansion occurs. But that won't happen for a while.

urban Houston will be when TMC, Dowtown, and Uptown grow together.

TMC and Downtown could grow together. But Uptown? Not a chance unless you do like jbarn said and tear down the low dense single family homes.

[jbarn]

Originally Posted by Spade

Yeah DART is mostly a N-S system. There is very little of any resembling a true E-W connection. I believe that is where DART will focus on whenever the next expansion occurs. But that won't happen for a while.




TMC and Downtown could grow together. But Uptown? Not a chance unless you do like jbarn said and tear down the low dense single family homes.

Dart will be going West to DFW Airport starting in 2014, and will be going to Irving later this year so they are heading West, and will be going to Rowlett soon, but it is still hard to get all the way from East to West.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by jbarn

Dart will be going West to DFW Airport starting in 2014, and will be going to Irving later this year so they are heading West, and will be going to Rowlett soon, but it is still hard to get all the way from East to West.

It's more like Northwest to Southeast and than up to the Northeast. You have to go through Downtown just to get to the eastern portion of the system. I'm talking about going from West Dallas to East Dallas in a straight shot.

Example.



This is DC. The Orange Line is straight East West. The Yellow and Green Lines are straight North-South. The other lines go in different directions such as North, East, West, Southwest, w/e.

[jbarn]

Originally Posted by Spade

It's more like Northwest to Southeast and than up to the Northeast. You have to go through Downtown just to get to the eastern portion of the system. I'm talking about going from West Dallas to East Dallas in a straight shot.

Example.



This is DC. The Orange Line is straight East West. The Yellow and Green Lines are straight North-South. The other lines go in different directions such as North, East, West, Southwest, w/e.

Yeah, I think Dart missed the boat on this one, and tons of potential riders. Not sure why it developed the way it did, but it is still much more successful than many naysayers would have people believe. And I believe ridership numbes are actually much higher than they are, but are not accurately tracked due to the nature of the honor system.

[Bornhouston]

Im not saying that the entire area between uptown and downtown will be dense urban style development (River Oaks would never allow that) but I do believe that there will be certain corridors that will connect the two areas with dense and urban developments like along richmond and westheimer for example. There is alot of vacant land and out dated developments that could easily be redeveloped into mid and high rises along those two roads. I think it'll happen in my lifetime.