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The fate of Houston's most historic building, the Astrodome, has been discussed lately. I've listened to the HSA recommendation, multiple viewpoints and opinions, and have finally concluded what has happened.
The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo powers really want that space for their own use, and there are two ways to get it.
Option 1) Make the tax payers pay to upgrade the Astrodome into a 'Multi-Purpose' venue and build a new Arena on the Reliant Park grounds. The Rodeo could use both venues for their use and all this can be done for the bargain price of just under$400 million.
Option 2) Demolish the Astrodome. Knowing that this is a highly controversial option so it must be packaged as the only reasonable option.
Well, the committee damn well knows that the tax payers are not going to approve a ballot to turn the Astrodome back into the Astrodome for that large amount of tax payer money.
Oddly, the option of ANY OTHER DEVELOPMENT was not mentioned as feasible because of the Rodeo and the Texans special interests. No hotel, no restaurants, no amusement park, no studio, no mixed use complex, no museum, nothing.
Neither was keeping the shell and building a park, plaza, or other development under the shell of our landmark allowing the city to preserve the 'bones' of the structure.
I can't believe the Rodeo is doing this and the city is allowing it once again and insulting our intelligence while doing it.
This would have be the greatest 'deconstructivism' project in the world and would turn the dome into a legacy of our past but it isn't even an option. the rodeo will get it, its way, regardless. Zaha Hadid , Libeskins, Coop Himmelblau, Morpehues, and others would trip over themselves to work on this project.
The rodeo doesn't want this ...they want it out of the way.
This got me thinking that the only thing that is keeping us from being a great city is our own selfish interests. Think about it.....
Mention mass transit and you'll get "oh, I would definitely take it if it went out to Sugarland". they totally ignore the fact that Houston taxpayers would be footing the bill to travel to YOUR suburb. What about the dozens of other suburbs who also want it to serve them directly???
This is the attitude I see as a reason why we can't even finish building a rail system to service inside the city. METRO has pissed away the funds that Houston voters voted for as part of Metro solutions.
Ashby Highrise.....despite the fact that we have NO ZONING or a CITY PLAN (voted down multiple times). Selfish interests want what is going to best service them and not he city as a whole.
I could go on and on but this Astrodome situation really made me think.
Mayor Holcombe pulled out all of our rail lines in the 30's and 40's to create freeways to serve developers and the suburbs.
The city allowed a dense vibrant downtown to be torn to shreds to allow surface parking lots for speculative office buildings.
Selfish developers built underground tunnels to suffocate street level retail because they could control the retail market downtown and control it.
The city went on an annexation binder ballooning to 630 square miles for tax gain purposes and leaving future generations to worry about the maintenance upkeep while ignoring the basic infrastructure requirements.
The city allowed it, and are doing it again.
This is NOT how great cities are created. those cities consider what is best fro the community as a whole. Unfortunately all we've created is a sprawled out metropolis that most of the world has zero positive opinion of from a 'quality of place' standpoint.
I'm not a hater...I'm a native who works everyday to find ways to make Houston great but You want a slogan, here you go;
Selfish or corrupt?
After seeing the story about Compaq Center being sold for $7.5 million dollars to a church (will not pay property taxes)....
Nothing surprises me.
my interpretation of all the news reports and documents about it is the astrodome has to be completely renovated (like total gutting and re-doing) or tear it down because it is getting to the point of being unsafe it is so dilapidated.
same issue with some of the old city buildings. it makes more sense safety, building, and money wise to tear down then try to retrofit the existing structure into something that works.
I would not vote to add this to my taxes. it is far past the time everyone pays their fair share in taxes... and i mean you renters. why do homeowners have to foot every single bill you people want? you have any clue what property taxes are like for us? i'm referring to "you people" in the general sense. have no idea if OP owns a home or not
it's sad it is a historic building this has happened to but the COH and voters made it this way. people wanted various other stadiums instead or allowed themselves to be swindled by billionaire team owners. i will pay higher taxes for actual priorities (you know the typical healthcare, education etc etc) over a stadium or would be convention hall when we already have those
10-15 years ago had this come up the bill to pay for it probably would have been passed and the astrodome would have had a good number of years to look forward to
as far as corruption - there's a good deal of that into how the building has been handled all these years.
The fate of Houston's most historic building, the Astrodome, has been discussed lately. I've listened to the HSA recommendation, multiple viewpoints and opinions, and have finally concluded what has happened.
The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo powers really want that space for their own use, and there are two ways to get it.
Option 1) Make the tax payers pay to upgrade the Astrodome into a 'Multi-Purpose' venue and build a new Arena on the Reliant Park grounds. The Rodeo could use both venues for their use and all this can be done for the bargain price of just under$400 million.
Option 2) Demolish the Astrodome. Knowing that this is a highly controversial option so it must be packaged as the only reasonable option.
Well, the committee damn well knows that the tax payers are not going to approve a ballot to turn the Astrodome back into the Astrodome for that large amount of tax payer money.
Oddly, the option of ANY OTHER DEVELOPMENT was not mentioned as feasible because of the Rodeo and the Texans special interests. No hotel, no restaurants, no amusement park, no studio, no mixed use complex, no museum, nothing.
Neither was keeping the shell and building a park, plaza, or other development under the shell of our landmark allowing the city to preserve the 'bones' of the structure.
I can't believe the Rodeo is doing this and the city is allowing it once again and insulting our intelligence while doing it.
This would have be the greatest 'deconstructivism' project in the world and would turn the dome into a legacy of our past but it isn't even an option. the rodeo will get it, its way, regardless. Zaha Hadid , Libeskins, Coop Himmelblau, Morpehues, and others would trip over themselves to work on this project.
The rodeo doesn't want this ...they want it out of the way.
This got me thinking that the only thing that is keeping us from being a great city is our own selfish interests. Think about it.....
Mention mass transit and you'll get "oh, I would definitely take it if it went out to Sugarland". they totally ignore the fact that Houston taxpayers would be footing the bill to travel to YOUR suburb. What about the dozens of other suburbs who also want it to serve them directly???
This is the attitude I see as a reason why we can't even finish building a rail system to service inside the city. METRO has pissed away the funds that Houston voters voted for as part of Metro solutions.
Ashby Highrise.....despite the fact that we have NO ZONING or a CITY PLAN (voted down multiple times). Selfish interests want what is going to best service them and not he city as a whole.
I could go on and on but this Astrodome situation really made me think.
Mayor Holcombe pulled out all of our rail lines in the 30's and 40's to create freeways to serve developers and the suburbs.
The city allowed a dense vibrant downtown to be torn to shreds to allow surface parking lots for speculative office buildings.
Selfish developers built underground tunnels to suffocate street level retail because they could control the retail market downtown and control it.
The city went on an annexation binder ballooning to 630 square miles for tax gain purposes and leaving future generations to worry about the maintenance upkeep while ignoring the basic infrastructure requirements.
The city allowed it, and are doing it again.
This is NOT how great cities are created. those cities consider what is best fro the community as a whole. Unfortunately all we've created is a sprawled out metropolis that most of the world has zero positive opinion of from a 'quality of place' standpoint.
I'm not a hater...I'm a native who works everyday to find ways to make Houston great but You want a slogan, here you go;
Welcome toHouston: The city of selfish interests
Oh how simple to blame the city instead of blaming the people who don't hold these politicans feet to the fire, who vote for one thing only for some city board memeber to decided they want to send the money else where. How many times have we voted for one thing only for them to divert the funds to a pet project that benfits only their little corner of Houston ? Instead on getting angery about it we just strug and say thats Houston
I feel the anger and frustration of the OP. This is a city that no longer thinks big. And truth be told, lord forbid something happens to the energy industry that still sort of anchors our economy. This city probably would empty faster than Detroit. Our leaders have no Vision.
The fate of Houston's most historic building, the Astrodome, has been discussed lately. I've listened to the HSA recommendation, multiple viewpoints and opinions, and have finally concluded what has happened.
The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo powers really want that space for their own use, and there are two ways to get it.
Option 1) Make the tax payers pay to upgrade the Astrodome into a 'Multi-Purpose' venue and build a new Arena on the Reliant Park grounds. The Rodeo could use both venues for their use and all this can be done for the bargain price of just under$400 million.
Option 2) Demolish the Astrodome. Knowing that this is a highly controversial option so it must be packaged as the only reasonable option.
Well, the committee damn well knows that the tax payers are not going to approve a ballot to turn the Astrodome back into the Astrodome for that large amount of tax payer money.
Oddly, the option of ANY OTHER DEVELOPMENT was not mentioned as feasible because of the Rodeo and the Texans special interests. No hotel, no restaurants, no amusement park, no studio, no mixed use complex, no museum, nothing.
Neither was keeping the shell and building a park, plaza, or other development under the shell of our landmark allowing the city to preserve the 'bones' of the structure.
I can't believe the Rodeo is doing this and the city is allowing it once again and insulting our intelligence while doing it.
This would have be the greatest 'deconstructivism' project in the world and would turn the dome into a legacy of our past but it isn't even an option. the rodeo will get it, its way, regardless. Zaha Hadid , Libeskins, Coop Himmelblau, Morpehues, and others would trip over themselves to work on this project.
The rodeo doesn't want this ...they want it out of the way.
This got me thinking that the only thing that is keeping us from being a great city is our own selfish interests. Think about it.....
Mention mass transit and you'll get "oh, I would definitely take it if it went out to Sugarland". they totally ignore the fact that Houston taxpayers would be footing the bill to travel to YOUR suburb. What about the dozens of other suburbs who also want it to serve them directly???
This is the attitude I see as a reason why we can't even finish building a rail system to service inside the city. METRO has pissed away the funds that Houston voters voted for as part of Metro solutions.
Ashby Highrise.....despite the fact that we have NO ZONING or a CITY PLAN (voted down multiple times). Selfish interests want what is going to best service them and not he city as a whole.
I could go on and on but this Astrodome situation really made me think.
Mayor Holcombe pulled out all of our rail lines in the 30's and 40's to create freeways to serve developers and the suburbs.
The city allowed a dense vibrant downtown to be torn to shreds to allow surface parking lots for speculative office buildings.
Selfish developers built underground tunnels to suffocate street level retail because they could control the retail market downtown and control it.
The city went on an annexation binder ballooning to 630 square miles for tax gain purposes and leaving future generations to worry about the maintenance upkeep while ignoring the basic infrastructure requirements.
The city allowed it, and are doing it again.
This is NOT how great cities are created. those cities consider what is best fro the community as a whole. Unfortunately all we've created is a sprawled out metropolis that most of the world has zero positive opinion of from a 'quality of place' standpoint.
I'm not a hater...I'm a native who works everyday to find ways to make Houston great but You want a slogan, here you go;
Welcome toHouston: The city of selfish interests
Whoa whoa whoa!!! You are talking about my city buddy! Before you totally bash in Houston, you may want to take a look at the events that transpired that got Houston to where it is today! First off, Houston is wonderfully awesome!!! It grew into the 4th largest city in the nation obviously by doing SOMETHING right!! I mean we didn't grow this large by sucking so bad! Ok enough about that and let me pick apart your comment...
We are fighting so hard to save the Astrodome because it is the single most iconic piece of history this city has! I have lived here for 23 years collectively and I have never witnessed the city take so much time and consideration about saving a historical building. I am PROUD of Houston for looking at saving the Astrodome from MULTIPLE angles!
The decision to tear out the street car rails back in the 1930's was a progressive view at the time. Everyone has 20/20 hindsight and shame on you for dogging an idea back then that actually seemed good. Back in the 1930's no one really wanted to use the street cars because cars were becoming so popular that everyone HAD to have one! Why keep street cars around when riders are abandoning the street cars for cars that (at the time) were becoming more and more affordable??
No one in the 1930's could have imagined how massive Houston would grow into. And the whole freeway thing... that was the next popular "mass transit" system. Houston built the first one in Texas. If you look back in history, Houston really mirrored Los Angeles because when they started removing street cars... so did Houston... when Los Angeles started building freeways... so did Houston... when Los Angeles starting building freeways with tollways in the middle... SO DID HOUSTON!! I am not saying Houston is a copy cat but Houston is following trends at each given point in history.
Houston doesn't have zoning and I AM GLAD! It makes Houston ultra unique and you will never find another city on the face of the earth as unique as Houston. Houston DOES have a city plan! Where do you think all these freeways, tollways, parks, airports, etc. came from? They weren't just randomly placed. In Houston, we have the freedom to build what we please on our property (unless you live in an area with an HOA... or close to an airport for height reasons...) but the city dictates where roads, airports, parks and other public use projects go. Houston by far has the best master planned highway system in the nation HANDS DOWN!!! No other city in the nation can handle our vehicle capacity with the very limited amount of freeways we have. Houston utilitzed a loop and spoke system that no other city has been able to replicate. Sounds like good planning to me, no wait, GREAT planning! There is a huge difference between city planning and zoning.
Let's go back to the rail issue... in Houston, the car has ALWAYS been king, ALWAYS!! METRO does NOT service the entire metropolitan area, only the CITY of Houston and a handful of other suburbs that are paid contributing members to the METRO system. Therefore, METRO cannot make light rail all over the Houston metropolitan area... a) they don't have authority to build outside of their jurisdiction and b) why would they want to build a light rail line to service an area that doesn't pay into METRO anyhow??? The last time I checked, building light rail is not cheap. METRO does not "****" away their funds. Voters ONLY voted on OK'ing METRO to proceed building more light rail lines, but funding wasn't available... guess what though... when it did become available... TAH-DAH here comes the red line extension along with green and purple lines already in construction as we speak. METRO does a fantastic job with the very limited amount of funds they have.
Yes, Houston has 656 square miles of city limits! What city doesn't want to increase their tax base??? Houston may have a couple issues with street maintainence, but what city doesn't?? The last time I checked almost EVERY city in America has this problem. For having 656 square miles, Houston does a DANG good job keeping up with parks, police force, fire department coverage and maintaining great hospital coverage.
In conclusion, out of the 23 years I have been here I have literally seen Houston transform before my very eyes and what I have seen makes me so DANG proud of my city and I can't imagine being anywhere else. Of all the places I've been to and seen, nothing compares to Houston! Houston will continue to grow, continue to enjoy an excellent economy which it has for the past several decades. Houston is so great because it is so unique. Houston just keeps getting greater and greater and if you don't like what you see there are only 2 options for you... get involved or move.
Why does the Astrodome need to be saved. Its an outdated sports stadium that does not have a sports team to play in it. Plenty of iconic sports stadiums have been torn down(Yankees Stadium, Orange Bowl, etc) after their usefullness has expired. Even Fenway has been talked about being replaced. All three of those venues have much more history than the Dome.
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