How To Revitalize Downtown Houston? (Austin, El Paso: middle-class, apartment, rental)

[Newbe10]

In fact, I felt safer in Downtown Houston at night than in Downtown Dallas. Once the clubs and bars close in Dowtown Dallas, it ain't so safe for ANYONE to stick around. Never got that feeling in Downtown Houston.

[HouTXmetro]

1. Build Downtown H&M and other destination retails (i.e. Best Buy, etc)
2. Affordable Housing
3. STREET VENDORS near House of Blues or Northern end of Main where the clubs are
4. Complete the Rail so that more "shoppers/partiers" have access to downtown and can ride train home
5. Close car Main North end vehicle traffic on weekends to create festival atmosphere

[jbarn]

Originally Posted by Newbe10

It's not fun or safe now? I did manage to spend a little time in downtown Houston on my last trip and it seemed MUCH more exciting than Downtown Dallas.

Newbie, you definately have something against Dallas. I suspect you don't live here like you say. Downtown Dallas is on a roll big-time right now. Tons of new apartments, parks, restaurants, etc... being built. There are more people on the streets than there have been in years. Yet you come on and say that downtown Houston is MUCH more exciting than Downtown Dallas, despite the fact that the Houston folks are talking about how their downtown is lacking in excitement. I suspect you may actually be a Houston resident.

[savanite]

We might be better servEd by an inventory of what each downtown contains, such as number of venues, types of leisure time activities, and so forth.

If someone thinks that a particular downtown is more exciting than another, it is impossible to objectively quantify that feeling, or attribute it to the downtown.

Everyone has a history of fun experiences, and they are catalogued in the mind by various markers, indexes, triggers, or whatever else you want to call it. The sight of a particular Houston building or a visual impression of a Dallas streetscape will pull a whole chain of associations out of someone's subconscious mind, but have no effect on the next guy. This is called restimulation of pleasure moments.

Bottom line, it is not the Dallas or Houston downtown that is exciting, it is the subconscious mind driving the excitement.

[savanite]

Another complicating factor is that downtown Dallas is arbitrarily defined. As is downtown Houston.

Anyone can draw boundary lines in order to bias one downtown in favor of another.

A better way to look at this is that both areas, Dallas and Houston, have their fun and interesting spots. But it is meaningless to try to rate them objectively.

[savanite]

Actually, if you look at downtown Manhattan, it doesn't look vibrant.

You go around Wall street at 10 PM, and the place is almost empty.

[westhou]

Originally Posted by Rowdy

Housing. Housing. Housing. Houston hate for Dallas should not prevent watching what they are doing up there. They are transforming every vacant old building downtown into housing. They are building parks all over downtown. The train service continues every year. The uptown area next to downtown has become a monster.

We don't need to watch what they are doing. The two cities are already too much alike. I can think of a hundred other cities we can look at for urban planning before we even give Dallas a second thought. But really why focus on any other city and we just do our own thing. It's not like Houston is in a decline.

[theSUBlime]

To the people who are suggesting we build a Target and Best Buy downtown, think again. That is actually probably the worst possible idea. As much as I loathe Boston, they do know how to do a downtown right, and they know building a massive chain retail/restaurant space is not the way. Downtown Houston needs destinations and attractions unique to the city of Houston to keep patrons coming back. Are you really going to drive all the way downtown to shop at your favorite Super Walmart?

Downtown Houston also does not need more affordable housing. It simply needs more housing, which, based on simple economics, would probably bring down the cost of housing in the area. To the people whining about price, living in downtown anywhere is expensive.

[HouTXmetro]

Originally Posted by theSUBlime

To the people who are suggesting we build a Target and Best Buy downtown, think again. That is actually probably the worst possible idea. As much as I loathe Boston, they do know how to do a downtown right, and they know building a massive chain retail/restaurant space is not the way. Downtown Houston needs destinations and attractions unique to the city of Houston to keep patrons coming back. Are you really going to drive all the way downtown to shop at your favorite Super Walmart?

Downtown Houston also does not need more affordable housing. It simply needs more housing, which, based on simple economics, would probably bring down the cost of housing in the area. To the people whining about price, living in downtown anywhere is expensive.

I'm sure the people that live in the immediate vicinity of downtown and surrounding areas would beg to differ.

[theSUBlime]

Originally Posted by HouTXmetro

I'm sure the people that live in the immediate vicinity of downtown and surrounding areas would beg to differ.

I'm moving back to Montrose, where I lived for 3 years, and I don't beg to differ at all. I don't think Houston needs an 11th Best Buy. Perhaps a chain with less locations, MAYBE.