Which Freeways Need to be Beautified? (Houston, Dallas: low income, apartments, university)

[airdrawndagger]

While there are a couple native species of sub-tropical palm in Texas, many of the palms that you see around the city are imported tropical variety - hence why quite a few died during last year's freeze. I prefer live oak and loblolly pine to add greenery, but they can be expensive to maintain for businesses/the city

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by airdrawndagger

Nearly a decade since this thread was started and 45 (N or S, doesn’t matter) is still clearly the ugliest highway in the city. Embarrassing is right

I-45 inside BW-8 is the ugliest portion. Once you leave BW-8, I-45 has been modernized. Everything is done on the north side to the Walker County line and there is progress on the Galveston County section.

Originally Posted by Dopo

All you have to do is look at the North Loop and I-45 interchange
you basically step into a time machine back to the 1950s when you drive there.
I bet nobody has done any work on that interchange in the last 30 years.

The North Loop has been modernized, but the '50s early interstate era left-hand turn split is the only bottleneck and it does cause the massive traffic jams! It would have been removed if not for the delay with the North Houston project to modernize I-45 North inside the Beltway.

The improvements between the Beltway and the Loop (including the interchange) should go ahead now, while the contentious Inner Loop section should be put on the backburner.

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by Thoreau424

I drive on the freeways to get from Point A to B, not rubberneck towards the side of the road at "beautification". There's no time for that, and it would be a driving hazard.

There are other matters much more important than this. Come on...

So you don't see the billboards and blight around you whenever you get behind the wheel? All you see is the back of someone's car? Yeah ok.

[Dopo]

This thread brings an interesting point
Why is I-45 North so damn ugly?
Personally, I think that there's several reasons for it
1) Building feeder roaders where they are not needed and there's no demand for businesses
that results in a bunch of shty businesses lined up next to the highway
2) There's a complex issue related to property taxes, gentrification, etc.
A good example of this is how you find empty land in what seems like ideal location for businesses
such as the land next to this address 8010 N Fwy Service Rd, Houston, TX 77037
My theory is that that land sits like that to avoid paying taxes on it.


Any thoughts on all that crap I have in my brain?

[Thoreau424]

Originally Posted by Redlionjr

So you don't see the billboards and blight around you whenever you get behind the wheel? All you see is the back of someone's car? Yeah ok.

I tune out the billboards, and have no idea what 'blight' you're referring to. I see other vehicles, lanes, freeway signs... the usual stuff you're supposed to be watching when you're on the freeways. If you hate Houston, just leave.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by Dopo

This thread brings an interesting point
Why is I-45 North so damn ugly?
Personally, I think that there's several reasons for it
1) Building feeder roaders where they are not needed and there's no demand for businesses
that results in a bunch of shty businesses lined up next to the highway
2) There's a complex issue related to property taxes, gentrification, etc.
A good example of this is how you find empty land in what seems like ideal location for businesses
such as the land next to this address 8010 N Fwy Service Rd, Houston, TX 77037
My theory is that that land sits like that to avoid paying taxes on it.


Any thoughts on all that crap I have in my brain?

That property is being built on to expand the UPS hub just to the East. The property North of that was owned by a guy in Dallas who ran strip clubs, and is also part of the UPS expansion.

[SanJac]

Originally Posted by Redlionjr

Yeah I've always said people's first impressions are everything and Houston doesn't do itself any good once you leave the airport. That part of 45 N/ BW8/ 69 is an eye sore. 45 heading into downtown happens to be one of the ugliest stretches of freeway I've driven on in any major city in America. That's generally people's first impression of Houston.

I think this perception is overblown. Yeah we should beautify our freeways but I’ve travelled extensively throughout the world and surely the drives from the airports are not my enduring memories of those places.

People that criticize the drive from 45N to downtown (that I know) come from suburbia type sanitized places like Fort Collins, Colorado or Scottsdale, Arizona. I tell them “this is what a real city looks like - don’t be scared!”

In terms of nicest drives, the I-10 drive from Katy to downtown is now one of the nicest stretches with the Oleanders and Crape Myrtles lining the freeway. The revamped Hwy290 is not near as bad as it used to be.

Since the 2004 Super Bowl Houston has done a LOT to beautify public spaces. We just need to continue more of the same.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by SanJac

I think this perception is overblown. Yeah we should beautify our freeways but I’ve travelled extensively throughout the world and surely the drives from the airports are not my enduring memories of those places.

People that criticize the drive from 45N to downtown (that I know) come from suburbia type sanitized places like Fort Collins, Colorado or Scottsdale, Arizona. I tell them “this is what a real city looks like - don’t be scared!”

In terms of nicest drives, the I-10 drive from Katy to downtown is now one of the nicest stretches with the Oleanders and Crape Myrtles lining the freeway. The revamped Hwy290 is not near as bad as it used to be.

Since the 2004 Super Bowl Houston has done a LOT to beautify public spaces. We just need to continue more of the same.

I think we're sensitive to it because Houston already suffers (and has for decades) an "image" deficit that contrasts to its relative economic success. It's always rankled people that clueless out of towners talked about the city the same way they would the worst Rust Belt loserville even though it was prospering.

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by Thoreau424

I tune out the billboards, and have no idea what 'blight' you're referring to. I see other vehicles, lanes, freeway signs... the usual stuff you're supposed to be watching when you're on the freeways. If you hate Houston, just leave.

cognitive dissonance at it's finest. And just because I think Houston freeways cut through a lot of ugly looking parts of town doesn't mean I hate living in Houston. LOL relax

Originally Posted by SanJac

I think this perception is overblown. Yeah we should beautify our freeways but I’ve travelled extensively throughout the world and surely the drives from the airports are not my enduring memories of those places.

People that criticize the drive from 45N to downtown (that I know) come from suburbia type sanitized places like Fort Collins, Colorado or Scottsdale, Arizona. I tell them “this is what a real city looks like - don’t be scared!”

In terms of nicest drives, the I-10 drive from Katy to downtown is now one of the nicest stretches with the Oleanders and Crape Myrtles lining the freeway. The revamped Hwy290 is not near as bad as it used to be.

Since the 2004 Super Bowl Houston has done a LOT to beautify public spaces. We just need to continue more of the same.

From my experiences and being on this very forum most people who I've heard comment on that stretch of 45 are generally urban centric people. But honestly the drive from IAH or even Hobby into the city center is not a pleasant looking drive. It doesn't help that 45 is a nightmare to drive on during rush hour.

That drive from the airport to the hotel in any city is your first impression of a city. Let's just say if IAH or Hobby were located West of Houston and people had to use I-10E coming from the West of the metro than people might have a better first impression of Houston driving into downtown. When people say Houston is ugly a lot of times it's due to what they're seeing from some of our freeways.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

I think we're sensitive to it because Houston already suffers (and has for decades) an "image" deficit that contrasts to its relative economic success. It's always rankled people that clueless out of towners talked about the city the same way they would the worst Rust Belt loserville even though it was prospering.

I think what Houston lacks is tourism
That's what encourages a city to make things prettier