Why do cities like Houston have their airport so far into the suburbs? (Dallas: living, light rail)

[ptt]

When i was a kid one of the world most dangerous airport was Kai Tak in Hong Kong its located in the middle of crowded residential area. Google it you will see why the airport should be away from the city.

[Chris V]

Originally Posted by BuildingsR' Us

So i noticed cities like Dallas and Houston have their main airports deep into the outskirts. The light rail from Downtown Dallas to the airport takes 50 minutes. With Houston i feel like im going into a rural environment or very young suburb.

I can see why it might be smart in long term land development planning, however the cities of San Diego, San Francisco, New York have their airports practically beside their urban core. Heck even Oakland has their direct heavyrail connection to the BART system. I'm aware LAX in Los Angeles isn't close to their downtown but they have the ocean literally walking distance. All the do is step outside on the western end of the airport.

What kind of future regional plan is North Houston going for? I feel like it's a lose situation because there not many near by attractions and most of the metropolian area wont have equal access to. Wouldn't it have been wiser to put it in the south-west side closer to the Galleria?

i would lobby the city of Houston to move the airport close to the Galleria, so that its centrally located for your convenient. Don't worry about the rest of the population complaining and protesting of noise, pollution and the massive traffic. Don't worry about the little people. I ll take care of them for you.

[Texas Ag 93]

Originally Posted by ptt

When i was a kid one of the world most dangerous airport was Kai Tak in Hong Kong its located in the middle of crowded residential area. Google it you will see why the airport should be away from the city.

Well, that doesn't look so bad.........

I remember when that one didn't quite make it on final approach.

[texas7]

I love hobby. It's relatively close to the central
Business district and easier to navigate in general - although not sure if going international will change that ease up. Parking is often overbooked.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Bentley2013

Why do people complain about everything?

Seems to be the new thing in our culture, in big part promoted by our news media constantly giving coverage to anybody that complains in facebook

[statisticsnerd]

Originally Posted by Texas Ag 93

Having said that, I consider Hobby to be a terrible (almost embarrassing in quality) airport, even after this recent construction. After having not being there in over 20 years, I have flown out of it twice since moving back to Houston 5 months ago because I live on the South side. I think the signage to get there is inadequate, there is no dedicated entrance, and logistics are bad.

Hobby isn't hard to get to. I like that there is only one main terminal and that you don't have to take a tram to get from one side of the airport to the other. Also, the two parking garages right across the street are very convenient. The only irritating thing is that you have to keep circling around if you are picking someone up.

[curbur]

No offense, but..

Originally Posted by statisticsnerd

Hobby isn't hard to get to.

This is true, but it's not exactly desirable or inviting once you arrive there. LAX may be near South Central/Compton, but it's not actually within the middle of it.

Originally Posted by statisticsnerd

I like that there is only one main terminal and that you don't have to take a tram to get from one side of the airport to the other. Also, the two parking garages right across the street are very convenient.

Sounds like it's too small to be the regional airport for the 4th largest city in America, nor does it have any room to grow around it substantially due to all the lower income residential.

Originally Posted by statisticsnerd

The only irritating thing thing is that you have to keep circling around if you are picking someone up.

This is true of every international airport; multiple terminals had to be built due to sheer size requirements, and if the unfortunate byproduct of being able to service many more flights to a region is a slightly annoying lightrail tram that runs around the airport, then so be it. Most international airports have multiple terminals and slow moving trams to access them.

[afterdark80]

I'm not sure what the complaint is.
Downtown Houston to Bush IAH is around 20 miles; about 25 minutes driving without traffic. With traffic, different story but that's everywhere.
From the Galleria area to to Bush IAH is 28 miles or so; about 35 minutes driving with light traffic. Again, with traffic is a different story.

Those are all more than reasonable drive times, especially for a city the size of Houston. I have never thought that an airport the size of Bush IAH was too far out. No chance you get airport travel times that are much shorter in most major cities.

[LocalPlanner]

Bush IAH was on the outskirts when it was built, true, for reasons explained elsewhere in this discussion. But no one can reasonably consider it on the outskirts today. It is surrounded by middle-suburban neighborhoods considered highly undesirable by most on this forum, and the desirable suburbs are considerably further away from the center of Houston than the airport is. "Outskirts" in Houston today would mean Conroe, Hockley, Splendora, etc.

[gwarnecke]

One observation: it's not uncommon in Europe for even extremely large, high-volume airports to be located near the city center. Amsterdam Schiphol, Frankfurt International, and Zurich come to mind - all are 15-20 minute drive from the city center, and none are suffering from major capacity constraints as a result of their locations.