Survey: Many Houstonians want better land use planning, urban renewal (Dallas: apartment complex, house)

[jimmyev]

Originally Posted by Malvie

NONE of this, not one scintilla, occurred with any urban planning.

Urban planning gives us perfect, sterile Las Colinas and perfect, sterile CityCentre, for people who like that sort of thing.

Good post. Urban planning also gave us Cabrini Green, Watts, dozens of failed projects in Detroit, a virtually empty Cleveland, entire neighborhoods razed for freeways and failed Civic Centers, and (who can forget Roger and Me) an empty hotel in Flint, Michigan. All at our expense.

[theSUBlime]

Originally Posted by jimmyev

Good post. Urban planning also gave us Cabrini Green, Watts, dozens of failed projects in Detroit, a virtually empty Cleveland, entire neighborhoods razed for freeways and failed Civic Centers, and (who can forget Roger and Me) an empty hotel in Flint, Michigan. All at our expense.

Lol as I was just corrected the other day, Cabrini Green was razed and zoned for, guess what, mixed used development!

[matthou]

Originally Posted by robertrulez

the university line will have a GULFTON station

You better go look at KHOU, federal funding was pulled for University Line and METRO has to supply updated numbers.

The reason many are leaving is the school system. There are very few schools that are outstanding. This is a primary reason for the flow to the suburbs. The majority that are moving to the inner loop are primarily single people not families with children.

One thing that is killing Houston right now is lack of infrastructure maintenance. Some areas of Houston cannot handle large developments because of inadequate sewer lines. Unfortunately, Bill White exacerbated the situation by cutting spending on infrastructure maintenance. Roads maintenance was also cut.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by matthou

You better go look at KHOU, federal funding was pulled for University Line and METRO has to supply updated numbers.

.

I thought that was proved to be wrong and the Chronicle responded to KHOU. I'll find the article.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by AK123

That's so exaggerated. And for you to say that on a day like today (or yesterday) is even more funny. You're going to tell me you wouldn't enjoy walking around outside today? Or most of the year in Houston except maybe the 3-4 worst months during summer? And the swamp thing is getting really tired... Chicago and DC were built on swamp land too.

...

I agree 100%. The weather thing is tired and annoying. People still frolick around in Chicago in the middle of 4 degree weather in December like it's 65 degrees outside. In early January here in DC, people walked around with ease and had no problem with the weather when it was 15 degrees. You're also correct that DC was built on swamp. It can get very humid in the summer and people still love walking around the city because it's a walkable and pedestrian friendly city.

That's the thing with Houston. It's not that it's hot from Late May through Late September. It's that it's not a place where people can easily walk to. If it was, 95 degree weather with high humidity will not stop people. It doesn't stop people in other cities throughout the world with similar climates.

[matthou]

Originally Posted by Spade

I thought that was proved to be wrong and the Chronicle responded to KHOU. I'll find the article.

Why would the Chronicle respond to KHOU? Unless they're in on the "plan" too.

METRO sure responded and denied the allegations. Based on the numbers presented by Barton Smith, the feds pulled funding til METRO responds with accurate numbers. METRO's old estimates from 2008 had them taking in 2.4 billion more than those from 2009. Barton confirmed that during the interview by KHOU.

[vertigo5110]

Originally Posted by Malvie

Montrose was a seedy, ratty, run down neighborhood. Gays started fixing it up and it got to be the "gay-to". Then all that development started and now a single family home in Montrose is unattainable. Same thing happened in the Heights; when I lived here in 1979, the Heights was "iffy" at best, but all the cute young gay couples were moving over there and fixing up those dilapidated 50 year old houses with 1920's plumbing and no closets and kitchen floors that were falling in. Then all the cute young straight couples decided to start buying them (from the gay couples) and ran the prices up. The young gay couples fled to Oak Forest and Candlelight, and suddenly (last few years) Westbury, which is the new trendy gay area.

Then the developers started filling in the gaps like Rice Military, where just a couple of years ago one of my friends indicated there were still gunshots at her townhome every night. Now trendy for 20-something straights.

Oaklawn in Dallas was a run-down former blue collar/small commercial area. Gays moved in and fixed up these dilapidated 50 year old houses with 1920's plumbing and no closets....straights started buying....condos and townhomes started....now high rises....

SoHo ("South of Houston", pronounced "Howston", which I had hell learning) was this rotting area of tenements and the "artist" community (meaning gays, mostly, with some avant-garde straights) moved into these old dilapidated buildings and started fixing them up...then they got very popular for Wall-Streeters....

and the beat goes on.

Sooooo you're saying homosexual people are the answer to all of our urban woes?!?!!? YA HEAR THAT MAYOR PARKER!!?!?! Do your thing! (j/k...sort of)

[theSUBlime]

Originally Posted by vertigo5110

Sooooo you're saying homosexual people are the answer to all of our urban woes?!?!!? YA HEAR THAT MAYOR PARKER!!?!?! Do your thing! (j/k...sort of)

Pretty much...we always fix everything, urban blight, poorly designed rooms, gardens, kitchen sinks--- just ask the lesbos at Home Depot where to find us.

Oh, and you're welcome!

[Malvie]

Originally Posted by vertigo5110

Sooooo you're saying homosexual people are the answer to all of our urban woes?!?!!? YA HEAR THAT MAYOR PARKER!!?!?! Do your thing! (j/k...sort of)

Why yes, as a matter of fact I am!

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by matthou

Why would the Chronicle respond to KHOU? Unless they're in on the "plan" too.

METRO sure responded and denied the allegations. Based on the numbers presented by Barton Smith, the feds pulled funding til METRO responds with accurate numbers. METRO's old estimates from 2008 had them taking in 2.4 billion more than those from 2009. Barton confirmed that during the interview by KHOU.

And again, KHOU was flat out wrong with their reporting on METRO. KHOU is usually on top of things in my opinion, but obviously not here. And what do you mean, why would the Chronicle respond to KHOU? Anyway, here is the article that corrected KHOU's big mistake:

A report on KHOU, Channel 11, suggesting that Metro officials misled the Federal Transit Administration with out-of-date sales tax projections is generating discussion on local blogs today, including this post on chron.com.

The television station reported that in November 2009, Metro gave the federal agency sales tax projections generated the previous year, before the effects of the recession were evident. The figures were provided during the process of applying for $900 million in federal money for Metro's North and Southeast rail lines.
"The books are cooked," U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Houston, told the station.

But James Moncur, who headed a transition committee that examined Metro's finances for Mayor Annise Parker, told me today he discussed the sales tax projections when he met with FTA officials in February. The officials knew very well that they had received 2008 numbers, Moncur said, and didn't believe Metro was trying to mislead them.

The mayor agreed, saying in a statement that "the FTA assured transition team members that it conducts its own analysis."

Metro chief executive Frank Wilson told me that in July 2009, Metro officials and the FTA's consultant jointly developed updated sales tax projections that were provided to the agency the following month. These figures, Wilson said, were lower than those developed in 2008.

Metro, city officials deny effort to mislead FTA | Houston Politics | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

The rest of the article is in the link.