Houston has massive potential (Dallas, San Antonio: light rail, car, cities)

[jd433]

Houston had a huge building boom for several years from about 2008 to 2016 . During this time Oil was peaking out with the exception of a couple of dips. During those years Houston developed much more that Dallas. However as oil is still down from the peak I am sure that Houston will start seeing a lull in building.
This is one advantage that Dallas has that it's not very dependant on oi. Dallas is still going through a boom while Houston has decreased in GDP growth. Now with Harvey who know what will happen. Maybe people will just blow it off like they did with Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 IDK. Harvey deffinately got more national media coverage
I do think that we should keep things in perspective though. Both places are doing just fine and most you can be perfectly happy living in either place. Being overly dependant on your Cities image is probably not healthy. Just having an urban place to walk around in really will not have much impact on your life as a whole. Chicago used to be the worst city for bragging and now it is losing population.
The biggest bragging chip today may be the Amazon HQ2 . Whoever wins that prize will have a lot to brag about.
Additionally neither Houston nor Dallas have any kind of world class type of urban enclave to brag about. There is really nothing very impressive about either place. They are nice but not something to brag to the whole world about. This whole obsession about creating the perfect modern city is mostly just a waste of time. We should have a braggers anonymous meeting.
BTW you may not want your city to be a magnate for migration. have you seen some of these people who are migrating? I know that we need to grow but I wish we could screen some of the people who are moving from out of town. The folks coming form out of the country have already been screened supposedly (that is the ones who come legally)
I rent properties in Dallas and get many out of towners looking to lease a house. Boy I wish you could see some of these folks. It's a mess. For every person who relocates due to a good job relocation or promotion for every one there are 3 stragglers who come to town with the idea that coming to Dallas will solve all of their lifes problems. Dallas is flooded to the kilt with people like this. These are people who drive into town in a broken down car and live in the motels. Half of the folks who apply for a house are living in an extended stay. They keep building extended stay hotels like they are out of style. So don't think the world is perfect.Believe me it's not good news. And to think that they are pouring in because they heard that Dallas has a nice uptown area?

[Jack Lance]

I don't know about urban development , but when it comes to Master Planned Communities Houston leaves the rest of Texas in the dust. Of the 50 top selling MPC in the country 10 are in the Houston area, with only 3 being in the DFW and 1 each in Austin and San Antonio. Which means that Houston placed twice as many MPC in the top 50 than the rest of Texas combined.





https://www.realestateconsulting.com/top-50-mpc-2017/

[Texyn]

Originally Posted by dallasboi

Can you post some pictures of your definition of excellent urban infill so we'll know what we're missing?

There are many Uptown Dallas buildings that look good. I'll post some street views when I have the chance.

A lot of new developers in this country seem to like the stucco look. But even attempts to copy brown-stone type developments can come off as a major faux. Modern development may as well go above and beyond in looking swanky and stylish. So it's looking like one has to go outside the US to see good modern infill regarding quality and aesthetic. Most likely to cities in Asia or Europe.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Apparently a lot of people here are arguing on how urban AND walkable Houston vs Dallas is. And here Dallasites are saying the Uptown Dallas area is more walkable than anything in Houston and Houstonians are saying the urban core in Houston is far larger than the urban core in Dallas. To be real, neither is extremely walkable but both are on pace to get there with be way they are both developing. The EaDo-Downtown-Midtown-Museum District-Lower Westheimer-Montrose-Upper Kirby-Uptown and everything in between consist of neighborhoods that are either there or getting there and are connecting faster than what was thought it would take. And Uptown Dallas and their surrounding areas will grow and probably won’t be as large. This argument is laughable because neither are extremely walkable and both are improving. And the lead isn’t clear.

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

Apparently a lot of people here are arguing on how urban AND walkable Houston vs Dallas is. And here Dallasites are saying the Uptown Dallas area is more walkable than anything in Houston and Houstonians are saying the urban core in Houston is far larger than the urban core in Dallas. To be real, neither is extremely walkable but both are on pace to get there with be way they are both developing. The EaDo-Downtown-Midtown-Museum District-Lower Westheimer-Montrose-Upper Kirby-Uptown and everything in between consist of neighborhoods that are either there or getting there and are connecting faster than what was thought it would take. And Uptown Dallas and their surrounding areas will grow and probably won’t be as large. This argument is laughable because neither are extremely walkable and both are improving. And the lead isn’t clear.

You're right that neither are walkable overall, but when it comes to "pedestrian friendly" design, Dallas definitely edges out Houston. Even then, Dallas isn't pedestrian friendly overall.

[Jeohnny]

Originally Posted by DTXman34

You're right that neither are walkable overall, but when it comes to "pedestrian friendly" design, Dallas definitely edges out Houston. Even then, Dallas isn't pedestrian friendly overall.

Yeah Dallas does have more of a pedestrian friendly design than Houston , however even with that I still kind of feel unsafe walking on lots of streets in dallas because people drive too fast and seem to not care about pedestrians. Overall, most of central dallas does have sidewalks, although most of the sidewalks need maintenance. In 2 days i almost got ran over 3 times. Both on Blackburn and 75, and the other on good Latimer and main. When I was exploring Houston's urban core , I was surprised at how so many of the neighborhoods that were mentioned above have NO SIDEWALKS AT ALL! The bus stop were like 2 feet from the street! Houston's urban core is very "urban" in terms of density and development , however it's not walkable besides downtown and a few other areas. Both should be further ahead in the next 10 or so years lol

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by Jeohnny

Yeah Dallas does have more of a pedestrian friendly design than Houston , however even with that I still kind of feel unsafe walking on lots of streets in dallas because people drive too fast and seem to not care about pedestrians. Overall, most of central dallas does have sidewalks, although most of the sidewalks need maintenance. In 2 days i almost got ran over 3 times. Both on Blackburn and 75, and the other on good Latimer and main. When I was exploring Houston's urban core , I was surprised at how so many of the neighborhoods that were mentioned above have NO SIDEWALKS AT ALL! The bus stop were like 2 feet from the street! Houston's urban core is very "urban" in terms of density and development , however it's not walkable besides downtown and a few other areas. Both should be further ahead in the next 10 or so years lol

I've had a similar experience. One quick fix would be to change the timing of the crosswalk and traffic signals so that it allows more time for someone to cross the street without having to dodge cars making a left or right turn. It's definitely necessary off of Blackburn/McKinney and Blackburn/Cole. McKinney and Cole will eventually convert to 2-ways, which should help slow the speed. Widening sidewalks and taking out a lane are helpful, but they don't address the issue of intersections. I've seen in other cities where the lights are timed to allow pedestrians to cross all 4 intersections.

[Mr. Clutch]

Originally Posted by Texyn

There are many Uptown Dallas buildings that look good. I'll post some street views when I have the chance.

A lot of new developers in this country seem to like the stucco look. But even attempts to copy brown-stone type developments can come off as a major faux. Modern development may as well go above and beyond in looking swanky and stylish. So it's looking like one has to go outside the US to see good modern infill regarding quality and aesthetic. Most likely to cities in Asia or Europe.

This is so true regarding new development across the country. The cities I spend time in regularly (Houston, DC, DFW, Seattle and Atlanta) all have very similar styles of new development - either glass or stucco.

To me, the laziness of new developers in terms of region-specific design takes away from the character of all of these cities.

Originally Posted by Jeohnny

Yeah Dallas does have more of a pedestrian friendly design than Houston , however even with that I still kind of feel unsafe walking on lots of streets in dallas because people drive too fast and seem to not care about pedestrians. Overall, most of central dallas does have sidewalks, although most of the sidewalks need maintenance. In 2 days i almost got ran over 3 times. Both on Blackburn and 75, and the other on good Latimer and main. When I was exploring Houston's urban core , I was surprised at how so many of the neighborhoods that were mentioned above have NO SIDEWALKS AT ALL! The bus stop were like 2 feet from the street! Houston's urban core is very "urban" in terms of density and development , however it's not walkable besides downtown and a few other areas. Both should be further ahead in the next 10 or so years lol

Agreed. The biggest impediment in both cities is the drivers and lack of attention paid to pedestrians. Some of it is exacerbated by design, but its mostly just culture imo.

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clutch

Agreed. The biggest impediment in both cities is the drivers and lack of attention paid to pedestrians. Some of it is exacerbated by design, but its mostly just culture imo.

Speed limits and signs are practically worthless. We need to narrow our streets, widen our sidewalks, and change the timing of our traffic signals to allow more time for pedestrians to cross. You can't have both pedestrian friendly and car friendly design. It's an oxymoron and one cancels out the other (e.g. car wins).

[Jimmy1953]

Originally Posted by DTXman34

Speed limits and signs are practically worthless. We need to narrow our streets, widen our sidewalks, and change the timing of our traffic signals to allow more time for pedestrians to cross. You can't have both pedestrian friendly and car friendly design. It's an oxymoron and one cancels out the other (e.g. car wins).

Great point.