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Wait. So not "South Park" in Los Angeles? You're asking if some neighborhood in Charlotte that was named after a large indoor shopping mall has the most potential to become an urban destination? Are you serious? And how in the world was anyone to know that this neighborhood was what you meant? I've never heard of it before now. What a terribly vague post to start this thread with.
Are you...are you mad because LA wasn't mentioned?
Quote:
Originally Posted by blkgiraffe
Exactly. No one is trying to make Houston look like Chicago or NYC. I just want some damn sidewalks to walk on lol
There is so much potential here, but those sidewalks completely kill it:
And as you were saying, the random space of grass between the curb and the sidewalk. Pointless.
4th Ward connects to midtown. It's right outside of downtown, west of downtown across 45. Eado area is near 2nd Ward.
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Originally Posted by Spade
Exactly. To be fair, since Gunion brought up Chicago, even they have developments like this in the city. But at least the sidewalks are wide throughout most of the city and they do not break up either.
For the purposes of this thread, here is Uptown Houston. Pay attention to the person on the bike on that sidewalk. While there should be at least a bike lane on Post Oak, look on narrow that sidewalk is? Everything about this is suburban but it's not a shock, look when it was built. https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7453...8i6656!6m1!1e1
I think from what I understand is, streets that are usually wide and VERY car oriented, the grass is like a divider in between the sidewalk and the street. But still, on most roads, I seriously don't understand that grass; I mean it costs more to take care of that small patch of grass, than to just simply widen the sidewalk.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blkgiraffe
Well the area is new and there is a big project in works to bring in more retail. Also this area isn't far from rail.
THat's all good and well, but if this is a new development why wasn't that part of the plan from the get go? One of the arguments for Atlanta in this discussion is that the City is going through great lengths to ensure that development is focused in areas that not only are close to transit, but also have a retail component for the residents. City living is less about how many people you can cram in to an given area, but the ability to live.
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Originally Posted by blkgiraffe
As you can see in the picture below, which is right down the street from the first link. The area is still very new.
That rail line literally just opened up like a year or two ago and all of the boom is a result of it.
That's all well and good, but who's going to do that outside of instances where that person has no other choice? IN any city, not just the Sunbelt, if people have to travel a distance that is farther than what is comfortable to walk to obtain basic items, they will use a car if they can afford it and forgo transit.
Why? Because we as Americans have conditioned ourselves to think that if we are going to have to go through such lengths to obtain basic items, we should make the most of that time by getting as much as we can at once. No one will do that on transit if they could avoid it.
However, Uptown Houston actually has the most potential due to it's grid layout and compactness. It's nothing to go back in and tear up the parking lots, widen the sidewalks, and doing more infill. Will Houston do that though???? Probably not.
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Originally Posted by Wipe0ut2020
My generation, the millennials, brought the burbs into Inner city Houston with those townhomes. Ironic because they will complain and complain about how Houston isn't urban on reddit, yet can't put two and two to see the little parts (like good sidewalks) that go into the whole that is great urbanity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spade
Exactly. To be fair, since Gunion brought up Chicago, even they have developments like this in the city. But at least the sidewalks are wide throughout most of the city and they do not break up either.
For the purposes of this thread, here is Uptown Houston. Pay attention to the person on the bike on that sidewalk. While there should be at least a bike lane on Post Oak, look on narrow that sidewalk is? Everything about this is suburban but it's not a shock, look when it was built. https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7453...8i6656!6m1!1e1
I keep noticing the sidewalk topic being brought up when discussing Uptown Houston..
Why is no one mentioning The Boulevard Project? They've already started working on the redevelopment of the entire Post Oak corridor, adding in the new BRT lanes down the median with 8 stations through Uptown. As for those pesky 4 foot sidewalks, they are being widened to 12 feet. If thats not wide enough, I dont know what is..
To that end, the sidewalks are being expanded from four to 12 feet and planted with a shady canopy from two rows of new trees.
"If we can get people to walk to lunch, it really does take cars out of the intersections," Breeding said. "We will not be successful just by adding mobility improvements. We have to make it a better place."
The quotes by the urban planner/Yale professor are interesting as well..
Although have you seen the new proposals for the River Oaks District yet? It's supposed to be a pretty big high luxury shopping center that will rival the Galleria?
"New proposals"? River Oaks District is already open.. The retail component is less than 1/10th the size of theGalleria's retail square footage, but the stores are very high end, commanding around $200 a square foot.
Atlanta is indeed car centric as well, it just so happens that the specific district it has happens to be a "lesser of all evils" compared to other districts on this thread.
Honestly, when it comes down to it, if there is a want, market, and will for it, then even the most spread out, spaced out suburb can turn into a dense, urban mecca.
The thing is this is kind of for the entire city. Atlanta's urban core(Downtown/Midtown( is far more walkable than the other two as hell. Not only that, but Atlanta actually has a subway system that connects all of it's major urban sectors(Downtown/Midtown/Buckhead). Oh and Atlanta has smaller street widths and wider sidewalks than Houston.
The thing is this is kind of for the entire city. Atlanta's urban core(Downtown/Midtown( is far more walkable than the other two as hell. Not only that, but Atlanta actually has a subway system that connects all of it's major urban sectors(Downtown/Midtown/Buckhead). Oh and Atlanta has smaller street widths and wider sidewalks than Houston.
He is right that Atlanta core is more urban. Houston just catches up rapidly with the rest of the city. It's unfortunate that you won't see a HRT system from scratch anymore because the fta won't fund anymore of those. Houston would be better to have it elevated though like Chicago.
I keep noticing the sidewalk topic being brought up when discussing Uptown Houston..
Why is no one mentioning The Boulevard Project? They've already started working on the redevelopment of the entire Post Oak corridor, adding in the new BRT lanes down the median with 8 stations through Uptown. As for those pesky 4 foot sidewalks, they are being widened to 12 feet. If thats not wide enough, I dont know what is..
"New proposals"? River Oaks District is already open.. The retail component is less than 1/10th the size of theGalleria's retail square footage, but the stores are very high end, commanding around $200 a square foot.
Are those sidewalks being widened throughout Post Oak. If so, that's a nice start. But the building placements also leaves little to be desired.
He is right that Atlanta core is more urban. Houston just catches up rapidly with the rest of the city. It's unfortunate that you won't see a HRT system from scratch anymore because the fta won't fund anymore of those. Houston would be better to have it elevated though like Chicago.
In terms of Atlanta being more walkable, he isn't. At all.
But, I will say that street widths don't necessarily have to be narrow, in order to ensure great walkability. Streets in Manhattan, for instance, can get quite wide. Uptown Houston's streets can be narrowed both by expanding sidewalks, as well as the medians in the road center.
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