Just wondering: What if Houston had one CBD (i.e. TMC, Greenway, Uptown merged) (Galveston: apartments, townhouses)

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by testmo

it actually does

See you in 20 years.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by Dopo

the key is "urban planning"
Yes, apartments are a good idea, just like the suburbs are a good idea.
But the longer I live in the suburbs, the more I see that there is really bad urban planning when suburbs are built (no public parks, roads too narrow, no sidewalks, etc, etc.)

Same thing applies to apartments,
you can't have 1000s of people living in a few buildings without making sure that there was some good urban planning done before.

To demonstrate what this poster is saying, click here.
Comparing Interfaces: Real Urbanism versus Immitation Urbanism

It's the exact same thing you're talking about.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by annie_himself

The city would be one in a million if it could continue to grow where Uptown, Greenway Plaza, TMC, and downtown were one skyline. Yes? Just because TMC grew up so fast doesn't set the standard for much of the city.

Thought we were talking about merging DT with TMC.

That can EASILY be done.
15-30 mid rise buildings with a few taller ones in between.

There are already a few midrise buildings in-between the two.

What makes it especially feasible is that there is little to nothing already there.

Midtown Info:
Between DT and TMC it is near 300K jobs
Near 5 Universities and colleges with over 75K students in total.
725 acres of land, 365 of which are empty (primed for development)
325 city blocks.

There are already lots of town homes and multi family residences on the far edges of midtown, but the central core is rather empty. Which means the developable land is right down the core. Main, Fannin, San Jac

Here is a pic of Midtown and Downtown directly behind it:



The Pic is from wiki (Free domain)

I don't think it would take much to give the area a more connected feel.

Here is an older and more panned out picture which includes TMC.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3075/...7f5c485462.jpg
I just love that pic ^^ looks like a twin cities in one city. LOL.

This is a view from Midtown park I believe:
http://urbanleasing.com/media/2010/6...wn1_banner.jpg

[Spade]

From looking at this picture, it certainly can be done.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3075/...7f5c485462.jpg

[HtownLove]

is anything new going up in midtown other than apartments??

There plans for a 200 story medical and office space on the corner of Alabama and Main called 3800 Main but I think that was scrapped. Last I heard they were gonna build luxury 5 floor apartment complex on the lot instead. anything is better than what it is now I guess. It is currently an open lot

here is a rendering:

http://www.loopnet.com/xnet/mainsite...ExactDim=False

not many apartments are right on the rail line. Kinda cool. makes you wonder why there is vacant land right near the rail tho.

so stupid.

[SouthernBoy205]

I wonder will Houston ever build those metro stations similar to what the DC area has.

[HtownLove]

I understand completely now

read an article about Midtown and TOD's.

it said that combine costs associated with materials and Houston's parking ordinances make it cost prohibitive to build anything in Midtown other than townhomes or 5 floor apartment buildings.

Unless Houston changes its preference for huge open parking lots, we will have to settle for a mediocre midtown.

the government keeps rejecting plans that don't include huge swarths of parking concrete.
why are they living in the 60's???

I mean these things are feet away from rail and fleets of buses.

[SouthernBoy205]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

I understand completely now

read an article about Midtown and TOD's.

it said that combine costs associated with materials and Houston's parking ordinances make it cost prohibitive to build anything in Midtown other than townhomes or 5 floor apartment buildings.

Unless Houston changes its preference for huge open parking lots, we will have to settle for a mediocre midtown.

the government keeps rejecting plans that don't include huge swarths of parking concrete.
why are they living in the 60's???

I mean these things are feet away from rail and fleets of buses.

Awww. It will be ok.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by SouthernBoy205

I wonder will Houston ever build those metro stations similar to what the DC area has.

No. Because DC metro stations are heavy rail and light rail stations (especially the type of system Houston has) does not require stations that HRT systems like DC has.

DC

Houston

[Spade]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

I understand completely now

read an article about Midtown and TOD's.

it said that combine costs associated with materials and Houston's parking ordinances make it cost prohibitive to build anything in Midtown other than townhomes or 5 floor apartment buildings.

Unless Houston changes its preference for huge open parking lots, we will have to settle for a mediocre midtown.

the government keeps rejecting plans that don't include huge swarths of parking concrete.
why are they living in the 60's???

I mean these things are feet away from rail and fleets of buses.

Well does it need to have just highrises. It could look alot like LA which has the density of downtown Houston when it comes to the skyscrapers but where LA starts to look different is the density of midrises.


I don't think you will see any type of skyline like what Chicago did.
*edit* ok just looked, while most of those buildings in DTLA are midrises, there are some smaller highrises like a 300-400 foot building scattered around. That could work for Midtown along with the midrise apartments.