Ashby Highrise trial (Houston, Center, Howe: fit in, homes, neighborhood)

[Truth713]

I don't really care if it gets built or not I am just curious why the developers are so fixied on this site They have to have lost millions in delay and lawyers all ready..why push so hard for a average building in a average looking neighborhood?

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by Truth713

I don't really care if it gets built or not I am just curious why the developers are so fixied on this site They have to have lost millions in delay and lawyers all ready..why push so hard for a average building in a average looking neighborhood?

It butts up to Southampton, one of the top five areas in Houston. With a median sales price well north of one million dollars, Southampton is actually a great place for this project.

Well, except for the reasons it's not...

[LocalPlanner]

The most desirable areas of Houston to build high-end, high-rise residential projects are unrestricted sites in amongst or adjacent to high-dollar single family neighborhoods. So expect this to keep cropping up, unless some irresponsible courts invent a way to stop it.

In fact, it already has cropped up - in River Oaks (Hines office project) and Museum Park (Hines residential tower). Plus you have the Heights, which declares anything not a small bungalow covering no more than x% of the lot to be "inappropriate for the neighborhood".

Did the Tealstone destroy its neighborhood? What about the Memorial City office high rises, or the ones in Uptown? And they are adjacent to single family areas too. Should the City forbid any high rise construction in these areas just because they're already congested? The obvious answer is no. That would be poor regulatory policy. Allowing the market to work is the right way to go - aesthetic considerations regarding height and architectural style should in no way factor into regulation.

Manhattan was once a collection of low-density farmhouses too...

[PedroMartinez]

The inner loop will continue to fill in like this.

If you don't want a highrise going up close to you, don't buy a home where it can happen.

This is why Houston needs to continue to work on a light rail system. The density will continue to increase, and only rail will provide appropriate transportation.

[sksainath]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

The inner loop will continue to fill in like this.

If you don't want a highrise going up close to you, don't buy a home where it can happen.

This is why Houston needs to continue to work on a light rail system. The density will continue to increase, and only rail will provide appropriate transportation.

Will there be any issues with high density as far as the foundation of the houses are concerned? I can see some obvious road caving/buckling on Post Oak and I am not sure if that is related to all the new construction on Post Oak/San Felipe.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

The inner loop will continue to fill in like this.

If you don't want a highrise going up close to you, don't buy a home where it can happen.

This is why Houston needs to continue to work on a light rail system. The density will continue to increase, and only rail will provide appropriate transportation.

Yup, the key is to adapt our infrastructure and services for this new environment. Better walking, biking, and transit facilities / services. Rail can be part of that, but it's not going to be everywhere that there's density. We've got to vastly improve our bus system at the same time. Hopefully METRO's Re-Imagining project will start us down that road (so to speak).

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

Yup, the key is to adapt our infrastructure and services for this new environment. Better walking, biking, and transit facilities / services. Rail can be part of that, but it's not going to be everywhere that there's density. We've got to vastly improve our bus system at the same time. Hopefully METRO's Re-Imagining project will start us down that road (so to speak).

Good points. I should also mention that walking and light rail must go hand and hand. In the future, I'll add that as a tag to whenever I mention rail.

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

The inner loop will continue to fill in like this.

If you don't want a highrise going up close to you, don't buy a home where it can happen.

This is why Houston needs to continue to work on a light rail system. The density will continue to increase, and only rail will provide appropriate transportation.

That's great and all, but we should probably first focus on creating actually vibrant urban districts and not plopping up random towers in the middle of residential neighborhoods. That's a horrible strategy to creating an urban environment.

[usc619]

As far as I'm concerned, Houston has no Zoning. Case close!

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by blkgiraffe

That's great and all, but we should probably first focus on creating actually vibrant urban districts and not plopping up random towers in the middle of residential neighborhoods. That's a horrible strategy to creating an urban environment.

So, you want zoning.