Texas Medical Center in HOU poised to overtake Downtown Dallas in 5-6 years (Houston: vs., train)

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by mm4

Well this one's 18 floors; the building's about 250 ft. It's just another medical center in Dallas--as there are many, not just one mesocenter.

I edited my post after I counted the floors on Baylor which from what I could see is about 17-18.

Originally Posted by mm4

I'm trying to figure out why anybody needs a 500 ft. tall building. Do they do medicine there? (For that matter, how much of its height is decorative?) Why don't you just make two 250 ft. ones?

Very simple answer. To meet the demands for high quality medical care in one of Houston's fastest growing areas of the city, the west side of town right off of the MASSIVE Katy Freeway expansion. When they do it in Houston, they do it BIG.

"Part of the 11-hospital, not-for-profit Memorial Hermann System, Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center combines the highest quality care with unparalleled convenience. In this state-of-the-art medical center anchored by the new 33-story landmark Memorial Hermann Tower, sky bridges will connect all buildings on the campus with Memorial City Mall across the street and a 250-room Westin Hotel, scheduled to open in spring 2009. Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center truly is a new kind of medical center.
Designed to bring the types of healthcare services and programs historically found only in the Texas Medical Center to more people across the Houston area, Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center is located at I-10 and Gessner in the geographic center of Houston. Once completed in 2008, the medical center will house 2.5 million square feet of space - an expansion of 1.5 million square feet - and be licensed for 434 beds."

https://secure1.mhhs.org/memorialhermanntower/home.html

[dv1033]

Originally Posted by mm4

I'm trying to figure out why anybody needs a 500 ft. tall building. Do they do medicine there? (For that matter, how much of its height is decorative?) Why don't you just make two 250 ft. ones?

Taller buildings are usually justified by space restraints and demand for large floor space (i.e. a major company wanting to own/lease all or a large portion of a building). Building two 250 ft. ones isn't justifiable unless it is some suburban office park, especially if it's in the TMC or in the Memorial area (where the 500ft tower is being completed) because the cost of obtaining the land for 2 buildings isn't justifiable.

[mm4]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

When they do it in Houston, they do it BIG.

That's a cute little train you've got on Main Street. Have you thought about building a rail system some day?

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by mm4

That's a cute little train you've got on Main Street. Have you thought about building a rail system some day?

Houston's cute little 7.5 mile long & expanding as we speak light rail sees more ridership than Dallas'. The numbers speak for themselves.

Daily ridership including bus & light rail:

Metro - 600,500+

DART - 228,300

[mm4]

Heck that Memorial Hermann Tower is only 35-stories of usable floor area, 20 of them space for outpatient services, physician offices, and office space for Memorial Hermann System.

Here's the rest of your 500 ft. building. Yeah that's some pricy land.

So that's it? The crown jewel. Dallas just puts its health system space in other office buildings.

In D, they can even get to many of their medical centers by train.

[dv1033]

Originally Posted by mm4

That's a cute little train you've got on Main Street. Have you thought about building a rail system some day?

Yikes, there goes your credibility. Houston is building an inner city LRT system (broke ground on it recently) that connects to its metro wide grade, separated HOV system that delivers upwards of 250,000 people a day into the Houston core. DFW and Houston are built differently and require different types of rail system.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by mm4

heck that memorial hermann tower is only 35-stories of usable floor area, 20 of them space for outpatient services, physician offices, and office space for memorial hermann system.

Here's the rest of your 500 ft. Building.

Yeah that's some pricy land.

Epic FAIL with the broken link!

[dv1033]

Originally Posted by mm4

Heck that Memorial Hermann Tower is only 35-stories of usable floor area, 20 of them space for outpatient services, physician offices, and office space for Memorial Hermann System.

Here's the rest of your 500 ft. building. Yeah that's some pricy land.

So that's it? The crown jewel. Dallas just puts its health system space in other office buildings.

Link is broken, but I assume you are talking about the crown. The crown, btw, will be office space.

[Exult.Q36]

Originally Posted by dv1033

Yikes, there's goes your credibility. Houston is building an inner city LRT system (broke ground on it recently) that connects to its metro wide grade, separated HOV system that delivers upwards of 250,000 people a day into the Houston core.

Where is the data, & models that back your claim up? Before you claim a person has lost there credibility you have back your own claims up.

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by LAnative10

If you havent been, then what would give you cause to think that Houston is more diverse, international, or better/worse in any way than LA?

Honestly alot of people will come to a place like Houston and Dallas and be surprised with the diversity and International feel. But the reason isnt that we think its moreso than LA, its because (frankly) our standards for Texas are really low. Alot of people from California think Texas is a bible-thumping, gun toting, Bush loving, redneck-bumpkins paradise. As you know, this is obviously not true for a very large portion of the state, but that is the perception.

Up until 5 years ago, the only parts of Texas I had spent time in were Waco (moms hometown), Tyler/Longview (Dads hometown), and one semester at TCU for a specialty program they didnt offer at UCLA. Honestly, none of these did anything to convience me that Texas was international or diverse. I enjoyed visiting there, and I still like going to Waco and East Texas for a visit, but they arent places where you find the level of diversity you would in Dallas and especially not Houston.

Eventually I got a job where we had offices in Dallas and Houston and I was visiting those cities regularly. I was mistified at what I saw because it blew away the sterotypes I had grown up with. Whereas Waco, and East Texas had not really embrassed or contradicted the sterotypes I had. Houston has a very large Little Saigon and Chinatown and Dallas has a very large Koreatown and a couple of Little Saigons. Both cities are very gay friendly as well. I wasnt expecting any of that at all and most others from California would expect to find that in Texas either.

So when people come here from LA and are surprised at the internationalness and diversity, its not because we think its moreso than LA, becuase its not. Its because we werent expecting it in the first place.

and when did I say ithat exactly? It's the fact that over and over again you underestimate Houston and always try to lower it back down to Dallas level. Houston is more international and more diverse than Dallas. No exaggeration there; just truth. Some things Houston does better than Dallas, and somethings Dallas does better than Houston. They don't always have to be even.

You have a strong bias toward LA and seem to say how Houston can't compare in this and that. It can. Diversity? Houston is close. Importance? Houston is there. International feel? Close.