- Newland Communities Planning 3,619-Acre Neighborhood Called Elyson Near Beckendorff and Grand Pwky. [Houston Business Journal]
- WaterWalk Will Start Construction on Hotel-Apartment Concept June 2015 Somewhere in Houston [Houston Business Journal]
- Costco To Open New Location in The Woodlands on Nov. 21 [Houston Business Journal]
- Galleria Will Stay Open After 6 pm on Thanksgiving This Year for the First Time [Prime Property]
- Developers Targeting Porter for Subdivisions as Houston Continues Its Northward Sprawl [Houston Chronicle]
- Uber Says It Has No Intention of Leaving Houston, but Still Plans to Fight New Background-Check Regulations [Houston Business Journal]
- Construction on 1-Mile Stretch of Woodlands Pkwy. Has Been Abandoned for Weeks, Now a Year Behind Schedule [Houston Chronicle]
- Will Prop 1 Money Help Ease Houston’s Freeway Congestion? [Houston Public Media]
- A Look at the Houston Ship Channel’s First 100 Years [Houston Chronicle]
- Touring the Houston Ship Channel Aboard the Sam Houston [Houston Chronicle]
- The Raw Power of Houston’s Economy, as Seen Through the Aerial Photographs of Alex Maclean [OffCite]
- 10 Possible Houston Rap Tourist Destinations [Rocks Off]
Photo of Downtown from Air Liquide building: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
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Calling the Uber and Lyft issue a background check only issue is a bit disingenuous, the city threw in a whole load of requirements including cars no older than 7 years, less than 150k miles, must have a fire extinguisher, etc. So, in essence the Taxi lobby did stifle the competition.
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Rap tourist destinations?!?! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. So I started crying from so much laughing.
Rap is not music clearly. Ever since 1983, I’ve angrily yelled at rap ‘music’. The only music I allow in my home is Creed.
I find many people who denigrate rap music haven’t been properly exposed to it. If your only exposure is what gets airtime on pop stations or mentioned as “controversial” on the news, it’s no wonder that you think the music is terrible. I used to say the thing about country when the only country I heard was “boot scootin boogie” and the like. At its best, rap music can weave a wonderfully complex tapestry of rhythm, melody, and poetry far denser than any other genre. I challenge you to listen to “Alphabet Aerobics” by Blackalicous and tell me that it did not take immense verbal skill to create.
I actually found the rap tourist list pretty interesting. I remember going to a party back in like 01′ and SPM rolled through.
Old fogies denigrated rock music too, hell my grandfather still won’t listen to anything newer than Bert Kaempfert. To each their own, plus Houston could use the tourism dollars.
aren’t the port “pilots” just a blood union? i mean, were any of the current pilots actually born outside families of the original ones or do they just pass the numbers down through the lineage as i presume? you’d be amazed at how much time is spent idling outside port channels just waiting for pilots to show up. certainly not an efficient system by any means.
You have to wonder about a company that fights background checks. I support the city councils ordinance, they should have to pay fees etc.
My God, Rap has been around polluting the airways since the early 80’s, it’s misogyny and anti gay lyrics are disgusting. It’s ruined R&B. I keep hoping it will fade way, like some eradication of a disease. It’s absurd that they rap about how the man has beat them down all the while beating down women and gays in their lyrics and their too stupid to see the Hypocracy. The irony is so many of the major rappers are actually on the down low.
@Shannon – I get so tired of hearing that reply. Please read the stories before commenting. Lyft & Uber DO background checks — IMO, better ones than the city’s, based on my horrible experiences with cab drivers compared to great experiences with Lyft and Uber drivers. Personally, I think the city needs to get their noses out of the cab/ride sharing businesses all together.
There was an interesting article in yesterday’s New York Times that talked about a study showing that some Republican-led states are actually more regulatory concerning start up’s such as Uber and Tesla than are their Democratic led sibling states. But not all…Portland, OR was one of the most regulated. Houston isn’t specifically mentioned, but this whole debate about the City allowing Uber and Lyft to operate I thought was rather ironic, given that many outsiders see Texas ( and Houston) as an enterpreneur’s paradise. Entrnched interests pad their nests by contributing to whoever the political powers-that-be are in charge.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/upshot/republicans-are-only-sometimes-the-party-of-uber.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0
Erik, how is it fair that cabbies etc have to play all these fees, plus have cars under 7 years old etc, but these Lyft people can drive an 75 Granada and pay no city fee and have a much more lax background check than the city requires. COH isn’t going to lose millions and have essentially non regulated ride sharing. I’m mean, get real, dude. You’re dreaming.
@ Shannon
You are attacking a whole genre for the sins of a few outsized examples that get too much media time. Not all rappers are misogynistic or homophobic. In fact, many are quite the opposite. Stripped to its essence, rap is just poetry to a beat. There is nothing inherently misogynistic or homophobic about that.
@Shannan:
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#1 – How about taking a second look at the fees that cabs have to pay. Are they necessary? Maybe it’s time to modernize the system.
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#2 – Uber and Lyft require newer cars, too.
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#3 – How do you know that Uber and Lyft’s background checks are more lax? I have a hunch that many current cab drivers wouldn’t be able to pass Uber and Lyft’s qualifications.
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#4 – I never said no regulation. Of course, there needs to be some regulation, but what’s in place now is crazy, and it doesn’t benefit the consumer. A free market alternative has come into play and the cabs know that they can’t compete on a customer service standpoint, so they’re doing whatever they can do to shut it down. If you like a government body having that much control over your life, I can name some places you can live and be much happier.
@ShadyHeightster: Entrenched interests corrupt whatever party’s in power, certainly, but isn’t this a local regulation, passed by the City of Houston’s municipal government, which is run by Democrats?
Uber and Lyft should not balk at increased background checks. They should welcome them. If they did I might use them. Right now I don’t because I don’t want them coming back and robbing my house after they pick me up for the airport. I have no idea who these people are. Put them all through the background check screws.
@ Shannon: Maybe I would prefer riding around in a 1975 Ford Grenada to a late-model Ford Focus. Getting to select the characteristics of my ride is a feature and not a bug, but unfortunately Eric is correct that Uber and Lyft both require newer cars. Having classic cars as an option seems like an interesting niche for a third company, one that doesn’t have to make concessions to win political inroads. But unfortunately, its probably a door that’ll be open and shut because if the big ridesharing companies are able to buy their way into so many cities, they’ll probably do the same thing that the taxi companies have done and make it difficult for new entrants.
@ lhd: Yeah , don’t reveal your information to people that provide you personal services. If they don’t know anything other than the waypoints along your route, then you won’t present any more of a tempting target than are your neighbors. You could even obfuscate that data by getting them to drop you off a block away from your house. Be defensive with your personal information and this is a non-issue. But even if you aren’t so wise, why would you trust a taxi driver more than anybody else? Seriously, now.