21 Comment

• ZAW April 16, 2015 at 9:08 am

  The high industrial rents in Southwest Houston are very good news – as long as we’re talking about lighter industrial uses (warehouses, distribution and processing centers, and tech industry; not refineries or waste processing). This could be the engine that leads a revival of the area – if the light industrial uses pull up the tax base to make more money available for physical improvements, and (more importantly) create jobs that could be available for those who already live in the area.
• Dookie April 16, 2015 at 9:17 am

  I have no reason to disbelieve this guy who says he was harassed for walking while black. The Heights has become a new bastion of white/affluent “liberal” racists..
• juancarlos31 April 16, 2015 at 9:26 am

  Re:Three types of Rail opponents.
  Really, those are the only reasons someone might not support a “privately funded” “high speed” rail line?
  It shows a weak mind to presume people who disagree with you have only obviously invalid reasoning. There are many reasons to see “high speed rail” as a backward looking boondoggle, promoted by people infatuated by Europe or “carbon intensity” who’ve missed some crucial facts. Building a brand new lightly ridden rail line will cause every passenger trip for a very long time to be much more “carbon intensive” than driving from houston to dallas, and even more intensive than flying from houston to dallas for some period of time.

  If these were European cities or Northeast US cities, taking a train to a place, you’d transfer from the intercity rail lines to intracity rail or subway, and never need a car to get to your destination. But the idea that someone travelling by expensive rail (100$+ roundtrip) to some hub/station at Houston would then hop on the Houston bus system to get around? So if you have to rent a car at your destination, is this trying to compete with driving, intercity buses, or with flying?

  In general, I’d rather see heavy, less-time critical things moved by rail (like freight) and passengers moved by air, bus, or car. Why not de-bottleneck freight rail and/or legislate things to push for fewer semi-trucks on the highways? If you removed some large percentage of semi traffic, wouldn’t highways be safer, longer lasting, and more fun to drive?
• Houstonian April 16, 2015 at 10:29 am

  Why would it cost $1,000 to fix a few cracked panels of sidewalk? A panel is what, 8 square feet? It doesn’t come anywhere close to that to do a patio.
• ??? April 16, 2015 at 11:59 am

  A guy walking around with some signs in The Heights has what to do with Houston real estate?
• htownproud April 16, 2015 at 12:08 pm

  heights/black. part of the problem is the next door neighbor website. in my area by rice university, people post a crime alert every time someone knocks on their doors and a crime alert any time they see a minority walking the streets (and the cops are called). it’s insane, but people on that site encourage neighbors to act this way. i suspect it’s the same on the heights next door neighbor site.
• Cody April 16, 2015 at 12:10 pm

  Houstonian: that’s the special government pricing they got for you. Congrats!
• toasty April 16, 2015 at 12:22 pm

  interesting, I figured the 3 types of rail opponents would be:
  .
  1. airline companies
  2. people who have been lobbied by airline companies
  3. people who believe those people who have been lobbied by airline companies
  .
  The opposition to this thing is just so damned silly, it’s making me want to illustrate the absurdity with profanity.
• Derek April 16, 2015 at 12:32 pm

  Here are some actual numbers you can compare, from the IPCC, on carbon intensity by mode of travel: https://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/sres/aviation/125.htm#img84

  The thing is that rail can be powered 100% by low-carbon energy sources, while air travel cannot (no, supposed biofuels don’t count). In fact, the carbon and resource intensity of oil is growing every year as we tap more oil sands and shale. Electrified automobiles that can travel 240mi to Dallas are too expensive for the average traveler, and the prices are not likely to go down enough in the near future.

  If a company wants to invest in a “boondoggle” that’s their perogative. If the project is successful and we can use this as a way to lower carbon intensity of travel, it’s a total win. Why not try it? It’s a proven technology that has proven benefits. As people use it they’ll see the benefits.
• TheNiche April 16, 2015 at 1:29 pm

  @ ZAW: I do understand how playing Sim City might tend to warp an architect’s perspective as to what constitutes “industrial” real estate, but yes, quoted rental rates are for the more commoditized forms of industrial real estate, primarily in the form of big empty boxes with various characteristics. Southwest Houston already has a disproportionate concentration of office/warehouses and service centers, so the rental rates there tend to be skewed a bit higher than average. In fact, though, the sheer quantity of industrial space and new construction in southwest Houston is relatively limited by comparison with most other sectors.
• j April 16, 2015 at 1:37 pm

  I wonder if the inspectors will treat the non-city approved contractors the same. I also believe this is the first step in creating the process to force homeowners to repair the sidewalks. The whole thing does not pass the sniff test. Sidewalk work in an open market runs about $8 per square foot for 60 linear feet including break out and haul. I would expect a smaller job to average more due to concrete minimum delivery charges and set mobilization costs and a bigger job to average a little less because these costs are spread out. According to the city the minimum is $15/ft. There is a big hidden tax in there and just like the drainage fee it will be robbed.
• Cody April 16, 2015 at 1:41 pm

  Oh that guy can just cry me a river. I’ve had my fair share of run ins with the cops by being in an area they didn’t think I “fit into”. I went to view an apt complex by Hobby that was being watched by some narco cops. They watched me go in and out of units with the maintenance staff as I checked the place out as a possible building to buy. When I left, my car was stopped by a gang of cops — some with those ski masks – and I was cuffed and tossed into the back of a cop car and hauled off. They thought I was some drug leader or something.
  .
  Obviously charges were dismissed since they had nothing, but that didn’t make the experience any more fun.
  .
  Maybe I should make a sandwich sign and walk around Hobby. Or I could just realize that some cops are just dicks and get on with my life.
• DNaguy April 16, 2015 at 1:51 pm

  @Juancarlos

  Your tired arguments aren’t based on any facts at all. They’re your opinions and preconceived notions.
  Why do people have to be able to not take a car a the final destination for rail to work in your assessment? By your logic, air travel doesn’t work. People can’t fly to Houston and board a local train. Air travel is therefore < car? I mean, do you realize just how much our Fed Gov. subsidizes airlines? Do you realize how much it costs to maintain / monitor safe air traffic?!
  What you fail to mention is the time savings / parody of HSR and air travel. Therefore, if you final destination is Dallas, then taking a train looks very appealing. In addition, you can work or have meetings during that travel time. For business travelers, that's huge. Family travel by train will still be more expensive than driving, yes. But that's literally the case 99.99% of the time vs. flying as well. You pay more the time savings and convenience. That's how the world works.
  More freight would be great. We have a very contained freight rr system in Houston. But that's not what the argument is about.
  I may have a weak mind, but seriously your reasoning is invalid.
• lhd April 16, 2015 at 1:54 pm

  @htownproud – What is the url of this racist website that is causing Rice University neighbors to target minorities? Quannel X may need to get involved here. There may need to be a few protests. This could be a long hot summer.
• smiley s April 16, 2015 at 2:53 pm

  When a neighborhood is going through gentrification law enforcement is used to try to scare off the longtime residents.not only in houston,but all over in popular cities in America.i own a house and they are trying to scare me off too.i google YouTube gentrification,and it’s the same story.i read in the new york times last year,a club in east austin was on fire and a cop was texting to his partners burn baby burn.america has a long nasty history of doing this.why did the cop in Bellaire push the young man’s mom to the ground?his mom and dad where in their pajamas when they open the door and asked whats going on.i own a house and im not going to allow these bad law enforcement of trying to run me off.a person warned me what cops were gonna do.
• commonsense April 16, 2015 at 3:46 pm

  Once in a while we hear a story that a person gets stopped in a neighborhood that looks like he doesn’t belong there but does. It’s unfortunate, BUT I completely understand the overall premise… A person walking down the street with their pants on the ground, gold teeth, and a haircut of a troll doll in River Oaks has the equivalent effect of ME putting on my freshly starched clan hood, slinging an AK over my shoulder and walking through 3rd ward. Am I breaking any laws? Technically no. Am I up to no good? Quite probably… hence probable cause.
• ZAW April 16, 2015 at 5:08 pm

  I don’t know what you think you’re getting at with the Sim City Quip, Niche.
  .
  I was simply saying that maybe, just maybe, Southwest Houston’s saving grace will be the construction of warehouses, distribution centers, high tech manufacturing. I would shy away from dirty industries, like refineries and waste transfer plants, because they aren’t really worth it: any benefits from jobs are offset by pollution and there’s no net increase in the tax base.
• Higher Density April 16, 2015 at 5:13 pm

  @Cody; It was not that long ago the Houston’s finest would rough up and arrest “those people” in Montrose when it was going through its share of gentrification. Back before it was frowned upon to bash gays, HPD was johhny on the spot to roll a queer.
• Laughable April 16, 2015 at 6:45 pm

  Cody please, just because you’re comfortable with profiling doesn’t mean everyone else is…
• Laughable April 16, 2015 at 6:47 pm

  LHD, he stated the website. It’s called next door. My neighbors use it also.
• vwgto April 16, 2015 at 9:15 pm

  Subsidize a fleet of electric cars available to make the run to Dallas. Probably cost a lot less in the long run, bridge to improving technology, and take it to your actual destination.