- Fairmont Central Shopping Center in Pasadena Trades Hands [Realty News Report]
- 1980s-Era Northwest Houston Office Space Renovated with ‘New York City Vibe’ To Appeal To ‘Hip’ Tenants [Houston Chronicle]
- Inside a Multimillion-Dollar Home Flip in Memorial [HBJ]
- Clean Lines, Flex Rooms, Convenience Big Remodeling Trends on the Luxury Market [HBJ]
- BRC Gastropub Closing on Shepherd To Become Private Event and Catering Facility, Taking the BRC Statue With It [Houston Press; previously on Swamplot]
- 1000 Degrees Neapolitan Pizza Opening Second Houston Location Next Week in Deer Park [HBJ]
- Mid-America Apartment Communities Acquiring Post Properties, Creating Nation’s Biggest Apartment REIT [Realty News Report]
- $14M Allen Parkway Improvement Project in Final Stages [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
Photo of construction work between W. Dallas St. and Allen Pkwy.: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Allen Parkway was never intended to be a pedestrian area. It is a much needed transportation artery through a city that is congested as hell. Pedestrian bridges to the park are a good idea and offsite parking, but they are creating stops! That will choke traffic and redirect it elsewhere. More problems created by “planners.” Kind of ridiculous that they spent $50M on a park and now are spending $14 to help people access it. It is very difficult to see where $50M already went.
I think the HBJ article writer does not know what Flipping a home means. Tearing down and building new ain’t flipping.
That’s not Allen Parkway in the photo. That’s I-45 southbound near W. Dallas.
Edited the caption — thanks, Ed!
Observer, last I checked there is this little road across the bayou called Memorial, where you can rip down the road almost as fast as you want and get dumped right into downtown. I know, I drive it almost every day. It’s easy to access and has no stop lights from Sheppard to downtown. So how about you take that road and those who choose to be ok with the Allen Pkwy changes can stay there.
It is funny that the ‘Parkway’ now has red lights. Although you do have Memorial that is also just right there. Man would I kill for either an Allen Pkwy or Memorial Pkwy going north-south.
@JGG – As I said, this change will redirect traffic elsewhere. Memorial already gets clogged up and backed up once you hit deterring. In the mornings, it can get very congested going into downtown. Everyone who lives in River Oaks or Montrose who currently takes Allen Parkway to downtown will now go one street north and start clogging up Memorial. That’s how traffic works.
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Planners are stupid.
Not sure I understand the hate on this. Allen Parkway has had red lights for a long time. Memorial is right there, and has always been a faster way to get downtown. Given the constant lamenting here about parks and how Houston sucks because it’s so unfriendly to pedestrians, I would think this should be greeted with champagne and cheering. Now I can take my kid and the dog over there without trying to play Frogger with the people flying through there unnecessarily fast because “it’s curvy and fun”.
@Observer: “Allen Parkway was never intended to be a pedestrian area.”
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Downtown was never originally meant to be an automobile area, but we had no qualms about leveling most of it for parking and converting streets to car-friendly speedways. We’re just balancing things back out after our city’s several-decade domination by automobile-oriented design.
Observer, your assessment of Memorial Drive traffic is ridiculous. The idea that a small amount of congestion during rush hour traffic deems a street unworthy is equally ridiculous. Further, the congestion you mentioned happens at a point (Detering) at which Allen Parkway doesn’t even reach. I admit, though, that in my opinion a Rosemont Bridge copy over Allen Parkway seems like a cheaper and more traffic friendly option, though I understand that increased parking was part of the current plan.
And another thing, why do we park in the driveway and drive on the parkway?
HAHAHA MEMEBAG, YOU JUST MADE MY DAY!
Allen pkwy was a death trap. Literally. I was only 10 min away from John O’Quin’s SUV turning my Honda Civic into scrap metal. Houston drivers cannot be trusted to drive 40 mph on a curvy road with pedestrians all around. The lights might add a minute to your commute. Whah.
“Everyone who lives in River Oaks or Montrose who currently takes Allen Parkway to downtown will now go one street north and start clogging up Memorial.”
It’s a shame that those River Oaks residents will finally have something else to complain about.
Observer, you make the erroneous assumption that the number one goal of planners is to reduce traffic time. Thankfully, for those who consider quality of life includes things outside commute times, that is not the case.
@memebag and @james: a classic observation from the great George Carlin.