- DRA Advisors of New York Acquires 49 Texas Warehouses and Industrial Properties in $1B Deal [Realty News Report]
- Luxury Downtown Apartment Complex The Star Debuts in Former Texaco Building [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Tech-Savvy Walmart with Medical Clinic, Chobani Cafe Debuting in Tomball Today [abc13; previously on Swamplot]
- Sushi-Burrito Restaurant U’Maki Slated To Open in Vintage Marketplace in April [HBJ]
- Planet Fitness To Open 15th Houston-Area Location in Webster Next Week [Houston Chronicle]
- Report: Houston-Dallas Bullet Train Could Cost Taxpayers $21.5B [HBJ; previously on Swamplot]
- Barker And Addicks Dam Repairs Keep Getting Delayed by Rains [Houston Public Media; previously on Swamplot]
- Opposition To Concrete Batch Plants in Neighborhoods Is Becoming More Common [Houston Chronicle]
- How 21 Houston Suburbs Got Their Names [Houston Chronicle]
- An Appreciation of Sharpstown’s Mid-Century Homes [Houston Press]
- The Politics of Streetlights [The Urban Edge]
Photo of the Houston Ship Channel:Â Swamplot inbox
Headlines
The people who decide where to put up street lights are racist! -Urban Edge
SMH
Is there any doubt that the Dallas train will be an economic disaster for tax payers?
@EternalVictimsAbound Nowhere in the article does it come to that conclusion.
Re: High Speed Rail
While I would love to see HSR developed, I am against any public monies being spent on it at any point of it’s lifespan. If it can’t be made profitable then the bondholders should have to pony up.
NOT MY NICKEL!
Ha, my favorite part of the article:
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“Only two high-speed train lines, anywhere in the western world, make money: Tokyo to Osaka and Paris to Lyon. One additional line breaks even — Hakata to Osaka — but it has the potential to make money if it remains in operation for at least 10 more years. All other high-speed rail lines throughout Europe and Japan lose money.”
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Based on that logic, we should shut down the HCTRA, there’s only a few sections of roadway that are actually profitable, the rest are wastes of money.
The Reason Foundation’s conclusions rely upon a slippery slope fallacy. If the project cannot pay for its debts then the outcome is a bankruptcy: the lenders get a haircut. If operative revenues do not exceed operating costs then one might expect that a bankruptcy would lead to a discontinuation of services. (A good example of how it plays out is State Highway 130 in the Austin area.) I don’t think that a discontinuation of services is going to happen; I think that their revenue calculations were insufficiently generous because air travel is inherently an onerous task and because ridesharing and self-driving vehicles are likely to change the dynamics of travel between cities in a way that is favorable to TCR in a relevant time horizon.
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If such circumstances as that TCR is applying for open rail subsidies is a problem…attack that entire set of policy. If special-purpose eminent domain for railroads is a problem…attack that entire set of policy. If bankruptcy protections are a problem…attack that entire set of policy. If the tax code is a problem…attack that entire set of policy. If the possibility that a troubled private company may receive a direct government bailout, as happened with GM or Chrysler, attack that entire set of policy.
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One must recognize that our entire economy and every industry and occupation is structured around the policies that exist. To attack a company or a single project because it is enabled by policies we don’t like is to attack everything and everyone willy-nilly. It is senseless.