Homeless solution, GRB growth, #1 mfg, Metro and rail
The smaller misc items stacked up over the holidays:"Our top ranked area, Houston, is one of only four regions that enjoyed net job growth in manufacturing in the past 10 years. This year its heavy manufacturing sector expanded by almost 5%. Houston’s industrial growth is no fluke; over the past year its overall job growth has been about the best among all the nation’s major metros.
Houston’s industrial success owes much to the city’s massive port and booming energy sector, says Bill Gilmer, senior economist at the Federal Reserve office of Dallas. “Houston is about energy — it’s about fabricated metals and machinery,” he says. “It’s oil service supply and petrochemicals. It’s all paced by a high price of oil and new technology that makes it more accessible.”
This shift towards domestic energy augurs well for a huge and economically beneficial shift in America’s longer term economic prospects, he points out. Cheap natural gas, for example, makes petrochemical production in America more competitive than anyone could have imagined a decade ago. Linkages with Mexico in terms of energy as well as autos has made Texas — which is also home to No. 4 ranked San Antonio and No. 15 ranked Dallas — the nation’s primary export super-power, with current shipment 15% to 20% above pre-crisis levels."
- In an unfortunate coincidence of timing, the Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed ripping cities for investing tax-payer dollars in white elephant convention centers chasing a declining business the same week Houston officials announced long-term plans to expand the GRB convention center. Then my own blogging delay led to the Chronicle editorial board beating me to the connection (maybe they read it in my post in the HAIF discussion here?). But I'm very glad they noticed. Houston First needs to feel the pressure to be absolutely sure these investments make prudent economic sense before making them.
- In her 2nd-term inauguration speech last week, the Mayor mentioned tackling the homeless problem. This may be a good model to consider. Delancy Street Foundation, now with six locations across the country, is "... considered the country's leading residential self-help organization for substance abusers, ex-convicts, homeless and others who have hit bottom... Rather than hire experts to help the people with problems, we decided to run Delancey Street with no staff and no funding. Like a large family, our residents must learn to develop their strengths and help each other." If any of you out there have an inside connection to the Mayor, you may want to send this one over to her, or to whomever works with the homeless in her administration.
- Peter Wang on why Metro needs smaller vehicles.
- Detroit and the feds wise up and convert an overpriced light rail plan to an express bus network. This is me jumping up and down waving at USDoT to look at us next...
Labels: economy, Metro, mobility strategies, perspectives, rail, rankings
posted by Tory Gattis @ 9:38 PM
2 Comments:
I thought of Houston's anemic downtown when I read this article about converting one way streets to two way traffic. I'm sure that simple change would help.
Link
^Downtown Houston has an unusually low number of two-way streets for a CBD. Usually there will be 2 or 3 in each orientation moderately spaced between a few pairs of one-way streets.
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