Houston Strategies

Saving the Astrodome, Houston really is creative, Florida beating Houston at express lanes, and more

Lots of smaller items backlogged:

• This Rice student didn't like Houston's low creative city ranking, so he crunched his own numbers and came up with some good stuff about our city.  Definitely check it out.
• In case you missed it, a great op-ed in the Chronicle warning Houston and Texas that we too could go down the California slippery slope if we're not careful...
• WSJ op-ed on what California and the federal government could learn from Texas.
• Philly, You’re No Houston: Why the Texas metropolis is being hailed as a “blueprint for metropolitan revival” — and Philadelphia is not.
• Texas ranks No. 1 in location desirability for job seekers
• A pretty cool Millenial loveletter to Houston.  Even some very nice comments about our fair city.

"I sometimes, half-seriously, call Houston the Land of the Lotus Eaters, full of people who are continually high from a cocktail of affluence, affability, and comfort."

• Reason reports on how South Florida is planning a comprehensive express lanes network (including interchanges), something I've been advocating in Houston for a long time.  How about it H-GAC?...

Finally, a couple of quick thoughts on the silly Rodeo and Texans plan to demolish the Astrodome and replace it with a pretty lame park.  First, here's a great book excerpt on the history of the Astrodome, which makes a compelling case for why it should be saved.  And here's a great new option posted by John to the Save the Astrodome Facebook group: a high-tech ski mountain!  Considering how many Houstonians fly to the Rockies every winter, I think it would be a big hit year-round and should be able to pay for itself when you consider the insane prices of lift tickets.  Can somebody in Judge Emmett's office reach out to these guys?...

Labels: Astrodome, economy, identity, mobility strategies, perspectives, rankings

posted by Tory Gattis @ 6:11 PM