Houston Strategies

The best posts from the first dozen years and million pageviews

Today is the 12th birthday of Houston Strategies.  In the immortal words of the Grateful Dead, what a long strange trip it's been. Coincidentally, we should get to one million total pageviews in the next week or so (standing at 995,842 as I write this, not counting pageviews over at the Chronicle). In honor of those milestones, I've decided to update my best posts from the first 1,000, which is now over three years out of date, by pulling from my annual highlights posts. As you skim this list, I hope you find some of interest that you missed, forgot, or may have been posted before you discovered Houston Strategies.  Enjoy.  As always, thanks for your readership.
-Tory

2016

• How to fix Houston traffic? Let's talk MaX Lanes. (op-ed answering Mayor Turner's call to re-imagine Houston's transportation future)
• An oil tax that would draw Republican support and re-energize Houston (anybody know how to get this to the right people in the Trump administration?...)
• A compelling alternative to the I45 redevelopment plan thru downtown, and Defending the Pierce Elevated and other thoughts on TXDoT's plans, and Building to the Grand Finale - An updated analysis of the 45N rebuild
• Elements of an Opportunity City
• Should Houston have its own version of the Sydney Bridge Climb?
• Houston's changes, challenges, opportunities, and identity

2015

• Announcing the Center for Opportunity Urbanism
• Our evolving "Houston style" general plan
• Ten years of Houston Strategies retrospective
• Thoughts on TXDoT's ambitious new plan for I45N (followups here and here)
• Branding Houston for tourism and improving the flawed I45N expansion plan 
• How Houston can grow gracefully: Snow White and the Nine Dwarves
• Preparing for the impact of driverless cars
• Maximizing Opportunity Urbanism with Robin Hood Planning (COU White Paper)
• Opportunity Urbanism TV interview
• The emerging cross-ideological consensus on excessive zoning and land-use regulations

2014

• Thoughts on ULI's bold Astrodome proposal (and some additional ones on the park concept here)
• The future of education is here, it's just not evenly distributed
• How Opportunity Urbanism can save the global economy (Part 1, Part 2)
• Opportunity Urbanism op-ed in the Chronicle
• Our big Houston article in the City Journal and WSJ on "America's Opportunity City"
• Rebutting the pro-rail op-eds and how to fix Houston's top issues
• Thoughts on Bill King's traffic solutions

2013

• Options to Save the Astrodome
• The Future of Transit
• An alternate view of sprawl
• Seizing the Astrodome opportunity to establish Houston's new global identity
• Attracting more educated talent to Houston

2012

• A vision for Metro's new CEO (Chronicle op-ed)
• A new brand for Houston: Houspitality
• Does Houston have the highest standard of living in the world?
• Houston's Walled Garden
• 7th anniversary post: The Ultimate Houston Strategy

2011

• My TEDx Houston talk, mostly about Houston (a summary of some of my better ideas from this blog)
• A targeted tourism strategy for Houston
• The real answer to Houston's traffic congestion

2010

• A better vision for Metro
• My advice to the Metro committees
  

2009

• Securing Houston's economic and world-city future, including increasing local venture capital
• An agenda for Mayor Parker (links to many key posts)
  
• Why the feds should stay out of high-speed rail (and most transportation)
• Texas and America's four great growth waves
• A Pragmatic Approach to Houston’s Future (part 1, part 2)

2008

• Houston's great competitive advantage
• What message is your city telling you? (including Houston)
• A Map to Houston’s World-Class Future (part 1, part 2)

2007

• The many meanings Houston as an "Open City of Opportunity"
• Opportunity Urbanism, 4 drivers op-ed, and response to critics
• Architects vs. Economists (the planning vs. free market spectrum)
• Planning: Panacea, Poison Pill, or just Purgatory?

2006

• Houston's identity: Global Village, American Dream, Texas Spirit (lead-up posts: strategy and previous branding attempts, why brand a city?)
• Transportation Lessons from Houston: Part 1, Part 2
• Applying Jane Jacobs' 4 tenets of vibrant neighborhoods to car-based cities (mobility/draw-zones for vibrancy)
• Density, Vibrancy, and Opportunity Zones
• New Urbanism and the value of mobility

2005

• Unity vs. fragmentation in metro areas and a related post, The importance of keeping jobs in the core
• A hypothesis on the deeper psychology of rail
• Commuter rail is the wrong ride (Chronicle op-ed)
• Why does Houston have such a great restaurant scene?
• Keys to unlock our gridlock (includes a link to the op-ed and the 3-part series)
• Realistically repurposing the Astrodome
• Relieving the north-south traffic bottleneck

Labels: highlights

posted by Tory Gattis @ 6:43 PM