How Houston Is Becoming America’s Next Dense City - Page 11

Double L · #**201** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 4:30 PM**

I’ve never seen sewage going through a detention pond in Houston.

TowerSpotter · #**202** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 4:52 PM**

A few more pictures that show Houston areas

Downtown - Medical Center - Uptown

Uptown in the Foreground

Medical Center in the Foreground

Downtown with parts of Uptown in the distance

Downtown with Uptown in the foreground

Uptown

Energy Corridor

bilbao58 · #**203** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 5:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TowerSpotter

A few more pictures that show Houston areas

Uptown in the Foreground

You've got foreground confused with background. Midtown/Fourth Ward is in the foreground, Montrose and River Oaks (and a bunch of other stuff) in the middle ground, and Uptown is in the background in this photo.

bilbao58 · #**204** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 5:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crawford

Again, they function as sewer ditches during strong rains. I've never heard of a drainage system that doesn't accomodate sewerage overflow, so if the drainage operates on the surface, at some point, shit is traveling through your front yard.

The reason it's shocking is because you generally don't see this stuff outside of poor neighborhoods in third world countries. It isn't specific to Houston, of course; the U.S. has shockingly poor infrastructure, and the Sunbelt, in particular, has crazy bad public infrastructure, often worse than a minor city in Columbia or Paraguay. Open ditches for sewerage, no sidewalks, no curbs, power lines dangling everywhere, no transit, no public realm whatsoever. It's just amazing that we accept such conditions amid such affluence.

If it makes you feel any better (I know, it's not going to), these neighborhoods with all the new densely packed housing ALL had huge new sewer lines put in by the city before any construction began. I saw it happen in my neighborhood 20 years ago. As hard as it may be to believe, not everything in Houston has been done haphazardly. Increasing the density of housing was a specific policy that began in the 90s, and increasing sewer capacity was the first thing the city did to implement that policy.

As for heavy rains causing overflowing sewers, that seems to be happening more and more in areas where the infrastructure is old and needs replacing.

Cory · #**205** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 5:36 PM**

I’m not sure why all of these distant skyline photos and freeways are relevant to this thread.

bilbao58 · #**206** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 5:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crawford

I've never heard of a drainage system that doesn't accomodate sewerage overflow,

One thing I've learned in my 60-odd years (and they have been odd) is that "I've never heard of" ≠ "does not exist."

bilbao58 · #**207** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 5:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cory

I’m not sure why all of these distant skyline photos and freeways are relevant to this thread.

Well, they do provide good examples of the concept of foreground, middle ground and background in photos.

wwmiv · #**208** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 5:47 PM**

They are also a visual testament to the density in low rise, mid rise, and high rise developments in Houston, particularly relative to a decade ago and relative to many other American cities.

bilbao58 · #**209** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 5:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwmiv

They are also a visual testament to the density in low rise, mid rise, and high rise developments in Houston, particularly relative to a decade ago and relative to many other American cities.

Yeah, except the really dense-looking photos are all very compressed because they were taken with long (telephoto) lenses. They really should contain the warning "Objects are not as close as they seem."

wwmiv · #**210** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 5:56 PM**

That’s fair.

Maldive · #**211** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 6:12 PM**

I thought this thread was absurd at first.. but learned a bit. Some shots look a little bit like boston.

But what the hell is that 5 block long white warehouse downtown. Did Amazon delivery relocate here?

Houston - big challenges to density... but better than I thought.

wwmiv · #**212** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 6:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maldive

I thought this thread was absurd at first.. but learned a bit. Some shots look a little bit like boston.

But what the hell is that 5 block long white warehouse downtown. Did Amazon delivery relocate here?

Houston - big challenges to density... but better than I thought.

Last I checked, every large city has a large convention center.

TexasPlaya · #**213** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 6:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maldive

I thought this thread was absurd at first.. but learned a bit. Some shots look a little bit like boston.

But what the hell is that 5 block long white warehouse downtown. Did Amazon delivery relocate here?

Houston - big challenges to density... but better than I thought.

They decided to build the convention center to look like a big, white cruise ship and they've been slowly moving away from that.

mhays · #**214** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 6:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

A houstonian might ask why is north seattle still a landscape of single family homes, with all revelopment efforts in this area of a booming city seemingly focused on northgate mall and other point nodes.

if seattle were growing like houston you could see big multifamily midrises being constructed all over and within the SFH neighborhoods of north seattle.

A couple dozen nodes within city limits, and a few dozen outside.

I wish Seattle allowed highrises in more areas. But we have been adding multifamily at a huge rate, and multifamily units are the majority despite being on relatively little land. Most come with fewer parking spaces than units.

But why are we having this pleasant side discussion?

bilbao58 · #**215** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 6:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

They decided to build the convention center to look like a big, white cruise ship and they've been slowly moving away from that.

That was Kathy Whitmire's doing. She desperately wanted the Democratic National Convention to be held in Houston. When it was finished, the DNC told her the ceilings were too low for the balloon drop.

I always thought it was a cheap knock-off of "Centre Pompidou" in Paris. As such, I've always called the George R. Brown "Centre Pompidon't."

cabasse · #**216** Posted **Dec 22, 2019, 6:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crawford

Again, they function as sewer ditches during strong rains. I've never heard of a drainage system that doesn't accomodate sewerage overflow, so if the drainage operates on the surface, at some point, shit is traveling through your front yard.

The reason it's shocking is because you generally don't see this stuff outside of poor neighborhoods in third world countries. It isn't specific to Houston, of course; the U.S. has shockingly poor infrastructure, and the Sunbelt, in particular, has crazy bad public infrastructure, often worse than a minor city in Columbia or Paraguay. Open ditches for sewerage, no sidewalks, no curbs, power lines dangling everywhere, no transit, no public realm whatsoever. It's just amazing that we accept such conditions amid such affluence.

houston doesn't have a combined sewer system. no CSS, no CSOs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combin...p_EPA_2008.jpg