Plan for Developing Downtown Retail (Houston, Dallas: sales, apartment, lofts)

[crono_clone]

Originally Posted by westhou

Good luck with that.

Hrm? They do a good job of keeping them away from Market Square. Of course, it means they all congregate on Allen's Landing but I've never seen it be impossible.

[Truth713]

Originally Posted by blkgiraffe

I don't know why Houston treats these issues like they are the hardest problems to solve. Is our city planners that dumb and clueless about building urban areas???

I personally feel urbanizing midtown is the way to go. That will eventually feed into downtown. Downtown at this point is kinda of on the fence of beyond repair due to the tunnels.

Except that is not true.. hell I was downtown just wednesday.. and the number of people out and about at 9 at night was decent.. given that a year ago it would be a ghost town by 6....

[crono_clone]

Originally Posted by Spade

Glad somebody mention the transit part. I think people's unwillingness to drive to downtown and to find parking turns not only people off, but developers as well.

I think GreenStreet is going to offer validated parking in their garages with purchase.

And if you read their plan on page 32, they're proposing that the city take some of the private surface lots and offer them free or nearly-free (first 2 hours are free, then $1 or $2 afterwards) that are in the vicinity for use by shoppers. They're also proposing more garages that are connected and have easy street access (also offering first two hours free and validated parking).

[Truth713]

Originally Posted by crono_clone

Hrm? They do a good job of keeping them away from Market Square. Of course, it means they all congregate on Allen's Landing but I've never seen it be impossible.

For the most part they keep them out of Discovery green as well.. It about how much you enforce the loitoring laws really.. but really they dont bother me...except the ones that keep begging even after you say no....
I say a group of people at flying saucer having a drink and a dude was aking for some change.. guy said , n but he just kept at it.. thats the sort of crap that turns people off to a area

I dont expect them to be alround allen landing for long ,once the coffee House is up and running .look for the city to run them out there.

[crono_clone]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

Just remember that even with the new downtown residential coming in, it's not enough to support more than some convenience retail. Downtown is still on the edge of the populated area with disposable income - it needs to be in the middle of it to have a better chance at retail success.

Here's what they're saying about the population near the proposed downtown retail corridor versus our other established retail centers:

Pop. wjin 1-mlle
Downtown - 23,594
Galleria - 17,925
Memorial City Mall - 14,075
Woodlands Mall - 3,442

Pop. w /in 3-miles
Downtown - 167,801
Galleria - 181,618
Memorial City Mall - 120,762
Woodlands Mall - 47,277

Obviously everyone drives to the malls so the comparison isn't completely direct, but if these numbers are true then there are plenty of people that are in walking range of this retail corridor, not to mention other options like the bike share, Greenlink, and the light rail.

[crono_clone]

Originally Posted by Truth713

For the most part they keep them out of Discovery green as well.. It about how much you enforce the loitoring laws really.. but really they dont bother me...except the ones that keep begging even after you say no....
I say a group of people at flying saucer having a drink and a dude was aking for some change.. guy said , n but he just kept at it.. thats the sort of crap that turns people off to a area

I dont expect them to be alround allen landing for long ,once the coffee House is up and running .look for the city to run them out there.

Quite true, it was worse trying to walk around DC. The homeless here are quite manageable compared to other cities, they haven't reached zombie epidemic proportions here yet

[Truth713]

Originally Posted by crono_clone

Here's what they're saying about the population near the proposed downtown retail corridor versus our other established retail centers:

Pop. wjin 1-mlle
Downtown - 23,594
Galleria - 17,925
Memorial City Mall - 14,075
Woodlands Mall - 3,442

Pop. w /in 3-miles
Downtown - 167,801
Galleria - 181,618
Memorial City Mall - 120,762
Woodlands Mall - 47,277

Obviously everyone drives to the malls so the comparison isn't completely direct, but if these numbers are true then there are plenty of people that are in walking range of this retail corridor, not to mention other options like the bike share, Greenlink, and the light rail.

Right the numbers are there it convince people to change there precetion of DT.. that must be addressed... I think Green St has the right idea.. once up they will be holdin open venue events, and free concert .etc . it takes time to change people views on area..

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by crono_clone

Here's what they're saying about the population near the proposed downtown retail corridor versus our other established retail centers:

Pop. wjin 1-mlle
Downtown - 23,594
Galleria - 17,925
Memorial City Mall - 14,075
Woodlands Mall - 3,442

Pop. w /in 3-miles
Downtown - 167,801
Galleria - 181,618
Memorial City Mall - 120,762
Woodlands Mall - 47,277

Obviously everyone drives to the malls so the comparison isn't completely direct, but if these numbers are true then there are plenty of people that are in walking range of this retail corridor, not to mention other options like the bike share, Greenlink, and the light rail.

Notice that I said population with a lot of disposable income - downtown still lacks that to the north, east, and southeast; that's what differentiates it from the other retail districts. It is changing though. The rapid increase in white collar population in Midtown etc. represents potential downtown retail customers.

[GTRdad]

I always had big hopes for that mall. On my 1st day in houston some street bum scared the bejesus out of me when that was a parking lot. next day they cordon off the whole lot to start building the mall. It was my view from my 1111 fannin

[crono_clone]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

Notice that I said population with a lot of disposable income - downtown still lacks that to the north, east, and southeast; that's what differentiates it from the other retail districts. It is changing though. The rapid increase in white collar population in Midtown etc. represents potential downtown retail customers.

Doesn't East Downtown represent a population with disposable income? That was one of the areas they cited in their report, especially because it was so very close. North and Southeast are definitely the missing pieces though.