NewUrbanStreets

Note – This is a followup article to Trees in the Parking Lane on Dallas St and Leaves Stamped in Concrete.

There is another thing we tried in the Dallas St. project to give it a special urban identity. The traffic engineers–correctly applying the requirements of the traffic control manual–said there had to be a continuous white line between the parking lane (with the trees) and the lane of moving traffic. We have enough of the unappealing look of chipped, ragged thermoplastic stripping and the fading painted stripes. Besides, that is so typical and this street needed to have its own character–like many others in downtown Houston–but with a limited budget. Read the rest of this entry →

Banners are a favorite addition to the streetscape as they create a festive feel and a sense of pageantry. But they are not inexpensive to install and maintain and will take more staff time than you may think. One of the big issues in Houston is what is allowable on the banner–the type of content–and the quality of the image. In Houston, we have a very strict sign ordinance that comes into play as soon someone wants to use the banner as a sign depicting a company, service or product. There is a short list of special provisions that allow for deviations from the norm for specific areas and for very large events. Read the rest of this entry →

One day we were talking about the gaps in the row of trees planned for Dallas Street due underground obstructions and wishing there was a way to continue the theme. The project architect wanted to continue the theme of the concrete squares and we also wanted to carry on the tree/leaf theme.  I recalled leaves stamped into the concrete sidewalk around trees in Vancouver when we were there for the International Downtown Association conference. That quickly lead to speculation about how to create the stamp of a leaf.  Read the rest of this entry →

Our last Mayor, Bill White, and his transportation czar decided a way to increase revenue and improve the service to the public was to exchange the old style parking meters and also new, electronic meters we installed in the Cotswold program in downtown to pay-and-display meters. There are advantages to the new meters but not as many was we were told. The pay-and-display meters came with the new technology of wifi connections so they can take credit card payments. In addition they are inexpensive to install with the solar powered battery recharging system plus other claims that were to offset the high cost per unit. Read the rest of this entry →

I have had the great opportunity and pleasure of managing three archeological investigations related to projects in the oldest part of Houston Texas that is also in the core of downtown. This post is to share my experiences and what I learned to hopefully assist someone who may be where I was when I began the RFP process for the first project.  I acknowledge I had the benefit of Bob Eury’s (Central Houston and the Downtown District) experience and great advice from Dr. Roger Moore that helped me avoid  learning some things the hard way. Read the rest of this entry →