NewUrbanStreets

Sidewalk cafes do “activate” the street by providing a reason for people to stay on the sidewalk; to see those driving by and be seen. In a city where smoking is prohibited inside–like Houston–the cafes are a place for the smokers. In small restaurants they provide additional floor space to sell meals. For larger restaurants they provide the same advantage. i.e. a space to increase earnings–all provided by the tax payers, Houston does have a permit fee cover the administrative expense of the permit.

In my opinion the key to a long-life concrete or brick unit paver surface–assuming the foundation structure is properly built–is re-sanding. As discussed in other articles at this blog the sand is the “glue” that “locks” the individual pavers together.

Many issues were considered when the City of Houston wanted to change parking meters. The change was to be from a mixture of single/dual space meters on a single post along with modern multi-space meters–recently added in the Cotswold area of downtown–to the more sophisticated solar-powered, micro-processor controlled, wifi networked, parking meter. This first post about our conversion relates how we mitigated the issue of the meter’s high-tech appearance in front of a historic structure.  I will offer other posts about the transition as you may be surprised how many hot points can be touched by a parking meter debate.

Concrete sidewalks can become an addition to the streetscape rather than just a gray strip that contributes nothing to the experience. Replacing the entire sidewalk is usually not feasible. We tried something new that uses the existing sidewalk as the framework and only replaces a uniform area that can be easily removed and filled to create a classy, customized feature.

Today is January 1, 2010 and I thought it appropriate to spot-light a history-related amenity on the streets in downtown Houston. The Historic Markers, as they are called, are on Texas Avenue between Smith and Avenida de las Americas (map). Each one is a very heavy cast iron structure made up of several components stacked on top of each other around a street light pole with historical information panels at eye level.

The design of the castings is, at least for me, reminiscent of the train industry. That is appropriate as the center of Texas Avenue hosted a freight rail track in the early days of Houston. In fact the track is still there as we tried to install a water line under it but found the 2-foot think concrete base still held there–with the rails. It was far too much trouble and expense to remove.

Preface – This is a follow-up to an earlier post about unusual solutions to provide accessible pedestrian pathways to crosswalks at intersections. What creates the need for these solutions is the difference in the existing grades of the adjacent buildings and the street–even if the street is being completely rebuilt.

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At Bell and San Jacinto Streets is an innovative solution to provide access from each approaching sidewalk to the crosswalks and around the corner while not exposing the building’s foundation. The handrails make the sidewalk appear cluttered but are necessary from a practical perspective and to comply with TDLR–the State of Texas agency with accessibility requirements that are more demanding than ADA.