Categotry Archives: Culture

Commentary about life in the great city of Houston.

by

Houston | Monthly

Categories: Culture, Houston | Monthly, Tags: , , , , , , ,

By Michael Coppens, Urban Houstonian

The post I wrote last week about the River Oaks Theatre being saved got me thinking. In the end, Weingarten’s decisions are economically driven. They own a piece of property, and they want that property to turn a profit. It’s a pretty easy concept to grasp if you’ve ever sat down for a game of Monopoly, and the decisions that must be made from time to time are as cold as you sticking it to Grandma when she lands on Boardwalk.

By Michael Coppens, Urban Houstonian

By Michael Coppens, Urban Houstonian

I started thinking about all the people who were protesting the possibility of the theater being torn down. While I feel like their sentiments were in the right place, I also realized they probably wouldn’t have had to fight for anything if they simply watched more movies at River Oaks.

Then it hit me, what if 100 Houstonians caught a movie at River Oaks once a month for an entire year? At $10 per ticket, that would be an additional $12,000 in ticket sales, and that doesn’t include money spent on concessions. Now, double that number because everyone needs at least one person to go to the movie with them. Make a night of it with your friends, and we’re talking $48,000-$60,000 per year in additional sales. That’s nothing to scoff at. Furthermore, all this additional ticket revenue would do wonders for Houston’s independent film reputation. The benefit to you, the moviegoer, is that you might finally see a movie that is nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars next year!

In short, you take a simple act like going to the movies, and you make Houston and yourself better. Not a bad deal, eh?

By Michael Coppens, Urban Houstonian

By Michael Coppens, Urban Houstonian

So I’m now starting H|M – Houston Monthly, a list of things every Houstonian should do once a month to make Houston a better place. I’m starting with watching a movie at River Oaks, but will be adding more activities soon. This will also be accompanied by A|H – Annual Houston, a list of things every Houstonian should do once a year to make Houston a better place.

I’ve asked my friend Daniel Carlson to help me with suggesting a good film each month to make it easier for you. Daniel Carlson is the managing editor of Pajiba, a TV blogger for the Houston Press, and a member of the Houston Film Critics Society and the Online Film Critics Society. I chose Dan because he’s a great guy, he knows what he’s talking about, and he’s not afraid to challenge us to see some compelling films.

Dan’s choice for October is Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. It’s a smart horror-comedy about a pair of hillbillies who get mistaken for psychotic killers by a gang of hapless teens lost in the woods. There’s no shortage of goofy gore — the scene with the woodchipper goes exactly how you think it will — but director and co-writer Eli Craig have plenty of fun skewering slasher conventions as well as hapless victims. Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine are perfectly cast as the unlucky duo. Rated R. Premiering Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at midnight. Purchase Tickets

by

The March of Trader Joe’s

Categories: Culture, Posts, Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

rosc-rendering

The possibility of a Trader Joe’s coming to Houston in the old West Alabama Bookstop got me thinking about Weingarten, and the saga that has been the renovation of the River Oaks Shopping Center (River Oaks) and the West Alabama Bookstop.

When Weingarten announced the demolition of an old section of River Oaks , there was an eruption of dismay from the community about the loss of one of Houston’s most beloved art deco buildings. It caused problems on two front. 1. Everyone began to fear for the future of the River Oaks Theatre, one of Houston’s most cherished movie theaters. 2. The new Barnes & Noble anchoring this new building was going to close the Bookstop currently residing in the former home of the movie theater on West Alabama and Shepherd.

This new development threatened two beloved buildings, both historic movie theaters. When they finally finished the new section, I was convinced the rest of River Oaks was destined for demolition. The rest of the shopping center simply did not match anything in the new section. However, time passed, and life moved on at the corner of Shepherd and West Gray.

It wasn’t until the beginning of this summer that changes started happening at River Oaks. But it wasn’t demolition, it was renovation. Instead of tearing down these older parts of the shopping center, Weingarten was simply giving them a facelift. This included the River Oaks Theater building, leading me to believe that River Oaks Theatre may have been spared the bulldozer!

Surely this was news, surely there were people celebrating. But, nothing. Then I read about Trader Joe’s moving into the old Bookstop, and it got me to thinking again. Why hasn’t anyone mentioned the renovations at River Oaks? After all the protests, why isn’t anyone celebrating the possibility that River Oak Theater is saved? I was then directed to two articles from Chronicle writer Lisa Gray. The overall sentiment: River Oaks Shopping Center is becoming a big, suburban strip mall.

Gray is a vocal proponent of historical preservation, and has written frequently about the situation at River Oaks Shopping Center. Instead of celebrating the possibility of a the theater save, she complains about the wrecking of the shopping center. I got irritated when she praised Highland Village as Houston’s “most distinctive, best-designed shopping strip.” While criticizing River Oaks’ renovations, she praises a shopping center that has recently demolished one building (the former Gap location) to make room for a larger building, “Hello, new Apple store!”. Highland Village is also soon to be demolishing the distinctive former site of Tootsies for more retail space and an underground parking garage.

Now, I’m not bothered by these developments at Highland Village, but I have to question why Gray would criticize a shopping center for certain practices while praising another that engages in the same practices. The irony here is that Highland Village, along with the newly opened West Ave and the currently in development BLVD Place, are the reason why River Oaks has been forced to make changes. The shopping center was languishing, and in desperate need of a face lift and influx of new energy. It needed to attract new people, and it’s finding ways to do that. The new Americas has quickly become the hot spot River Oaks has been missing since Tony Mandola”s Gulf Coast Kitchen moved to Montrose Blvd.

Which brings us back to the marvelous news of Trader Joe’s coming to Houston in the former West Alabama Bookstop location. While it’s not clear if it’s a done deal or not, I cannot imagine Weingarten will pass up this opportunity. Outside H&M, there may not be a more sought after brand among Houstonians than Trader Joe’s. To open that store in that building would generate a good deal of goodwill for a company that is widely reviled by Houston citizens.

Back during the demolition at River Oaks, the Chronicle posted an article decrying the possiblity of losing both the River Oaks and West Alabama Theatres to redevelopment. Now we see that neither appears to be likely. While I don’t think Weingarten deserves any praise, I still think it would be nice to see someone comment on this positive development without bemoaning what is a natural part of Houston ‘s way of life.

This city has always marched forward to the beat of its own drum. I wish more people stop trying to change the rhythm, and march on along with the rest of us.

by

War of Words

Categories: Basketball, Culture, Tags: , , , , , ,

joakim_noah_1495756c

Once again, there is a story about an NBA player yelling the word “faggot” at someone in the heat of the moment.

The last time this happened, Kobe Bryant screamed the word at referee during a game in April. At the time, I really didn’t get all that upset about the matter.

However, to see it happen again, and to see the same rote, “It was the heat of the moment, I didn’t mean to offend anyone,” defenses, I’m very bothered by it.

At the end of the day, faggot is an accepted word to be used as an insult to another person.

Shut up, faggot!
Stop being such a faggot!
Etc . . . *sigh*

I’ll admit I use the word myself from time to time. It’s not right, but I take the same freedom that African American’s do when using the word nigger. Which brings me to the point of this post.

If I was “in the heat of the moment”, and called Kobe Bryant a nigger, I would like to ask him and any other person who finds that word reprehensible their opinion on the matter.

Would you forgive me if I said I let my emotions get the better of me?

Would you think me a racist?

Would you still respect me?

To be fair, faggot does not carry the same  gravitas as nigger. However, it does stand as its gay equivalent, and resides with chink, spic, kike, dike, gook, etc. on the long, sad list of ethnic slurs that are unacceptable, regardless of provocation.

 

by

Before the Curtain Rises: Dinner & Drinks

Categories: Arts, Center Stage, Culture, Tags: , , , , , , ,

In my last Centerstage post, I explained why it is important to let the day go before settling down for the a performance in the Theater District. Now while I did say thirty minutes was ideal, I prefer taking a bit more time to relax. That said, you’ll generally find me somewhere near the performance venue with friends enjoying a glass of wine (or two) and appetizers.

Read the rest of Before the Curtain Rises: Dinner & Drinks on Centerstage, the Theater District Blog.

by

What the Flurry?!

Categories: Culture, Tags: , ,

From the Pecan Park Eagle

The Great Ice Storm of 2011 represents everything I hate about being a Houstonian. This is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve witnessed in a long time. For my part, I can recall only one other ice event like this in my 32 years, and it was much worse than what we are seeing around town today.

From the Pecan Park Eagle

I don’t know if it’s the media, I don’t know if it’s a byproduct of Facebook and Twitter, but the irrationality of people over the last 24 hours has been frightening. Equally upsetting is the people who are making fun of, and/or criticizing us over this reaction. First of all, ice is dangerous no where matter you live. Now, in northern areas, where this shit happens often over the course of 3-4 months, they have A LOT of experience with dealing with this. You learn how to cope with it. In Houston, we don’t see this very often, so it makes all the sense in the world to me that we don’t cope with it well.

And I don’t really envy you if you have a lot of experience with dealing with this kind of weather. This isn’t fun weather. This isn’t something I would want to experience every year for months at a time. And, if you moved to Houston from one of those areas, YOU DIDN’T EITHER!

In any case, as I watch the reports this morning, it’s clear to me that we dodged a bullet. There is a dangerous amount of ice out there, but it’s not nearly as bad as it could have been. Be safe, stay home if you can. I am still waiting on word whether I will need to start getting ready for work.

Congratulations if you know how to drive in icy weather. You probably have little ability to deal with our summers. And I’m sure you’d piss yourself if you had to live through a hurricane.

Chill out Houston, fuck you Yankees. Where’s my coffee?

by

The Perfect Storm

No comments yet

Categories: Features, Hurricana, X Marks the Spot, Tags: , ,

It was a conversation about Hurricane Ike over lunch at Farrago’s that got my mind spinning on this whole X Marks the Spot series of posts. By the late summer of 2008, Houston had seen its fair share of tragedy and heartbreak over the first seven years of the 21st Century. And on September 11, 2008, instead of the annual stop to mourn the victims of the World Trade Center tragedy, Houston’s attention was once again turned towards the Gulf of Mexico to a big fella named Ike.
Since Hurricane Alicia in 1983, Houston had been due for a direct strike for over 10 years. Every year, a sense of weariness set in because we knew, eventually, one of those storms was going to find its way up the Houston Ship Channel. And boy, we dodged some bullets over the years; Katrina and Rita being the two ugly sisters we were silently thankful when they turned away.

So let’s talk about Ike. Here are some facts (c/o Wikipedia):

  • Ike was the largest hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic basin.
  • Ike was the third most destructive hurricane to make landfall in the U.S.
  • While only a Category 2 storm, Ike made landfall with a Category 5 storm surge.

I spent the night alone when Ike hit. Part of that was my silly attempt to protect my home. My roommate was out of town when the storm hit, and I just didn’t want the house left empty for the storm. I’ll tell you this, I’ll NEVER do that again. To sit through a hurricane is a scary, anxiety-ridden experience. I’m not ashamed to say my head was a little bent afterward. And, here’s the thing, I had it relatively easy compared to most of Houston. I had my power back , miraculously, within 48 hours. Some Houstonians did not get their power back for over a month. A lot of people blamed the above-ground power lines. I’ll tell you that is a bunch of bunk. My parents were without power for two weeks. They live in Sugar Land, where the power lines are all buried.
I would like to spend the rest of this post discussing the power outage. It was in this power outage, that we saw the greatest side of Houston after the storm. Neighbors banded together, helping out where they could. Albeit dangerous, extension cords crisscrossed the streets as those with power shared with those who didn’t. Impromptu block parties were happening across the city. In my neighborhood, we held nightly diversions in the homes with power to give those without a chance to remember was real A/C felt like. And it could have been much worse if not for a well timed cool front blew through the day after Ike hit. I shudder to think what this city would have been like if we had to suffer through the typical September heat.

I remarked to someone after Ike, in the conversation that spurred this series of posts, that a lot of people simply forgot why they didn’t like Houston anymore. As usual, the country outside Houston did not notice the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, nor did they give it much thought. After Allison and Katrina and, frankly, we weren’t surprised. But we didn’t waste time feeling sorry for ourselves, we simply moved on.

Hurricane Ike was a devastating blow to the city of Houston. Any city would have struggled after a storm of this caliber. However, for Houston it was a wake-up call for a lot of people who hadn’t yet realized how lucky they were to live here. We made it through the storm closer as a community, and realized there isn’t a lot we can’t handle as Houstonians.

by

The White Knight

No comments yet

Categories: Culture, Features, X Marks the Spot, Tags: , , , ,

When I first set myself to writing a series of posts about the last decade in Houston, this post was going to be about Bill White, and his decision to bring evacuees to Houston after Hurricane Katrina. It was, I thought, one of his brightest accomplishments during his tenure. Frankly I have struggled to write this post because on one hand, I didn’t want to write a gushing tribute to Bill White because while I do believe he is one of the greatest mayors in the history of this city, he’s not perfect.

Bill WhiteSo as I sit down to write about Bill White, I would like to pay special attention to one of the most definitive moments of his tenure, Hurricane Katrina. It is no secret Houston is an entrepreneurial city. Oftentimes, we are downright opportunistic, maybe to a fault. The Port of Houston stands as the most visible testament to our ability to take advantage of some else’s misfortune. At the turn of the 20th Century, Galveston was thriving as a major commercial center of Texas. In 1900, the hurricane of all hurricanes hit, and the Port of Galveston was severely damaged. It killed over 6,000 people, and changed the Texas Gulf Coast forever. The biggest change came as a result of the opportunistic leaders of Houston. They quickly pointed out to Washington that it was a bad idea to keep a major U.S. port in such dangerous waters. Houston, a good 50 miles inland, was a better option. Thus the Port of Houston was born, and the histories of these two cities was never the same.

However, despite the fact that the fortunes of these two cities was irreversibly altered, in the end, it made a whole helluva lot of sense. Fast forward 104 years later when Hurricane Katrina unleashed its fury on the city of New Orleans. We all remember the images, we all remember the outrage and sorrow. It was the 21st Century, how could this happen? Will anyone step in to help these people? In Houston, that call was answered.

When I went looking for an image for this post, I was shocked by what I found. I mean, I remember the images from the Dome, but to see them again now, I was taken aback. This is THE Astrodome, the House of Pain, the Eighth Wonder of the World, being used as a hurricane shelter. I honestly don’t know if there were many cities that would have thought up this idea so quickly. Houston did what it does best, it opened its arms to people in need, and didn’t care who you were, only that you got what you needed. However, I will readily admit the decision to allow the evacuees to come to Houston wasn’t totally fueled by altruistic motivations.

As far as Houston was concerned, many were glad to help, others were wary about what we had let into our city. It is not worth bringing up here, but it wasn’t a match made in heaven. There were issues, there were problems and the city found out quickly it had to cope with the burden of a large group of people that were scared and desperate.

Frankly, I have little time for criticism over this situation. Particularly when those throwing barbs did not, nor ever intended, to likewise open their doors to help these people. I am not saying Houston was the only city to step up, but we did take on a greater burden.

While this post was to be more about Bill White, as I close, it is really more about Houston. As with the previous subjects of the X Marks the Spot series, it isn’t about the events themselves, rather the way they fit together to create a perfect harmony that allowed Houston to emerge as a greater city then we knew a decade ago. It would be ignorant to say some Houstonians didn’t recall the grisly images following Tropical Storm Allison when the coverage from New Orleans poured in. Nor would the fear of unemployment not haunt those of us who lost their jobs in the aftermath of the collapse of Enron. Houston knew what it felt like to fend for yourself in your darkest hours.

And no other time in this decade was that more evident than when a man by the name of Ike came ashore three years later . . .

by

2001: A Space City Catastrophe

No comments yet

Categories: Culture, Features, X Marks the Spot, Tags: , , , , , ,

Slide17

2001 was a difficult year for Houston that better prepared the city to face future hardships later in the decade.

When 2001 is written about in the history books, 9/11 is going to dominate the conversation. There was no single event that had a greater effect on 2001, not to mention the entire decade, than the fall of the World Trade Center. However, in Houston, 9/11 was the entree of what was a summer and fall of misery. I want to be very clear. I am not suggesting Houston suffered worse than New York. However, the proximity of 9/11 to two devastating events (in Houston) created a unique set of circumstances that influenced the way Houston reacted to future events later this decade.

Allison was just a Tropical Storm. Before Her, tropical storms were generally welcomed as a respite from the hot Gulf Coast summer temperatures. In fact, she behaved as expected precisely like any other tropical storm. She came in from the Gulf of Mexico, dumped a substantial amount of rain, then took off for North Texas. However, a high pressure system drove Allison back to Houston where she decided to hang out for a little while. On the night of June 9th, 2001, Allison dumped over 30 inches of rain over the Houston area. For you northerners, that translates into roughly 300 inches of snow. I-10 became a river, with 18-wheelers bobbing up and down like Huckleberry Finn’s raft.

Rain bands became the new buzzword from meteorologists, not to mention a whole new respect for the “dirty side” of tropical systems. Houstonians are accustomed to flooding, but this was a flood you associated with Noah and his Ark.

Around the time Houston had finally settled back into life as normal, our world was rocked by the events of 9/11. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve had a conversation with a group of people remembering that day. It was one of those rare events where one will always remember where they were when it happened. I was working at Duke Energy in the Galleria area. In fact, it was my fourth day on my first job out of college. My mother called me after the second plane hit. An A/V suite happened to be right around the corner from my office. I ran down the hall, and a crowd was already forming around the many TV’s. It was shortly after the third plane hit the Pentagon that we got word that skyscrapers around Houston were being evacuated, and we all went home.

Roughly a month later, Houston was rocked again by the Enron scandal. I’m not going to spend too much time going into the specifics. The short story is Enron lied its way into becoming the #1 company in Fortune Magazine’s annual ranking of the 500 largest American companies. However, the story I wish to tell is the impact of the implosion of Enron on the city of Houston.

The name Enron graces many Houston landmarks today. The Audrey Jones Beck at the MFAH building has both Enron and its disgraced CEO Ken Lay carved into the wall for posterity. Enron was also a major funder of a recent renovation of Jones Hall. Part of the local shock over Enron was because they were truly a respected, even loved, company in Houston. It also didn’t help that the two towers of Enron were major players in the Houston skyline. I remember one day when I ran Downtown with two co-workers to check out the “new” Enron building when we heard a rumor Duke Energy was in line to buy the building for a possible move from the Galleria.

enron

The bigger issue with Enron was the 22,000 people that had to find new jobs. The swiftness of the fall in what was a rocky time for the economy post-9/11 led many people to wonder if the ghosts of Houston’s 80′s were rising from the grave. There are few things Houstonians fear greater than a repeat of the 80′s. Enron allowed that fear to bubble to the surface like a newly discovered oil reserve. It was a startling test of the “new Houston economy”, and the city passed with flying colors. Of course, no city can lose a company like Enron without experiencing some kind of shock. Houston proved to be far more resilient than many of us expected.

Allison and Enron instilled a level of confidence in Houston’s ability to weather storms, both natural and economic, that would come to call later in the decade . . .

by

Advance to Downtown

No comments yet

Categories: Culture, Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By Michael Coppens, Urban Houstonian

We all know Monopoly was created from Atlantic City streets, but what if it had been set in Downtown Houston?

I like to play board games, though I don’t get to play nearly as much as I’d like. My favorite is Monopoly. I have been collecting game boards since 1996, and have a collection of over 20 different boards. It was around this same time when I acquired the Houston Edition. In 1996, Monopoly released a number of boards branded for cities around the country. They picked a number of local landmarks, businesses and organizations to fill out the familiar properties around the board.

By Michael Coppens, Urban Houstonian

By Michael Coppens, Urban Houstonian

This was different from the original which was comprised of actual streets around Atlantic City. Back in 2006, Monopoly released an updated version of the game using cities, including Houston, to make up the new properties. There was a national poll to decide which of three local landmarks were going to be included from each city. In Houston, the choices were the Museum District, Kemah Boardwalk or Johnson Space Center. The number of votes received per each city would determine their location around the board. Johnson Space Center received more votes than any other location in the vote. However, Houston only received enough votes to land the Tennessee Avenue spot on the board. In any case, the creation of this new board angered the citizens of Atlantic City because they felt like Monopoly belonged to their city. Monopoly tried to assuage their anger by featuring Atlantic City on a Community Chest card.

I started wondering what a Monopoly board would look like if it had been set in Houston. For the sake of my sanity, I chose to pick the streets from Downtown Houston. What follows is how I would interpret a Monopoly board based on Downtown Houston. I have it broken down into the individual monopolies, including my reasons for choosing the streets.

Mediterranean & Baltic Avenues
Pierce Street
West Gray Street
The geography of these two streets make them perfect for the Meditteranean and Baltic Avenue properties. They straddle the Pierce Elevated, and act as the southern (read: bottom) border of Downtown Houston. If you have ever played Monopoly, you have probably referred to the Dark Purples as the ghetto, the wrong side of the tracks, bad part of town. In Downtown, Pierce and West Gray are Downtown Houston’s best representation of those terms.

Oriental, Vermont & Connecticut Avenues
Franklin Street
Congress Street
Preston Street
While a Monopoly board begins back at Meditteranean Avenue, the first real threat comes as you arrive on the light blue monopoly. In fact, most of the time, your first roll in any game will land you upon either Oriental, Vermont or Connecticut Avenues. That is why I selected three streets that run through the “original” part of Downtown Houston. This area, including Market Square is where Houston started as a city. So should it be the start of your trip around the Downtown Houston version of Monopoly.

St. Charles Place, States & Virginia Avenues
Rusk Street
Milam Street
Travis Street
I wish I could provide some kind of story or reasoning behind this group. In truth, these were three major Downtown Streets that I hadn’t placed elsewhere. However, I felt they needed to be on the board, so here they are.

St. James Place, Tennessee & New York Avenues
Capitol Street
Prairie Street
Bagby Street
The orange properties are the most landed upon monopoly on the board. For this reason, I chose Capitol (Jones Hall), Prairie (Wortham Center) and Bagby (Hobby Center), as those Theater District destinations bring the most people to Downtown Houston on a regular basis.

Kentucky, Indiana & Illinois Avenues
San Jacinto Street
Fannin Street
Dallas Street
The red monopoly is the point on a Monopoly board where you cross over into the richer properties. The next level if you will. I positioned the streets of Dallas, San Jacinto and Fannin here because they are the thoroughfares of the Houston Pavilions. The Pavilions represent a new way of thinking in Downtown, and make an appropriate setting for this red hot group. Dallas Street, commonly referred to as “Convention Row”, takes the place of Illinois, the most landed upon property on the board. During any work week, it is common to see convention attendees scurrying up and down Dallas in herds armed with ID badges and swag bags.

Atlantic & Ventnor Avenues & Marvin Gardens
Louisiana Street
Smith Street
River Oaks
The yellow monopoly is an interesting group in that it features the only property on the board that is not a street or located in Atlantic City. Marvin Gardens (actually spelled Marven Gardens) is a neighborhood located about two miles south of the city. I didn’t have to put in much thought in choosing River Oaks. The choice of Louisiana and Smith were easy as well, as they lie through the Skyline District of Downtown Houston. The three of them together represent the lofty rents and prestige that has always represented the yellow properties.

Pacific, North Carolina & Pennsylvania Avenues
Lamar Street
McKinney Street
Crawford Street
The green monopoly can be an incredibly lucrative group to own, provided you have the money to build houses and hotels. In an ironic twist, it was a newly built hotel that created the need for a Downtown green. Then, after Discovery Green was built, we saw the construction of the first major residential development in Downtown Houston. So, the streets of Discovery Green make this group the most Monopoly-esque of the board!

Park Place & Boardwalk
Texas Avenue
Main Street
Let’s face it, there are only two properties on everyone’s mind when you sit down to play a game of Monopoly.

There are twenty eight properties in the game of Monopoly, but it doesn’t get any better than Boardwalk and Park Place. Choosing the two most iconic streets in Downtown wasn’t an easy task. Main Street seems like a good choice for Boardwalk, but finding it’s Park Place was a bit more difficult. In the end, I chose Texas Avenue because it was the former home of the Capitol of Texas before it was moved to Austin, and home to the Rice Hotel, one of Downtown’s greatest historical landmark buildings.

The Utilities
Houston Lighting & Power
Port of Houston Authority
Houston Lighting & Power is naturally the Electric Company, but using Public Works and Engineering just doesn’t have the same ring as Water Works. That said, I went with Houston’s #1 asset on the water in the Port of Houston Authority.

Reading, Pennsylvania, B&O & Short Line Railroads
Houston East & West Railroad
Texas & New Orleans Railroad
B & T (Belt & Terminal) Railroad
Sugar Land Railroad


Houston was known as the place “where 17 railroads meet the sea“. This is how the restaurant at the Alden Hotel in Downtown Houston is named 17. I do not know a lot about the railroad history of Houston, so picking through these options was really just a shot in the dark.

by

X Marks the Spot

No comments yet

Categories: Culture, X Marks the Spot, Tags: , ,

xmarksspot

Houston had its fair share of highs and lows from 2001-2010. Together, they have shaped what has been the greatest decade in the city's history.

I wrote this series of posts last year. I realized, shortly thereafter, that I had written them one full early. You see, the first decade of this still new century ends THIS year. That said, as I continue to update Urban Houstonian, I am going to repost this look at Space City’s first decade of the 21st century.

The end of another decade is upon us. The inevitable profiles of what’s was what and who was who will be coming down the pike any day now. In Houston from 2001-2010, we’ve had our fair share of victories and defeats. Other cities had events that had a greater impact than Houston. New York City had 9/11 shortly after we had been hit with Tropical Storm Allison and the Enron collapse. Hurricane Katrina had a much greater impact than Hurricane Ike. However, X Marks the Spot is not about Houston having a worse or better decade than other cities, it is about how our collection of disasters and triumphs shaped this city like no other decade in its history.

In the coming weeks, I’m going to look at five pivotal events of the past 10 years. When I have finished, I hope you will agree that 2001-2010 was X that marked Houston’s spot as a great American city. I look forward to taking you on this journey through Houston’s last and greatest 10 years.

1 2 3 4 5