Author Archive for Tory Gattis
Houston’s new air service to the world
Closed Published by Tory Gattis December 17th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesHouston has had a banner few weeks when it comes to new international air service:Emirates started their nonstop service to Dubai, a major hub between Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.Qatar Airways said they will start service to Doha in mid-2…
The brilliance of freeway tunnels (part 2 of 2)
Closed Published by Tory Gattis December 13th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesPart 1 here. Reading the paper sparked a couple of my own variant ideas. All of the conceptual cross-sections show two tunnels, but some tunnel concepts contain as many as 8-9 lanes in each one (stacked 2-3 levels high inside the tunnel cross-section…
The brilliance of freeway tunnels (part 1 of 2)
Closed Published by Tory Gattis December 10th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesA few weeks back, Gonzalo Camacho sent me an intimidating 30-page white paper on the tunnel option for expanding the I-45N corridor using some of the newest tunnel-boring technologies from Europe and elsewhere. It took me a while to get around to read…
Is Metro’s budget train about to derail?
Closed Published by Tory Gattis December 6th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesThis post is actually not about Metro’s FTA problems. Instead, it’s about this ominous Dallas Morning News article on DART rail budgets spiraling out of control. A new line from downtown through Irving to DFW airport has a new cost estimate that is a…
The last-mile problem with high-speed rail
Closed Published by Tory Gattis December 3rd, 2007 on Houston StrategiesIn a Sunday Chronicle op-ed, Paul Mangelsdorf of Texas Rail Advocates laid out the case for high-speed rail in the Texas Triangle. I have to admit it sounds pretty cool, being whisked between cities at a comfortable 200-mph without most of the hassles…
Family-friendly, Bill White, winning cities, NIMBYs, and more
Closed Published by Tory Gattis November 29th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesCatching up again on some smaller misc items:Joel Kotkin in the Wall Street Journal on the rise of family-friendly cities vs. “cool, hip” cities.”…an analysis of migration data by my colleagues at the Praxis Strategy Group shows that the strongest …
An Astro-nomical blunder for Houston?
Closed Published by Tory Gattis November 25th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesWhen Major League Soccer first came to Houston, I questioned the need for a new stadium with both Reliant and the Astrodome available (part 1, part 2). Since then, the Dynamo have won two national championships, and are well on their way to becoming a…
Summing up my views on transit
Closed Published by Tory Gattis November 19th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesI’ve caught a little flak recently for a string of posts that were a tad hard on transit. Sorry if I offended some of my readers. Sometimes my posts are less thoughtful and balanced than I’d like them to be - just depends on my mood and time crunch w…
The problem with transit polling
Closed Published by Tory Gattis November 15th, 2007 on Houston StrategiesA new, expanded version of the 2007 Houston Area Survey came out today, and the Chronicle story notes the high support for transit as a “solution to traffic congestion.” If “solution” means “alternative” - then maybe - but if means “alleviate” - then …
With the Ashby high-rise controversy and the scattered calls for zoning - whether traditional or form-based - Texas Monthly gives us a reminder from Dallas of one of the dark side-effects of strong government control of land-use:There are no winners in…