I don’t get the jealous posts here. Hasn’t Houston already done something like this for football several years ago?
This is good for the city of Houston. Compare the Houston metroplex to the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex in terms of sports venues and there is no comparison (especially when you get down to the high school level). I’ve spent some extended time in Dallas recently, and it seems to me that city is spending way more money on upgrades than Houston.
We need this city to catch up - there is no reason for Dallas for example to host all the state high school championships in football every year.
I like what Rice is doing. Rice Stadium certainly needs to be updated. I think current with 1990 would be an upgrade.
But if I was Rice and had a bunch of loot to spend, I would concentrate on spending it on players, which in turn, should benefit attendance, which in turn, means more people would enjoy the upgrades.
I grew up in W. U. and the village, we did support the village but Rice only had 5K students back then. UH today is pushing 50K on or close to campus with faculty and staff, that is enough to support a commercial area of bars and restaurants year round, plus the size of Houston and visiting fans of all sports it could work.
Because we are more interested in what other schools do with regard to facilities, off campus business, location within the city, wealth/poor/ whatever, neighborhood development/collapse, and on and on. Bet if we had a bit(h day gathering for all this, it would dwarf any attendance figures we’ve ever had for any sports venue. Nope, we can’t be just who we are.
It’s more like 8,000 kids live on campus, maybe another few thousand live near campus, and everyone else commutes from their homes in the suburbs.
50,000 kids are definitely not living on or near campus.
But as I said above, the kids living near UH campus can just drive to Montrose, Heights, Washington, EaDo, etc. I really struggle why many people here have this notion that UH kids should be forced to only socialize in the Third Ward. A “University District” is not going to change UH into a non-commuter school.
92010Coogs
(I took a lie detector test...No I did not)
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It sure could work but why is it that the City of Houston has done nothing to revitalize the Third Ward and the areas next to it? Run down areas have been revitalize and become thriving areas if there is a concrete municipal around it. Not only is U of H suffering from it but so is TSU. There is no zoning in Houston and this allows for game changing plans.
They’re still on-campus every day. It’s a fair question why the school can’t keep anything open.
Not forced. But I’ve said before that the second a student gets in their car or on the rail or bus, they’re having a “Houston” experience, not a “UH” one, and if we want students to have deeper connections with the school we need that to happen less.
Man, do I have to spell out everything for you? The recommendation in my post could apply to UH as well. I am echoing what Fertitta has advocated for UH.
“But if I was Rice and had a bunch of loot to spend, I would concentrate on spending it on players, which in turn, should benefit attendance, which in turn, means more people would enjoy the upgrades.”
I think that Rice is doing the right thing for themselves and for their area. They have the funding so they should downsize and upgrade the quality of their FB facilities to their alumni/fan base.
As a separate issue, I’m sure they already have an NIL program and so they can (and may) choose to expand that as well. The truth is that nicer FB facilities will enhance their ability to attract season ticket holders as well as donors to help increase their NIL funding.
Well… isn’t that why it’s called the University “of” Houston? Shouldn’t the two have a mutually beneficial relationship?
From my experience, most college kids spend time on campus their Freshman/Sophomore years. By your Junior/Senior years, the “campus life” component really wares off.
I use Texas A&M as an example. They provide an incredible atmosphere for Freshman/Sophomores, but by the time my Aggie friends reached Junior/Senior years (i.e. turned 21), they would literally drive back to Houston almost every weekend unless it was exams week to come party in Midtown, Washington, etc… because you can only tolerate Northgate so much
I don’t think UH needs a “district”. It’s not necessary. If (or when) Third Ward gets gentrified, then that will naturally come with typical gentrification infrastructure (bars, clubs, coffee shops, townhomes, etc. etc.).
For gamedays, Scott St. alone could tremendously become a line of bars / restaraunts accross the stadium.
However, there are political / systemic / ethical barriers that prevent this from happening.
They should and do. But Houston isn’t a college town; we don’t get credit for the city that happens to be surrounding us. When you go out in State College or Urbana-Champaign or Athens, the bulk of the people around you are a part of the local University community; that’s almost impossible to miss, and it’s not true of Houston.