Cougarpad
Like it or not, it is always the big boosters that are invested in the university sports programs (especially football) and who control the program. They are the ones who really fund the majority of sports. Coaches, stadiums, buildings, you name it. The more of them that have those luxury boxes, the more vested and invested they become.
I saw Red McCombs at UT pull some unbelievably strong strings there. He was in every conversation whether or not he was in the meeting personally. The general public outside of college towns donât usually know who those people are.
No way I would ever want McCombs involved in UH (love to see his money in UH but not his control).
I love Houston as I was born and raised here but our skyline and downtown is not as lively after 5pm on a weekday compared to other world famous cities.
But this is the result of suburban sprawl the past 4 decades.
The reason why downtown Houston isnât as well known as NYC, Chicago, London, Paris, Tokyo, LA etc is because those cities were developed hundreds of years before the invention of the automobile.
The people made their local downtown their community and established the culture and lifestyle.
I have been to London, Paris, and LA and the difference is night and day compared to Houston to follow up on the other posters who also travelled around the world.
Hopefully our downtown area can improve and build some charm and culture into it but that takes a community effort in addition to the skyline.
Lol true but we have to make it reasonable and an escalator vs an elevator would do. Again I had seats way up yrs ago and Iâm in great shape but I reflected on how older people etc would handle it going for food etc back and up. It is a need that Pez needs to think about. Iâm talking only that huge upper deck that doesnât sell as well and that could be the reason. Make it easy with an escalator then it could sell out.
I agree Houston needs to figure what type of city it wants to become butâŠHouston was actually developed as a pre-freeway city.
Our downtown was dense, with multiple street car lines up and down downtown streets.
The entry to Minute Maid Park was the old Union Station. Regional rail was so important to our growth that our early slogan was âwhere 17 raililnes meets the seaâ. Downtown residents would routinely jump commuter rail lines to visit many locations.
The railway car is still on our official city seal!
There was actually an outcry when they built Rice because it was SO FAR from the city center.
Then we pulled our the rail lines, abandoned Union Station and the regional rail routes, pulled out our robust street car system and went after every federal freeway grant we could get our hands on.
The rest is re-written history how we went from a dense close knit downtown to a sprawling mess.
Donors are the LIFEBLOOD of any successful major college athletics program.
In my seating group is a fellow UH BBA & CPA from the class of '74. A few years ago, his son-in-law attended a game at TDECU Stadium with us. It seems his son-in-law played on the ATM golf team about 20 years ago and IIRC, he said he was required to donate ~$18,000 a year for the RIGHT to purchase seats in Kyle Field. (I donât recall his season ticket prices but they were comparable to UH.)
For UH to be able to compete effectively in a P5 Conference, itâs mandatory that we attract and retain the kind of folks that can help âpay the freight.â It is what it is!
If that is a priority, have the skyline displayed on the new giant screen when it is not in use for games. Maybe even pre game and post game. Maybe some way it would be displayed without power on the screen . . . . .
What excites me a lot more than seeing a skyline which I have seen thousands of times is to walk into a stadium I am proud of that says we have arrived.
As a connoisseur of our very own architectural forum (HAIF), and many other architectural forums associated with both the worldwide and local scenes, I am completely informed and aware of both Parisâ and Londonâs architectural might. They both have world-class architecture, made up over centuries of innovation and progress.
Londoâs square mile and Parisâ La Defense have towers that are stunning by themselves, their construction in the skylines of both cities isnât in the same ballpark as NYC, Tokyo, Chicago, Hong Kong, etc. I would even say theyâre lacking behind a lot of other cities like Houston, Los Angles, and Philadelphia. But, I donât expect either to have the prolific might of mile-long skylines like other more modern world-class cities have. These two cities have kept a culture, and landscape of extremely dense low-rise buildings, with absolutely beautiful streetscapes. Along with the pedestrian experience to boot.
These citiesâ streetscapes are what I want Houston to eventually mold itself into one day, with its own unique spin on it of course. Pushing Houston into the World Class scene when it comes to urban experience will take time, but when it comes to skylines, Houston has them beat. Heck,
one day we might be able to see Downtown, TMC, and Uptown connect.
