Ugly? Leaders see the blight("Houston is ugly.")

The usual liars at the Houston Chronicle ^ | 7/20/03 | Bill Murphy

[Diddle E. Squat]

Landscaping most freeways part of Super Bowl plan

It was just three words in a 2,500-word essay in The Economist magazine a couple of years ago, but to Charles McMahen they still sting:

"Houston is ugly."

Though the article about the city was largely positive, and the ugly reference was aimed broadly at Houston's sprawl, lack of zoning and other issues, McMahen cites the sentence when talking about an initiative to improve the city's gateways.

"Clearly, 59 North, the Hardy Toll Road and 45 North are really in need of some work," said McMahen, chairman of the Quality of Life Advisory Committee of the Greater Houston Partnership.

Which of the three is least attractive?

"It's sort of like asking, `Which one of your children is ugliest?' " McMahen says.

Houston is expecting company -- lots of company -- on Feb. 1 when the Super Bowl is played in Reliant Stadium. The partnership, the Super Bowl Host Committee and other groups want to fix up the town before then, and landscaping the major entryways is part of the push.

Some civic leaders consider the North Freeway, with its heavy traffic and long stretches of garish signs, strip malls, car lots, topless clubs and modeling studios, such an eyesore that limo drivers may be asked to bring VIPs in on the Hardy.

"Hardy is at least a little greener. I wouldn't characterize it as scenic," said Bob Eury, executive director of the Downtown Houston Management District and a member of Houston Super Bowl XXXVIII's Host Committee. "That would be a little bit of an overstatement. It looks better than 45, it absolutely does."

Tell that to Jim McIngvale, a Host Committee member who owns Gallery Furniture on the North Freeway.

"Why don't we just hire Steven Spielberg and have him build us a big set that disguises the area?" McIngvale said. "To me, it's kind of ludicrous. Why hide what we are?"

It's not merely an aesthetic issue. The Quality of Life Advisory Committee of the Greater Houston Partnership and the Quality of Life Coalition think it's about ... well, quality of life.

Three years ago, the coalition, composed of 70 businesses, political and environmental groups, began a push to landscape highways, reduce visual blight and develop new recreational amenities.

"We spend too much time on these freeways not to have them look better than they do today," said McMahen, chairman of both Quality of Life groups. "We hope to have plantings on every freeway in the city over the next few years."

The coalition is aiming high. It wants the Texas Department of Transportation and the county to landscape all highways inside the beltway in the next five years -- work the coalition estimates would cost $75 million.

"We don't have $75 million," said Ethan Beeson, a TxDOT landscape architect who has helped design highway plantings in the Houston region.

A state law requires half of 1 percent of state highway construction funding in counties not in compliance with EPA air quality standards to be spent on highway landscaping.

Harris County qualifies. The money provides a steady stream for highway landscaping, but will not approach $75 million in the next five years, Beeson said.

As a first step, the coalition has urged that highways serving as gateways to the city from Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports be landscaped. TxDOT and the county have agreed to try to complete the work before Super Bowl week.

This fall, more than 20,000 trees will be planted along the gateways: 7,544 along the North Freeway from Interstate 10 to Rankin, 8,915 along the Eastex Freeway from I-10 to Will Clayton and 4,350 on the Gulf Freeway from the Southwest Freeway to Beltway 8. The Gulf project will include 1,115 palms.

Beeson said the trees -- 7 to 10 feet tall -- will be planted every 8 feet where possible and mostly between highways and frontage roads. "Obviously, they won't make as much impact this January as they will five Januarys from now," he said. "There's nothing we can do about that."

The Greater Houston Partnership and the coalition also have pressed for landscaping along the Hardy from the North Loop to Beltway 8, a stretch not in danger of being designated "scenic" by the American Automobile Association.

TxDOT has agreed to plant trees from the North Loop to Crosstimbers, and the coalition wants the Harris County Toll Road Authority to do the rest.

But there's little room along the toll road for landscaping. Union Pacific's railroad tracks run along the west side of the highway for a long stretch, then between the north- and southbound lanes. Lining the road are older small homes, light industry, a few bars and some convenience stores.

Trees can't be planted near the railroad tracks because the roots could ruin buried fiber optic cable and the branches could pose a danger to trains.

The coalition wants oleanders, which put down relatively shallow roots, planted near the tracks and possibly some other plants elsewhere, said Bill Coats, a Quality of Life Coalition member negotiating with Union Pacific.

"We'll get it done," Coats said. "It's just a question of whether we can get it done by the Super Bowl. We'd like to make it a nice gateway into the city."

A massive landscaping project along a 3 3/4-mile toll road linking the Hardy to JFK Boulevard, the entrance to Bush Intercontinental, won't be completed until August 2004, however.

The Host Committee is leaning toward having Super Bowl visitors shuttled in and out on the Hardy, but no final decision has been made, Eury said.

The disdain for I-45 north rankles "Mattress Mac" McIngvale.

"I don't see anything wrong with taking them down the North Freeway. It's very dynamic. It's an example of free enterprise and capitalism, which is what built this country," McIngvale said. "It pays me and the 400 people who work here. I don't bite the hand that feeds me."

McIngvale has been active in promoting sports events in Houston. Gallery Furniture set up a $7 million line of credit to bring the 2003 and 2004 Tennis Masters Cups to the city.

"I can promise you this, that all the dignitaries coming in for the Tennis Masters Cup will be taken right by my store," McIngvale said. Local sports honchos "may mind coming down the freeway. But they don't mind taking my money for sponsorships at Reliant Stadium."

The Host Committee will inform limousine, taxi and shuttle drivers of recommended highways and roads during a committee-sponsored training session in January. Drivers will be advised to take Memorial Drive between downtown and Uptown. Main, Fannin and San Jacinto, which will be gussied up by the Super Bowl, will be the recommended routes between downtown and Reliant Park, said Eury of the Host Committee.

Along these routes, rye grass, which turns a lush green during winter months, may be planted in vacant lots and bare areas, Eury said. Pansies and cyclamens, flowers that do well in winter, also will be on display.

"In the middle of January, we have a chance to have a green city, flowered city, a blooming city," Eury said. "And it's a chance to show visitors what a nice climate we have."

The highway beautification projects to be completed before the game aren't the area's first.

About 11 years ago, to prevent slope erosion, trees and other landscaping were planted along parts of I-10 between downtown and the West Loop.

Many of the beautification projects over the last five years have been the work of TxDOT's Green Ribbon Project. It was launched because Houston had an image of being a sprawling web of unattractive, concrete corridors -- an image that sometimes made it hard to recruit out-of-town business talent, said TxDOT spokesman Norm Wigington.

"When they were trying to sell Houston, they were hearing, `This is not as attractive as going into Atlanta or going into San Francisco,' " he said.

Over the past five years, TxDOT has planted 30,000 to 40,000 trees annually in the region.

Massive projects have included planting 10,300 trees, including 300 palms, on the Gulf Freeway at Beltway 8; 12,000 trees on the Eastex Freeway at the North Loop; and 12,000 trees on the Southwest Freeway at Beltway 8.

About 3,000 trees are being planted along the Southwest Freeway near the arch bridges.

"Is it going to make a difference? Obviously, yes," said Beeson, the TxDot landscape architect. "We're planting thousands and thousands of trees. We're trying to green the corridors and make it more aesthetically pleasing."

[Diddle E. Squat]

Maybe they can paint the concrete freeway barriers cammo green. That'll fool 'em.

But I guess Houston gets credit for trying to beautify, such as with Buffalo Bayou downtown. Call me crazy, but I do have trouble seeing the bayou at the steps of the jail magically replicating San Antonio's riverwalk. Something about plastic bags and Mr. Hanky slowly floating by in aromatic muddy green soup that just doesn't quite set the right atmosphere(though I did see a single turtle the last time I stopped by UH-downtown).

And perhaps Houston is cutting edge, pioneering the substitution of 55-gallon drums for landscaping timbers...

[Diddle E. Squat]

Yes, I am a native Houstonian.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Houston is ugly."

ALL megacities are ugly. Houston is no worse than most, and better than some.

Nice pic of the kinfolk, though.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Thanks, that's me swimming in my living room during Allison.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Thanks, that's me swimming in my living room during Allison."

LOL--I had moved out of Houston by the time Allison trundled along.

FWIW, the Houston folks would do well to study the actions taken by ole Mayor "Woody" Dumas of Baton Rouge. That man was crooked as the cutting edge of a two-man crosscut saw, but he DID fix Baton Rouge's drainage problems.

[FITZ]

ALL megacities are ugly.

Yes they are.

[unbiasedtruth]

I miss Houston. And it's not that ugly. If you want ugly, come to Omaha. Oh, they're trying to improve this city too. But all the work on a new convention center and beautification project from the airport to downtown is bankrupting the city.

[Old Professer]

Back in 1983 my wife and I drove through Texas from Simi Valley California to Houston where we met her brother on the way to a surprise anniversary party for their mother and stepfather; those 55-gallon barrels were labeled "Rest Areas."

Her brother was fond of saying; "Miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles."

[Diddle E. Squat]

Beautification projects seem to be bankrupting(or raising taxes in) many cities these days.

[Diddle E. Squat]

"SLIME in the ICE machine!" ping

[MeekOneGOP]

Nice pig, DES !

"Thanks, that's me swimming in my living room during Allison."

So are you two related somehow ??
hehe !

[NovemberCharlie]

Something about plastic bags and Mr. Hanky slowly floating by in aromatic muddy green soup that just doesn't quite set the right atmosphere(though I did see a single turtle the last time I stopped by UH-downtown).

I saw that turtle.

[Allegra]

Thanks, that's me swimming in my living room during Allison.

ROTFL!!!

[Allegra]

FWIW, the Houston folks would do well to study the actions taken by ole Mayor "Woody" Dumas of Baton Rouge. That man was crooked as the cutting edge of a two-man crosscut saw, but he DID fix Baton Rouge's drainage problems.

Houston's mayor is crooked too and about as inept as they make 'em. He hasn't fixed anything...he's just left a big ol' Texas-sized mess for the next guy to clean up.

[jellybean]

FYI...

[Ditter]

Houston has plenty of trees already. They need to get rid of the huge signs & bill boards. They are ugly.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Houston's mayor is crooked too and about as inept as they make 'em. He hasn't fixed anything...he's just left a big ol' Texas-sized mess for the next guy to clean up."

Once upon a time, when I lived in Louisiana, I used to believe the stuff about "Louisiana politics" (i.e. that Louisiana politicians are both corrupt and incompetent, while politicians from other locales were neither).

Now that I have lived in a few other locales, I realize that the opposite is true---Louisiana politicians ARE corrupt, but they are FAR MORE COMPETENT than the politicians I have thus far seen in action in other locales--who are AT LEAST as corrupt, and noticeably less competent.

[democrats_nightmare]

I agree the huge ugly signs, strip clubs, and the strip malls are really bad. Zoning is a ground floor opportunity and if you want to see ugly try a drive down FM 1960 in the North West its real bad

[Allegra]

Houston has plenty of trees already.

Yep, and one of the tall pines in Memorial Park has a Kalifornia tree-sitter atop it, protesting Maxxam's logging practices.

Wonder if "Trust" is still up there?

It's shaping up to be a busy hurricane season, y'know...