The service IS in Houston! Rice has two zipcars stationed on campus and available for students, staff, and faculty.

Heck, for what METREAUX has squandered on the urban rail, METREAUX could have leased a new BMW for every transit rider.  It is assumed the riders would pay for thier own gas.

Royko said: "...for what METREAUX has squandered on the urban rail, METREAUX could have leased a new BMW for every transit rider."

It's true that the amount of spending building the  long-term infrastructure for transit in Houston could be spent on leasing a BMW for every transit rider for some period of time. The amount of time that that transit rider would enjoy use of the BMW is less than the amount of time that the investment that Metro made will bare fruit.

Light rail vehicles last much longer than BMWs on a

passenger mile basis, have lower  maintenance costs on a passenger mile basis, and cost less to procure on a passenger mile basis. Moreover, the roads on which BMWs travel are more expensive on a per vehicle mile basis than rails.

Royko has said previously that he is engaged somehow in assessing the value of property, but since he believes that handing out BMWs to people is effective transportation policy, I can't imagine how effecitvely he would estimate the price of a house.

It's too costly. Hertz Local Edition is $25 per day.

Mr. Wade,

If you have evidence of any improper appraisal I have signed, please present it, otherwise be careful not to speculate on my professional expertise.

I am one of less than 600 appraisers who are AQB certified by the Appraisal Foundation to teach the U.S.P.A.P. to other appraisers nationwide.

Rokyo, I'm curious. It's pretty much accepted as fact that rail transit raises property values around stations. Now I don't know if you do any work around METROrail, but have you noticed this phenomenon?

Try to be civil and objective, not singularly anti-light rail. Thanks.

James,

As an appraiser, I must be objective.

To answer your question in a general manner, as there are many variables associated with each unique site, one would expect the parcel of land closest to a platform would likely benefit from the pedestrian traffic, depending on the use of the property.  If the business was reliant upon upscale clients, they might also be subjected to negative aspects of the transient naturure of that transit mode.

There have yet to be any significant number of new developments along the tram line outside of the Texas Medical Center.

The Houston Pavillions claim the land value into the MARKET SQUARE/MAIN STREET TIRZ is valued at about $125.00/square foot, far below the $60.00 per foot it was assessed at for tax purposes at the time of sale.

The 1000 Main Reliant Energy Building seems to have the highest assessed value along Main Street in the CBD.

The value, in my opinion, drops off significnatly when you go three to four blocks away from the platforms, assuming parking is a hassle-to-nightmare.

People, especially in Houston, do not like to walk more than a block or so in the 90+ degree/90+ % humidity environment, or during the rainy days.  That is why the tunnel system continues to thrive.

Back to the Houston Pavillions project.  After they got the tax abatements and other taxpayer-subsidized incentives for the mixed-use residential project, they announced they were not going to build the residential portion of the project, focusing on the office, and ground-level commercial development.

At the time, there were two other residential projects ahead of it.  Now there are two to three other major office developments (Hines being the major office competition) which may extend the projected lease-up.  This may impact the ground-level businesses at the Houston Pavillions.

If the Houston Pavillions has trouble paying the bonds, they may not complete the entire development, and in light of the current economic melt-down, future financing is already going to be difficult.

If the income projections lag projections, the project may fail in a few years, which will cause a liquidation, which will possibly impact the land value regardless of the tram line.