I am on the very large Galveston Long Term Recovery committee. This committee is trying to do a lot in a very short period of time.
A starting point is collecting information from residents, non-resident property owners, visitors and most anyone with an opinion and a solution.

Pointing out problems is relatively easy. I would also appreciate any specific ideas as to what can be done to improve the problem. Thanks

Aren't there like 500 members on that committee? I really feel like pushing solutions through there is going to be like trying to push on a rope.

Best of luck, if I can offer any ideas, I'll let you know. I'm just not sure what Galveston needs right now besides money and interest.

Perhaps we can send the members of the committee to Charleston South Carolina to see what they implemented after Hurricane Hugo and proceed in a similar path. Their method is tried and true, perhaps we could incorporate their best practices.

[This message has been edited by McInnis 03 (edited 12/31/2008 10:41a).]

I don't think we are talking specifically hurricane problems.

My interpretation is that there will be a window of opportunity to get some money to rebuild from the hurricane. We have access to FEMA experts in different fields who can help.

We are trying to collect input as to what people perceive as the biggest problems we have and how to deal with them to generally make Galveston better. Schools, housing, infrastructure, business issues, and so forth. There will be many committees, each focusing on an area. Meetings will be WEEKLY, so we have an ambitious agenda--trying to do a lot in a short time.

Initially we are trying to reach out and get as much input as possible rather than just sit in a room and spout off our own opinions.

From reading your posts here and simply knowing you're a good Ag, I value your participation in this endeavor.

Thank You.
Some of the motivation is self preservation and some of it is being fed up with the continued mediocrity of this city. I think we can be so much more but political correctness precludes discussing some of the issues which keep us where we are.

Just as a mention, one of the biggest problems I have with the island is the rampant drug use / drug dealing and a total lack of initiative to rid this city of it. I believe a lot of the petty crimes can be tracked back to drug use and to drive down some of the poorer streets only to see deals in the open in the middle of the day is sickening.

Hopefully the new Police chiefs new policy of neighborhood policing will help, but that is one problem that needs to be remedied ASAP.

I think I overheard some talk about charging for parking on the seawall. I think they need to move forward with this approach. Of course, vehicles with resident tags should be excluded. Put a prepay ticket machine on every block like they have in downtown Houston.

Also, I don't know if there is already a hotel tax break for cruise ship customers, but we need to give local hotels an incentive to give cut rate deals to these pass through travelers. We could squeeze a little more revenue if they stayed on the island a bit longer.

how about helping out Bolivar/Crystal Beach which "WAS" a huge property tax base for Galv. county and the school district.

I don't know the politics of the situation, but Boliver/Crystal/Gilcrest need help.

helping the peninsula in a big way would be the best advertisement for galveston that they could do. Get the EDC involved to help bring some of the businesses back and help reestablish the community. I`d love to see the peninsula have its own EDC with a portion of our tax $ going to it to help the people and businesses that USED to be on the peninsula.

[This message has been edited by BQDAD08 (edited 1/2/2009 10:10a).]

Just about every person I know in Galveston is on this committee seems ridiculous to me

There are a couple of hundred people (at least) who showed up for the 2 organizational meetings. Many will continue to participate and I am sure some will not. The remaining people are supposed to be broken down into smaller groups which will work on specific areas.

I appreciate your input but was hoping for what we "should" do rather than telling us what is being attempted is ridiculous.

The biggest problem that Galveston has and has had since I first moved to the island in '96 is the public housing. Galveston is too small (in population and area) to absorb the number of people on public assistance that live there. So many of Galveson's problems stem from this, and if you get rid of the public housing many things will fix themselves. Crime will go down, schools will improve, property values (and tax revenues) will go up, the general appearance of the island will improve, more people will move to the island, etc. Anything else that you can do for the island will have small impact compared to the destructiveness of the Galveston Housing Authority. It's like putting lipstick on a pig.

Ike has granted Galveston an opportunity rid itself of a large portion of public housing, and if that is accomplished, Galveston will come back better than before (some good con come from Ike). It amazes me that more people don't recognize this (or don't want to admit it). Even, if you get rid of half the public housing it will make a big difference.

I think some people might share your opinion but it is a difficult dialogue to have in a public forum such as these committee meetings.

Well...Galveston needs to do anything possible to get rid of the section 8 housing. First of all a coastal barrier island is not a place for section 8 housing, so that any time a storm comes they have to be evacuated and housing rebuilt on the government dollar.
There are known "crack houses" which GPD does NOTHING about. Until you tear these places down and do something with the people the problems the island has faced will never go away. I'm not sure how to solve the problem with the scum that makes Galveston so, but I do know that never will it be what it can be until these problems are solved. You have nice historic homes across the street from "crack houses" and the next street over slums. I'm not sure if there is any zoning in Galveston, and if so how it is enforced. If there is not any there should be and it should be strictly enforced. If Galveston as a whole is cleaned up then the Island will clean up and beautify on its own, with it being a pleasant place to be. In my eyes it has never been a truly pleasant place to be.

There are many business owners and entrepreneurs who would move to Galveston if it were a pleasant place. But many parts of Galveston cater to the poor, which is not what builds cities.
I do feel that with the loss of so many jobs, there will be less middle class which will lead to lesser possibility of any good ever happening.
I'm not just an outsider looking in, I have lived and worked/built in Galveston as well as my fiancee being from Galveston.

Thanks--this is the kind of specific input I need.

I realize that no one has the answer to all the problems but if we can get enough people to agree on the main problems and attack them, then I believe this huge committee might do some good.

Keep it coming!

I agree with the zoning comment above. As stringent as it can sometimes be, it can also be the lines that make you color inside the lines. I'm not sure if local government has a place in society telling people what their home should look like, but there are too many homes here that are falling apart at the seams standing next to a home that has just had $1,000's put into it to bring it back to life.

This is part of what allowed Charleston to come back so beautifully. You could only build to a certain style, you could only use a combination of 23 approved "historical" colors on the outside of a home. Even new construction has to be approved by the Charleston Historical Foundation before it's allowed to go up.

Galveston should build up using it's roots, not try to be little Houston.

McInnis,

I don't think you were taking a shot at my comment about Houston parking meters, but I want to clarify. I only referenced them for aesthetic purposes. Galveston has always given away it most precious commodity. Even a little revenue would help and I only want this to be paid by non-residents.


[This message has been edited by FairwayAg (edited 1/3/2009 12:07a).]

My comments had nothing to do with parking meters.

I think if you get rid of the public housing the section 8 housing will go away, too. The projects really anchor the slums by keeping crime rates high and property values low in the surrounding areas. Shut down the public housing and property values rise and section 8 housing is no longer economically feasible. The slum lords will sell out to for better uses of the real estate.

Thanks for the input--good stuff, keep it coming.

Only a day or two left before I have to compile this with other input & submit it to the "committee".

This is only the preliminary period. Hope the end result is worth the effort.

helping and showing that galveston cares about bolivar/crystal beach will help galvestons image 10 fold.

BIG agreement on zoning. This is one of the primary reasons I have not purchased a house in Galveston.

In addition, the school district needs major steps take to improve discipline and teaching quality. People won't live here full time if they can't have families here. As a worker at UTMB, I would say close to 99% of my peers send their children to private school or live off the island for this reason.

Galveston has zoning.

I think when we say "zoning" we're referring to a policy that would be enforced in regards to how residential properties would be kept. Fencing, building condition, etc.

Zoning enforcement will not improve blighted neighborhoods. Never has, never will. Zoning can be a useful tool during development, but you have to build economic momentum for neighborhood rehabilitation first. Don't put the cart before the horse. Aggressive zoning enforced by Galveston's nepotistic bureaucracy of idiots will drive away investment rather than encourage it.

I was in Galveston long enough (since '96) to see some changes. Generally, things got better as property values went up, more restaurants and stores and bars opened, and the appearance of the island improved (a little). I had difficulty understanding the anger and resistance that these changes drew from many Galvestonians. Why would you be opposed to gentrification when so much of the island was so crappy? But I realized that people don't like change in general and a lot of residents were worried about getting priced off the island. A lot of people also have an unrealistic vision of Galveston as a bucolic working-class seaside village. This picture is unrealistic because it is too expensive to live on the island or locate a business there do to cost of hurricane mitigation and real estate prices elevated by a resort industry. The Port and UTMB (which may be going away anyway?) will not support the whole town, and most of these workers live on the mainland anyway. You can force developers to build 2,000 square foot homes, but they will still cost $50-100 thousand more than on the mainland.

Now, people will pay more to live in a city, but it has to offer more amenities. By amenities, I don't mean a pyrimids, crappy seafood, or muddy beaches. Galveston needs to provide better entertainment and dining venues, parks, sidewalks and bike trails. If Galveston can start to attract upper-middle class working-age residents (as opposed to retirees) certain businesses which are highly dependent on human capital will follow them to the island. This way Galveston can avoid becoming a resort town.

Along those lines here are some more specific thoughts of mine that could boost Galveston:
Focus on and invest in the Strand district.
Close cross streets in the Strand district in favor of parking and pedestrian areas.
Develop a mechanism to make the downtown merchants and residents pay for increased parking.
More and better lit sidewalks everywhere.
Bulldoze Magnolia Homes (the housing projects between the Strand District and UTMB) and sell half of the property and use the money to build a public/private biotech incubator on the other half.
I like the idea being tossed about on the GCDN forums of turning part or all of the Seawall into a park.

I guess Windstorm Construction standards are regulated by the state. I wonder if the city can increase what is required?

I keep seeing that picture of the yellow house that was the only one left standing. And someone, maybe on here, said that the house was built for someone from Florida, and built to Florida standards.

Why does Florida have to be the gold standard for windstorm regulations?

New construction in Galveston has to meet the Florida standards from what I understand. That is why a lot of new construction on the west end faired well.

That yellow house was in Gilchrist though, near the mainland side of Bolivar Peninsula, I'm not sure what the building codes are there though.

That guy was wiped out before and he rebuilt with the intention that a bomb blast would not knock his house down.

Galveston has changed MUCH since I grew up there. Like it or not, Galveston was becoming the second home to many mainlanders before Ike, and I believe this trend will continue. Alot of people I grew up with moved away because they could no longer afford to live on the island. They may work on the island, but they commute.

As I said before, I think the homes on the island will continue to be bought up as second homes for the mainlanders. Galveston just needs to demolish the government housing on the northside of Broadway. Condos and casinos can take their place.

I'm not from Galveston, but in general I've always taken issue with the insurability of "play/investment" property in high risk areas. (If you can afford a second home, you can afford to have it destroyed.) I have NO beef with permanant residents in those areas b/c if they work there, they deserve to be able to live nearby. The local workers contribute too much to the local, state, and national economy to be punished.

If Galveston wants to increase permanent residents (as was hinted at in some previous posts) raise property taxes on homes, BUT increase the Homestead Exemption by an equivalent amount. This would serve to just raise the taxes on those using a home for vacation or investment purposes.

Thank You fellow Ags for your help. Tomorrow I am distilling and submitting what I have collected so far. This doesn't mean we want the ideas and thoughts to stop.

There will be an all day public forum type meeting on Jan 24th--Saturday. Everyone is encouraged to come. I don't know the location yet but will post it when I know.

How'd it go?

Here are times & places of meetings for people to provide input regarding Galveston for the consideration of the "Giant Committee".


Galveston Community Recovery Committee
Neighborhood Open House


Wednesday January 21
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Weiss Middle School
7100 Stewart Rd
Galveston


Thursday January 22
9:00 am - 11:00 am
Gulf Breeze
1211 21st St
Galveston

Friday January 23
Time & Place TBA

Saturday January 24
9:00 am - 11:00 am
Jamaica Beach Fire House
16628 FM 3005
Jamaica Beach

Saturday January 24
2:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Mainland Preparatory School
319 Newman Rd.
LaMarque

Monday January 26
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Austin Middle School
1514 Ave N1/2
Galveston

Tuesday January 27
Time & Place TBA
Wednesday January 28
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
1880 Garten Verein
2704 Ave O
Galveston

Thursday January 29
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Walter Hall Pavilion
807 Tx Hwy-3 North
League City

COMMUNITY OPEN HOUSE
Saturday January 31
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Ball High School
4115 Avenue O
Galveston