Overview

In Houston 2020: America's Boom Town - An Extreme Close Up, Ralph Bivins examines the entrepreneurial mecca that became one of nation's fastest-growing cities. With deft forensics and informed observations, Bivins explains the forces that shaped Houston and brought the city to a tipping point. Digesting its robust growth poses a great challenge for city leaders, who grapple with mounting economic issues, transportation problems and regular flooding that threatens to become a chronic condition. Bivins, recently the first-place winner of the Best Column award from the National Association of Real Estate Editors, details the urban geography and peculiar real estate markets of the expansive Texas metropolis that covers more than six hundred square miles. Houston 2020: America's Boom Town - An Extreme Close Up pinpoints the projects, people and nodes of growth that will determine whether this Boom Town matures into a great megalopolis or falters under its own weight. Close ups: - Apprising the nation's first domed stadium - the Astrodome - and its $105 million renovation. - Coming back from Hurricane Harvey and other setbacks. - Scouting must-know landmarks start with Pennzoil Place, once hailed as the building of the decade by the New York Times. - Navigating the nation's largest highway loop, aka the Grand Parkway. - Reclaiming downtown with Discovery Green, a key to luring Houstonians back to the urban core. - Tearing down the Pierce Elevated freeway and rerouting Interstate 45 sews together split communities.

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9781943307067

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Houston is, indeed, like no other city in the country and maybe the world. The pace of growth and development in such a short time span, the nearly revolutionary tactics and techniques adopted to accommodate the rate of population and business growth, the social, political and business climate created to handle the fast-paced changes taking place have been witnessed and chronicled by Ralph Bivins over the years and presented in a remarkable work. Dr. James P. Gaines, chief economist, Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University Ralph Bivins is a true real estate icon. Ralph does not just write about real estate he shapes and drives the industry. His work helps guide real estate entrepreneurs towards their future success. Ric Campo, Chairman and CEO, Camden Property Trust

Houston is, indeed, like no other city in the country and maybe the world. The pace of growth and development in such a short time span, the nearly revolutionary tactics and techniques adopted to accommodate the rate of population and business growth, the social, political and business climate created to handle the fast-paced changes taking place have been witnessed and chronicled by Ralph Bivins over the years and presented in a remarkable work. Dr. James P. Gaines, chief economist, Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University Ralph Bivins is a true real estate icon. Ralph does not just write about real estate he shapes and drives the industry. His work helps guide real estate entrepreneurs towards their future success. Ric Campo, Chairman and CEO, Camden Property Trust

Author Information

Ralph Bivins is editor of Realty News Report, an award-winning publication covering regional and national real estate news. Bivins covered real estate for the Houston Chronicle for sixteen years and earlier worked as a staffer at the San Antonio Express-News, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and the Clear Lake Daily Citizen. He was a frequent contributor to United Press International (UPI). Bivins, a former president of the National Association of Real Estate Editors, has won numerous awards from that association, including the Best Column award. He also won the first place Charles E. Green Award in business writing from the Headliners Foundation of Texas. A veteran Texas journalist, Bivins has reported on storms, scams, politics, governmental mismanagement and the hotel-room murder of a West Texas priest.

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