Bryan Texas and Texas A&M

Chicago3rd · #1 Posted **Apr 16, 2012, 12:02 AM**

Day trip up to Bryan and Texas A&M. Nice little stock of buildings in downtown Bryan. Texas A&M was okay….but found some of the best pizza I have ever had Antonio’s Pizza in College Station:

Started from the Starbucks in College Station (not much to show in College Station) and drove up to downtown historical Bryan. Pleasant area.

The top, the crown, revolves!

Antonio’s Pizza…fantastic!!!

the Genral · #2 Posted **Apr 16, 2012, 1:06 AM**

Nice town, great University, classy, friendly people. I spent a week a year there for hazmat and fire fighting training during the 80's and 90's. Thanks for posting. Gig'em!!!

arkitekte · #3 Posted **Apr 16, 2012, 1:37 AM**

Nice, my brother went to A&M.

AviationGuy · #4 Posted **Apr 16, 2012, 2:20 AM**

I know a lot of veterinarians who went to vet school at A&M (those who were fortunate enough meet the entry requirements). The university has produced many graduates who represent their professions well (and I say that even though I went to rival UT Austin!). Nice campus, too.

I've never been in downtown Bryan, and had no idea how nicely preserved and kept up it is. I've always gone around the city on the way to points northeast. Thanks for posting this. Now a lot of us know what's there.

ColDayMan · #5 Posted **Apr 16, 2012, 4:13 AM**

Thanks for the look at a place I've never been to.

Danny · #6 Posted **Apr 16, 2012, 1:50 PM**

Good thread, Chicago3rd! Thanks for sharing.

I like long avenues and large open spaces. Those green parks are very nice too. I see those towns are pleasant indeed.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain!

llamaorama · #7 Posted **Apr 16, 2012, 3:45 PM**

Haha, someone finally did B/CS. I have folders and folders of photos I've taken but have always been too shy to make my own photo thread here. When they implode the 17-story abandoned Plaza Hotel next month, I'll probably finally have something to share here.

Downtown Bryan is great. Years ago it was a mess, the transformation has been amazing. What's great is how many of the historic buildings are occupied in some way above the ground floor. There are a number of small tech companies now.

College Station's little student area to the north of campus is called Northgate, and yeah It's not hugely impressive. Over the years it has mostly been just bars but before that it was a functioning business district, this area was totally dry not all that long ago believe or not.

In this picture:

The empty mustard and gray bank near the foreground on the left with the Citibank sign is the site for a 10 to 16 story apartment tower.

The abandoned tower that's in the distant background of your picture facing down university drive, the Plaza Hotel, is going away as mentioned. A big urban style mixed-use project is going to replace it.

The abandoned Albertson's grocery store and run down strip mall that's not visible but near the McDonald's is also in the next few months going to be scraped for another mixed-use project.

Past that, the empty married student housing, that looks like the projects, is supposedly eventually going to be redeveloped into office buildings, a conference center, and who knows what else.

Reverberation · #8 Posted **Apr 16, 2012, 4:10 PM**

I spent alot of time in that town. I swear they must have some kind of direct rail connection to the Keystone Light factory. I remember hearing rumors of George Bush Senior and Mikhail Gorbachev going skydiving around College Station back in the 90's. I don't know how true that was....

photoLith · #9 Posted **Apr 16, 2012, 7:14 PM**

Even though I only live about 1 hour away, Ive only been there 3 times and the last time was a good 6 years ago. I just remember both towns looking incredibly ugly, even the downtowns. It looks like theyve improved a little since last time I was there, but its still too open and A&Ms campus was pretty ugly as I remember as well. Hopefully its becoming more urban in nature though.

novaCJ · #10 Posted **Apr 16, 2012, 7:39 PM**

A bit too open for me, but looks pleasant otherwise.

Shasta · #11 Posted **Apr 17, 2012, 12:26 AM**

It's great to see downtown Bryan making a comeback. Almost all of the growth in the metro has been on the College Station side while Bryan has struggled. I always thought that was a shame because Bryan has a real sense of place whereas College Station could be anywhere/genericville USA.

Also, gotta agree with the poster above. ATM's campus is absolutely one of the ugliest I have ever visited. In fairness, I haven't stepped foot on that campus in over 8 years and it does look like some of the trees have matured but it still looks mostly like how I remember it; dull, brown, and full of 1970s era architecture.

LSyd · #12 Posted **Apr 17, 2012, 12:28 AM**

thanks for the pics. Bryan is definitely underrated. while College Station may not be pretty, it's full of drunk stupid fun.

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AviationGuy · #13 Posted **Apr 17, 2012, 1:43 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shasta

It's great to see downtown Bryan making a comeback. Almost all of the growth in the metro has been on the College Station side while Bryan has struggled. I always thought that was a shame because Bryan has a real sense of place whereas College Station could be anywhere/genericville USA.

Also, gotta agree with the poster above. ATM's campus is absolutely one of the ugliest I have ever visited. In fairness, I haven't stepped foot on that campus in over 8 years and it does look like some of the trees have matured but it still looks mostly like how I remember it; dull, brown, and full of 1970s era architecture.

I wonder if its military roots have something to do with the orderliness of the campus, and thus it's being boring to some people. I sort of like it, but it's definitely no Rice University as far as being beautiful.

AviationGuy · #14 Posted **Apr 17, 2012, 1:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoLith

Even though I only live about 1 hour away, Ive only been there 3 times and the last time was a good 6 years ago. I just remember both towns looking incredibly ugly, even the downtowns. It looks like theyve improved a little since last time I was there, but its still too open and A&Ms campus was pretty ugly as I remember as well. Hopefully its becoming more urban in nature though.

Well at least the improvements they've made, and are making, are more than most cities of that size. I think they deserve more congrats for what they're doing there.

stepper77 · #15 Posted **Apr 17, 2012, 4:11 AM**

Some nice buildings there. Great photo, thanks!

KevinFromTexas · #16 Posted **Apr 18, 2012, 2:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reverberation

I spent alot of time in that town. I swear they must have some kind of direct rail connection to the Keystone Light factory. I remember hearing rumors of George Bush Senior and Mikhail Gorbachev going skydiving around College Station back in the 90's. I don't know how true that was....

I wouldn't doubt it. GW Bush did go skydiving near there.

Nice pics, I haven't been there in probably 5 years.

soulard&como · #17 Posted **Apr 19, 2012, 7:34 PM**

A&M has a few things going for it, but it is definitely lacking density and planning. Yikes-COMO all day over that place!

Tex1899 · #18 Posted **Sep 30, 2012, 1:18 AM**

Nice thread. I graduated from A&M in '01.

Part of the reason for a "lack of place" in College Station is that it originally existed soley to provide support services for the university.

Bryan was several miles away (it has since grown to the south and is now growing somewhat to the east and to the west), so professors and associated staff lived on or near campus. Just to the north of campus for a few blocks (where you saw a buildings at the street) there is old housing stock, to the south about 8 or so blocks, and to the east there is some as well. The campus extends to the west (all the way to the Bush Library and Easterwood Airport).

Up until the mid 60's A&M was all male and all military. Since then the university has grown in size (from probably 10,000 students to 50,000 today) and prestige. As a result, most growth within the city limits of College Station has been in a suburban manner.

The historic part of the campus has architectural detail, however, the brick is the tan brick that appeared in so many photos (and yes, it's not very attractive). As stated above, much of A&M's growth has been since the 60's, and let's be honest, "they" don't build buildings today like they used to (churches are another example of this).

I was a freshman in '97 and I believe it was a couple of years prior that an effort to redevelop downtown Bryan was made; it's still on-going. Since graduating the streets have been redone (which has helped a lot). The northern end of downtown Bryan consisted of warehouses, several of which have been torn down; this stretch of 2-3 blocks represents a new opportunity for development. Bryan has some historic housing stock, and if my memory is correct a lot of it has not deteriorated (unless you go into the areas that were never architecturally attractive to begin with).

The area has a good economy (A&M is promoting research, and with it, associated spin-off companies). As of a few years ago the average A&M student came from a household with an avg. $90,000 income, so the students have some disposable income, as do the parents (for Class A housing). Former Students like to come back to town and retire or work from home (90 mins to Houston and Austin).

My senior year, and in grad school (master's in '02) several people commented that B-CS reminded them of Austin in the 1960's. The community has changed quite a bit in the 10 years that I've been gone, and I expect in 2022 it will have changed even more.

Thanks again for the photos!