Why did the Texas cities zoom so far past Atlanta? (Auburn: movies, tornadoes)

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

But as other posters have hinted at already, Houston doesn't need to worry about comparing itself to Atlanta. We simply have bigger fish to fry.

Houston is (somewhat slowly) headed towards a Los Angeles/Chicago-hybrid model. Growth and development are getting smarter by the minute. And regardless of what people believe is going on in the city, it is densifying.

Houston has no zoning laws. It'll be tough to encourage dense developments without zoning laws.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Houston has no zoning laws. It'll be tough to encourage dense developments without zoning laws.

they don't have zoning laws?

for real?

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Houston has no zoning laws. It'll be tough to encourage dense developments without zoning laws.

You've obviously never been to the inner loop of Houston.

[dalparadise]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

But as other posters have hinted at already, Houston doesn't need to worry about comparing itself to Atlanta. We simply have bigger fish to fry.

Houston is (somewhat slowly) headed towards a Los Angeles/Chicago-hybrid model. Growth and development are getting smarter by the minute. And regardless of what people believe is going on in the city, it is densifying.

Yeah, "somewhat".

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

You've obviously never been to the inner loop of Houston.

Never been to Houston, but I've done my research.
How Houston gets along without zoning - BusinessWeek

[Fjroekdk]

Texas zoomed past Atlanta because Texas is much bigger and diverse(not racially) than most other states. Big oil, high tech, healthcare, food services, air service, trading, etc..

Atlanta is a large regional metro with some of the above. Texas is just bigger and deeper in breadth of offerings. And unlike some states which are also big and deep, Texas is cheap.

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Never been to Houston

Thank you for being honest.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Houston has no zoning laws. It'll be tough to encourage dense developments without zoning laws.

Houston is plenty dense, probably denser than Atlanta.

However, they rely on demand and similar market forces.

[Ant131531]

Houston is denser city wide than Atlanta. Even the inner loop of Houston has a higher pop. density than the same area of Atlanta(95 or so sq miles). The problem lies in the fact that this is dense suburban development. As I've said multiple times, Houston is a consistent development city while Atlanta is nodal.

The problem is, Houston has no impressive urban neighborhoods. None. Their midtown is still a joke IMO. I just don't see Houston having walkable neighborhoods like Sweet Auburn, Castlebury Hill, Westside, O4W, and of course, Midtown itself. Atlanta's core just feels more walkable and consistent.


Look at the aerials of both cities:







Atlanta looks bigger/denser in it's core despite being a city of 400k and a smaller metro.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Houston is denser city wide than Atlanta. Even the inner loop of Houston has a higher pop. density than the same area of Atlanta(95 or so sq miles). The problem lies in the fact that this is dense suburban development. As I've said multiple times, Houston is a consistent development city while Atlanta is nodal.

The problem is, Houston has no impressive urban neighborhoods. None. Their midtown is still a joke IMO. I just don't see Houston having walkable neighborhoods like Sweet Auburn, Castlebury Hill, Westside, O4W, and of course, Midtown itself. Atlanta's core just feels more walkable and consistent.


Look at the aerials of both cities:






Atlanta looks bigger/denser in it's core despite being a city of 400k and a smaller metro.

Houston's city limits are huge, so comparing population isn't a good comparison. Also, Houston is very flat compared to atlanta's topography.