How do you like Houston's lack of zoning?

[Lije Baley]

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

The Tealstone isn't in Bunker Hill. It's in COH, bordering Bunker Hill. That's why it got built. Just some FYI.

Thanks for the correction. I just travel through there to get to Memorial City Mall occassionally (and make absolutely sure I drive the speed limit on Gessner between the mall and Westheimer while doing so since the police don't fool around there!).

Out in the burbs not so much, basically BECAUSE people were always traveling out of the area to get things done. You never ran into your neighbors.

To be honest, I've never liked the suburbs here for the reasons, and more, that you stated. Just too....sterile...for my taste. Whenever I go down to Soundwaves - anyone else still buy those shiny silver round things for music listening? - once I get past the Central Market HEB store it's like I am in a totally different city, what with all the people walking around, the stores located so close together, the smaller streets (relatively speaking) and is just a more interesting and "social" area. Though I am wary of the expensive condos(?) that have been springing up lately and worried developers may try to "clean up" the surrounding areas resulting in another formulaic and dull area.

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by Lije Baley

Don't like it. I've lived here a total of 36 years and at least from a visual/architectural perspective, find Houston a jumbled mess and one of the least attractive large cities I know of. Houses....then strip malls...then a hulking white box covering a city block housing a distribution warehouse...then houses again. No thanks.


While I agree overly-energetic zoning laws can result in sterility and just an overall boring vibe to a city (e.g. that area in Sugarland where all the large retail strip malls share the same architectural style, as if a huge rubber stamp was used to design them all), I believe SOME zoning laws can help the residents feel like they aren't living in anarchy and can feel more - excuse the use of hippy-ish philosophy here - like they are part of a community of people with businesses located in specific areas to serve their needs, rather than the other way around.

Thank you. I don't think anyone here is asking for a sterile, cookie cutter Houston; just a city with more order. Most other major cities have zoning, and they seem to be doing just fine.

[llmrkc07]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

Thank you. I don't think anyone here is asking for a sterile, cookie cutter Houston; just a city with more order. Most other major cities have zoning, and they seem to be doing just fine.

And Houston is doing fine as well.

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by llmrkc07

And Houston is doing fine as well.

Yes, but it doesn't LOOK fine.

[diablo234]

Originally Posted by Dopo

San Francisco has to have those building codes since it's seating right next to the San Andreas fault.

Now, New York and Boston... I don't know why.

San Francisco, New York, and Boston all have one thing in common.

All three metro areas you mentioned have an extremely high population densitiy with a lack of available land to build on thanks to geographic constraints such as waterways and mountains.

Their situations are not really comparable to any sunbelt metro outside of say Miami.

Anyways honestly I don't really see any difference regarding Houston's lack of zoning and other sunbelt cities with zoning.

[N. Olikee]

Don't. Even. Get. Me. Started! Yeah, Houston doesn't have formal "zoning," but it does have it's "rules and regulations"............not to mention land use codes, and a lot of public and governmental "pressure." Think NIMBY, etc.

I have lived in several cities in various parts of the US that have zoning.......and guess what? All of them have areas where there are 7 Elevens next to a single family home which may be across the street from a used car lot.

A few years ago, I went round and round with the COH regarding billboards which (for decades) had been on a piece of (industrial / commercial) property I own. Let's just say, after much money and time spent, I am out of the billboard "business."

Have you ever looked at the Building Codes / Ordinances in Houston? I have...........it's lengthy......and boring...but thorough.

[katygirl68]

Zoning laws were put to the vote in 1994 and were shot down here (Houston Says No to Zoning | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty). As I recall, people voted against it because no one wanted to see all the businesses in those future zoned areas be forced to relocate and possibly be shut down. Zoning would have been nice for the people who planned and built this city, but now that we've gone decade after decade without zoning, we can't institute it now without putting a lot of folks out of business.

But as I recall, around that same time they made it illegal for adult-oriented buildings to be within a certain distance from a school or church.

[blkgiraffe]

Really can't notice the lack of zoning until you move here. It's not as bad or as unorganized as people make it out to be. I'd like to see more consistency within some neighborhoods though. Some spots in Houston have too much going on in such small areas. Like one area will get all this cool urban type developments and layout the area to become more pedestrian friendly; than someone comes in and f*** it all up throwing down some CVS or Walmart with big ass parking lots.

[just4ivaylo]

Originally Posted by 14Bricks

Right, because the utopias they come from can't produce jobs. But yet they come here complain about a lack of zoning, or "In California we do it like this" or "In new york we do like that and its so much better" its too conservative here.

Are you being sarcastic or not? Kind of hard to tell.

Yes, the "utopias" from which they come from didn't have jobs. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Texas is faring much better than the average place in the United States with an 8.5% unemployment rate.