Why does nobody walk around in this city? (Houston, Rice: living in, professionals)

[hsw]

Define "city"

In most of world, weather sucks for walking year-round unless one likes to freeze or sweat; consider garbage, human/animal waste, bus fumes, etc of Manhattan streets/sidewalks, even in upscale areas

And in SF, where weather is near-ideal for walking, most drive around town to avoid smells of homeless, animal waste, etc...and risk of being mugged/accosted (elevated in a poor economy w/ineffective police prevention)

In desirable suburbs everywhere, people can either walk around inside own climate-controlled spacious houses, perhaps while they watch TV, listen to music or play w/their Blackberry...or go for walks on quiet streets nr their house in well-scrubbed residential suburbs, far from suspect characters and pollution of any city

[jfre81]

Well....

I'm going out to go walk around. Whodathunkit.

[lonestarwvu]

I haven't read this whole thread, but lack of zoning does not mean lack of regulation. I should also note that my family of four owns one car, lives in a house that gets a walk score of 74 (whatever that means) and I take public transportation to and from work every day without ever getting in a car and I live in a far out suburb (Clear Lake). But anyway, why doesn’t anyone walk in Houston? Regulation:

Until 1998, [FN37] Houston's city code provided that the minimum lot size for detached [FN38] single-family dwellings was 5000 square feet. [FN39] And until 1998, [FN40] Houston's government made it virtually impossible for developers to build large numbers of non-detached single-family homes such as townhouses, [FN41] by requiring townhouses to sit on at least 2250 square feet of land. [FN42]

B. Minimum Parking Requirements and Setbacks: Houston's One-Two Punch Against Pedestrians. Virtually every structure built in Houston must, under municipal law, have an ample supply of parking. For example:
*Apartment buildings must provide 1.25 parking spaces for each efficiency apartment, and 1.33 parking spaces for each 1 bedroom apartment. [FN72] So even though 17% of Houston renters do not even own one car, [FN73] landlords must supply more than one parking space for every tenant.
*Single-family homes must be on lots large enough to "(e)nsure that two vehicles per dwelling unit can be parked entirely on the lot." [FN74]
*Office buildings must provide 2.5-2.75 parking spaces for every 1000 square feet of floor area.
[FN75]
*Hospitals must provide 2.2 spaces for each bed. [FN76]
*Supermarkets must provide 5 spaces per 1000 square feet of gross floor area. [FN77]
*Shopping centers must provide 4-5 spaces (depending on their size) per 1000 square feet of gross floor area. [FN78]

Read the whole thing here: How Overregulation Creates Sprawl (Even in a City without Zoning)

[jfre81]

Yep, that too, good post. See if you can find the one that regulates parking allotments based on the number of toilets in a residential development (like, say, a high rise )

Anyway, so yeah, I have a new pair of Chucks to break in....later....go look for me. Then people would be out and about, natch.

[robertobaggio]

Originally Posted by CanTex

Those are all tourists. Go down to Galveston and you'll see some of those walking along the seawall.

Not true. I have plenty of friends who live in South Beach or Downtown Miami and rarely use the car.

[robertobaggio]

Originally Posted by hsw

And in SF, where weather is near-ideal for walking, most drive around town to avoid smells of homeless, animal waste, etc...and risk of being mugged/accosted (elevated in a poor economy w/ineffective police prevention)

Far from true, most young people especially the ones who live in the City, do not own a car in San Francisco. The risk of getting mugged is minimal despite of what you may think. Most areas are crowded with regular people walking around until late at night. It's the extreme opposite of Houston. That's why it's referred to as "the city" rather than H-"Town".

[robertobaggio]

Originally Posted by hsw

In desirable suburbs everywhere, people can either walk around inside own climate-controlled spacious houses, perhaps while they watch TV, listen to music or play w/their Blackberry...or go for walks on quiet streets nr their house in well-scrubbed residential suburbs, far from suspect characters and pollution of any city

God, that sounds sooo provincial...What a boring type of life.

[dv1033]

Originally Posted by robertobaggio

God, that sounds sooo provincial...What a boring type of life.

Moderator cut: rude language Judging from your posts on this thread, SF can keep its walkable lifestyle and a few of its former citizens.

[theSUBlime]

Originally Posted by robertobaggio

Far from true, most young people especially the ones who live in the City, do not own a car in San Francisco. The risk of getting mugged is minimal despite of what you may think. Most areas are crowded with regular people walking around until late at night. It's the extreme opposite of Houston. That's why it's referred to as "the city" rather than H-"Town".

That's funny, because everyone I know from San Francisco owns a car. (I wonder if going to BU has anything to do with that?) I would assume you know more people from San Francisco than me though.

Public transportation in the United States is also underutilized across the board. (NYC is only 55%--you would think it would be more than that, since they have the largest system in the world.) I guess you can't calculate how many people are walking, but if they don't own a car, you might be able to assume they would use public transportation regularly. Your friends in Miami are also a lucky minority. In terms of Houston is simply average (around 5% using public transport, the national average). I do think it should be much better for a city its size. I think tourists usually do get out and walk more.

[robertobaggio]

Originally Posted by dv1033

Moderator cut: rude language Judging from your posts on this thread, SF can keep its walkable lifestyle and a few of its former citizens.

Moderator cut: orphaned comment We are talking about how Houston is the antithesis of World Class cities (face it), and you call me ignorant for defining boring and provincial that type of suburban life style?