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Out of curiosity, what about California’s climate do you dislike? Doesn’t seem like it’s the cold since you appear to love NYC and Chicago, and it doesn’t seem to be the heat since you described both Florida’s and Texas’s climates as better than California’s.
I’m genuinely curious because I would’ve thought California’s very mild weather would appeal to most people.
Lol, you described it perfectly. I'm weird in a sense that I like 4 very distinct seasons. I want winter to be cold and snowy and summer to be hot and humid. California is too mild, especially SF, which doesn't have neither a proper summer nor winter.
No, they're not. And Texas liberalism is distinctively Texan in character. That's been true for decades.
Liberal Texas politicians have also given us some really great quotes, like this one from former Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower:
"The only things you find in the middle of the road are yellow stripes and dead armadillos."
But if you're a student of or interested in city planning, you should hie yourself to Houston, the only large city in the United States with no zoning.
Unfortunately, I'm not from the US nor am I a student in a related field.
Do you mean no zoning as in no separation between industrial, commercial and residential zones? Because we don't have that here in Europe either. Except maybe industry to some degree.
Unfortunately, I'm not from the US nor am I a student in a related field.
Do you mean no zoning as in no separation between industrial, commercial and residential zones? Because we don't have that here in Europe either. Except maybe industry to some degree.
Houston is notorious for its lack of zoning laws. In some places, there are totally out-of-place skyscrapers next to very low-rise pawn shops. The city doesn’t have a unified feel to it. It’s like everything is randomly thrown together and works. It’s not very seamless but its disjointedness is actually what makes it incredibly unique. So much character, so much grittiness. Not much to look at though.
TX vs CA- California is too left, too weird, too dirty, and too many illegal immigrants. The state is absolutely beautiful, especially compared to Texas, which doesn’t impress me. Unfortunately, the people have ruined California. It’s a shell of itself. Used to be great in the 80s.
FL vs NY- I love NY but spend Thanksgiving though Memorial Day in Florida. I absolutely hate the cold. Don’t love the heat and humidity either but I’ll take that 10/10 days over the troubled winter weather here, blechh.
Houston is notorious for its lack of zoning laws. In some places, there are totally out-of-place skyscrapers next to very low-rise pawn shops. The city doesn’t have a unified feel to it. It’s like everything is randomly thrown together and works. It’s not very seamless but its disjointedness is actually what makes it incredibly unique. So much character, so much grittiness. Not much to look at though.
While there are areas with no zoning in Houston, it's kinda a misnomer that it doesn't exist at all. What doesn't exist is government zoning by a city planner or voted on by city council people. In its place are private deed restrictions that cover the vast majority of the city that restricts what can be built where. There are only a few areas where you could build whatever you wanted. In effect, Houston has private zoning where the original developer decides what can built in the future on the lot for all time, and it is actually less flexible than a zoning plan that can be changed by a city council.
Lol, you described it perfectly. I'm weird in a sense that I like 4 very distinct seasons. I want winter to be cold and snowy and summer to be hot and humid. California is too mild, especially SF, which doesn't have neither a proper summer nor winter.
You do realize you can be in snow in 1 hour from both Los Angeles and San Diego? You can have 4 distinct seasons and still be within commuting range, albeit a long one. If it’s the rain you desire you can have more than you’ll ever want, and then some, in the Redwood Forest near the coast in Northern California. Snow too. The one thing you won’t find is hot and humid summers, but I’ve never met anyone in real life that truly likes them. Only those that can tolerate them.
You do realize you can be in snow in 1 hour from both Los Angeles and San Diego? You can have 4 distinct seasons and still be within commuting range, albeit a long one. If it’s the rain you desire you can have more than you’ll ever want, and then some, in the Redwood Forest near the coast in Northern California. Snow too. The one thing you won’t find is hot and humid summers, but I’ve never met anyone in real life that truly likes them. Only those that can tolerate them.
Voting:
California
New York
That's all true. I do miss the rain, on like days like today. Alot of transplants probably do. But they wouldn't trade it for the stuffiness it brings..
Houston is notorious for its lack of zoning laws. In some places, there are totally out-of-place skyscrapers next to very low-rise pawn shops. The city doesn’t have a unified feel to it. It’s like everything is randomly thrown together and works. It’s not very seamless but its disjointedness is actually what makes it incredibly unique. So much character, so much grittiness. Not much to look at though.
TBH, that sounds awesome. Way more interesting than having everything separated. But aren't most of the (urban) American cities like that? NYC, Chicago, SF, Boston, Philly...they don't seem to have commercial stuff separated from housing.
You do realize you can be in snow in 1 hour from both Los Angeles and San Diego? You can have 4 distinct seasons and still be within commuting range, albeit a long one. If it’s the rain you desire you can have more than you’ll ever want, and then some, in the Redwood Forest near the coast in Northern California. Snow too. The one thing you won’t find is hot and humid summers, but I’ve never met anyone in real life that truly likes them. Only those that can tolerate them.
Yeah, but that would be some distant half suburb half countryside somewhere in the mountains, right? Also, going on a "snow trip" or something like that doesn't do it for me, I honestly want to live where it snows regularly during winter.
Yup, I really do love humid summers more than the dry ones. I guess it's because I've lived my entire life in a very humid area. I often travel during summer to where my parents grew up and they have dry summers there, my parents still can't take the humidity, even after 30 years. But when I come back home...there's just something about that oppressive humidity...maybe it's the smell, the heavier, thicker air, the feeling of being extremely hot, but not sunny at all...idk, honestly. Not to mention the greenery that comes with rain.
Lol, you described it perfectly. I'm weird in a sense that I like 4 very distinct seasons. I want winter to be cold and snowy and summer to be hot and humid. California is too mild, especially SF, which doesn't have neither a proper summer nor winter.
"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." —Mark Twain
I think that the city's location on the tip of a peninsula warmed on its ocean side by the Japan Current (which is also what makes Pacific Northwest winters milder than their counterparts at the same latitudes on the opposite coast) but also cooled by San Francisco Bay itself (hence the famous fog) may have something to do with its anomalous weather. Go beyond the first range of hills inland from San Francisco Bay on its east side and the climate becomes more typical for the West.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vrda99
TBH, that sounds awesome. Way more interesting than having everything separated. But aren't most of the (urban) American cities like that? NYC, Chicago, SF, Boston, Philly...they don't seem to have commercial stuff separated from housing.
One reason why is because many of their neighborhoods, including all of their oldest ones, were built before zoning became the norm in the early 20th century. The zoning maps that these cities created then recognized this phenomenon by allowing for "commercial mixed-use" and "residential mixed-use" zones. In each of these, the named activity predominates, but other uses (in particular residences over stores, which are crucial to walkable neighborhood vitality) are also allowed by right.
Something else these cities don't have much of is zoning that permits only detached single-family houses (known as "R1" in many US cities and "RSD-1" here in Philadelphia). In many other US cities, including just about all of them that experienced their greatest growth in the early decades, R1 is by far the dominant zoning district. Last year, before the city's cops murdered George Floyd, Minneapolis became the first city in the US to ban R1 zoning completely by a City Council vote.
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