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Old 04-23-2010, 02:25 PM
 
1,164 posts, read 2,051,521 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sxrckr View Post
Austin? For the most part at least.
Except east of I-35.
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Old 04-23-2010, 02:43 PM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
15,218 posts, read 30,437,057 times
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A city that constantly reinvents itself is a dynamic city, but government is rarely dynamic. What needs to be done is update these ordinances to reflect the city's needs in 2010, not in 1960 or whenever they were put into place.

If we go the traditional zoning route, I'd rather it be done on a localized basis according to the needs of that part of the city. Houston has annexed a lot of areas that are not urban and were never really intended to be. What might be in the best interest of Midtown or Third Ward may not be for Clear Lake or Kingwood, which are in the city limits but were designed to be master planned suburbs. Let them have their own plans, and have a different one for more urban locations. This might mean that you have "traditional" zoning in Kingwood but not necessarily in Montrose. You might have historical preservation guidelines in the Heights that don't apply to a place like Gulfton that contains little of historic value. The contrast in landscapes is by far the most interesting thing about this city - keep that.

When we say "Houston doesn't have zoning" basically what we mean is that there is no legal separation of residential and commercial zones. This can actually be conducive to mixed use development. You even have it in some places, like on Gray in Midtown where you have the apartments built over the New York Pizzeria or in downtown where the Kirby Lofts have a CVS that is more along the lines of urban development. Shows that it can and has been done here.

Some people are going to hate the idea of more density and urbanization, mainly the people who want the detached house in a subdivision. The city and metro is big enough for two forms of living. Sure, once the 20-somethings grow up and start a family they may very well move out to the burbs, but then you have a whole new group of 20-somethings coming up. And maybe a handful of of them might even (shock!) decide to stay in the city and raise their kids there. The inner city schools aren't going to reclaim themselves - the people have to do it.
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Old 04-23-2010, 02:48 PM
 
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The lack of zoning doesn't help my neighborhood, which has a ton of warehouses and 18-wheelers coming down our pretty narrow streets, blocking people all the time.
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Old 04-23-2010, 02:50 PM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
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Originally Posted by glorplaxy View Post
The lack of zoning doesn't help my neighborhood, which has a ton of warehouses and 18-wheelers coming down our pretty narrow streets, blocking people all the time.
Do you live in something that was there before the warehouses, or were they built after?
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Old 04-23-2010, 02:51 PM
 
1,164 posts, read 2,051,521 times
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Originally Posted by jfre81 View Post
A city that constantly reinvents itself is a dynamic city, but government is rarely dynamic. What needs to be done is update these ordinances to reflect the city's needs in 2010, not in 1960 or whenever they were put into place.
This is what makes zoning fail. In 2020, you'll be stuck with planning from 2010 that won't meet the needs of the people. Many cities are stuck with the 1960s version of zoning - broad separation of commercial and residential areas - because of the glacial pace of government. Although people want denser 'lifestyle centers' they can't be built with a residential component because the zoning laws haven't been updated since they were enacted.
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Old 04-23-2010, 03:17 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jfre81 View Post
Do you live in something that was there before the warehouses, or were they built after?

This neighborhood was an old German town a long time ago. The warehouses came in around the 60s or 70s I believe. The houses were definitely here first.
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Old 04-23-2010, 03:58 PM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
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Quote:
Originally Posted by glorplaxy View Post
This neighborhood was an old German town a long time ago. The warehouses came in around the 60s or 70s I believe. The houses were definitely here first.
Right, so you're not one of the people who have one of the brand new townhomes built right next to railroad tracks or a strip club and then complain about the noise or the shady goings-on. I wonder what these people were thinking when they bought. Developers build stuff like that because they know they'll find suckers. I have a hard time placing all the blame on the developer in that case. On the other hand, maybe somebody really wants to be within a short walk of the strip club. Who's to say they can't be?

Oh, and good call, jimmy. Zoning put into place in the last half of the 20th century did more to cement a car-centric lifestyle and urban landscape than anything. Some cities did it with the huge residential tracts separated from a few designated commercial areas, requiring most to drive a good mile or two just to go get a loaf of bread or something simple. Houston resisted that trend, but the ordinances still worked to force everything way off the street and behind massive parking lots, which did just as much to keep people in their cars. It's no wonder why people have been conditioned to consider driving everywhere a way of life.
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Old 04-24-2010, 11:21 AM
 
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,791,662 times
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Call me crazy, but Gulfton seems ripe for redevelopment from a developer's perspective I'd think. Borders the West Univ area to the west, Bellaire to the southwest, Meyerland south, and the Galleria area / Uptown to the north. The land is probably in parcels unfortunately, but if it was sold off in one big chunk and the crummy apts torn down and the land totally redeveloped into a cohesive community that complemented the surrounding area, seems like it would do very well on location alone.
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Old 04-24-2010, 11:45 AM
 
221 posts, read 609,083 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AK123 View Post
Call me crazy, but Gulfton seems ripe for redevelopment from a developer's perspective I'd think. Borders the West Univ area to the west, Bellaire to the southwest, Meyerland south, and the Galleria area / Uptown to the north. The land is probably in parcels unfortunately, but if it was sold off in one big chunk and the crummy apts torn down and the land totally redeveloped into a cohesive community that complemented the surrounding area, seems like it would do very well on location alone.
agreed, Gulfton is PRIME location, right next to 59 and even close to the future hillcroft light rail station

I definitely know there will be a shift from living in the suburbs and moving into more urban areas, its already happening everywhere in Houston, I think by the end of 2020 the East End could well be the next Heights
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Old 04-24-2010, 11:51 AM
 
221 posts, read 609,083 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robertrulez View Post
agreed, Gulfton is PRIME location, right next to 59 and even close to the future hillcroft light rail station

I definitely know there will be a shift from living in the suburbs and moving into more urban areas, its already happening everywhere in Houston, I think by the end of 2020 the East End could well be the next Heights
actually nvm about the hillcroft station


the university line will have a GULFTON station
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