The lecture notes are here. The live chat is here.
Today we will conclude our study of zoning with a discussion about Houston’s lack of a zoning code, and what it means. Here are the readings for today:
- Changing the plans America’s oil capital is throwing up a few environmental surprises
- Zoning Without Zoning
- Houston, New York Has A Problem (bonus for finding the reference to where I went to high school)
- Land Use in the Unzoned City
- How Overregulation Creates Sprawl (Even in a City without Zoning) – pp. 1-15
- Four Land Vignettes From (Unzoned?) Houston – pp. 1-9, 25-28
There was massive opposition to the site, which will be completed in Spring 2014 at Bissonnet and Ashby, north of Rice University.
Here is a recent article from the Houston Chronicle about “income segregation.”
Also, here is a graph that illustrates how eminent domain takings focus on areas of minorities and those with low education. It will be relevant to our discussion on zoning.
Here is a February 2013 Houston Chronicle article on mobility in Houston, based on a Texas A&M report:
- $1,090: Cost to each commuter in Houston, due to congestion, in lost time and fuel.
- 23: Gallons of fuel wasted in 2011, per motorist, in the Houston area because of congestion.
- 5.75: Hours daily that Houston is a “rush hour” commute pattern.
- 6: Houston’s rank for having the nation’s most stressful commute.
- 81.9 million: Number of unlinked public transportation trips, a 20 percent decrease from 2006.
Washington D.C. is ranked with the worst traffic in America,followed by Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.