Surprisingly simple congestion solution, Houston dominates web hosting (?!), H-town accolades, low taxes, and more
It's been a while since the last post with smaller misc items, and they've been stacking up so much I'll need to spread them over at least two posts and possibly more. Here we go with the first round:- Event announcement: Jeb Brugmann will be speaking on "Can India’s Cities Be Made to Work?" this Wednesday night at Asia Society Texas. Details here.
- Great Chronicle op-ed today by a Rice student on how they came to love Houston over their four years here.
Excerpt: "Where I had once seen a homogenized concrete blanket, I now see a diverse quilt with intricate and innumerable connections. Each section of Houston, from Chinatown to Midtown, not only forms a distinct and unique town unto itself but adds to the color and character of the rest of the city. Taken together, they form the most dynamic city in America. My hometown of Albuquerque might cherish its past and tradition, but Houston constantly evolves toward the future. To outsiders, this makes Houston look like an unplanned mess, but those who live here know to embrace the lack of predestined plan. It is why the city eschews zoning laws with pride."
- Houston was the fan favorite and won a $1 million runner-up prize in the Bloomberg Mayor's Challenge for its entry on single-bin recycling. Congrats Houston both for submitting and supporting the bid! It will be revolutionary if they can get it to work. Details in this Fast Company article, "Houston's Plan to Make Landfills Extinct." Hat tips to Jay and Jessie.
- Houston got 2 of 12 slots on GQ's Most Outstanding Restaurants of 2013, where Houston "is becoming the most electrifying food destination in America."
- The reviews are in and Houston seems to have done very well with the NBA All-Star Weekend. (Hat tip to Jessie.)
- Forbes has Texas cities dominating 5 of the top 10 best cities for good jobs.
- There's been a dramatic increase in the numbers of New Yorkers moving to Houston and Texas
- Site Selection names Houston #1 top metro for relocations, expansions - third time in four years!
- In the surprising stats category, Houston is the #1 web hosting city, with 1 out of every 20 sites (out of the million most popular) hosted here. Hat tip to Nathan.
- Pretty inspiring shout out from David Brooks in the NYTimes on all that's happening in Houston and the energy industry.
- Houston has the 3rd lowest tax burden in the country, and the lowest among major cities.
- NYTimes on Los Angeles' problems with voter apathy, city fragmentation, and a lack of civic identity. My perception is that Houston does a lot better on these things, but I'd like to hear other perspectives in the comments.
Finally, let me end with this great TED talk on reducing traffic congestion based on the congestion charge experiment in Stockholm (hat tip to Jay). A token 1-2 euro congestion fee in the core reduced cars by 20% and nearly eliminated congestion. Because traffic congestion is nonlinear, just a small reduction in cars can lead to a large reduction in congestion. It incentivized a lot of people with schedule flexibility to shift their trips outside of rush hour. Also, even though it was very unpopular at first, it quickly became overwhelmingly popular with 70+% support. I suspect it's politically impossible, but I think something similar for freeways coming inside the loop or getting on the loop at rush hour could have a similar impact here. Something to ponder...
Labels: congestion pricing, costs of congestion, dining, economy, energy, environment, growth, mobility strategies, quality of place, rankings, taxes, tech, technology, tourism, zoning
posted by Tory Gattis @ 8:44 PM
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