#1 in college grads and real estate, the new class conflict, in praise of boring suburban cities, and more
A week for clearing out the rapidly growing backlog of smaller items:- Houston is #1 in growth of college grads with a 50% increase since 2000, at least according to the graph in the NYT story here, although you wouldn't know it from the article, which doesn't even mention us. More here, which also points out how much Dallas is lagging in Texas.
- The WSJ on the backlash against toll roads in Texas, especially around DFW. I'm a big proponent of toll roads, as they remind people what it really costs to live far out and commute in (as opposed to the illusion of free highways), but I'd also like to see the gas tax indexed for inflation. Texas is falling dangerously behind in infrastructure investment.
- A map of the longest commute times in Houston by zip code.
- Houston #1, by far, in new office construction, more than twice as much as #2, NYC.
- Houston on top of national real estate report:
Houston and Austin ranked first and second, respectively, topping San Francisco. In similar examples, Charlotte, N.C., ranked higher than Seattle and Boston, while Nashville topped Manhattan. Dallas/Fort Worth ranked No. 5.
“Investors are looking closely at opportunities beyond the core markets,” ULI global CEO Patrick Phillips, said in a statement. “These cities are positioning themselves as highly competitive, in terms of livability, employment offerings, and recreational and cultural amenities.”
- Good personal essay in the Houston Press on the Houston vs. San Francisco theme.
- GHP's October report has some good notes on our economy, including noting that we've hit a half-trillion dollars in metro area GDP, #4 in the nation, and some new census data.
- A review of Joel Kotkin's new book on the new class conflict. I'd love to hear opinions on this conflict and the "clerisy" in the comments.
- Love this excerpt on "boring" cities like Houston:
“Soulless” and “boring” are to some extent judgmental code words for “stuff I don’t like.” Sophisticated urbanites tend to look down on much of suburban life. But I suspect many suburbanites find downtown obsessions – contemporary art, say, or elaborate ways of preparing coffee – equally tedious. Why isn’t their thumbs-down verdict on urban pretentiousness just as valid?
….
Those of us who love urban areas’ walkability, variety and novelty often have a tendency to universalise – not to say sacralise – our values and tastes. But in an ever more diverse world, different people are going to have different ideas about the good life. We need to be more tolerant of those who make different choices. (In Arlington you can’t even argue that the car culture is killing the environment, since as Adler notes they’ve focused much more on transit and density than your average place). Some people like stability, predictability, rootedness and a lot of what suburbs have to offer. There’s nothing wrong with that. We frequently fail to recognise that our own personal preferences are in most cases just that. And too often in urbanist discussions, that means white hipster preferences.
- On a related note, I also love this comment of the day at Swamplot
“Urban enthusiasts live in a bubble. I don’t care where they are. The reality is that the VAST majority of people like getting in a private air conditioned car, driving to an island of shopping or whatever and finding a parking space closest to where they are going without being bothered by street people. Urban enthusiasts are under the delusion that most people want to walk around in sticky moist air and sit at their desk stinking all day from sweat in order to pretend they live in a city that was built before cars were invented so they can live like the people they envy on t.v. A dense urban environment in the inner city would be a novelty and I’m all for it. Choices are great. Downtown and Midtown are shaping up nicely. The center of Midtown is going to have a very cool buzz going on with all the new infill. The Match, Superblock, Mid-Main development, etc. East side Downtown is going to be a beast and so will Market Square. But as cool as it may be to have a tiny, tiny, microscopic sliver of New York in the center of this city, it is totally unnecessary. Our booms have proven that. The VAST majority don’t have a problem with strip malls, blue glass or driving cars to get where they want to go.The VAST majority stay in Houston because they WANT to live in a suburban environment. Jobs? There are jobs in other cities. No one stays in Houston long if they really hate it. You can’t argue with success. Builders keep building things the way they do in Houston because it works. ‘Quality’ is subjective. Some people think Miley Cyrus is quality. But you can’t argue with ‘quantity.’ Houston is fascinating to people (even the haters) because whatever it is, unlike many of those true centers of urbanity on the east and west coast, Houston IS NOT stagnant. Even in slower economic times, things happen in Houston and it is fun watching it grow.”
- Finally, to end on a humorous note, xkcd does a little amusing NASA Houston humor. Don't miss the mouse-over pop-up text (only at the link).
Labels: census, demographics, development, economy, growth, mobility strategies, NASA, rankings
posted by Tory Gattis @ 6:44 PM
1 Comments:
You don't go far enough on the gas tax. It first needs to be raised to match TXDOT's needs. Then doubled to reflect the fact that only about half of the gas tax is collected due to driving on major highways (at least from the last time I looked at TTI's Houston numbers). Then it will come much closer to representing the true cost of driving. Then you can index it to inflation.
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