Houston Strategies

Are we the new "It" city? cars shorten commutes, our donut problem, and more

• Big congrats to Mayor Parker for being nominated for this prestigious international best mayor prize.
• Houston scores impressively well on these metro GDP rankings, especially in recent growth, both as a whole and per capita.
• Even Richard Florida can't deny Houston's powerful growth stats:

"The metro areas that form the twin pillars of America's knowledge-energy economy continue to rise and prosper, according to new figures on economic growth released this week from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. According to the data, which measured economic output as gross domestic product (GDP), the energy hub of greater Houston showed the fastest growth in terms of economic output last year, while the Silicon Valley tech hub of greater San Jose came in second.
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Also troubling, the nation’s three largest metro economies all registered below average growth: New York saw a growth rate of 1.0 percent (220th of all metros); L.A had a growth rate of 1.2 percent (204th); and Chicago clocked in at 1.3 percent (201st)."

• Aaron Renn on the "new donut" in cities with a healthy inner core and outer ring, but a very weak middle ring.  Houston most definitely has a very big issue with this.
• Mimi Schwartz with Conde Naste Traveler asks "Is Houston the New "It" City?" I'd like to think this blog played at least a very small part in building up our city's self-confidence over the last 9 years.  My favorite excerpts:

"Thirty years ago, the idea of hiring a firm from a smaller city for such a big project would have been akin to wearing a dress made by a seamstress in Lubbock to the opening of the opera. It might work, but then again it might not, and the potential for humiliation wasn’t worth the risk. Now, the fear of humiliation is gone: The award-winning Lake/Flato was simply the firm that best understood the local culture and had the right aesthetic. 

It is this self-confidence that probably surprises visitors most. No one in Houston thought it was particularly remarkable that in 2010 it elected the first lesbian mayor in the country: Annise Parker had been in public office for more than a decade.
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What may be best about Houston, though, is what hasn’t changed over the years. Its passion and respect for eccentricity remains: An inner-city cottage covered entirely in beer cans is now protected by a nonprofit foundation, and there is even a move afoot to save the Astrodome from the wrecking ball, despite the fact that the world’s first domed stadium long ago outlived its usefulness."

• A kinda cool online tool for calculating hyperlocal (by zip code) cost of living and affordability within Houston.  Fun to play around with, especially if you're thinking of changing neighborhoods...
• Surprise - a national study finds time the most important factor in using transit, which is a big factor in the popularity of our Park and Ride express buses.  Point-to-point at 60+mph with job center circulation always beats a train netting out to 20-30mph plus a transfer or long walk.
• Continuing that theme, it looks like the freeway-automobile cities lead to the shortest commute times vs. big transit cities, with Dallas and Houston near the top for shortest commute among large metros, with the second paragraph from the excerpt doing a good job explaining why:

"Dallas-Fort Worth is the best performing U.S. city between 5 million and 10 million population, at 26 minutes. Travel time in Houston, Miami and Philadelphia is almost as short, at 27 minutes. Only the Germany’s Ruhr Valley (Essen-Duisburg-Dortmund) does better than these cities, at 24 minutes. Hong Kong’s travel time is the longest in this population category, at 46 minutes. This may be surprising, since in many ways Hong Kong conforms to current urban planning ideals. It is the densest urban area in the high income world and the largest transit work trip market share.
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Despite the hostility of planners toward the automobile, the secret lies in automobile access. Generally, automobiles are faster than other modes, such as transit, walking and cycling for trips of the lengths required in modern metropolitan areas. The U.S. also has more dispersed (decentralized) employment, which increases access and shortens travel times. Only 8 percent of major metropolitan area employment is in the downtown areas (central business districts) in U.S. cities."

Labels: affordability, density, economy, growth, home affordability, identity, mobility strategies, rankings, transit

posted by Tory Gattis @ 5:33 PM