Houston tops global city outlook, GDP, and brand rankings; 100 years of zoning now smothering the economy, and more

Back after some summer vacation time with a lot of smaller items to catch-up on:

• As far as this Chronicle article on the expansion of Houston freeways, somebody is going to have to explain to me why it's a big success if a subway or train fills up requiring new tracks or train cars, but it's a failure if an expanded freeway fills up and needs further expansion?  Don't we want the government to build popular infrastructure that gets high utilization?  Isn't that the best and most efficient use of taxpayer dollars?
• Houston has the 5th best outlook in the world as a global city, and is #1 in GDP per capita and a leader in patents per capita. Not bad. 
• "Houston ranked No. 7 as one of the best brands in the U.S., based on place, product, programming, people, prosperity and promotion, per Resonance Consultancy's 2016 U.S. Place Equity Index... The next Texas town on the list, Dallas, ranked No. 15. Austin came in at No. 23, and San Antonio took the No. 29 spot." (if you hit a paywall problem, try opening the link in an incognito browser window)
• Zoning Has Had a Good 100 Years. Enough Already.  Hear, hear! 

"One can never be certain about these things, but it’s quite possible that excessive land-use restrictions are among the major causes of our long national economic malaise."

This is part of why presidents and the federal government are having so much trouble reviving the economy - the regulations causing the problem are outside of their control.

• Continuing that theme: Building permit delays choke U.S. housing supply, study shows. Houston is at the top of their graphic for fastest residential permit approvals at 2.9 months and a 54% increase in housing over the last 20 years - nice.
• Futuristic Simulation Finds Self-Driving “Taxibots” Will Eliminate 90% Of Cars, Open Acres Of Public Space. I don't think this is completely true, especially in America. People like owning their own cars.  It's part of their identity in some cases, and in other cases it carries around a portable version of their home and/or office (think family minivan), which is not amenable to switching over to on-demand autonomous taxis.

Finally, it's way too big to fit here, but an interesting and amusing infographic you might want to check out:  "If Texas Were a Storage Unit, What Countries Would Fit Inside?"  It will give you a new appreciation for just how big Texas is.