The advantages of no-zoning in Houston, The Economist on Dallas, Chicago's fiscal warning
Clearing more from the smaller items backlog this week:
No-Zoning Flexibility (and Complications): The Houston Landing recently explored Houston's lack of traditional zoning (with a leftist bias, of course). While acknowledging it adds some complexity (requiring deed restrictions, etc.), experts cited in the piece note the significant flexibility it provides, contributing to our ability to adapt and grow more dynamically than zoned cities. It reinforces that our system, while different, has tangible benefits.
Houston's No-Zone Recipe Keeps Housing Affordable: Hat tip to Barry Klein for sending The Daily Economy piece that summarizes Houston's success. Judge Glock highlights how our unique approach allows the market to respond quickly to demand, preventing the kind of artificial scarcity and price spirals seen elsewhere. The key elements? No zoning, minimum lot size reform, and a responsive development community. It's a recipe other cities could learn from.
Chicago's Fiscal Woes - A Cautionary Tale: This NYT Opinion piece details the severe fiscal challenges facing Chicago and Illinois, largely driven by pension debt. It's a stark reminder of the importance of fiscal discipline and realistic accounting for long-term liabilities – lessons Houston and Texas have generally taken to heart, contributing to our healthier financial position compared to many older northern cities.
The Economist: Dallas: Utopia for the Trump-curious CEO - The Texan city embodies the allure of small government. The description definitely sounds similar to Houston:
"The city boasts an enviable standard of living. Scorching summers are a small price to pay when a typical house costs a fifth less than in Austin and half as much as in San Francisco. “You don’t need to know some secret handshake to get your kid into a private school,” gushes a banker. Co-workers raise eyebrows when you do not go to your child’s 2 o’clock school play, marvels another.Best of all, enthuses a venture capitalist, Dallas is “unabashedly American” in its embrace of meritocracy and free enterprise. “If you are successful, any prejudice melts away,” agrees a CEO. The result is a virtuous circle. Business begets growth, growth brings people, people draw restaurants, culture and buzz"
Labels: governance, home affordability, land-use regulation, zoning
posted by Tory Gattis @ 4:59 PM
3 Comments:
I just returned this week from a multi-week trip to Japan. Japan takes things a step further than Houston, where they have eliminated minimum lot sizes. Mark older neighborhoods for re-development, particularly to eliminate older sub-standard structures (earthquake) and narrow roads (better for emergency vehicles/evacuations). Houses / Buildings do something unheard of in western cultures, they depreciate in value and are generally torn down after 30-40 years. Allowing continued re-development and avoiding the frozen in place ossification/neighborhood character that plagues so many cities. I believe once a building has outlived its usefulness tear it down.... I used to live in Japan, and have to say Japan perpetually seems to be 20 years in the future and we end up getting to many of the same places they do. One other factor is the 55% inheritance tax that keeps many Japanese from passing houses on to their descendants.
I general I agree - cities are better allowing easy teardowns and rebuilds rather than trying to preserve everything, and Houston is great at that. It blew my mind in Europe once seeing an old facade being kept while they tried to replace the building behind it - so limiting! Of course I respect people who keep up historical houses (like the Heights), but in general I think cities are better off if they're allowed to evolve.
Europe: Disneyland for rich people (like Americans ).
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