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Houston actually has relatively lax zoning laws. This makes for some interesting stuff: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Weirdest-images

• davidw 10y ago
  Yeah, Houston gets trotted out a lot by the Market Urbanism folks: http://marketurbanism.com/2016/06/02/houston-beautiful-yet-partial-embrace-of-market-urbanism/ http://marketurbanism.com/2016/06/02/houston-beautiful-yet-p... But that city also has massive sprawl, so it's kind of tough to point at as an example for more coastal folks. Certain areas may showcase how things could be, but it's still a very car-centric city.
  • TulliusCicero 10y ago
    While it lacks many types of zoning, Houston still has minimum parking requirements, which push people towards driving. It also exists in a conservative state that favors highway expansion over transit expansion.
    • davidw 10y ago
      Yes - that's pointed out in the article where they talk about how parking minimums and covenants enforced by the city, rather than privately, create a sort of 'zoning lite'.
  • CalRobert 10y ago
    An interesting view of how parking affects Houston is at http://www.citymetric.com/transport/what-bombs-did-rotterdam-parking-lots-did-houston-2285 http://www.citymetric.com/transport/what-bombs-did-rotterdam...
  • hx87 10y ago
    The great thing about Houston from a market urbanist perspective isn't that it's particularly dense or walkable, but that it's dirt cheap for the amenities it does offer.