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Have you ever looked at Houston on a map? I’m not trying to be sarcastic. It’s enormous and the sprawl is incredible. The metro area dwarfs the size of every ma

Have you ever looked at Houston on a map? I’m not trying to be sarcastic. It’s enormous and the sprawl is incredible. The metro area dwarfs the size of every major city in California, combined. People drive an hour to work each direction on one of many 12 lane highways. The “special thing” that Houston has done is have virtually infinite land, a giant ocean port, and absolutely zero care or concern for the climate or the future.

kweinber 7y ago
The job market is also depressed in Houston.... companies are moving out as people are tired of getting hit by hurricanes and having the land periodically returned to swampland.
- JamesBarney 7y ago
  It's depressed because oil prices are low. When they're high Houston does better than the national average, when they're low it does worse. https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?type=wti https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?ty... https://realestate.usnews.com/places/texas/houston/jobs https://realestate.usnews.com/places/texas/houston/jobs
mrep 7y ago
Greater LA: 33,954 sq mi [0] Greater Houston: 10,062 sq mi [1] For the combined statistical area population / metro area, houston is actually even more dense than LA at 715 versus 553 people per square mile. Not disagreeing with your main point though especially in regards to the bay area. There's just no land left to sprawl there and people don't want to build up so it'll forever remain unaffordable. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Los_Angeles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Los_Angeles [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Houston https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Houston
- CuriouslyC 7y ago
  Greater LA includes a lot of stuff like Ventura/Oxnard/Riverside/San Bernadino that while on the fringes of the LA metro area, shouldn't fairly be considered LA proper. This skews the square milage of LA up, and the density down, where in reality if you take a more realistic view of "Los Angeles" it's definitely more dense and concentrated than Houston. I say this as a former resident of both places.
sien 7y ago
I've lived there. It's also worth noting, if you look at that article, that Tokyo has managed to build sufficiently. Up works as well as out. But up vs out is a needless confrontation. Up and out should be allowed. Up in lots of places requires rezoning or relaxation of zoning rules.
rayiner 7y ago
The average Houston commute is 50 minutes round trip: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-doesn-t-have-the-worst-commute-time-in-13187899.php https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Hou... 13% of San Francisco commutes are an hour or more each way, versus 2% for Houston: https://www.geotab.com/time-to-commute/ https://www.geotab.com/time-to-commute/ The average public transit commute in NYC is 53 minutes one way (longer than Houston round trip).

kweinber 7y ago

The job market is also depressed in Houston.... companies are moving out as people are tired of getting hit by hurricanes and having the land periodically returned to swampland.

JamesBarney 7y ago
It's depressed because oil prices are low. When they're high Houston does better than the national average, when they're low it does worse. https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?type=wti https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?ty... https://realestate.usnews.com/places/texas/houston/jobs https://realestate.usnews.com/places/texas/houston/jobs

mrep 7y ago

Greater LA: 33,954 sq mi [0] Greater Houston: 10,062 sq mi [1] For the combined statistical area population / metro area, houston is actually even more dense than LA at 715 versus 553 people per square mile. Not disagreeing with your main point though especially in regards to the bay area. There's just no land left to sprawl there and people don't want to build up so it'll forever remain unaffordable. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Los_Angeles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Los_Angeles [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Houston https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Houston

CuriouslyC 7y ago
Greater LA includes a lot of stuff like Ventura/Oxnard/Riverside/San Bernadino that while on the fringes of the LA metro area, shouldn't fairly be considered LA proper. This skews the square milage of LA up, and the density down, where in reality if you take a more realistic view of "Los Angeles" it's definitely more dense and concentrated than Houston. I say this as a former resident of both places.

sien 7y ago

I've lived there. It's also worth noting, if you look at that article, that Tokyo has managed to build sufficiently. Up works as well as out. But up vs out is a needless confrontation. Up and out should be allowed. Up in lots of places requires rezoning or relaxation of zoning rules.

rayiner 7y ago

The average Houston commute is 50 minutes round trip: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-doesn-t-have-the-worst-commute-time-in-13187899.php https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Hou... 13% of San Francisco commutes are an hour or more each way, versus 2% for Houston: https://www.geotab.com/time-to-commute/ https://www.geotab.com/time-to-commute/ The average public transit commute in NYC is 53 minutes one way (longer than Houston round trip).