4 ms·

They can’t. Texas has much looser zoning laws, California has some of the strictest in the nation.

asdff 4y ago
They've been doing this in LA for years already https://la.urbanize.city/post/another-koreatown-office-building-become-apartments https://la.urbanize.city/post/another-koreatown-office-build... (2017)
AmericanChopper 4y ago
If only there were a group of people responsible for making sure that the laws served the interests of the people. Perhaps California will establish such a system one day.
- rahimnathwani 4y ago
  I guess you're talking about laws being designed to serve the interests of certain groups (e.g. teachers' unions) at the expense of everyone else. If so, is that problem unique to California? If the problem is worse in California than elsewhere in the US, then what about the design of the system could be changed to improve the situation?
- kevingadd 4y ago
  California lets ordinary voters permanently amend the constitution without the intervention of any Evil Lawmakers, which has worked out Great(tm) so far.
epistasis 4y ago
People are working on it! Join CA YIMBY and help change the laws to work for the people, rather than wealthy homeowners.
barbacoa 4y ago
Houston doesn't even HAVE zoning laws. Companies in Houston can and do build industries like petrochemical processing plants in or near residential neighborhoods. For example: https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/arkema-explosion-risk/ https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/arkema-explosion-r... You can do almost anything you'd like since it is your land. Very different culture to California.
- astrange 4y ago
  It has everything but zoning laws; parking minimums are enough to ruin a city's land use.
  - ericmay 4y ago
    I think the OP was just pointing out that Houston doesn’t have zoning laws (in comparison to California). Note that this has not stopped Houston from becoming a sprawling suburb with massive amounts of parking lots. Houston didn’t build good density (or even a city really) despite the lack of zoning laws. I don’t think zoning is the culprit here but it’s difficult to compare cities and compare them across different states. Also I’m not sure there’s a meaningful distinction between zoning laws and a local regulation like parking minimums. The effect is the same so zoning laws as a concept becomes a bit of a red herring unless we take zoning to include all general rules and regulations that govern how buildings can be built, transit, etc.
    - colinmhayes 4y ago
      Houston's parking minimums are absolutely the main culprit for the amount of sprawl it has even in its downtown areas. Every single business needs a parking lot so everything is in a strip mall and therefore unwalkable.
      - ericmay 4y ago
        Sure but I don’t think it’s helpful to try and separate those from zoning regulations here. Also I think even without those mandatory minimums a city like Houston is dead set on cars at all cost. Frankly, all of America is this way too it’s just that there are a few cities where geography has constrained sprawl. I fear for my own city, Columbus. The state, county, and city governments just do not understand that car-first infrastructure is a failed policy and will bankrupt us.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- 4y ago
fells 4y ago
> California has some of the strictest in the nation. Typically to stop the encroachment of commercial or industrial buildings into residential areas? Wouldn't this, offices into apartments, be rather amenable?
tzs 4y ago
Aren't those looser zoning laws supposed to make it so they don't need to do things like this in Texas?

They've been doing this in LA for years already https://la.urbanize.city/post/another-koreatown-office-building-become-apartments https://la.urbanize.city/post/another-koreatown-office-build... (2017)

AmericanChopper 4y ago

If only there were a group of people responsible for making sure that the laws served the interests of the people. Perhaps California will establish such a system one day.

rahimnathwani 4y ago
I guess you're talking about laws being designed to serve the interests of certain groups (e.g. teachers' unions) at the expense of everyone else. If so, is that problem unique to California? If the problem is worse in California than elsewhere in the US, then what about the design of the system could be changed to improve the situation?
kevingadd 4y ago
California lets ordinary voters permanently amend the constitution without the intervention of any Evil Lawmakers, which has worked out Great(tm) so far.

epistasis 4y ago

People are working on it! Join CA YIMBY and help change the laws to work for the people, rather than wealthy homeowners.

barbacoa 4y ago

Houston doesn't even HAVE zoning laws. Companies in Houston can and do build industries like petrochemical processing plants in or near residential neighborhoods. For example: https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/arkema-explosion-risk/ https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/arkema-explosion-r... You can do almost anything you'd like since it is your land. Very different culture to California.

astrange 4y ago
It has everything but zoning laws; parking minimums are enough to ruin a city's land use.
- ericmay 4y ago
  I think the OP was just pointing out that Houston doesn’t have zoning laws (in comparison to California). Note that this has not stopped Houston from becoming a sprawling suburb with massive amounts of parking lots. Houston didn’t build good density (or even a city really) despite the lack of zoning laws. I don’t think zoning is the culprit here but it’s difficult to compare cities and compare them across different states. Also I’m not sure there’s a meaningful distinction between zoning laws and a local regulation like parking minimums. The effect is the same so zoning laws as a concept becomes a bit of a red herring unless we take zoning to include all general rules and regulations that govern how buildings can be built, transit, etc.
  - colinmhayes 4y ago
    Houston's parking minimums are absolutely the main culprit for the amount of sprawl it has even in its downtown areas. Every single business needs a parking lot so everything is in a strip mall and therefore unwalkable.
    - ericmay 4y ago
      Sure but I don’t think it’s helpful to try and separate those from zoning regulations here. Also I think even without those mandatory minimums a city like Houston is dead set on cars at all cost. Frankly, all of America is this way too it’s just that there are a few cities where geography has constrained sprawl. I fear for my own city, Columbus. The state, county, and city governments just do not understand that car-first infrastructure is a failed policy and will bankrupt us.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
4y ago

fells 4y ago

> California has some of the strictest in the nation. Typically to stop the encroachment of commercial or industrial buildings into residential areas? Wouldn't this, offices into apartments, be rather amenable?

tzs 4y ago

Aren't those looser zoning laws supposed to make it so they don't need to do things like this in Texas?