How Houston Is Becoming America’s Next Dense City

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by badrunner

...and no frost.

Ummmmm...my outdoor potted plants now in the garage beg to differ.

And it snows in North and West Texas and in the Panhandle.

[badrunner]

Well, it's not bad enough to kill tropical plants outright. Just a few hundred miles to the north it's a different story.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by badrunner

Those pictures bilbao posted with the bare palm trees coming straight out of the grass or sidewalk isn't the best look.

Or these palms in Sugar Land:


581268_109 by bill barfield, on Flickr


153584_110 by bill barfield, on Flickr

Not to mention the palms found all over on landscaped private property.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

sidewalk repair: $800

the centuries-long majesty of a live oak: priceless

Exactly. Many of these are so old, they were around when the Karankawa and Akokisa still inhabited the area.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by JManc

Many of these are so old, they were around when the Karankawa and Akokisa still inhabited the area.

I suppose, but the most impressive oaks lining the streets in and around Rice, Hermann Park and Boulevard Oaks were all planted circa 1920s.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

I suppose, but the most impressive oaks lining the streets in and around Rice, Hermann Park and Boulevard Oaks were all planted circa 1920s.

Yeah. Those particular trees were strategically planted after Houston was built. The trunks still aren't that wide. The really old ones are randomly scattered around with Houston built around them. There is one at a Beck's Prime on Westheimer that is about 400 years old.

That's what I like about where I live in Kingwood, bland and boring but they built the entire suburb around the woods. We have an awkward driveway because when the house was built in 1979, the developer had position around two 250+ year-old trees.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by JManc

That's what I like about where I live in Kingwood, bland and boring but they built the entire suburb around the woods. We have an awkward driveway because when the house was built in 1979, the developer had position around two 250+ year-old trees.

We looked at a house in Kingwood when my family moved back from Toronto in 1973. Seemed like a 100 trees in the front and back yards. We ended up in Sugar Land with one large oak that ended up dying. I remember Kingwood being mostly pines, though.

ETA: My earliest memories of Houston were right by Memorial City...before there was a Memorial City. I went to Bunker Hill Elementary. LOVED all the pines in that area.

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by Shawn

This probably doesn’t need to be said, but: there aren’t too many worse things for a metro area to experience than sustained population growth without corresponding sustained employment growth. This is particularly important in places like Texas where the state doesn’t get the benefit of incremental income tax revenue generated by the incremental population growth.

Houston couldn't sustain 100k/yr employment growth with an economy dependent on a global growth. It has bounced back from the worst local recession since the mid 80s with 2 straight years of +60k employment growth. The global economy will pick up eventually. Oil&Gas is choppy but the outlook for gas still looks pretty rosy, albeit with short term pain. However as Jmanc said, the flooding has cost Houston a lot of potential corporate relocation. Houston could create a world class greenbelt system based around its bayous and reservoirs that double as flood mitigation.

[TexasPlaya]

The title of the article should be...

A Quasi-Libertarian Alternative to Adding Density.

[jd3189]

Originally Posted by badrunner

It's not Mediterranean but there's plenty of sun, plenty of rain, fertile soil and no frost. It can really become one of the great tree cities in the country. You can find a lot of streets like this where you'll feel like you're in a mixed forest of pines, oaks and palms: https://goo.gl/maps/x6V5Av4pMhoRF9Nh8. Not the best neighborhood but you get the point.

Those pictures bilbao posted with the bare palm trees coming straight out of the grass or sidewalk isn't the best look. They really should be layered with smaller trees, shrubs and ground cover. With a little care those streets can look more like this: https://goo.gl/maps/5JYae7FiywMHBMwf9. Galveston is on the right track: https://goo.gl/maps/XX3JpyC8j5o9LLgc6. When those palm trees mature and grow to 50-60 feet that's going to be a great looking street.

Nice. It could develop to be a mixture of lush oak and palm. And I also second TexasPlaya’s idea of the greenbelt system. Some type of irrigation is needed for this climate. All Sunbelt cities subject to flooding should also develop the same thing.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by jd3189

Some type of irrigation is needed for this climate.

Am I unaware of a different definition of the word irrigation? With 50 inches of rain a year, Houston is not exactly in need of irrigating in its typical sense.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

The core of the city, which I first moved into in 1979, is absolutely getting denser. And it is a direct consequence of policies adopted and implemented by the City beginning in the '90s. To deny this is just ignorance.

Either Houston still looks like this today, or else it obviously has become denser since then. (As you say though, "ignorance" wouldn't be a first for Crawford.)

[bobbyv]

Originally Posted by Will O' Wisp

I'm surprised this thread has gone on for so long without anyone posting Houston/LA's actual density statistics.



As of the last census LA is much, much denser than Houston. To the point that people living 30 miles away from LA city hall are on average living in a significantly denser area than people living just over a mile from Houston's CBD.



Even in comparison to other sun belt metros Houston lacks overall density. Cities famed for their sprawl like Las Vegas, Houston, and Riverside all outweigh Houston's density. Houston isn't even the densest metro in Texas (El Paso is).

So yeah, Houston may be improving but it still has a long way to go...

Seattle has pathetic density numbers as usual.

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

Ummmmm...my outdoor potted plants now in the garage beg to differ.

And it snows in North and West Texas and in the Panhandle.

It was 14 in Kerrville at 6:21 this morning.

[The North One]

Besides a select few species palms are very ugly and pointless street trees. They don't even provide shade.

I don't know why any city would plant non-native palms other than for the gimmicky exotic factor.

[jd3189]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

Am I unaware of a different definition of the word irrigation? With 50 inches of rain a year, Houston is not exactly in need of irrigating in its typical sense.

I meant more of a way of distributing excess water around, like canals, dams, etc, in times of high flood risk There’s another term for it, irrigation was the first thing that came to mind.

[chris08876]

Houston is seeing some dense developments rising or planned. All one has to do is browse the HOUSTON Development Thread II.

Its been putting out some solid density. I mean common guys, give it a chance. Its not going to be putting up Chinese style density, but for an American city, its doing quite well.

One sign of improvement is that its better in 2019 than it was in 2016, and much better than 2000. Making strides!

[JManc]

^ That thread has actually slowed down..a lot over the past couple of years.

Originally Posted by The North One

Besides a select few species palms are very ugly and pointless street trees. They don't even provide shade.

I don't know why any city would plant non-native palms other than for the gimmicky exotic factor.

The 'city' didn't plant those palms. Whoever developed and built those shopping centers did even if they are on public easements. They really aren't that common around town apart from commercial areas trying to convey a tropical upscale vibe. However, there are a few species palms that are indigenous to this area. My neighborhood is full of the shorter dwarf palmettos.


The tall palmetto in the center of Bilbao's second Sugar Land picture is also native to the area. The rest look like a different species.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by The North One

Besides a select few species palms are very ugly and pointless street trees. They don't even provide shade.

I don't know why any city would plant non-native palms other than for the gimmicky exotic factor.

Because they are absolutely beautiful trees. They're not for shade. They're totally frivolous. That's the whole point. They're fun, happy, festive trees. They look like pom poms or fireworks exploding. Take a good look at that Sugar Land shopping center above. Very classy, clean and bright aesthetic. It just would not be the same without those palm trees, would it?

[mhays]

Yes on the trees. Big win vs. the palm cities.

The infill development is fairly plentiful and I'm jealous of the ability to build density in many areas. But it's all (or nearly all) very car-oriented...good from that perspective but many US cities hit a much higher standard in their growth.