Houston, the city of no zoning, lives to plan another day
URBAN EDGE : June 14, 2021
The Texas Supreme Court has settled it: Houston's historic preservation ordinance is not a form of zoning, which is expressly banned in the city charter. The decision seems to clear the way for more local experimentation with urban design and development rules.
Just don’t call it zoning.
Is Houston underrated as a bike city?
URBAN EDGE : June 9, 2021
The city has eight months of ideal cycling weather each year and has taken some sizable steps in building out its bike infrastructure in the past decade. But is anyone outside of Houston paying attention?
In Houston and everywhere else, (lot) size matters
URBAN EDGE : April 8, 2021
The development of townhomes in Houston predominantly has taken place in high-amenity neighborhoods where gentrification has already occurred. The latest report from the Kinder Institute also shows new townhome construction is growing in at-risk neighborhoods, a trend that appears to be speeding gentrification in those communities.
Do you have the ‘place gene’?
URBAN EDGE : January 17, 2021
Urban planners and designers sometimes think they have an exclusive “lock” on an understanding of place. But in fact everybody can develop their own “place gene.”
Unflashy but effective ways to slow traffic and save lives
URBAN EDGE : January 7, 2021
Pedestrians and bicyclists accounted for 38% of all roadway deaths in Houston in 2019 — a 3% increase from 2018. Overall, 647 people were killed in fatal crashes in the Houston area in 2019, according to NHTSA data released in December. Prioritizing speed on local roads is the dangerous status quo in the U.S., but many cities are taking action to try and make safety the priority.
Big-city planners shouldn’t overlook the lessons of small-town design
URBAN EDGE : November 18, 2020
Influenced by the Garden City movement, Badin, North Carolina, is a small gem of urban planning whose design called for green space, residential areas and commercial development in proportionate amounts. The planning of small towns like Badin can serve as an example for larger cities as they continue to grow.
The rapid urbanization of Houston: How it happened and why it matters
URBAN EDGE : October 5, 2020
From 1997 to 2016, almost 187,000 football fields of impervious surfaces such as concrete were added in the Houston metro area. A sociologist and an ecologist examined what drove growth during the period, which has had critical implications for humans and the environment.