[Magdalen] Houston

[Rick Mashburn]

I am NOT Lynn but I...

On Aug 30, 2017 4:46 PM, "Rick Mashburn" <ricklmashburn at gmail.com> wrote:

> I am Lynn but I did live in Houston for many years. The city center has no
> zoning and very little in the way of restrictions on land use. The newer
> areas of town do have restrictions but they are very developer - friendly.
> As noted earlier, many of the master planned communities make extensive use
> of water features which look good and provide recreational opportunities.
> But, they are actually there for flood control.
>
> There are two huge reservoirs in what was the far west side of town. Three
> were designed as retention ponds in the late '40s to hold water and reduce
> flooding in Buffalo Bayou - the largest bayou in the city.  It runs through
> several tony neighborhoods and downtown before flowing into Galveston bay.
> The problem was that growth enveloped what was the country and now both
> reservoirs are surrounded by upscale neighborhoods.
>
> I hope I got most of that right!
>
> Peace, Rick
>
> On Aug 30, 2017 4:01 PM, "Jay Weigel" <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Lynn, is it still true that Houston has no zoning? I know that used to be
>> the case.
>>
>> On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 2:06 PM, Lynn Ronkainen <houstonklr at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > ...I call the "efforts" to accommodate too much concrete (new outer
>> loops
>> > and tollways, 100s of new subdivisions , to name a few) by the USArmy
>> corps
>> > of Engineers
>> > : "TX mathmagic".
>> > They forecast scenarios, calculate "additional run-off" added to the
>> > existing "area" loosely defined, then come up with formulas for widening
>> > already existing rivers, creeks and bayous (words often used
>> > interchangeably), and/or digging huge sloped sided grass-planted basins,
>> > also based on mathemagical calculations, that "confirm" safe retention
>> of
>> > water in case of flooding (??!!?) for new communities, which are then
>> often
>> > dug larger and deeper so they can become a "water feature" of the new
>> > community, which still conforms to the formula because they've dug it
>> > larger to accommodate the water they're adding for decorative purposes.
>> >
>> > No one knows or wants to say ENOUGH, NO MORE, so the city and the area
>> E,
>> > W, and N keep building and expanding.
>> > When I moved in 1987 the middle class subdivisions in the unincorporated
>> > areas 20+ miles from the city were very transient- corporate employers
>> > transferring people in and out, sometimes in just a few years. People
>> had
>> > no sense of potential tragedy in the form of nature events if they
>> didn't
>> > actually experience them. The '90s saw more new residents who moved in
>> for
>> > long term OR like us, transferries laid off and unable to move without a
>> > job at the other end in a new location.
>> >
>> > Such is life. I have been thinking for a while about moving away from TX
>> > but it is complicated.
>> >
>> > Have confirmed Sunday tickets home (for now at least), have figured out
>> > the rest of our itinerary- blessed to be seeing even more family and old
>> > friends than our original scenario included. My house/condo is still
>> dry. I
>> > am blessed.
>> > Lynn
>> >
>> >
>> > On Aug 30, 2017, at 9:40 AM, ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > One of our local meteorologists (that is, he's a college instructor, not
>> > someone on teevee) commented on the amount of Houston that's been paved
>> > over because of rapid overdevelopment.
>> > (Lynn's part of town has more undeveloped land than downtown.)
>> >
>> > He wrote:
>> > Dump a glass of water on a granite counter.
>> > Dump a glass of water on a sponge.
>> > Note the difference.
>> > -M
>> >
>> > On Wednesday, August 30, 2017, Roger Stokes <
>> roger.stokes65 at btinternet.com
>> > >
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> > > The problem is the sheer volume of water that has to be dispersed. I
>> read
>> > > that there has been something like 6 cubic miles of water dumped on
>> > Houston
>> > >
>> >
>>
>