[Magdalen] Houston

[Lynn Ronkainen]

Yep - no zoning HOWEVER individual subdivisions have "deed restrictions" which serve a zoning only within their confines thus over your back fence, if you are on a perimeter lot *anything* could get built - theoretically 
Lynn

On Aug 30, 2017, at 5:45 PM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:

The joke I've always heard is that Houston traffic really IS what you were
told LA traffic was.....

On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 5:16 PM, Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Seems that way (I'll be interested in Lynn's answer): I've driven down a
> winding major street that passes mainly apartment complexes and then a
> subdivision of small homes, and suddenly there will be a car wash in the
> middle of all this. Too many strip malls, in general. Some very lovely
> areas as well. There's a definite downtown and a general pattern to the
> city (concentric circles are part of it) but wow, is it huge. The ride from
> Hobby Airport up to our abbey (in Lynn's general vicinity) is a long one
> even at high speeds on I-45. Chicago is something like 22 miles top to
> bottom; Houston must be 35-40? And you're still in the city.
> 
> And it isn't ALL concrete...every single-family home has a lawn or garden
> at least, but I guess there really need to be larger undeveloped areas
> where water can be absorbed rather than accumulate. Over to you, science!
> 
>> On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 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
>>>> 
>>> 
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> --
> Scott R. Knitter
> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
>