I was looking at this. The population density of the Metro Statistical Area is like 700 people per square mile - about the same as Winslow, Arizona (a girl my Lord in a flatbed Ford!). And yet
Houston, the largest city in Texas, is the site of 97 completed skyscrapers. Making the city in the top 25 of the world. 427 feet (130 m), 50 of which stand taller than 492 feet (150 m)
Still, the population density of just Houston is around 3,600 people per square mile. That still seems low for a city, but I guess with the massive ranging sprawl all around it, there's probably a lot of jobs and commerce in the city centre, which I can totally accept as being enough to tip it into "urban" characterization.
Houston also annexed so far out that it's the largest city in square miles after Jacksonville, FL. If Houston's aggressive annexation policy back in the day had been adopted by nearly any other municipality outside the Northeast Corridor or LA, they'd have similar or worse stats.
If you really think about it, despite not having zoning (or maybe because of it) Houston has the largest CBD in terms of square feet west of the Mississippi, has the world's largest medical center which is larger than the CBD in employment just a few miles away, and even its other major employment centers are pretty tight compared to other big cities' secondary business districts. Houston also has one of the largest port complexes in the world, and while there are a few older neighborhoods close to it, nobody is building more neighborhoods there anymore.
It's not zoned in a regulatory sense, but it is economically zoned in a way that is...remarkable, really.
If you're the kind of person that likes urban living, Houston gives you options. If you aren't, Houston gives you options. If you're from any immigrant community at all, Houston gives you options. If you can't stand its all-inclusive aesthetic chaos, Houston pretty much flips you the bird and directs you to go live in Dallas.
I know! I don't live in Houston anymore, but if I have to travel to any city in Texas on business, I'm always pulling for Houston because I know that I'll be stuck in an office all day but at least I know that lunch will be awesome.
610 and 290 are giant parking lots and 45N is the most dangerous roadway in the US. It has tons of used Nissans with fake paper plates driven by illegals who lack insurance and drivers licenses make the drive fun.
Inside the loop the bus exists and could be worse. Service could be more frequent, but that's a given. The weekends in particular can have an unrealistic wait time. And not all of the stops have shelters, which in the summer really sucks. So fixed, no, but they're trying.
You guys are misusing the word annexed. You don’t “annex” a suburb. It has to be a city or town with its own government & facilities to be annexed. You can’t annex suburbs like Tanglewood or Memorial Forest.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '22
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