taking bets on how long it will be before an outlandish comment is made and this thread gets moved to D&D... O/U - 20 posts
Here in Austin, there has been zoning for decades. And you can tell when you drive around the neighborhoods of the central city. Sure, there have been problems with variances, sometimes big problems (often more connected to campaign contributions than anything else, I suspect), but the bulk of the old homes remain. Some of them have been added on to extensively, and there have been some tear-downs and mini-mansions (I hate them) or upscale, but cookie-cutter, townhomes (don't like them either), but the essential character of the neighborhoods has been preserved. The area being discussed in Houston is huge, however, and very historic... on a scale far surpassing what I described in Austin. There are tens of thousands of residents whose families have lived there for generations. There are hundreds and hundreds of historically significant houses and other buildings that in many cases may look like hell, but just need restoring. I've long been a proponent of zoning in Houston. It's far past time to have it. In this case, a historic district with tax-breaks for long-time residents and zoning in the area to keep it's character (and I lived there for several years back in '69 through '74) is well worth doing. I hope it happens.
