With many single family neighborhoods unhappy with the encroachment of large apartment complexes, one city councilmember is backing new guidelines to limit the number of apartments in the city.
"What does fourth-largest Houston have in common with the nation's other three biggest cities? More people here rent than own. [And] more than 40 percent of [residents] live in apartments."
Yet many are upset with the large apartment complexes building built throughout the city.
" "We're over-built in apartments," City Councilman Peter Brown said...Brown is backing new guidelines for neighborhood planning that would lack the teeth of actual zoning laws but might have some impact on apartment development."
"In the Long Point Woods neighborhood in West Houston, rising up next to decades-old homes and big old oaks is a brand-new four-story complex.
"There's 498 units," homeowner Craig Adams said.
"It's a terrible place to build an apartment complex that large," homeowner Janet Wilkerson said.
For these homeowners, it symbolizes all that is wrong with letting developers determine how and where the city grows.
"These are our homes," homeowner Craig Adams said. "That's a business entity. It was brought in, not invited. We didn't want it here."
You don't have to go far to find other cities that do things differently.
In Sugar Land, apartment developers are routinely turned away because Sugar Land has set strict limits.
"No more than 200 units in any complex, and no more than 300 units in a square mile," City Manager Allen Bogard said."
"Developers of big complexes say the lack of zoning allows them to quickly respond to market demands, keeps rents lower than many other major cities, and is quickly revitalizing rundown neighborhoods."
FULL STORY: Fighting to confine Houston's apartment complexes

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie