Posts

Houston skyline at night

‘Be Someone’ City Opportunity Urbanism Event and more

by Tory Gattis — Join us Wednesday evening June 16th: Building a 'Be Someone' City: Houston and the Rise of Opportunity Urbanism. We will discuss how to develop a market-centered, ‘people-oriented’ approach to urban policy, planning, and development.
New construction in Texas

Houston Land Use Event, 2nd in Tech Growth, and Republican Voters Moving to Texas

by Tory Gattis — First, I'll be covering some of Houston's land use and zoning history as well as what other cities can learn from Houston in an online event this Tuesday. Second, demographic information post-pandemic indicates that it may be frustrated Republican (R) voters leaving Democratic states and moving to R states...
Four drivers of Texas' rapid growth

Four Drivers of Texas’ Rapid Growth

by Tory Gattis — Four drivers of Texas' rapid growth: a light touch on zoning, high standard of living, and family friendly housing prices in good school districts make for opportunity cities.
Photo credit: Aerial vies of Irvine, Texas by La Citta Vitta, via Flickr

Texas and Houston Growth Secret, Texas Miracle is More than Oil

by Tory Gattis — Going beyond all the usual reasons given for Texas' high growth, here's the technical overlooked one that I think is a big key: Texas does not allow unincorporated counties to regulate land use (i.e. create zoning), which creates pretty much a totally free market in development just outside cities.
The "Be Someone" bridge

My Land Use without Zoning Event, TX #1 for Small Biz, and the Be Someone Sign is Back

by Tory Gattis — I will be one of the speakers at the "Land Use without Zoning: Putting Ideas into Practice" online event, hosted by the Mercatus Center. Understanding how to navigate and remove zoning and land-use regulation barriers allows for a dynamic housing market and paves the way for successful community development efforts.
Charles Blain talks with Eric Barvin, founder of The Barvin Group, bout property ownership in Houston

Entrepreneurship and Opportunity with Eric Barvin

Charles Blain sits down with Eric Barvin to discuss entrepreneurship and opportunity in Texas. Eric identifies the affordability of housing as a key factor in the success of his investment in rental properties.
The proposed channel route

A better alternative to channelizing Buffalo Bayou, VC leaving CA for TX, life science and entrepreneurship rankings, big solar, and more

by Tory Gattis — My lead item this week is my proposed alternative to channelizing Buffalo Bayou or an expensive tunnel to better drain the westside reservoirs and avoid a future Harvey flooding tragedy.

Houston Top 5 Global City in America, Big SWA increase at Hobby, Dilbert vs. City Red Tape

by Tory Gattis — Houston ranks in top 5 of America's global cities behind NYC, LA, and SF. We're still the most affordable global city in America!
Houston City Park

HTX Pandemic Response Failure, Food Deserts Aren’t Real, NYC ‘s Anemic Recovery

by Tory Gattis — Houston's All-American Pandemic Response: Ignore Until It’s Too Late. It saw what happened in NYC but its Covid-19 response was a failure anyway.
US Metro Areas by GDP

Houston’s Economic and Geographic Size, and Its Supportive and Resilient People

by Tory Gattis — Houston's economic output relative to its geographic size puts it at #7 in the US. And we cover how Houstonians are incredibly supportive during flooding.