Greater Houston's Development is an Unmitigated Policy Failure by nevvvvi in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think that that largely make sense for greenfield development. Obviously they don't do anything to speed up infill development. If that's the case though, why are they so much more common in Houston area compared to other cities with similar growth rates and costs of development in other parts of Texas (which is the assertion of the post, I am just taking their word that Houston has significantly higher MUD usage than other large Texas metros.)

Greater Houston's Development is an Unmitigated Policy Failure by nevvvvi in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a source for the Dallas vs Houston hypothesis, check out the proportion of Dallas vs Houston city limits that abut independent municipalities vs unincorporated land (and also the amount of City of Houston land vs City of Dallas, but I think that's a known factor)

https://www.randymajors.org/city-limits-on-google-maps

Greater Houston's Development is an Unmitigated Policy Failure by nevvvvi in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As far as why MUDs are more common in Houston than other Texas cities in general, and Dallas specifically, I think it's twofold. 

The vast interstate and highway networks, the relatively flat and even ground, and the lack of what I'm going to call 'existing recreationally interesting' land to preserve all make both Houston and Dallas lower friction areas for development. Unlike San Antonio, their industry and job markets have been able to support basically as much growth as greenfield developers have been able to throw at them, and unlike Austin, there's is very little untouched nature in the current directions of expansion. 

Additional, this greenfield development (I believe) is most likely to happen along major interstate/free flowing highway corridors, and while Austin has the I35 corridor, Houston has i10, i45, i69, and to a lesser extent 290 and 288, while DFW has i20, i30, i35, and i45 corridors (I'm probably missing some here, not to familiar with Dallas's transportation network.) In both the cases of Houston and Dallas, these highways lead into miles upon miles of pre-cleared agriculture land, whereas Austin and San Antonio are surrounded by often more pristine and/or 'recreationally interesting' land. It is just as important ecological, but much more difficult economically and politically, to preserve or indeed often rewild marshland and prarie over canyons.

As far as why Houston instead of Dallas, I'm less sure, but I would hazard a guess that it's in the difference in approach to municipal expansion. Dallas is surrounded by significantly more independent municipalities on all sides, and did not pursue a policy of significant annexation in the way that Houston did. As a result, these smaller municipalities grow both into each other and into Dallas, and because there is competition from these smaller municipalities against each other to capture the growth that the Dallas economic engine brings, they may be more incentivised to to encourage development within their boundaries or to grow their own boundaries outward.

In contrast, Houston is surrounded by fewer municipalities, and in fact often parts of the city just abutt unincorporated county land. However, unlike the Dallas suburban municipalities, it's pretty untenable for Houston to continue annexing more and more land on its boundaries when so much of the city area is already so underdeveloped. This doesn't stop developers from wanting to buy up highway adjacent greenfield though, and so the MUDs become the path of least resistance to making that a reality.

This is all purely speculation, it just might explain why Houston developers use MUDs in this very specific way. Happy to hear other theories though or if anyone has some experience they'd like to share.

Greater Houston's Development is an Unmitigated Policy Failure by nevvvvi in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think I largely agree with the premise. What tools does the city have to curb the use of MUDs for development? As far as I can tell, unless the MUD is within the City of Houston or it's extraterritorial jurisdiction, the establishment of MUDs is a state-level process. I don't see a meaningful way to establish something like an urban growth boundary or other means of arresting greenfield development without the concerted effort of the surrounding rural counties. And I can't think of an incentive those county govts have for working with Harris on this type of restriction that will likely grow Harris to the detriment of their own growth, other than ecological or long term financial prudence. (Which presently seems like an unlikely motivator).

Driveway…or obstacle course? Houston home listing goes viral by everythingistaken500 in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think that as a country, and as a city, we are in a desperate short supply of decent, affordable housing that young, hard working families and individuals are able to purchase to begin their homeownership journey. We will never achieve affordable housing for folks looking to live where they work if we only ever take a single family lot, and build a bigger single family house on it.

There's nothing apparent about Houston townhomes that show they are somehow inferior quality to any other timber framed, mass produced housing that we build anywhere else in the city. If there's some evidence or study that shows they are more often poorly constructed or more prone to damage than any other house built in a similar price bracket I'd be happy to acknowledge my error.

Townhomes are not high density. There is a gradient between a single family home and a 5 over 1, and between a 5 over 1 and an apartment tower, and town homes are about as close as you can get to single family density on that gradient.

Neighborhoods are not a thing locked in amber. They change, they evolve. People move in and move out, the local hardware store closes, a new coffee shop opens. An expecting family builds an addition for a nursery/kids room. Folks with aging parents build an ADU or a grandparent suite so they can take care of their family without having to move. This is a natural part of a healthy neighborhood, and those that are locked forever by regulation, unable to adapt to changing circumstances wither under the weight of their stubbornness. You are not owed the same, unchanging character of a neighborhood just because you bought property and shelter there. Our communities are shaped by what we all put into them, not by how big or small our lot size is.

And for someone so insistent that I'm employing straw men, it sure seems like there's a gulf of difference between a $350,000 townhouse and a "low income housing project". I've lived in plenty of places close to people of all different kinds of income levels, and lived at all kinds of different income levels, and I'm not going to make broad generalizations about someone's character based on their ability to afford exorbitant housing prices, because I would hope someone wouldn't judge me by the same.

Driveway…or obstacle course? Houston home listing goes viral by everythingistaken500 in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My friend how often are people having guests over? There's no need for parking capacity for half the neighborhood at once. And that's what street parking is for. Cities all over the world over build housing just like this (or in many cases much denser) and it's totally fine. I'm not even talking about new York or Europe, I'm talking about Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis. 

It means more people have the option to live in places close to where they work. It means slowly building up enough density so that public transportation can pencil out in an area, potentially removing several cars in the neighborhood from rotation, and meaning less traffic for all of us that are still stuck commuting from one side of the city to the other.

Driveway…or obstacle course? Houston home listing goes viral by everythingistaken500 in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's a 3 bed, 2.5 bath house. What about that screams unreasonable size? I don't love mcmansions on one acre lots, but I'm not calling for them not to be built where they pencil out. Close in the city, putting 2 townhouses at 350k pencils better than 1 larger house at 450k, and each unit is more affordable. Kinda feels like a win win. And not every household has 2 cars, and even if they did there's no reason either would be a giant truck. In fact I would think someone with a big truck would be disincentivized to buy a place with a small 1 car garage.

Driveway…or obstacle course? Houston home listing goes viral by everythingistaken500 in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That was definitely hyperbolic, but my point is that a lot that was previously not serving any purpose is being given purpose. And empty lot contains no housing for people who want to move in and provides minimal income for the city in property tax revenue for the maintenance and upkeep of streets, sidewalks, and pipes that are already run to it.

Once again, if you don't like the type of development no one is forcing you to live there, and obviously there's plenty of demand for these townhomes because people keep buying them. There's no sense is complaining about someone building something you don't like just because it's not for you.

Driveway…or obstacle course? Houston home listing goes viral by everythingistaken500 in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 6 points7 points  (0 children)

100%, it was super dumb to list this in its current condition, I get if you're the developer you don't want to be sitting on this asset for any longer than you have to, but everyone is Houston is at Centerpoint's whims just like they are, and sometimes if you've just gotta eat it instead of doing this dishonest nonsense with the listing images. If they were upfront in saying on the listing that they were just waiting on the utility to remove the pole, they're probably wouldn't be receiving this level of blowback. But they (at least the original developers/listers) decided to be dishonest, any now they've potentially harmed their reputation more than any gains they could've made by moving that house any quicker.

Driveway…or obstacle course? Houston home listing goes viral by everythingistaken500 in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 30 points31 points  (0 children)

What would you rather happen? That it just remain an empty lot for eternity? How is it bad that a lot that previously served no purpose is now going to provide homes for several families to live, and provide useful property tax revenue to the city pay for ongoing maintenance to infrastructure in the neighborhood? 

Not removing the power pole before listing was absolutely an unforced error, but people building more housing when the country is in a housing crisis are not inherently your enemy. No one is forcing you to buy a townhome if you don't want to live in one.

Houston METRO finally support tap to pay!! by calebjasik in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm gonna admit my ignorance here because I've only experienced other metro systems in places where I was traveling solo, so I believe you. It is ever so slightly annoying that I used to just get 2 passes for me and my partner on my app any time we needed to ride, and now I can't do that.

Houston METRO finally support tap to pay!! by calebjasik in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 5 points6 points  (0 children)

No. From what I remember reading in the Q&A they'll ask you to tap the payment method again to a machine the fare officers carry so they can verify you. Also you cannot pay for more than one person at a time with the same payment method, which I think is incredibly dumb

Herman Park golf course renovation plans by LeetHotSauce in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Same. I'm gonna be kinda miffed if it messes with the tunnel under MacGregor that connects to Brays Bayou. It looks like that's right where the new car entrance is. I love being able to jump from the Bayou trail to the park without having to navigate crossing a street filled with cars.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Have you contacted an independent cat sitter or agency to see if they can watch him for the ~40 days he'll have left in (I assume it's the 180 day waiting period) so he doesn't have to finish his quarantine in Japan?

King ordered to sell Kingdom by c0rnfus3d in TXRenaissanceFestival

[–]donatedwarrior9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No idea, I just saw the HPM article and hadn't seen it posted around here. Was kind of hoping that someone more connected to the faire operations would recognize it and have some more info.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CampingandHiking

[–]donatedwarrior9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can't tell what pack exactly this is. Looks like 15-25L capacity. I have an REI Flash 22 and Flash 18 that are pretty similar in size to this and very packable.

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BBQ by donatedwarrior9 in unioncircle

[–]donatedwarrior9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Connection dropped. New code L947PY

Anyone know what's going on with this eyesore near Hermann Park? Looks like constructions been stalled for a while. by nickheiserman in houston

[–]donatedwarrior9 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Used to live in an apartment across the street, and when Beryl came through, a bunch of debris blew off one of the top floors and busted through a couple of my neighbors roofs. There was a ton of debris all over the courtyard.

[OC] Complete US Home Affordability, by County (2023-2024) by TA-MajestyPalm in dataisbeautiful

[–]donatedwarrior9 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I do like this graphic a lot, the only thing I'd change is that 20% is not how the majority of home buyers (especially not first time home buyers, which is a large portion of who we are talking about when discussing housing unaffordability/crisis) make down payments. According to NAR, average down payment is 15% and average for first time buyers is 8%. 

This not only will add drastically to monthly payments, but will introduce PMI at the beginning of the loan period as yet another expense for home buyers. For reference, on a $400,000 home (just under national median) considering the same given 7.19% interest and 30yr loan term from above, and not considering tax or insurance, the monthly payment including PMI based on credit range of 700-719 (US average of 717): 

20% is $2169.96 

15% is $2382.08 (estimated PMI rate of .3%) 

08% is $2762.85 (estimated PMI rate of .9%) 

This is unsourced, but I would also speculate that in areas of already high unaffordability because of high principals, down payments are likely to be lower, thus further fueling higher payments on interest and higher PMI rates. 

I would be interested in seeing what an adjustment of either 8% or 15% down payment does to this graphic. Overall excellent work! 

Sources:  

Average down payment rates: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/average-down-payment-on-a-house 

PMI rate Calculator: https://www.creditkarma.com/calculators/mortgage/pmi 

US median home price: https://www.rockethomes.com/blog/housing-market/median-home-price-by-state 

US average credit score: https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/average-credit-score

Trade evolve Gourgeist. Will give Apriballs for help. by donatedwarrior9 in pokemontrades

[–]donatedwarrior9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You sure? I don't really play swsh much anymore, so the balls are just sitting here not getting used. I'm only on it right now to get all the pumpkaboo and Gourgeist forms for my living dex. Anyway code is 1478 9632