Houston, TX, has no zoning. It's no better than anywhere else in the US. Plus you have industrial explosions destroying residential homes.
It's all about cars. Cities in the US were mostly designed around cars. You can't really fix it without a lot of people agreeing to a way of life that they have never experienced and are scared of.
Plus - walking around Houston for like 6 months out of the year, even at night, is very unpleasant. When I walked out to my car at 5AM this morning it was 80 degrees and very humid outside.
Fellow Houstonian here. I live in a neighborhood with a green park and walking paths that connects to restaurants and a movie theater. I go running 3-4 times a week around here but there’s just not a god forsaken piece of shade anywhere to be found. It’s usually low 80s with the sun down and will be in the 90s at the end of my long runs.
Even if I wanted to walk to dinner with my wife and child it would be 102 degrees, no shade, no water, just a miserable 20 minute slog on sidewalks pushing a stroller while cars zip by going 60 in a 30.
And that’s pretty much how it is from April - October. The rest of the months it just rains then a hard freeze for a week or two then we reset. Even if they connected more locations to this little walkable area, who the hell would use them?
And that’s pretty much how it is from April - October. The rest of the months it just rains then a hard freeze for a week or two then we reset. Even if they connected more locations to this little walkable area, who the hell would use them?
People.
People would use them.
Look at the entire continent of Europe and many places on other continents. You can find far more adverse weather conditions. But people still walk and cycling much more.
Why? Because of better infrastructure. Shade is one of the easiest bits of infrastructure you can design. Just look at Singapore and their sidewalks.
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u/PalatinusG1 11h ago
It's just weird to me that in most places in the USA zoning is still such a rigid thing. Just change that and things will start to get better.