Dense housing winning out in Houston

[Bailey]

Sales of more dense living options (condos and townhouses) is actually out-pacing sales of single family home in Houston for 2014, so far. A trend that keeps pace with the urban renewal and densification of the inner loop.

Houston Tomorrow article:

http://www.houstontomorrow.org/livab...f116f0449-7265

[dave8721]

By outpacing you mean "grew at a faster rate". Still 2nd only to Phoenix for the most Single family oriented metro (by construction) among the large US metro's.

[mhays]

It sounds like a good trend, including the other Texas cities. Too bad they didn't provide more numbers about magnitude in the other cities. I realize the multifamily volume is heavy, but in theory just a percentage increase could be growth from 5 units underway to 20.

Much that's good about cities happens when land is at least moderately scarce and expensive. It's good that things are moving in that direction.

[AviationGuy]

Visually, in the city proper it does appear that most new construction is condos, townhomes, and apartments (mid-rise and high-rise for the condos and apartments). They're all over the place. I do see a lot of tear-downs of single family homes and replacements with much larger homes within the city. That's going to continue because there are still a lot of people who want to live in the city and still have all that space and privacy.

In the suburbs, it still looks like an explosion of single family homes, largely high-end.

The trend is good overall.

[Reverberation]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

Visually, in the city proper it does appear that most new construction is condos, townhomes, and apartments (mid-rise and high-rise for the condos and apartments). They're all over the place. I do see a lot of tear-downs of single family homes and replacements with much larger homes within the city. That's going to continue because there are still a lot of people who want to live in the city and still have all that space and privacy.

In the suburbs, it still looks like an explosion of single family homes, largely high-end.

The trend is good overall.

Much of the suburban growth is fueled by the volume of people coming in. But I agree with you about wanting to live in the city and still have some space. I would prefer not to live beneath or above anyone if I were to own. Fortunately land has become so expensive in the city that the rate of turnover in the neighborhoods has been accelerating.

I would love to get my paws on one of these;





http://search.har.com/engine/203-Bir...AR99826169.htm

or these





http://search.har.com/engine/1811-B-...AR82482334.htm


http://1canoe2.com/blog/wp-content/u...usecollage.jpg

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

Visually, in the city proper it does appear that most new construction is condos, townhomes, and apartments (mid-rise and high-rise for the condos and apartments). They're all over the place. I do see a lot of tear-downs of single family homes and replacements with much larger homes within the city. That's going to continue because there are still a lot of people who want to live in the city and still have all that space and privacy.

In the suburbs, it still looks like an explosion of single family homes, largely high-end.

The trend is good overall.

The city proper is about 1/3 of the entire population. Metro Houston's bread and butter is still being able to afford a nice house in a good school district. I believe Houston has dominated the country this decade in master planned communities (aka suburbs).

Definitely lots of multifamily and infill going on though.

[chris08876]

The master planned communities coming out in the last couple of years all have some density associated with them and are actually pleasing to look at. Reminds me of the planned communities in Dallas. Normally I'm not a fan of planned communities, but some of them are so nice. I don't mind suburban developments as long as they are aesthetically appealing, and function properly. What I don't like though are the spaghetti, 1 acre a piece developments you see out in certain parts of the country. But overall, Houston has been doing a good job.

[AviationGuy]

I have to say that Sugar Land and The Woodlands are gorgeous master planned communities. I was also pretty much stunned when I first saw Cinco Ranch (although it doesn't have the "downtown" like Sugar Land and The Woodlands, at least I don't think it does).

I used to think that even if I couldn't afford to live inside the loop, I would at least be able to move to one of the above master planned communities. But now, they're getting to be unaffordable as well unless you have two big family incomes.

[mrnyc]

sorry this is a tangential request, well maybe not really as its an amenity to density, but could someone do a photo thread on discovery green? i saw something about it here in nyc at the center for architecture recently and would like to see and hear about it thru a local's eyes. thx

[llamaorama]

I have to wonder about master planned communities in Houston vs. the suburban cities in DFW with 150k+ population.

I've never lived outside of an incorporated city past the age of 10 so I don't know the answer to this, but...If you live in one of those subdivisions in unincorporated Harris county, all the infrastructure plus private trash and all those amenities like the pool and tennis courts and all the landscaping is something you get multiple bills for or paid for through some kind of HOA or MUD, right? The HOA is also responsible for enforcing rules in a sometimes less than democratic fashion. And once all that stuff gets old and has to be replaced, it must be quite a cost burden to fall on only 400 or so homeowners.

Plus if you think cities are run by busybody bureaucrats, remember HOA's are run by nazis.

An actual city could provide the same utilities, fire and police protection similar services but with the benefits of economy of scale and perhaps offer more long term resilience because it can do a bond issue. Also personally I would never use the extras built into these communities, but I would drive to a place like Memorial park and would use something like an municipal indoor pool. At the end of the day this is reason #18832 why I'd just live in the city unless I had kids.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

I have to wonder about master planned communities in Houston vs. the suburban cities in DFW with 150k+ population.

I've never lived outside of an incorporated city past the age of 10 so I don't know the answer to this, but...If you live in one of those subdivisions in unincorporated Harris county, all the infrastructure plus private trash and all those amenities like the pool and tennis courts and all the landscaping is something you get multiple bills for or paid for through some kind of HOA or MUD, right? The HOA is also responsible for enforcing rules in a sometimes less than democratic fashion. And once all that stuff gets old and has to be replaced, it must be quite a cost burden to fall on only 400 or so homeowners.

Plus if you think cities are run by busybody bureaucrats, remember HOA's are run by nazis.

An actual city could provide the same utilities, fire and police protection similar services but with the benefits of economy of scale and perhaps offer more long term resilience because it can do a bond issue. Also personally I would never use the extras built into these communities, but I would drive to a place like Memorial park and would use something like an municipal indoor pool. At the end of the day this is reason #18832 why I'd just live in the city unless I had kids.

I'm sure a lot of subdivisions are on the order of the 400-home figure you mentioned. You raise some interesting questions.

The Woodlands has a population around 110,000, while Sugar Land is somewhere between 80,000 and 90,000. Cinco Ranch was at about 18,000 four years ago.

[Perklol]

Originally Posted by Reverberation

http://1canoe2.com/blog/wp-content/u...usecollage.jpg

Whoa what was that about?

I do like how this suburbanite author makes the city look dark and uninviting, while the suburbs is "peace and greeny"...

She forget to add eyesores of highways as well.

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

I have to wonder about master planned communities in Houston vs. the suburban cities in DFW with 150k+ population.

I've never lived outside of an incorporated city past the age of 10 so I don't know the answer to this, but...If you live in one of those subdivisions in unincorporated Harris county, all the infrastructure plus private trash and all those amenities like the pool and tennis courts and all the landscaping is something you get multiple bills for or paid for through some kind of HOA or MUD, right? The HOA is also responsible for enforcing rules in a sometimes less than democratic fashion. And once all that stuff gets old and has to be replaced, it must be quite a cost burden to fall on only 400 or so homeowners.

Plus if you think cities are run by busybody bureaucrats, remember HOA's are run by nazis.

An actual city could provide the same utilities, fire and police protection similar services but with the benefits of economy of scale and perhaps offer more long term resilience because it can do a bond issue. Also personally I would never use the extras built into these communities, but I would drive to a place like Memorial park and would use something like an municipal indoor pool. At the end of the day this is reason #18832 why I'd just live in the city unless I had kids.

All of these new inner-city condo projects have HOAs. In SD they will cost about $400-$700/month, plus all the taxes to receive city services.

[M.R.Victor]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

Whoa what was that about?

I do like how this suburbanite author makes the city looks dark and uninviting, while the suburbs is "peace and greeny"...

She forget to add eyesores of highways as well.

You forgot the inherently anti-social attitude of "me and mine" taking precedence over everything else that is "other." What, aside from personal ownership, makes that specific dwelling better than those that surround it, be they other farm houses, suburban houses or high-rises?

[llamaorama]

Who knows, it's a kids book. I remember reading it in elementary school.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

Whoa what was that about?

I do like how this suburbanite author makes the city looks dark and uninviting, while the suburbs is "peace and greeny"...

She forget to add eyesores of highways as well.

That's from a children's book written in the 1950's, when American cities actually were fairly dark, grim places. I remember reading when I was a child myself.

[10023]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

That's from a children's book written in the 1950's, when American cities actually were fairly dark, grim places. I remember reading when I was a child myself.

Me too.

[Chicago103]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

All of these new inner-city condo projects have HOAs. In SD they will cost about $400-$700/month, plus all the taxes to receive city services.

Or you can just live in a normal modest sized house in an established city neighborhood get your typical city services and avoid HOA fees of any kind. Anyways the way some people talk it almost seems cheaper just to live in the bungalow belts of Chicago than in inner Houston where much of the infill is expensive luxury housing (albeit not as expensive as inner Chicago infill) and established urban neighborhoods are either few and far between and/or nowhere near as developed or pedestrian as what you would find in northern/coastal cities. Reason #1354 to live in an established urban city, kids or not.

[Tom In Chicago]

[MODERATOR NOTE] This is a discussion about Houston housing NOT Chicago housing. . . please keep the discussion on track. . .

. . .

[JManc]

You would think the illustrations, especially the very last one, would give some of you some context of the era the book was written rather than go off on a tangent about suburbia and antisocial behavior. Look at the truck pulling the house away...that's not a Ford F-150 King Ranch Edition. Plus...the now historic buildings surrounding the house not too mention the long gone streetcars.