Restrictions and housing costs

Houston Chronicle:

D. David Robinson has sampled both extremes of American urban growth policies.

Robinson lives most of the year in Portland, Ore., which enforces strict zoning, used federal highway money to build a rail line and permits little new development beyond a boundary encircling the city. A native Texan, he spends two months each winter in Houston, which embraces growth, has rejected zoning repeatedly and is nearing completion of a massive, 18-lane freeway to serve its western suburbs.

Robinson, a caterer and event planner, has great affection for both cities. But while he acknowledges that his Portland house would have cost far less in Houston, he considers the money well spent.

"The urban growth boundary keeps the city compact," Robinson said. "The neighborhoods have remained vibrant — I can walk to a movie theater, I can walk to the grocery store. Downtown doesn't clear out after dark and become a ghost town."

A group of developers, builders and others fighting to preserve Houston's freewheeling approach to growth and development often cites Portland as a prime example of the problems caused by excessive regulations.

The central argument advanced by the group, Houstonians for Responsible Growth, is that every new rule adds costs that are passed on to consumers, gradually eroding the competitive advantage they say Houston enjoys because of its low housing prices. The group has joined a growing debate over how Houston should balance the advantages of growth with steps to protect established neighborhoods.

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While it is true that Houston has no zoning, it is not true that it has no building restrictions. Most of these restrictions are handled by deeds which limit what an owner of a house can do to change the character of the neighborhood. Some border on the ridiculous.

In my old neighborhood in Clear Lake, you could not change the color of the trim on the house without approval of a committee. One neighbor who ignored this requirement and put up Newport Blue siding on the wood portion of his house was required to paint over the siding using the original color of the house.

Even if you are building a custom home in a subdivision you will have to meet requirements. You can however tear down an old house and build a bigger one. Neighborhoods can change their character also when developers come in and buy up the homes and convert the area to multi family housing or commercial. This adds dynamism to an area and keeps it from becoming blighted.

Restrictions on where you can build drive up the cost of housing in areas like California and some places on the east coast. The higher cost of housing in these areas contributed to the subprime mortgage debacle that has been largely absent from Texas with its more affordable housing.