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Posted on 10/24/11 at 12:49 pm to Doc Fenton
I think the lack of zoning helps...especially with the redevelopment of older parts of town. The scale of privatized urban renewal there is amazing.
Posted on 10/24/11 at 1:18 pm to uzzy
I appreciate it from a capitalist perspective and certainly wish that NOLA was slightly more similar in that regard, but it makes for some fugly neighborhoods too. I mean I live between Washington and Memorial and the neighborhood behind me is a checkerboard of nice old houses and shitty old houses with 9-unit condos squeezed onto every single lot imaginable (and the occasional half built condo).
Posted on 10/24/11 at 8:24 pm to kfizzle85
It's amazing that no matter where you are in Houston, you're always a five minute drive from a rundown/ghetto area. It's also amazing that there are established neighborhoods with 40 story commercial buildings as their backdoor neighbors. I think we can definitely pin that one on "no zoning".
This post was edited on 10/24/11 at 8:25 pm
Posted on 10/24/11 at 8:58 pm to kfizzle85
quote:
I mean I live between Washington and Memorial and the neighborhood behind me is a checkerboard of nice old houses and shitty old houses with 9-unit condos squeezed onto every single lot imaginable (and the occasional half built condo).
At least you don't have to go far to get your drugs...
Seriously, driving through Washington and Midtown it's amazing how many condos are squeezed in to a couple blocks. Then you'll have 1-2 little shite hole houses stuck in between them all.
Posted on 10/24/11 at 9:25 pm to uzzy
quote:
Houston seems to embrace sprawl and has a near-endless supply of flat land to develop. New highways are constantly built.
Unfettered suburban sprawl is very mundane or unattractive, though. It's cheap, but at the cost of character.
Posted on 10/25/11 at 12:14 am to Cash
quote:When I moved to Houston from Louisiana, the savings on state income tax was exactly the same as the increase in property tax. However, the property tax is deductible from federal income tax, so it was actually a net gain.
I ran the numbers a while back. Assuming similar incomes and house (size and amenities, not price), the state income taxes you pay in LA roughly equal the increase in property taxes you pay in Houston.
I live in the Woodlands and work downtown, and the commute is not too bad. I-45 can be a mess, but Hardy Toll Road (with an EZ Pass) parallels it. It takes 40 minutes from door to door in the morning, and 55 minutes in the evening.
To buy the same type of house inside the core Houston area would have been 2-3x the cost of a newer, comparable house in the Woodlands and an extra $500-1000 per month in property tax.
There is so much new construction in the area that it must keep the new home prices low. I would not want to have to sell a house with all of the competition. When we moved here, we picked one house from each of the builders that was already built but empty. They each made their best offers and we went with the house that we saw as the best value.
Posted on 10/25/11 at 9:27 am to TheChosenOne
quote:
I mean I live between Washington and Memorial and the neighborhood behind me is a checkerboard of nice old houses and shitty old houses with 9-unit condos squeezed onto every single lot imaginable
Seriously, driving through Washington and Midtown it's amazing how many condos are squeezed in to a couple blocks. Then you'll have 1-2 little shite hole houses stuck in between them all.
During the housing boom those areas(Rice Military, Kirby, Midtown) became trendy in tearing down the run down shacks and building those 350-500k dollar condos because they were close to downtown, social areas, nice restaurants, nightlife, etc. That pace seems to have slowed considerably.
Posted on 10/25/11 at 9:29 am to urinetrouble
quote:
Unfettered suburban sprawl is very mundane or unattractive, though. It's cheap, but at the cost of character.
I'd say it depends on the development. I could argue your character cost is made up by other amenities and services though.
Posted on 10/25/11 at 9:45 am to Zilla
I moved to the Houston area just over 13 years ago. The choice of affordable housing in suburbs was amazing. I'd credit the wise use of multiple loops across several spokes of highways along with few natural boundaries and the virtual lack of zoning restrictions (many suburbs do impose them) as being at the core of the OP's question.
Though I live in a suburb 30 miles north of Houston, the traffic has always been a non-issue for me. Live web based traffic maps provide connected commuters with the information they need to simply take an alternate route. Toll roads provide another alternative.
But my preference is the commuter bus. It's the most relaxing part of my day and cheaper than driving.
Though I live in a suburb 30 miles north of Houston, the traffic has always been a non-issue for me. Live web based traffic maps provide connected commuters with the information they need to simply take an alternate route. Toll roads provide another alternative.
But my preference is the commuter bus. It's the most relaxing part of my day and cheaper than driving.
Posted on 10/25/11 at 10:46 am to Bayou Tiger
quote:
When I moved to Houston from Louisiana, the savings on state income tax was exactly the same as the increase in property tax. However, the property tax is deductible from federal income tax, so it was actually a net gain.
Does not compute. State and local income taxes are deductible if you itemize, there is no "gain" from paying higher property taxes/deductability as you have to itemize to claim property tax deductions as well. It is a wash, income taxes are income taxes whether embedded in property taxes or not.
Posted on 10/25/11 at 11:07 am to Zilla
quote:
what does the prop tax look like on a $200k home
You can figure a 2.5% tax rate per annum. That will get you very close. You can look up old tax bills on the Harris County Appraisal District. For some reason, the link didn't work though it was correct. It's www.hcad.org.
This post was edited on 10/25/11 at 11:11 am
Posted on 10/25/11 at 12:08 pm to tirebiter
quote:
you have to itemize to claim property tax deductions as well
they used to let you deduct some property tax if you didn't itemize, don't know if that's still true
Posted on 10/25/11 at 1:22 pm to yellowfin
I bought an older house, in great condition, in kingwood with plenty of "character". 175k for ~3000 sq ft. Yea you can't beat that.
This post was edited on 10/25/11 at 1:22 pm
Posted on 10/25/11 at 2:25 pm to barry
I have to agree that the property taxes and state income taxes end up canceling each other out. I'm originally from Houston stayed in Louisiana after attending LSU and am in the process of moving back. The real savings if you live in South Louisiana is the homeowners insurance in addition to the private school tuition. Trying to find someone to write a homeowner's policy south of I-10 is an ongoing battle and if your forced to take la citizens an average size house will run you about $6500 a year.
This post was edited on 10/25/11 at 2:26 pm
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