Why City Design is Important (and Why I Hate Houston)
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I’m not an urban planner, so you might ask, why do I run a YouTube channel about urban planning and walkable cities? It all comes down to a life of travel, and a terrible walk in the suburbs of Houston.
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References and Related Reading
Federal Highway Association National Household Travel Survey
What’s wrong with comparing Seattle to Houston?
Out of Control - Houston’s roads, drivers are country’s most deadly
Houston Chronical
Eerste van der Helststraat
Stadsarchief Amsterdam
Historical Photos of London, Ontario
Historic Photos of Houston
Giant Brontosaurus Rib: 5 Must-Try BBQ Dishes at Mighty Quinn’s
Tasty (YouTube)
High Frequency: Why Houston is Back on the Bus
Streetfilms (YouTube)
A Year After Bus Redesign, METRO Houston Ridership is Up
Houston just dramatically improved its mass transit system without spending a dime
Houston Rolling Back Parking Requirements
How does Houston plan without zoning?
City Beautiful (YouTube)
The Energy Corridor District unveils west Houston’s first protected intersection
More performative pedestrian infrastructure
No, Houston isn’t a walkable city, but you have to start somewhere
Katy Freeway by Aliciak3yz - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
Katy Freeway by Socrate76 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
Reducing congestion: Katy didn’t
City Commentary
What Dallas, Houston, Louisville & Rochester can teach us about widening freeways: Don’t!
Houston commute times quickly increasing
Houston’s $7 billion solution to gridlock is more highways
North Houston Highway Improvement Project
The big picture for a big plan
“The truth about a city’s aspirations isn’t found in its vision. It’s found in its budget.” - Brent Toderian
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Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:05 A Brief History
1:19 Living car-free when unemployed
2:23 Insane amounts of travel
3:42 A fateful trip to Houston
4:25 The walk in Houston (Willowbrook)
7:26 Urban planning and history
9:00 Forgetting those who don’t drive
11:13 Houston: sprawl and average BBQ
11:51 What Houston is doing right
13:12 There’s still a long ways to go
15:19 Conclusion
16:29 Patreon shout-out
16:40 Outro
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