Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Changing culture

Texas has long been considered a very car centric city, with cars and oil very much ingrained in the state's culture and economy. Planning in Texas is vastly different to the previous cities we have travelled to. Texas has been the first instance of seeing large scale urban sprawl through every city we visited. 

Texas has a lack of coherent planning, as can be seen from the many parcels of undeveloped land in between the sprawl. This was not helped by the amount of land dedicated to the automobile. All Texan cities we visited had an extraordinary amount of ground surface car parking in largely sought after areas. In some parts of the interstate, there was up to five layers of bridges. It could be seen from the amount of time the bus spent in heavy congestion, that even with the large amount of road network, Texas still cannot keep up with demand. Therefore other forms of transport need to need to be seriously considered, like in Houston, where a dedicated bus lane is being implemented. It seems like Texas’s solution to heavy congestion is more freeways, which is terrible and not at all sustainable for the future. 

Texas’s planning appears to be in complete disarray with very unclear land uses. The counties have very little control over land use, and this is very problematic when looking at how bad the sprawl already is especially along the intestate. Texas is the state most in need of implementing a growth boundary to heavily reduce sprawl. This needs to be done before Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston morph in to one low density mega city. 

Steve and Rebecca showed us a completely different side of Austin. A community centric, green, climate conscious neighbourhood that showed the state is changing with times to be more sustainable, such as the cities motto ‘keep Austin weird.’ This form of housing looked to incorporate cycling and walking as the more popular forms of transport, showing that not all of the state is entrenched in the car dominant ideology.

The one exception was San Antonio. Not as many car parks and more aesthetic streetscapes made the city appeal more old timely. The downtown was more clearly defined, and less based on car dominance. Although we didn’t get to see the whole city, the parts we did see felt less in your face and more laid back. San Antonio’s downtown area is great, however not seeing how bad the city's sprawl is, it cannot be said if the city is going the same way as most other Texan cities.


Texas is definitely more anarchy than innovation, however the cities still work -  just with more congestion. The land use is ad hoc and there are very few controls. Urban sprawl and car dominance are problems that both need addressing in the near future to stop the state becoming the worst example of sprawl in America. If the state's planning continues the way it is going, then the whole state will become a mass centre of sprawl. The state's culture needs to change as well. If change is to be effectively carried out, the population has to want to change its habits. However in Houston, there were small amount of change presents with a dedicated bus land going in and the retention of the large parkway in close proximity to the city centre. It was a real eye opening experience seeing Texas, and then hearing Australians complain about congestion (considering how bad it is in Texas).

Jack Francis

32 comments:

  1. ing continues the way it is going, then the whole state will become a mass centre of sprawl. The state's culture needs to change as well. If change is to be effectively carried out, the population has to want to change its habits. However in Houston, there were small amount of change presents with a dedicated bus land going in and the retention of the large parkway in close proximity to the city centre. It was a real eye opening experience seeing Texas, and then hearing Australians complain about congestion (considering h
    pet ornaments

    ReplyDelete
  2. I enjoy kinds very own post. It will be respectable to get a single narrative inside and outside of the core of this distinctive core specialized niche will likely be commonly knowledgeable. Feel free to visit my website;Yorkies

    ReplyDelete
  3. aesthetic streetscapes made the city appeal more old timely. The downtown was more clearly defined, and less based on car dominance.PaintNumbers

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think it's a very different opinion on the subject.I want to see your new post, too. Thank you for letting me gain new knowledge. 메이저토토사이트

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is my first visit to your blog, and I am very impressed with the articles that you serve. Give adequate knowledge for me. Thank you for sharing useful material. I will be back for the more great post. 토토사이트, But by chance looking at your post solved my problem! I will leave my blog, so when would you like to visit it?!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fantastic work! This really can be the kind of data which needs to really be shared round the internet. Shame on Google for perhaps not placement this specific informative article much higher! 먹튀검증사이트

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hard to ignore such an amazing article like this. You really amazed me with your writing talent. Thank for you shared again.안전놀이터

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm writing a paper on the subject of your article. I feel like I've found a very precious treasure. Thanks to you, I think I can finish my thesis safely. Please come to my blog and read my post related to yours. 먹튀검증업체

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like this website! Glad I found this on google. Its nice, thanks 바카라사이트

    ReplyDelete

  10. Yes i am totally agreed with this article and i just want say that this article is very nice and very informative article.I will make sure to be reading your blog more 바카라사이트

    ReplyDelete
  11. I once again find myself personally spending a significant 바카라사이트 amount of time both reading and posting comments.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I’d really love to be a part of online community where I can get responses from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest. 바카라사이트

    ReplyDelete
  13. Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be Very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commenters here! It’s always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained!

    토토사이트
    경마
    카지노사이트
    사설토토

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your website quite a bit up fast! What host are you the use of? Can I am getting your affiliate hyperlink on your host? I desire my website loaded up as quickly as yours lol

    majortotositepro2
    racesitepro2
    oncasinositenet2
    totopickpro2

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hard to ignore such an amazing article like this. You really amazed me with your writing talent. Thank you for sharing again.
    우리카지노탑
    카지노사이트
    바카라사이트
    온라인카지노`
    카지노`

    ReplyDelete
  16. เกมสล็อต เกมที่มาเเรงที่สุด ทำเงินได้เยอะที่สุด ambbet บริการสล็อตออนไลน์ ศูนย์รวมสล็อต สล็อตเเตกหนัก เเตกยับๆ ทำเงินได้เยอะที่สุด สล็อตไม่มีขั้นต่ำ ถอนไม่อั้น ทุนหลักร้อย กำไรหลักเเสน ฝาก-ถอนอัตโนมัติ รวดเร็วที่สุด ไม่มีค่าทำเนียม ไม่ต้องเเจ้งยอด สมัครสล็อต โบนัสฟรี 100%

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hard to ignore such an amazing article like this. You really amazed me with your writing talent. Thank you for sharing again.
    카지노사이트
    0
    0

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hello, everything is going 안전카지노사이트 perfectly here and ofcourse every one is sharing data,
    that's truly good, keep up writing.

    ReplyDelete
  19. hello my name is taufik specialis social media wadi sipit thanks

    ReplyDelete
  20. T̳H̳I̳S̳ ̳I̳S̳ ̳A̳ ̳W̳O̳N̳D̳E̳R̳F̳U̳L̳ ̳A̳R̳T̳I̳C̳L̳E̳,̳ ̳G̳I̳V̳E̳N̳ ̳S̳O̳ ̳M̳U̳C̳H̳ ̳I̳N̳F̳O̳R̳M̳A̳T̳I̳O̳N̳ ̳I̳N̳ ̳I̳T̳,̳ ̳T̳H̳E̳S̳E̳ ̳T̳Y̳P̳E̳ ̳O̳F̳ ̳A̳R̳T̳I̳C̳L̳E̳S̳ ̳K̳E̳E̳P̳S̳ ̳T̳H̳E̳ ̳U̳S̳E̳R̳S̳ ̳I̳N̳T̳E̳R̳E̳S̳T̳ ̳I̳N̳ ̳T̳H̳E̳ ̳W̳E̳B̳S̳I̳T̳E̳,̳ ̳A̳N̳D̳ ̳K̳E̳E̳P̳ ̳O̳N̳ ̳S̳H̳A̳R̳I̳N̳G̳ ̳M̳O̳R̳E̳.̳
    스포츠토토

    ReplyDelete
  21. (¯´•._.• ι rⒺᵃ𝕝Ⓛ¥ ĎⒺᶠ𝓲Niⓣ𝓔Ĺ𝔶 𝐋𝒾к𝓔Đ є𝐯€ʳ𝔶 Ƥᵃг𝓣 Ⓞ𝒇 𝔦𝓣 คήđ ᶤ 𝐀Ļรᵒ ʰ𝓐v𝐞 y𝓸Ữ ⓈάV乇𝕕 Ⓣσ ғ𝓐𝓿 𝓉𝐨 ㄥ𝕠ᵒ𝐊 Ãt ŇεŴ 𝐢几FØᖇ𝕄αţIⓞภ ᶤ𝐧 ү๏ùŘ ⓈᎥᵗ乇. 𝐭ᕼ𝓐𝔫ᛕ丂 •._.•´¯)
    경마

    ReplyDelete
  22. play online gambling with big profits. only on the site slot online terpercaya many types of the best slots will lead you to the peak of victory

    ReplyDelete
  23. ratatouille musical is a lively theme tiktok video full of cooking videos and surrounded by comedy. This video is one of the most popular videos on TikTok.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Site slot777 as the best online gambling site in Indonesia helps you to increase your wealth coffers instantly. The slot777 site has an official safe license for you to play anywhere

    ReplyDelete
  25. A cCelebrity biography job is to tell the story of their subject in an engaging and informative way. They must be able to capture the essence of the person they are writing about and convey their story to the reader in a way that is both entertaining and insightful.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Great information about wilderness for beginners giving the opportunity for new people. loretta mclaughlin coat

    ReplyDelete