Houston's Population Peak

[west20th]

I suggest that the City of Houston subsidize private schools (cover a lot of their expenses to make them more economically feasible, and thus, more abundant) because the public perceptions of HISD are so terrible. Creating new schools that are accessible to middle-class families in terms of price would be more effective, IMO, than trying to change perceptions surrounding HISD.

I'm absolutely certain that transit upgrades will be necessary in time, but I'm not sure that it matters so much right at this moment. I'd rather put the money into schools and public safety.

And the money for this school subsidy will come from where? The city funds public safety (police/fire). It does not fund schools or mass transit. Delaying mass transit upgrades has nothing to do with funding schools or public safety.

Edited December 5, 2006 by west20th

[TheNiche]

And the money for this school subsidy will come from where? The city funds public safety (police/fire). It does not fund schools or mass transit. Delaying mass transit upgrades has nothing to do with funding schools or public safety.

It would come from the general fund. There is nothing that keeps the City from subsidizing private schools, just as there is nothing that keeps the City from subsidizing Houston Pavilions or anything else that it deems worthy. You are correct, however, that the existence of so many various overlapping entities makes it difficult to effectively coordinate the allocation the resources of a society, but this concept that I'd suggest if we really want to see the Inner Loop urbanize quickly is a very general one...and it'll never happen, so I'm not going to bother nailing down specifics. But the bottom line is this:

Step 1: Generate demand.

Step 2: Accomodate demand.

Don't put the cart before the horse.

[Montrose1100]

It would come from the general fund. There is nothing that keeps the City from subsidizing private schools, just as there is nothing that keeps the City from subsidizing Houston Pavilions or anything else that it deems worthy. You are correct, however, that the existence of so many various overlapping entities makes it difficult to effectively coordinate the allocation the resources of a society, but this concept that I'd suggest if we really want to see the Inner Loop urbanize quickly is a very general one...and it'll never happen, so I'm not going to bother nailing down specifics. But the bottom line is this:

Step 1: Generate demand.

Step 2: Accomodate demand.

Don't put the cart before the horse.

You contradicting thing, you!

Didn't you say Houston benefited from Over Building in the 80s?

lol just kidding Niche, it has nothing to do with this thread, just making fun of those people in the ("great")northwest subforum.

Edited December 6, 2006 by Montrose1100

[TheNiche]

You contradicting thing, you!

Didn't you say Houston benefited from Over Building in the 80s?

lol just kidding Niche, it has nothing to do with this thread, just making fun of those people in the northwest subforum.

Sure, if the private sector wants to put the cart before the horse, they're very welcome to. Their money is coming from out-of-state lenders.

Screw those yankees.

[GhostDog]

The Los Angeles area is approx 3 times the land size of the Houston area perhaps more.

We've got TONS of underdeveloped areas

Take Highway 6 south past Fort Bend Toll Road...

Pearlands building but there's lots of room.

Alvin

South down 288 all the way to Lake Jackson/Freeport.

With all the developing on the westside and IH-10 construction to be complete in a couple years it wont be long before the Katy people move to Sealy to get away.

Also up 290 after Cypress there is plenty of room to expand to hempstead.

Bottom line is that as communities grow- employment areas will follow...

There is also plenty of room inside loop 610...

[SpringTX]

I just want to go off on a slight tangent here and say that "small can be beautiful". Houston shouldn't sacrifice anything in a quest to race up higher in the rankings of the nation's largest cities. Let me ask a question. If Houston were forced to either replace itself with either Austin or Mexico City tomorrow, which would you choose? Mexico City is a heck of a lot larger. Clean air, uncongested roads, plenty of trees and parks, high incomes, low crime - all these things are just as important as sheer size.

To borrow an example from high schools in the Houston suburbs, Spring ISD did everything in its power to grow Westfield High School to 5,000 students to reach 5A status for high school sports...and in the process wrecked the school from overcrowding.

Edited December 28, 2006 by SpringTX

[TheNiche]

I just want to go off on a slight tangent here and say that "small can be beautiful". Houston shouldn't sacrifice anything in a quest to race up higher in the rankings of the nation's largest cities. Let me ask a question. If Houston were forced to either replace itself with either Austin or Mexico City tomorrow, which would you choose? Mexico City is a heck of a lot larger. Clean air, uncongested roads, plenty of trees and parks, high incomes, low crime - all these things are just as important as sheer size.

To borrow an example from high schools in the Houston suburbs, Spring ISD did everything in its power to grow Westfield High School to 5,000 students to reach 5A status for high school sports...and in the process wrecked the school from overcrowding.

Can we maybe not use Mexico City as the goal? How about Chicago? That's attainable and realistic given time.

Besides, being pro-growth has less to do with the destination than it has to do with the journey. Economic growth by way of job growth (as opposed to population growth) results in higher wages than would otherwise have existed because population growth is a 'sticky' variable.

Whether a particular high school becomes 5A or not is kind of irrelevant.

[Trae]

Why would a high school need to have 5,000 students to become 5A? Morton Ranch has 2600 and is 5A (that is the smallest high school in Katy to be 5A).

[SpringTX]

(Never mind the high school analogy.) Didn't anyone read "Small is Beautiful"?

Lots of people hate New York City and Los Angeles with a passion. They're huge and they're loaded with problems. If you can stay small, and focus your energies into getting better, rather than bigger, that can be just as desirable a goal.

Here's another example. Let's say I own a business. The business generates $10 million in sales annually. But it requires $10 million in expenses annually. My net profit is $0.

Now let's say my kid opens a lemonade stand in the driveway. He generates $10 in sales. And he did it with $2 in expenses. He just netted $8. He made more money than my business did. I would have been better off opening a lemonade stand rather than owning that $10 million business.

Edited December 29, 2006 by SpringTX

[musicman]

I would have been better off opening a lemonade stand rather than owning that $10 million business.

At least you wouldn't be thirsty.

If you just stayed in Spring, you might be happier cause it is smaller.

[TheNiche]

Here's another example. Let's say I own a business. The business generates $10 million in sales annually. But it requires $10 million in expenses annually. My net profit is $0.

Now let's say my kid opens a lemonade stand in the driveway. He generates $10 in sales. And he did it with $2 in expenses. He just netted $8. He made more money than my business did. I would have been better off opening a lemonade stand rather than owning that $10 million business.

What are the net assets of the big firm? If the current value of the net assets is greater than just a couple thousand dollars, then the big firm most definitely has a higher value than the $8-per-day lemonade stand because the firm could be liquidated into cash, which could then earn money at the risk-free rate of return. The value of the big firm would be it's net assets plus the present value of that stream of cash flow.

The problem with the big firm in your example, as with various cities of all sizes, is implementation. The owner of the big firm would be better off liquidating assets to cash and investing in effectively risk-free T-bills...likewise, the owner might consider taking on riskier projects if the estimated average returns were sufficiently high.

As in a private-sector business, any city of any size can screw itself with poor implementation.