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Do not fill this in! ===Cityscape=== {{further|Geographic areas of Houston|List of Houston neighborhoods}} [[File:Houston superneighborhoods.png|thumb|Houston's superneighborhoods]] The city of Houston was incorporated in 1837 and adopted a [[Ward (politics)|ward system]] of representation shortly afterward, in 1840.<ref name="Trapp">{{Cite journal |last=Chapman |first=Betty Trapp |date=Fall 2010 |title=A System of Government Where Business Ruled |url=https://houstonhistorymagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ward-system-of-government.pdf |journal=Houston History Magazine |volume=8 |pages=29–33 |access-date=March 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026054320/https://houstonhistorymagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ward-system-of-government.pdf |archive-date=October 26, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> The six original wards of Houston are the progenitors of the 11 modern-day geographically oriented [[Houston City Council]] districts, though the city abandoned the ward system in 1905 in favor of a [[City commission government|commission government]], and, later, the existing [[mayor–council government]]. [[File:MidtownHoustonscene001.jpg|thumb|Intersection of Bagby and McGowen streets in western Midtown, 2016]] Locations in Houston are generally classified as either being inside or outside the [[Interstate 610 (Texas)|Interstate 610 loop]]. The "Inner Loop" encompasses a {{Convert|97|mi2|km2|adj=on}} area which includes Downtown, pre–World War II residential neighborhoods and [[streetcar suburb]]s, and newer high-density apartment and townhouse developments.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/Demographics/Loop%20610%20Website/population.html |title=Houston's Loop 610: Population |date=2013 |website=City of Houston |publisher=City of Houston Planning and Development Department |access-date=March 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160515111351/http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/Demographics/Loop%20610%20Website/population.html |archive-date=May 15, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Outside the loop, the city's typology is more [[Suburbanization|suburban]], though many major business districts—such as [[Uptown Houston|Uptown]], [[Westchase, Houston|Westchase]], and the [[Houston Energy Corridor|Energy Corridor]]—lie well outside the urban core. In addition to Interstate 610, two additional loop highways encircle the city: [[Texas State Highway Beltway 8|Beltway 8]], with a radius of approximately {{convert|10|mi|km}} from Downtown, and [[Texas State Highway 99|State Highway 99]] (the Grand Parkway), with a radius of {{Convert|25|mi|km}}. Approximately 470,000 people lived within the Interstate 610 loop, while 1.65 million lived between Interstate 610 and Beltway 8 and 2.25 million lived within Harris County outside Beltway 8 in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.harriscountytx.gov/CmpDocuments/74/Budget/FY16%20Population%20Study.pdf |title=Harris County Budget Management: Population Study |date=January 2015 |website=Harris County, Texas|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411074852/http://www.harriscountytx.gov/CmpDocuments/74/Budget/FY16%20Population%20Study.pdf|archive-date=April 11, 2015|url-status=dead|access-date=March 19, 2018}}</ref> Though Houston is the largest city in the United States without formal [[zoning]] regulations, it has developed similarly to other [[Sun Belt]] cities because the city's land use regulations and [[Covenant (law)#In a legal context|legal covenants]] have played a similar role.<ref name="nytzoning">{{cite news |title=FOCUS: Houston; A Fresh Approach To Zoning |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=March 27, 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/17/realestate/focus-houston-a-fresh-approach-to-zoning.html |first=Robert |last=Reinhold |date=August 17, 1986 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402043755/http://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/17/realestate/focus-houston-a-fresh-approach-to-zoning.html |archive-date=April 2, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="nozoning">{{cite web |title=Zoning Without Zoning |work=planetizen.com |access-date=March 27, 2009 |url=http://www.planetizen.com/node/109 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016050640/http://www.planetizen.com/node/109 |archive-date=October 16, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> Regulations include mandatory lot size for single-family houses and requirements that parking be available to tenants and customers. In 1998, Houston relaxed its mandatory lot sizes from 5,000 square feet to 3,500 square feet, which spurred housing construction in the city dramatically.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-31 |title=Here's how cities across Texas changed their zoning to increase housing |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2024/01/31/heres-how-cities-across-texas-changed-their-zoning-to-increase-housing/ |website=Dallas News |language=en}}</ref> Such restrictions have had mixed results. Though some have blamed the city's low density, [[urban sprawl]], and lack of pedestrian-friendliness on these policies, others have credited the city's land use patterns with providing significant affordable housing, sparing Houston the worst effects of the [[United States housing bubble|2008 real estate crisis]]. The city issued 42,697 building permits in 2008 and was ranked first in the list of healthiest housing markets for 2009.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Healthiest Housing Markets for 2009 – Local Markets, Construction, Home Prices |work=Builder |date=February 27, 2009 |access-date=March 4, 2009 |url=http://www.builderonline.com/local-markets/the-healthiest-housing-markets-for-2009.aspx?page=15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090222175955/http://www.builderonline.com/local-markets/the-healthiest-housing-markets-for-2009.aspx?page=15 |archive-date=February 22, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2019, home sales reached a new record of $30 billion.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lescalleet|first=Cynthia|title=2019 Was A Record Year for Houston's Housing Market|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/cynthialescalleet/2020/01/08/2019-was-another-very-good-year-in-houstons-housing-market/|access-date=October 15, 2020|website=Forbes|language=en}}</ref> In referendums in 1948, 1962, and 1993, voters rejected efforts to establish separate residential and commercial land-use districts. Consequently, rather than a single central business district as the center of the city's employment, multiple districts and skylines have grown throughout the city in addition to [[Downtown Houston|Downtown]], which include Uptown, the [[Texas Medical Center]], [[Midtown, Houston, Texas|Midtown]], [[Greenway Plaza]], [[Memorial City]], the Energy Corridor, [[Westchase, Houston, Texas|Westchase]], and [[Greenspoint, Houston, Texas|Greenspoint]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hlavaty|first=Craig|date=October 23, 2018|title=How many skylines do you think Houston has?|url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-skyline-s-13330138.php|access-date=October 21, 2020|website=Houston Chronicle|language=en-US}}</ref> {{clear}} {{wide image|Houston Skyline (5374518048).jpg|1050px|align-cap=center|[[Downtown Houston]] skyline just after sunset}} {{wide image|Uptown Houston North of Guilford Ct. and McCue Rd. Panoramic 2 - Dec 2013.jpg|1050px|align-cap=center|[[Uptown Houston]] skyline in 2013}} {{wide image|Skyline of the Texas Medical Center - Houston, TX - December 2019.jpg|1050px|align-cap=center|[[Texas Medical Center]] skyline in 2019}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page