Kevin Price, Publisher and Editor in Chief of USDR, recently wrote about an interesting property rights property in, all places, Houston, Texas. Here is his recent column at the Huffington Post.
Houston has developed a reputation as the entrepreneurial capital of Texas, if not the United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the nation and is poised to supplant Chicago as number three by next year. It is a magnet for enterprises ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies. It is, in fact, second only to New York when it comes to the number of Fortune 500 firms in a city. It has developed this reputation because of a very business-friendly economic environment of sensible regulations and a competitive tax rate. In spite of this, there is a dark cloud overshadowing the Bayou City because of a lawsuit pursued by the neighbors of a high rise in one of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods.
Houston is famous for having the most flexible property-rights laws of any major city in the United States. There are, essentially, no zoning laws in the city, and it is not unusual to see major businesses several feet away from quiet neighborhoods. Virtually all real-estate restrictions are limited to deed restrictions in specific communities. Other than that, Houston has largely had a very free attitude when it comes to business development. This is one of the reasons Houston has become so attractive to business. There have been attempts…(read more)
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