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Posts Tagged ‘floodplain development’

Zoning–don’t throw out the baby with the floodwater!

Posted in flooding, Harvey, Resilience, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on September 11, 2017| 2 Comments »

Were the impacts of Harvey in Houston a result of no zoning in the city of no limits? This assertion seems to be the catch-all phrase used by Houston’s detractors for all that was exposed by Harvey in terms of planning or the lack thereof.  On the other hand, critics of regulation like to point out that zoned cities fared just as badly as Houston during Harvey. Our Mayor famously said that “zoning wouldn’t have changed anything. We would have been a city with zoning that flooded.” (more…)

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Above all, elevate!

Posted in flooding, Harvey, planning, tagged , , , , , , on September 7, 2017| 5 Comments »

There are many things that we must think about as we begin to consider how to rebuild Houston. But one thing stands above the rest, literally: elevation. Elevation is the number one predictor of flooding and flood damage.  Water seeks the low spots; we need to seek the high spots. It is just that simple.  Elevation needs to be our watchword.  Elevation needs to be the metric but which we gauge all new development as well as all redevelopment.

Elevation is about getting people and structures above the level of the floodwaters. All of the practices and policy issues that involve getting people out of harm’s way involve elevation. (more…)

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