This was originally posted on Live Oaks on August 13, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. A recent piece on the KHOU web site asks if zoning is in Houston’s future. While the article does not come to a definitive conclusion, it implies that more restrictive land-use controls will be necessary. Or, as urban planner…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on August 14, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. I am simultaneously amused and disgusted with politicians who do verbal gymnastics to support a particular position while ignoring its implications. Tax holidays are one example. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia now offer tax holidays in the…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on August 7, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. Barack Obama has repeatedly told us that we are our brother’s keeper. Now the state of Texas is telling us that we are also our brother’s children’s keeper. According to the Chronicle, Texas taxpayers will soon be on the…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on August 6, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. Last Saturday I got a hair cut, which was not the highlight of my weekend. However, while sitting in the chair, voluntarily allowing a strange woman to fondle my hair, I noticed her prominently displayed cosmetology license. I was…
This was originally posted as a series on Live Oaks in August 2009. Comments have not been migrated. It is frequently argued that certain services–particularly utilities–are “natural monopolies”, which Wikipedia explains as: In economics, a natural monopoly occurs when, due to the economies of scale of a particular industry, the maximum efficiency of production and…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on July 31, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. Electric companies are popular targets for politicians who seek to score points with voters. Nobody likes high electric bills or power outages, and politicians can use all manner of threats, arm twisting, and explicit force to compel utilities to…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on July 23, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. While the Texas Open Beaches Act (TOBA) made land along the shore “public property”, a small section of beach in Galveston has remained private property since the enactment of TOBA in 1959. According to the Chronicle: The Legislature approved…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on July 15, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. Dear Mr. McIngvale, I recently read a story about the Greater Northside Management District (GNMD) suing you for back taxes. The Chronicle quotes you as saying, “To me, it’s taxation without representation. If they were doing something that was…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on July 12, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. In keeping with its unstated policy of supporting any idea or policy that increases government control, on Saturday the Chronicle editorial supported the city’s new restrictions on signs: Houston brings out the nagging mother in us: She’d be such…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on June 26, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. On Wednesday a federal judge declared Houston’s 1993 sign ordinance unconstitutional. The ruling concluded a trial in which Houston Balloons & Promotions sued the city. The company was awarded damages of $927,841 with an additional $187,000 for expenses and…