How did Houston end up with so many skyscrapers?

[jd433]

I moved here about 10 years ago and I was overwhelmed with this place. Phoenix has a lot of people too but it feels much smaller than Houston. Houston is a Giant, Texas sized city with sky scrapers everywhere. High Rise living has really caught on here and a lot of the skyscrapers are condos and apartments. I think the difference is with the culture. Phoenix seems more focused on it's great suburbs and Master planned communities on the outskirts and the east side. I remember that when I lived there no one would ever think of living near downtown unless maybe the Camelback corridor We all wanted to live in Gilbert or Scottsdale.. Phoenix has always grown out away from the core and I think that most jobs are out there too. Houston has always had a strong core even 100 years ago. Most of the areas around Downtown Houston are expensive and mostly made of new development. I am amazed at all the developments . There are so many projects going up that I cant even keep track anymore. Here is a website that is devoted to keeping track of the development. >>> https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/...um/7-going-up/

[Houston parent]

There is a limit as to how many people can reasonably get in and out of a city center every day with no commuter trains like NYC relies upon. That's why you see satellite business districts that create mini-downtowns with modest skylines.


People in Houston mostly live in detached single family homes and commute in private cars. That imposes an upper limit on how big the CBD can realistically get. NYC can have a much larger skyline because a large percentage of the workers in those buildings either live in high rise apatments nearby or ride commuter trains in from the suburbs.

[eastriver]

Originally Posted by Houston parent

There is a limit as to how many people can reasonably get in and out of a city center every day with no commuter trains like NYC relies upon. That's why you see satellite business districts that create mini-downtowns with modest skylines.


People in Houston mostly live in detached single family homes and commute in private cars. That imposes an upper limit on how big the CBD can realistically get. NYC can have a much larger skyline because a large percentage of the workers in those buildings either live in high rise apatments nearby or ride commuter trains in from the suburbs.

Cheap land is another reason for these outtowns/exurbs. CBDs aren't cheap.

[KingDingerSlinger]

Because that is Uptown.

[H'ton]

Funny how many posts in this thread, from 2017, state that Houston has stopped building skyscrapers at an impressive pace.

The opposite actually is happening.

In fact, new mini-skyscraper clusters are popping up and they are reaching out to connect to other small skyscraper clusters.

I fully expect Kirby to be dotted with many tall skycrapers (many on the boards right now), then you have a small break through river Oaks, and then Boom..Autry Park + proposed Regent Square High Rises + others along a block, or two, of Allen parkway (UC or recently completed) will connect it to the Skyscrapers in downtown.

And that is just ONE example of the skyline extending itself out.

Greenway plaza is going to grow to connect with developments like the RO.

Midtown will continue to extend the "downtown + midtown "skyline" and possibly th esame will happen with "downtown + EADo"

..and the Medical Center is branching out in many directions.

Uptown has seen a steady flurry of "high rises", since 2017, around the Post Oak/ San Felipe Intersection.

Houston continues to densify and add height.

[SanJac]

Houston was “Boomtown USA” in the ‘70s. That’s when its growth spurt started and, with the exception of a few bumps in the road, it really hasn’t stopped growing since.

This is a good view of the density of the skyline…

https://i.imgur.com/EPVUNZ6.jpg

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by SanJac

Houston was “Boomtown USA” in the ‘70s. That’s when its growth spurt started and, with the exception of a few bumps in the road, it really hasn’t stopped growing since.

This is a good view of the density of the skyline…

https://i.imgur.com/EPVUNZ6.jpg

Which bumps? 80s oil crisis? Dot com bust? Great Recession/financial crisis/housing crash? Harvey? Covid pandemic?

The data shows Houston continued growing in each of these which is probably why it continues to grow, there’s always a way to grow through these “crisis” whether they’re localized or global

[oil capital]

And the growth spurt started well before the 1970s. Houston experienced very fast growth throughout the 20th century and has continued it into the 21st.

(The "bumps" have only been slowed growth; in the case of the oil bust, very much slower growth for a few years.)

From Wikipedia:


1900: 63,786
1910: 115,693 (81.4% increase)
1920: 186,667 (61.3% increase)
1930: 359,328 (92.5% increase)
1940: 528,961 (47.2% increase)
1950: 806,701 (52.5% increase)
1960: 1,243,158 (54.5% increase)
1970: 1,985,031 (59.7% increase)
1980: 2,905,353 (46.4% increase)
1990: 3,301,937 (13.7% increase)
2000: 4,177,646 (26.5% increase)
2010: 5,920,416 (41.7% increase)
2020: 7,122,240 (20.3% increase)
2023 (est.): 7,510,253 (5.4% increase)

[brock2010]

Originally Posted by H'ton

Funny how many posts in this thread, from 2017, state that Houston has stopped building skyscrapers at an impressive pace.

The opposite actually is happening.

In fact, new mini-skyscraper clusters are popping up and they are reaching out to connect to other small skyscraper clusters.

I fully expect Kirby to be dotted with many tall skycrapers (many on the boards right now), then you have a small break through river Oaks, and then Boom..Autry Park + proposed Regent Square High Rises + others along a block, or two, of Allen parkway (UC or recently completed) will connect it to the Skyscrapers in downtown.

And that is just ONE example of the skyline extending itself out.

Greenway plaza is going to grow to connect with developments like the RO.

Midtown will continue to extend the "downtown + midtown "skyline" and possibly th esame will happen with "downtown + EADo"

..and the Medical Center is branching out in many directions.

Uptown has seen a steady flurry of "high rises", since 2017, around the Post Oak/ San Felipe Intersection.

Houston continues to densify and add height.

That skyline will really be something when all of those skyline clusters connect. Do you think towers will eventually sprout around Hermann Park?

[H'ton]

to add to this, they just announced that THE RO (West Alabama/Richmond @ Buffalo Speedway) will break ground NEXT MONTH!


That will be another skyscraper cluster to connect to!


https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...source=twitter