Land Development Regulation: A Case Study of Dallas and Houston, Texas

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This paper compares the approaches to land development regulation in Dallas and Houston and attempts to measure the impact of regulation on lot prices in the two cities. Land development in Dallas appears to be subject to a greater degree of regulation than in Houston, especially with respect to zoning and the provision of utilities. In Houston, utilities are provided by Municipal Utility Districts which give developers greater flexibility in subdivision site selection. Other regulations concerning land use, platting, road financing and environment are examined for their impact on development costs in the two cities. The paper closes with a “full” lot cost comparison for selected subdivisions in Dallas and Houston. Lot prices are found to be lower in Houston. The difference is largely explained by differences in regulation and a transfer of cost from the private to the public sector.

This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit: