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Notes -
Well what's your evidence for this link? Do agree that zoning laws are rather lax in Houston? And if so, are you saying that the culture on the Texas gulf coast doesn't see housing as an investment?
I guess I'd say that like most things it's a spectrum rather than a binary; I know little about Texan culture (or the Hispanic culture that Texas is increasingly intertwining with) but I'd guess it's probably between SF and Japan in terms of treating housing as an investment, and thus the level of zoning also lies between SF and Japan in rigidity.
For sure I agree that high housing prices are poly-casual and not solely because of boomers or whatever; e.g geography, Houston can sprawl in all directions while the most expensive places in the world like SF and Hong Kong have to deal with mountains and ocean.
Hard to believe that Texas is unusual among US states in terms of seeing housing an investment.
But anyway, I take it your evidence for the link you posit is (1) the example of Japan; and (2) your guesses about the cultures of other jurisdictions?
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