Would zoning have helped Houston?

While rains continue to fall in eastern Texas and western Louisiana, the city of Houston now appears to be through the worst of Hurricane Harvey, though the storm dropped record amounts of rain on America's fourth largest city.

The impact of that deluge will be felt for years. While no urban area could cope with that kind of water, Houston is unique among American cities in that it has no zoning code, which begs the question, would zoning have helped Houston better respond this kind of catastrophe?

It's a question planners and city officials should study. At first blush, it is not hard to imagine a comprehensive land use vision with far-sighted planning and enforceable zoning could have better shaped both the natural and the built environment in Houston to preserve the earth's natural capacity to absorb and channel water. As Houston struggles to make sense of this flooding of biblical proportions, zoning is one of the areas they should turn their attention.

If I tweeted, this is what I would say ...

1/3 @Potus. I always thought you were a complete fraud. But I was mistaken. You are very authentic. An authentic supporter of Nazis and Klansmen.

2/3 This makes you very un-American. You should resign. Immediately. And stop doing such great damage to this country.

3/3 #MAGA




Ah, 1938 was such a good year ...

Three quotes for a Tuesday

First, from the arch-conservative Edmund Burke, on manners ... (this quote is dedicated to our president, Donald J. Trump) ...

Manners are more important than laws. Upon them, in a great measure the laws depend. The law touches us but here and there, and now and then. Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in. They give their whole form and color to our lives. According to their quality, they aid morals, they supply them, or they totally destroy them.
Letters on a Regicide Peace, Letter 1, 1796

Next from Thucydides, the ancient Greek historian, on the contributions of ordinary men ... (this quote is dedicated to the citizens of Cambridge) ...

Ordinary men usually manage public affairs better than their more gifted fellows. The latter are always wanting to appear wiser than the laws, and to overrule every proposition brought forward, thinking that they cannot show their wit in more important matters, and by such behavior too often ruin their country; while those who mistrust their own cleverness are content to be less learned than the laws, and less able to pick holes in the speech of a good speaker; and being fair judges rather than rival athletes, generally conduct affairs successfully. These we ought to imitate.
The History of the Peloponnesian War, ca. 400 B.C.

Finally, from Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., doctor, writer and Boston Brahmin, on choosing a direction ... (this quote is dedicated to myself) ...

I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it -- but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.
Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, 1858

All of these quotes come from a calendar that got stuck in my drawer many years ago and has traveled with me on a few moves and a few life changes. The cover says "Best Wishes for 1995."

Cars: Tutto Italiano, 2017

Tutto Italiano, the Italian car extravaganza at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum, came to town yesterday, and here are a whole bunch of red Italian cars (with names when I know them) for your car viewing enjoyment.

Lamborghini Countach

Alfa Romeo Giulia

Ferrari F12 tdf

Ferrari 488 GTB

More about my Chevy Volt: Cruise Control not consistent

I had a strange experience driving my Chevy Volt on a recent road trip.

I could not get the car to go into cruise control. I'm not sure if I was doing something wrong, or if the car simply did not want to go into cruise mode, but either way it's a little bit disappointing to have a problem with a simple task such as this. The car after all barely has 2000 miles on it.

Normally, any problems of this nature are diagnosed on the internet by some intelligent person who then writes about it or posts a video, but on this issue, I wasn't able to find anything. I'll keep exploring. Meanwhile, if you know anything, please feel free to share it.