Shout it from the (properly zoned) Rooftops!

It's Houston Area Survey time again, and the natives are giddy over numbers that show the citzenry to be in love with zoning, planning and everything else that's viewed as proper and polite in a society where a benevolent group of predominately white folks run shepherd over those who are less fortunate then are they. It's a beautiful world full of cottage boutiques, DINK families and peaceful, walkable neighborhoods where the homeless and unwashed have been zoned out of existence.


Oh yeah, there's also the small matters of question framing and study accuracy that always seem to surface when the HAS comes around.

Let's take a closer look at some of the questions, the answers, and maybe get to the deeper meanings behind the answers...


Question One: (Land Use)

Which of these statements comes closer to your own view? — We need better land-use planning to guide development in the Houston area; or: People and businesses should be free to build wherever they want?

Unsurprisingly around 70% of respondants decided that they wanted the "better" option presented in this survey. That's because "better" is a leading word and should be avoided whenever possible when conducting random sampling surveys to avoid bias-creep. This is the same issue that I took with the Alan Fletcher poll which asked if "voters should elect someone else to do a better job", the insenuation that the current options are inferior.

After all, we all want to be "better" right?


Question Two:

Unlike some cities, Houston does not have a general or comprehensive plan for future growth. Would you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose creating a General Plan to guide Houston’s future growth?

More biased language. Guess which answer over 70% of respondants either "strongly supported" or "somewhat supported"? That's right, because we all want what others have. By "seeding" the idea that other cities have a "general or comprehensive plan" while Houston does not the survey lends itself to the idea that Houston is somehow inferior in scope to those who do.

"Unlike Tommy, you don't have a sucker or a plan for getting one. Do you think you should have a sucker or do you oppose the idea of one?"


Question Three:

Are you in favor or opposed to zoning in Houston — i.e., citywide control over the uses of the land in different areas?

I have no major issues with this question as asked. What I do take issue with is how the data is being presented to the public. Here's just a few snippets:

Mrs. White:

The latest 2008 Houston Survey indicates that a majority of Houston-area residents want to protect their property.

Inside Central Houston Blog:

The population growth and constant development and redevelopment particularly inside Loop 610 cannot be ignored. It's out with the old, in with the new. Townhomes, condos and McMansions are replacing bungalows as central Houston gets denser. Yet there are few rules to govern the development.

According to the 2008 Houston Area Survey a majority of Harris County residents want to change that.

Both of those statements are not based on the facts presented in the study, and both are extrapolations of the data without factual basis.

Here's what the data DOES show, factually.

1999 Results:

Favor: 57.1%
Oppose: 33.1%
DK/NS: 9.8%


2008 Results:

Favor: 53.7%
Oppose: 29.5%
DK/NS: 16.8%


So, what does this tell us? Not much really. What we do kow is that those in favor of the proposal and those opposed to zoning fell by around 3.5% in the last nine years. The "Don't Know/Not Sure" catagory picked up most of that slack. If anything it tells us that the debate has become more nuanced with support for traditional zoning dropping and more people wanting something else. There's nothing to back up the breathless assertions of the Chron writers suggesting that Houston is finally ready to hold the line on the scourge that is open development.

I'm going to agree with Kuff on this one:

The print edition showed that the approval rate for "zoning" was a bit less than it was for the 1999 survey. This is a little like those "do you plan to vote for a Republican or a Democrat this year" polls. The generic result may look favorable for your side, but once a specific candidate - or in this case, a specific proposal - is in place, there will be specific things to criticize about it, and people who might like the idea in the abstract will see themselves as losing if it passes. This is not to say that another zoning referendum would be doomed to fail, just that having a majority in favor of the concept now means little.

With all of the negative press that people have been reading of late regarding the Ashby High-rise, the River Oaks Shopping Center and a host of other redevelopments its no wonder that people think some neighborhood protections are a good idea.

The question that still hasn't been answered is what that is, and how Houston goes about implementing it.

Relying on a survey that's increasingly demonstrating itself to be structurally flawed and in desperate need of a total re-work is a poor way to determine public policy.