Houston's parking minimums are absolutely the main culprit for the amount of sprawl it has even in its downtown areas. Every single business needs a parking lot so everything is in a strip mall and therefore unwalkable.
Sure but I don’t think it’s helpful to try and separate those from zoning regulations here. Also I think even without those mandatory minimums a city like Houston is dead set on cars at all cost. Frankly, all of America is this way too it’s just that there are a few cities where geography has constrained sprawl. I fear for my own city, Columbus. The state, county, and city governments just do not understand that car-first infrastructure is a failed policy and will bankrupt us.
