Nice Essay on Property Rights, Houston, and No Zoning

Brian Phillips at his Live Oaks blog has a nice essay about Houston and it's rejection of zoning. He makes the moral case of maintaining my home town's rejection of a rampant form of anti-market thought that has gone mostly unnoticed by most national economists.

His words:

Those in favor of tighter land use regulations voice numerous arguments in support of their proposals. Such controls will improve our quality of life, stabilize property values, and empower the citizens. But underneath all of these arguments lies one unspoken premise-- some individuals may impose their values upon others. Some individuals may use force to dictate the actions of others. Which means, the values of some may be sacrificed to others.

...

Houston has become the star of the Lone Star state because it has implicitly rejected this premise. Houston has largely respected property rights, and has thus not used political coercion to dictate the actions of individuals.