Browsing by Author "Mixon, John"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    HindCite: Zone First, Ask Questions Later
    (Rice Design Alliance, 1991) Mixon, John
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    Honor Thy Neighbor: A Zoning Starter Kit for Houston
    (Rice Design Alliance, 1990) Mixon, John
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    Planning law and urban design
    (1985) Shah, Sonal; Rowe, Peter G.; Mixon, John; Blackburn, James B.
    Zoning and deed restrictions are the major legal Instruments employed for land use decisions in the U.S. The land use patterns of Dallas, a zoned city with stated public goals of "health, safety and welfare" and that of non-zoned Houston with laissez-faire attitudes and an active private enterprise (with deed restrictions as a major legal instrument) have more similarities than differences. One of the major reasons for such similarities Is the American ideal of free-hold land tenure established when the nation was founded and epitomized by the single family detached housing unit. The principles of "right to private property", laid down by philosophers like Blackstone, Smith and Locke, have subsequently been maintained and strengthened by legal, fiscal and social doctrines. This American lore (ownership of single family detached residence) and the "laws" (land use laws that support and further the "ideal") suggests that this social ideal has taken the form of "natural law" in the American society, sometimes with unexpected consequences.
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    Urban development and physical form; a proposal for decision making
    (1971) Christy, Howard Beverly; Mixon, John; Britton, Earle V.; Hendren, Philip
    Realizing that under all decisions concerned with design there is an undefined value base, this thesis has been structured to investigate the problems in identifying that value base and in so doing, proposes an approach for handling similar investigations. The proposal is conceived to question those decision-making processes dealing with urban and regional planning and design, and in particular those processes related to urban development and the resulting physical form. It emphasizes environic factors, forces, and influences and their dynamic effect upon natural and man-made conditions. The intent is to encourage and cultivate a better understanding for control and management of natural resources and other conservational assets, and to develop a sense of strategy in their protection and uses Importance is placed upon the relevance of timing and on physical design, both in terms of long-range investment and in immediacy with respect to conditions of current crisis. The concept of land as a commodity which is exhaustible in terms of destroying its natural and inherent life support quality is a reoccurring theme throughout the investigation. The degree of success or failure experienced by the architect/planner in his effort to achieve a livable environment is evaluated in the application of the decision- making process to the design process. The conflict between design theory and the practice of design is examined in relationship to the architect/planner's background of knowledge and commitment to professional responsibility. A case study which typifies the full range of problems anticipated in an urbanization process is scrutinized as a vehicle for testing the validity of such a concern for an approach as well as the approach itself. The keynotes of the proposal are its attempt to eliminate the existences of crisis decisions and design by default within the city-building process. The particular methodology proposed herein is structured to enable the investigator to have a better understanding of the scope of effort necessary in order to identify the means to an end. That end is the elimination of indecisive planning.
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    Zoning Around
    (Rice Design Alliance, 2011) Mixon, John