“I grew up in America’s 4th largest city, it did not have zoning laws.”
Prior to zoning land was protected by residential covenants such as exist in River Oaks.
Zoning was an attempt to bring upper income property protections to the masses.
In the past builders with Texas sized land availability would have simply built outward, leave even unprotected areas pretty much intact.
I don’t think zoning came to my area of Florida until the late 1960s. The need for wells and septic tanks meant that the typical lot size was about half an acre. Dense development was confined to arterial road corridors with sewer lines. Physical factors pretty much negated the need for zoning.
In New York City blocks of brownstones were ‘shattered’. To prevent this NYC developed a system of air rights. A brownstone holder on a street could sell his air rights to a developer to build a tall building on an avenue.
River Oaks isn’t typical of the 640 square miles of Houston.
Houston doesn’t have zoning laws.