[brudgers]

The US can't even zone a residential neighborhood without lawyers and special interests jamming things up for decades through endless impact studies and litigation.

Famously, Houston has no zoning.

[ThePowerOfFuet]

The downside is that then nothing prevents a fireworks factory, or tannery, or whatever, right in the middle of a residential area.

Or, as they say everything is bigger in Texas, why not think big... an oil refinery!

[mr_toad]

A bit of quick searching reveals that Houston does have many building regulations, for example restrictions of hazardous enterprises. It’s just that the regulations aren’t quite as black and white as zoning laws.

https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/houston-doesnt-have-zoning...