Not applicable to me or anyone that I work with (everyone I know switched to business casual a long, long time ago), so I don’t really care. Let the lawyers and energy executives fend for themselves in their Lexi (or Lexuses – whichever is the correct plural). I still want a walkable, transit-oriented community. And another thing – I want it for my leisure use as well as business use – in these cases I likely will be wearing Hawaiian shirts.

With our humidity, it’s not pleasant to walk five minutes outside in slacks and a shirt either, at least not for about five months of the year. Most people don’t want to sit at their desk or make a presentation or what have you soaked.

A person has to be realistic about that fact. Fortunately, we have the tunnel system downtown, and some Houston workers DO walk a little more than is perceived. But even that concession to the realities of Houston weather gets criticism from some people who would prefer a more vibrant street scene.

My point is, why on earth do we wear suits in Houston?

The answer is, our cultural norms came from England and New England. We dress like Northern Europeans, even though our climate is nothing like theirs.

I think we’re beginning to see very small baby steps away from that. More and more employers are allowing their workers to lose the jacket and tie and just wear slacks and a shirt.

I hope that I live to see the day that people wake up and realize that we need to develop our own climate-appropriate clothing so that we can go outside and not be miserable.

Things like loose white shirts, big hats, and linen pants (or, gasp, shorts) would go a long way to making it more comfortable to be outside.

That’s the crux of Tory’s counterpoint above: people dressed for the weather (recreating) don’t mind, and people not dressed for it (office workers) do. The sooner we all start dressing for the weather, the better of we’ll all be.

I’m not trying to prevent people from building what they want and living how they want. Nor am I opposed to pedestrian improvements in Houston. But let’s face reality that the vast majority of Houstonians prefer their air-conditioned cars most of the year.

On the other hand, it’s a mystery to me why people who can’t handle temperatures above 75 work so hard to prevent other people from doing what they want.