One of the interesting things about Houston is that we don't have any zoning here--so, you'll have apartments right next to light industrial, commerce next to public office next to shipping depots. This leads to a very eclectic mix in various parts of town.<p>What's really fun is watching how engineers/hackers transform the space they live in--regardless of lease, regardless of contracts, regardless of anything, cable by cable and bolt by bolt true hackers will terraform their living space to match what they want.<p>At our house, for example, first came a clumsy dining room table and chair made from hand-cut wood. Next, ethernet cable snaking into every room tacked to the ceiling. Next, small bolts to hold closed a dining-room-cum-office door. Then came a small shelf mounted over the kitchen sink, L1 cache for cooking. A few months later, a new screen over the utility closet. After that, a two-bike rack scaffolded over a brick wall. A bookshelf over the fireplace holding a media server. Speakers shelves over doorways. More cables interleaved with/replacing the old runs. Homemade LED display over the bar attached to the new CNS of the house.<p>Every day, a minor itch building a desire that one day culminates in another improvement.<p>I think that the attractor state for hackers left to their own devices is basically Kowloon (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City</a>).