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Yeah, it's crazy. With the divide between county and city government in most parts of the country, and the lack of zoning specifically in Houston, you get "anything goes" zones right in the middle of downtown and near families where all manner of "media" and "personal services", legal or illegal, are for sale

Boston has been a dense city for a long, long time. Newer cities like Atlanta and Houston grew up surrounded by cheap land -- so commercial and residential development went up close together. There wasn't a lot of perceived need for zoning, and considerable resistance to it on property rights grounds. Plus, there's always some municipality in the area that's desperate enough for a tax base that they'll welcome anything that brings in money.