Housing USED to be comparably low in Houston. Not anymore. As for zoning, they have HOAs that protect from a pig farm being next door. Plus, if a piece of land is developed for single family housing the land next door is much more valuable for houses than it is for pig farming.
You have to go farther and farther away from Houston to see a pasture full of cows or a soybean field.
That’s my point. It’s not like you’re in a coastal city or in an area surrounded by mountains where space is limited. Why would anyone pay a premium for land in a place where space is not constrained?