In general, the way you describe things doesn't bother me that much--heck, what passes for zoning in my city put my house within earshot of a steel mill! My first reaction to "church next to strip club" was to call it old-time religion. And the proud one earlier made a good point about the dangers of careless zoning.

Add to that, though, the legendarily-bad Houston traffic and your comments about the heat and humidity's effects on the buildings. To what extent is the sloppy zoning one symptom of a lack of planning? No planning where things should go, no planning for traffic and other infrastructural needs, no building to withstand the local climate?