United Way data shows where Houstonians are struggling to make ends meet
According to the United Way of Greater Houston, more than 1 million households in the Greater Houston area are considered asset-limited, income-constrained and employed (ALICE) or are below the federal poverty level. These households — as many as 8 in 10 in some neighborhoods — are unable to afford basic necessities.
Community Bridges fellows continue to advance equitable solutions for Houston
In partnership with 16 nonprofit partner organizations, the 27 fellows in the 2022-2023 Community Bridges cohort grappled with urban inequality and poverty issues within Greater Houston communities.
Houston is a city for cars today, but that doesn’t mean it has to be one in the future. In a new book, “Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities”, Veronica O. Davis makes the case that reorienting communities toward people rather than automobiles is in the hands of everyday people as well as policymakers.
'You betta do somethin’': How seven artists helped Third Ward reclaim itself 30 years ago
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Project Row Houses' debut, the Urban Edge asked author and artist Lindsay Gary to reflect on the impact of this project on Third Ward, on Houston and on her own journey.
With economic concerns rising, Houstonians want more done to address the gap between rich and poor
As economic aftershocks from the COVID-19 pandemic linger, Houstonians have a dimmer view of their prospects, according to the 42nd annual Kinder Houston Area Survey. With inflation and housing costs reaching record highs—and a potential recession on the horizon—optimism among survey respondents was at one of its lowest levels in nearly three decades. More than ever before, Houston residents are also in alignment that more must be done to close income gaps.
More unhoused people are finding shelter in Houston. Ending chronic homelessness is the next hurdle.
New homelessness data for the area was released by the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County this week, with the 2023 mark showing little change from last year, but an increase in shelter capacity is keeping more people in safer conditions. Houston, considered a national model in reducing homelessness over the past decade, now looks to put a stop to chronic homelessness.
Historic Tamina community’s $21 million water deal comes at another cost
James Leveston has been fighting for more than 20 years to bring basic public services to the Montgomery County community of Tamina, where he’s lived for most of his life. Late last year, he went door to door asking his neighbors if they would support a deal with the nearby city of Shenandoah to provide water and sewer service. About 150 of the 190 affected households agreed, he said.
New trove of federal data clearly shows a growing racial gap in home appraisals
The government just released millions of records on residential appraisals. A pair of researchers who focus on racial inequity in housing analyzed the data. Here’s what they found.
Accountability, capacity building and collaboration key to a healthier Settegast
Settegast’s estimated life expectancy of 65.7 years, more than 20 years lower than the highest expectancies in Clear Lake and River Oaks, makes it among the most vulnerable communities in our area. While residents of the historically Black neighborhood in northeast Houston have called out inequities over the course of several decades, those concerns have mostly gone unheeded. But there is hope that change is coming.
The first project in Buffalo Bayou Park's eastward plan is its most urgent: Build more housing
It’s really quite a lovely park, with features that check all the standard boxes: a playground, a gazebo with a big table, a soccer field, restrooms and water fountains, a paved trail that winds through the property, and lots of plain old green space. On a recent weekday afternoon, though, a visit to Tony Marron Park on Houston’s East End revealed a few glitches.
Thanks to Justice40, Port Houston investments will bring long overdue relief to Pleasantville
My wife and I couldn’t believe it. When we retired and moved back home to Houston’s historically Black Pleasantville, just east of downtown, we smelled the unmistakable odor of the petrochemical plants and saw the close-knit community where we’d grown up surrounded by noisy freeways. The apartments where friends of mine lived had been replaced by warehouses swarming with old diesel trucks.
Is Houston really better off without zoning? One planner makes the case in ‘Arbitrary Lines’
A new book, “Arbitrary Lines,” argues that a century of zoning has hardened racial and class segregation in cities across the U.S. and worsened the effects of inequality by making it almost impossible to build anything but single-family homes in some cities. Author and planner M. Nolan Gray says there is a better way: Just look at Houston.
Federal report calls out civil rights inequities in Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath
In the wake of two historically devastating storms in 2017, financial aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development contributed to an increase in wealth inequality.
After Hurricane Harvey, flood insurance created windfalls and fault lines for the middle class
Friendswood, a close-knit suburb southeast of Houston that routinely makes lists for being the “best place to raise a family,” also serves as a case study for how flaws in the federal approach to flood insurance and disaster recovery aid resulted in fractured outcomes even among similarly situated middle-class neighbors after Hurricane Harvey.
This comprehensive study of educational equity throughout Houston ISD focuses on understanding whether historically marginalized student populations in the district have the resources they need to be successful in the classroom and beyond.
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