Urban Edge

Sharp insights. Smart solutions. Better cities.

As rents and home prices go up, once-affordable Houston grows less accessible

Dozens of key housing indicators in Houston and Harris County shifted between 2010 and 2018, and in just the past several months the area has been hit by parallel economic and public health crises that have slowed home sales, disrupted the rental market and halted new development, making it even more difficult for many area residents to find affordable housing.

COVID-19 hot spots emerge across the Sun Belt as states expand reopenings

Amid reopenings, Texas, Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma and California are among many states seeing large spikes in new coronavirus infections.

Texas economy ranks near the top for racial equality in a nation with pervasive wealth inequality

The efforts of demonstrators calling for racial justice for Black Americans has evolved into a global movement to address the economic, environmental, educational and health care disparities created by systemic racism in the United States. A new report compares and ranks the economies of all 50 states in terms of racial equality.

On this Juneteenth, a look at how an expanded ‘Black commons’ could help undo slavery’s racist legacy

Land loss has plagued Black America since emancipation — is it time to look again at ‘Black commons’ and collective ownership?

The essential role of art has been exhibited during the COVID-19 shutdowns

The sudden closure of museums, galleries, concert halls and theaters in March upended the art world. The resulting financial and personal impacts of the pandemic on artists and art lovers has been enormous. Can the arts stage a comeback?

How the mayor of Washington D.C. used ‘graffiti’ to protect public space

Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered “BLACK LIVES MATTER” to be painted on a street near the White House. The act would have been considered vandalism had it not been done by city workers.

As other cities consider defunding police, Houston increases HPD’s budget

In the past 20 years, many social functions and gaps in city services have fallen to police departments, which, at the same time, have been acquiring more paramilitary equipment. Now, as cities face large budget deficits because of revenue losses from the COVID-19 pandemic and protestors call for defunding the police, it's yet to be seen how police services will be affected.

Protests, public space and the remaking of cities

Highways that divide neighborhoods, crumbling local streets, poorly maintained public spaces and proximity to unhealthy industrial sites — impact black and brown communities far more than wealthier, predominately white neighborhoods. These inherent inequalities in the nation’s infrastructure systems are problems that arise from decades of racial inequality and disinvestment.

Together, the bold cities of the I-10 corridor can take on the urgent issues of our time

The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare many of the disparities deeply rooted in our society. Given the technology available to us, such as data-gathering technologies, visualization systems and instantaneous communication, our ability to anticipate the future is unprecedented. Combining those resources with collective action, we can confront the issues we’re facing today and prepare for the challenging events of tomorrow.

Large, young and fast-growing Sun Belt metros need urban policy innovation

Large cities of the Sun Belt are getting bigger and younger faster than metro areas in other parts of the country. They also face a combination of challenges unlike those metros in other regions; however, American urban policy as we know it was created for traditional Northeastern and Midwestern cities.