Latest Urban Edge Stories

Move-outs in 2020 may have cost Houston thousands of residents

By the end of 2020, Houston had potentially tens of thousands of fewer residents, data from the U.S. Postal Service suggests. Like other cities, it experienced a surge in migration as people began leaving urban areas amid the pandemic lockdowns. That shift is also continuing to take place well into 2021.

News Story
: Jul 26, 2021
COVID-19 and Cities, Demographics, Housing

Despite the pandemic, Austin, Dallas and Houston all built more housing last year. It still wasn't enough.

Here at the Kinder Institute, we do a lot of research on housing—especially in Houston but also in some of the other big Texas metro areas. And all of our research says that Texas is gradually losing its affordability advantage: Home prices are rising faster than incomes, making housing less affordable each year. This is obviously true in Austin, where home prices are skyrocketing, but it’s also true in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth as well.

Urban Edge: Jul 21, 2021
COVID-19 and Cities, Housing

As we worked to corral COVID-19, traffic deaths spun out of control

There were 3,896 traffic deaths in Texas last year, 273 more than in 2019. That 7.5% increase followed year-over-year decreases in motor vehicle fatalities from 2017–19, and is the biggest jump since 2012. Traffic fatalities in Harris County went up by almost 19% last year.

That’s despite the fact that we were driving far less, or so it seemed.

News Story
: Jul 1, 2021
COVID-19 and Cities, Transportation

Latest Research

Kinder Houston Area Survey: 2021 Results

For the past four decades, Rice University’s Kinder Houston Area Survey (KHAS) has been tracking the changing attitudes and beliefs of Harris County residents. The 2021 survey summarizes the most consequential changes and their implications for public policy initiatives going forward. It also explores in what specific ways and to what measurable extent have residents been personally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, economic shutdown and growing awareness of systemic racism.
Report: May 11, 2021
COVID-19 and Cities, Demographics, Economic Development, Education, Governance, Health, Housing, Hurricane Harvey, Immigration, Placemaking, Transportation

A Bottom-Up Infrastructure Strategy for American Renewal

This report identifies infrastructure priorities identified by local and regional leaders around the nation. Conclusions provide an important set of guideposts about priorities the new administration should take into account in crafting a national infrastructure strategy.
Report: Feb 10, 2021
COVID-19 and Cities, Economic Development, Education, Governance, Health, Housing, Transportation, Urban Planning

The 2020 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston

This first State of Housing report compares how dozens of key housing indicators in Harris County and Houston have shifted between 2010 and 2018.
Report: Jun 23, 2020
COVID-19 and Cities, Housing, Transportation, Urban Planning