Covid 19 and Cities

What transit agencies get wrong about equity, and how to get it right

All transit agencies must grapple with committing the resources necessary to effectively identify inequity and address it. In 2020, the mandate to ensure an equitable transportation system is more urgent than ever.

Traffic dropped 66%, but it came back and the coronavirus followed

Traffic levels fell dramatically throughout the Houston metro area as people were ordered to stay at home and businesses were closed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 — and it worked. But, as the economy was reopened and people returned to work, restaurants, bars, beaches and more, traffic levels and infection rates increased.

Imbalance, inequality and the growing burden on working parents with school-age kids

While children attend K-12 public schools for an average of 1,195 hours per year, a full-time working parent averages twice as much time, about 2,450 hours per year, working and commuting. Now, as school districts prepare to reopen for the fall semester — whether in-person, virtually or a combination of both — administrators, teachers, parents and students are having to adjust their plans based what’s possible during the coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19 survey: Houston area is the hardest hit large metro in America

Jobless claims, along with COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations, are on the rise in Texas. And the social and economic impacts seem to be the greatest in the Houston metropolitan area.

As COVID-19 cases surge in Texas, July rent is due for many struggling to avoid eviction

Renters in Texas were some of the first in the nation to face evictions after the state’s moratorium blocking eviction proceedings expired last month. A U.S. Census Bureau survey finds that 33% of renter households in Texas have little or no confidence in their ability to pay rent for July.

Helping families find — and keep — affordable housing during these tough times

Those who need affordable housing most have been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic crisis. And organizations that help create affordable housing opportunities in Houston and Harris County for these families are facing challenges — some anticipated, others not — in this new and uncertain world.

4 things limiting Houston’s ability to generate more revenue

Houston lost $25 million in sales tax revenue in March alone because of COVID-19. But the city’s fiscal struggles existed before the coronavirus pandemic. A new Kinder Institute report compares the revenue sources and service levels among the three largest cities in Texas — Houston, Dallas and San Antonio — all of which are expected to see COVID-19-related revenue losses of between 10 and 15%. Of the three, Houston is the most constrained in its options for increasing revenue.

If you’re lucky enough to work from home, where will home be after the pandemic?

The COVID-19 crisis forced many companies to quickly transition to work from home. Now, as the economy continues to open up, businesses have to decide if they’ll go back to the onsite world of the old normal or continue with the remote-work model of the new normal. Employees of companies that choose the latter will have more options for where they live and office, including the Urban Hotel, the Suburban Workshop and the Exurban Metropolis.

How Houston can reinvent itself and be bigger and better

As the city faces an economic crisis brought by the coronavirus pandemic and the downturn in oil, it needs to recognize the enormous opportunity to make changes that are necessary to become a leading 21st-century city.

In Houston, the new normal should include more efforts to reduce air pollution

Stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of COVID-19 resulted in Houstonians driving a lot less. But Houston hasn’t stopped being an industrial city during the pandemic, which shows why reducing all air pollution is key to protecting public health.

Shaping Africa’s urban areas to withstand future pandemics

In many African cities, the combination of density, widespread financial insecurity and underdeveloped health care systems make them especially vulnerable to being hit hard by COVID-19.

Mobility data shows some staying at home more than others during COVID-19 pandemic

Researchers studying the impact of stay-at-home mandates on the area’s environment and infrastructure share insight into which county populations are limiting their movement — and potential exposure to the coronavirus — more than others. 

Boom likely to resume but leaders need to square disparities in the Texas Triangle

Despite the current coronavirus-driven economic slowdown and drop in oil prices, Houston continues to be one of the fastest-growing and most prosperous metropolitan areas in America. The metro area continues to add about 100,000 residents annually and has a gross domestic product of a half-trillion dollars per year.

How the COVID-19 pandemic will change our cities

The SARS-CoV-2 virus has forever changed the world and life as we know it. Once the current pandemic is over, it will also change our approach to where we work, how we get there and more. 

Here’s what our cities will look like after the coronavirus pandemic

Editor’s note: This is the first of two posts exploring the long-term effects the COVID-19 crisis will have on the American city. Once we get through this, cities as we know them will be changed forever.