Economic Development

Urban renewal was supposed to save my hometown, instead it ripped it apart

A failed plan to breathe life back into the economy of the beautiful, walkable city where I grew up left it half the place it once was, broke my father’s heart and shaped me as an urbanist.

Map of Houston area’s distressed and prosperous ZIP codes shows ongoing and growing inequality

Where you live determines to a great extent how much access you have to quality education, health care, housing, public services and more. More access correlates to better outcomes in life. One-third of the Black population and almost one-third of the Hispanic population of Texas live in an economically distressed community. The populations of the Houston area’s distressed ZIP codes predominantly are people of color.

Where are Texas' fastest-growing cities? Check the suburbs

Though Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin all continue to grow, their suburban neighbors — led by Frisco — appear to be outpacing the biggest cities in Texas.

Race determines home values more today than it did in 1980

New research shows that 50 years after laws were put in place to stop the use of race in real estate appraisals, homes in neighborhoods of color are still being undervalued.

Residential segregation rewards whites while punishing people of color

From 1980 to 2015, homes in white neighborhoods increased in value, on average, $194,000 more than in neighborhoods of color, according to new research. And the rate of the gap in assessed values of these comparable homes in comparable neighborhoods is getting larger over time.

COVID-19 has hit Houstonians harder financially than NYC, LA and Chicago residents

Overall, 63% of Houston households have faced serious financial problems related to the COVID-19 crisis. And the overwhelming majority of Black (81%) and Latino (77%) households report having major financial troubles, according to a recent survey.

Charlotte and other Sun Belt cities are powering urban growth, but they have issues to tackle

Large Sun Belt cities have similar strengths, such as strong economies and relatively low costs of living. They also face the same problems, like growing income inequality and rising housing costs. A Kinder Institute report concludes that Sun Belt cities need to find new ways to address their common urban issues.

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.

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 Urban Sun Belt: An Overview

This report documents the unique set of urban challenges Sun Belt Cities face.

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.

Kinder Houston Area Survey: 2020 Results

For close to four decades, the Kinder Houston Area Survey has been tracking the changing attitudes and experiences of Houstonians.