Education

A major, federally led infrastructure strategy is vital to meeting the nation’s challenges. A new Kinder Institute report shows that to be truly responsive to the needs of America’s cities and regions, a bottom-up consultation process with regional and local leaders and a focus on three priorities will be necessary.

A shocking 70% of the nation’s 1,036 majority-Black ZIP codes are considered “distressed,” while only 19 — 1.8% — rank as “prosperous,” according to one analysis. Two of those prosperous ZIP codes are in Fort Bend County.

Here are the 10 most-viewed — and some of the most-engaging — Urban Edge stories of the year, as well as a look at how the Kinder Institute and its researchers are providing the insight needed to solve cities’ equity problems.