In the past month, new and greater focus has been placed on the need to address economic, environmental, educational and health care inequalities related to race in the U.S. For many years, systemic racism has limited access to housing as well. Here, we take a look at findings from the Kinder Institute’s State of Housing report in the context of Settegast, a historically Black neighborhood in northeast Houston.
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.
The Kinder Institute’s State of Housing in Harris County and Houston reports provide annual updates across a variety of housing-related indicators tracking shifts in the region's housing system.
The state’s property tax reform bill, which limits the amount cities and counties can raise property taxes to 3.5%, is expected to significantly affect one of the largest sources of revenue for local governments. Many will be looking for ways to circumvent the financial constraints of the measure. That’s something Houston has been dealing with since 2004.
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.
Research related to Houston’s problems with ‘newly poor’ neighborhoods, housing affordability, auto loan debt, transportation and COVID-19 all point to one overarching issue: Inequality.
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.
For years, Houston has been touted as one of the nation’s most affordable major metropolitan areas. But it’s now facing a decreasing supply of affordable housing.
To effectively address the affordability crisis in Houston, local decision-makers and individuals must consider the combined costs of housing and transportation and their impact on overall affordability.
While local decision-makers and individuals tend to view housing and transportation separately, effectively addressing affordability for Houstonians means considering housing and transportation expenses together.
To better understand the affordability crisis in Houston, LINK Houston and Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research teamed up to explore where affordable housing and high-quality, affordable transportation overlap in the city.
Through workshops, community feedback and an interactive data walk, a Houston Community Data Connections team empowered Third Ward community members and other stakeholders to use data from a multi-phase comprehensive needs assessment to pursue priorities in the neighborhood.
In the past several months, the density of urban areas has been demonized by more than a few because of the COVID-19 crisis. While understandable, it’s not completely accurate when it comes to the current pandemic, which has ravaged New York but hasn’t affected other very dense cities like Hong Kong and Singapore in the same way. In Houston, the city’s light touch when it comes to land-use regulations and its relative affordability are leading to greater density. That trend is likely to continue when the pandemic ends.
