Public Health

It’s hard to breathe with a concrete plant in your backyard

NIMBY opposition alone isn’t enough to counter the harmful effects of air pollutants emitted by concrete batch plants located in underserved and over-polluted communities in Harris County, which is home to more of these facilities than any county in Texas. Too often, much of the pollution and many of the polluters largely go unchecked by the state.

A summer fellowship is the bridge to AmeriCorps service in Fifth Ward

The Kinder Institute’s Community Bridges program provides Rice University students an opportunity to both study and work to address urban inequality in Houston. Here’s Susanna Yau’s story of how working with the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation changed her life.

Public transit has lost its momentum during the pandemic. Can it be regained?

Since mid-March, ridership has plummeted and there’s concern about a “transit death spiral.” But new studies show that public transportation isn’t a major source of coronavirus transmission.

Talking about walking: A conversation with Houston’s first chief transportation planner

David Fields is the City of Houston’s first chief transportation planner. Leaving the Bay Area for this newly created position, he arrived in Houston at a time, though, when transportation was changing.

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.

Why are Houston pedestrians forced to play a real-life game of ‘Frogger’?

Under Texas law, drivers are required to yield the right of way to people in a crosswalk, marked or unmarked. But for the most part, Houston drivers ignore the rules. In the end, the driving laws in the state are not protecting vulnerable road users.

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.

COVID-19 hot spots emerge across the Sun Belt as states expand reopenings

Amid reopenings, Texas, Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma and California are among many states seeing large spikes in new coronavirus infections.

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.

The essential role of art has been exhibited during the COVID-19 shutdowns

The sudden closure of museums, galleries, concert halls and theaters in March upended the art world. The resulting financial and personal impacts of the pandemic on artists and art lovers has been enormous. Can the arts stage a comeback?

Together, the bold cities of the I-10 corridor can take on the urgent issues of our time

The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare many of the disparities deeply rooted in our society. Given the technology available to us, such as data-gathering technologies, visualization systems and instantaneous communication, our ability to anticipate the future is unprecedented. Combining those resources with collective action, we can confront the issues we’re facing today and prepare for the challenging events of tomorrow.

The only treatment for metastatic racism may be radical reconstructive surgery

From frequent recurrences of police brutality and the widening gaps in access to opportunity, to the coronavirus’ outsized impact on communities of color, the invasive disease of racism has spread throughout the American system. If white people truly mean well, they must make an unflinching commitment to the tough, unpleasant and honest work of authentic change.