Our coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic examines the disease's effects on Houston and the surrounding region, both now and once the outbreak is over.
35% of Houston workers have had jobs impacted by COVID-19
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has upended life in most of the country, and as cities and states issue social distancing and stay-at-home orders, millions of Americans have lost their jobs. Current figures estimate the national unemployment rate to be around 15%.
At the complicated intersection of cars, housing and a fast-growing, sprawling city
Earlier this month, LINK Houston and the Kinder Institute for Urban Research released a co-authored report examining where affordable housing and high-quality, affordable transportation co-exist in Houston. The city has a reputation as a place where the cost of living is low, but more and more that’s just a memory of a bygone Houston.
Frequent crises have shown us the power of solidarity. The city needs that strength now.
People show their true selves during emergencies and times of crisis.
In Houston, the new normal should include more efforts to reduce air pollution
Once Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s order to stay home to slow the spread of the coronavirus went into place in late March, Gunnar Schade, an atmospheric scientist at Texas A&M University, started studying the air quality. With less daily driving, smoggy cities under similar orders across the world saw their skies start to clear. Schade wondered about Houston.
Snapshot taken of Houston just before pandemic shows the inequalities COVID-19 would exploit
What’s the biggest problem facing people in the Houston area today?
If asked that question in the past month and a half, it seems like easy money to bet every response would involve the economy or health.
But back in late January and early March of this year, when interviews for the 2020 Kinder Houston Area Survey were conducted, congestion on the city’s streets and freeways was the most-common concern. (It was the top response in the previous three years as well.)
Could parklets help Houston restaurants recover from the pandemic?
Houston has become as well-known for its food scene as it has for its sprawl and the whole no-zoning thing.
Webinar: 2020 State of Housing in Houston and Harris County
How coronavirus infection rates in Texas metros compare to nation’s largest areas
Last weekend, the Sacramento Bee published an analysis of COVID-19 infection data from the nation’s 53 largest metropolitan areas, all of which have a population of over 1 million. The seven-county Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) had an infection rate — cases per 100,000 — of 62.1, the lowest among the country’s largest metros.
Urban Edge explains: The decennial census and why it’s more important than ever
Just like social distancing measures, communities are reliant on residents’ full participation in the census to make it as beneficial as possible for as many as possible.
Already vulnerable neighborhoods are hardest hit by COVID-19 job losses
It has been more than one month since Harris County issued its initial stay-at-home order to slow the spread of COVID-19. In that time, the number of confirmed cases in the county has grown from 134 on March 24 to more than 6,100 as of today. While this growth seems to indicate a widespread outbreak, the virus is not affecting all areas equally.