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.