Urban Disparity

Houston isn’t the best, but it’s one of the greatest, according to the rankings

Posts about where Houston and other Texas metros are ranked on lists of best and worst places for you-name-it routinely perform well on this blog. These lists range from happiest and safest cities to best cities for staycations, foodies and working from home. Today, we’re kicking off a new feature focused on rankings and Houston’s place on them.

Urban flood buyouts are fracturing some Houston neighborhoods more than others

Since the 1980s, the federally backed home buyout program has been used to move more than 40,000 households out of flood-prone areas. What began as an effort to help farmers weather the devastating impacts of flooding has become a tool for urban and suburban homeowners to escape worsening climate risks. Yet as logical as this policy sounds, a new study from sociologists at Rice and Temple finds it may also be eroding the social fabric of some communities more than others—especially those with lower home values and higher proportions of Black and Hispanic residents.

As affordability wanes, Houston and Harris County renters face crowding, cost burdens

The Kinder Institute’s second annual “State of Housing” report comes as Houston—and much of the country—remains in the midst of a residential real estate bonanza. A yearlong buying spree, fueled by a combination of factors, is driving the country to historically low inventory levels and propelling prices ever higher.

Concentrated poverty in schools is redlining’s legacy. Undoing it should be ours.

As the school year ends, the relief is palpable. Let’s acknowledge what we went through during the pandemic. Many of us are feeling burnt out, but this is not the time to stop paying attention. Now is the moment to think big about the future of education.

Maternal deaths are public health and health equity problems. They’re also preventable.

The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is rising, and Black women have the highest risk. Extending access to postpartum health care would prevent deaths.