Research
The 2022 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston
The third annual State of Housing report looks at the pandemic's impact on the local housing market. The report also sets new housing baselines on mortgage loan data, homelessness and other housing indicators.

The 2021 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston
The 2021 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston report uses a range of indicators to track the challenges, opportunities and trends in the region’s housing system.

Texas Metropolitan Blueprint: A Policy Agenda to Secure the Competitiveness and Prosperity of Texas
The Texas Metropolitan Blueprint lays out recommendations for policies that address the most important economic development, land use, housing, infrastructure, and transportation challenges of the state’s metropolitan areas.

Near Northside: Safe Streets, Safe Communities
This report is the second in a series aimed to aid efforts to improve street safety in Houston. The first report (Safe Streets, Safe Communities) is linked below.
Community Resilience Initiatives: Building Stronger Neighborhoods in Houston
Effective efforts at the neighborhood level can be sustained and amplified by plugging into broader citywide efforts in ways that better align long-term goals and influence implementation plans at both levels.

Transit Adjacent Development and Neighborhood Change in Houston
This study explores how land use has changed between 2010 and 2016 in transit adjacent development (TAD) areas of Harris County, defined as census block groups within one mile of light rail stations, transit centers, and Park & Ride locations.

Safe Streets, Safe Communities: Walking and Biking Infrastructure in Gulfton
During the summer and fall of 2018, an audit was done on the Gulfton area's streets and sidewalks and these are the results.

Neighborhood Gentrification across Harris County: 1990 to 2016
The inventory of affordable housing has been diminishing and this report documents where in Houston it's diminishing the fastest.

Governing A Growing Region: Addressing Challenges of Service Provision and Development in Houston
This report takes a regional view to find major issues with the way our growth is governed.

While Houston continues to claim to be an affordable city, findings show that a lack of public transportation is making living in the city more difficult to access jobs in some areas.

This report provides a more in-depth understanding of critical transportation safety issues, highlights key issues and can be used to prioritize street safety improvements.

From Close Calls to Crashes: Infrastructure Priorities to Improve Safety For People on Bikes
This report focuses on how information about daily trips can be used to improve transportation safety for bicyclists.
This dashboard uses subdivision plat data to analyze the urban growth of Harris and Fort Bend counties between 1950 and 2015.

A look at best practices from other jurisdictions engaged in the hazard mitigation strategy of strategic property buyouts.

Developing Houston: Land-Use Regulation in the “Unzoned City” and its Outcomes
This report lays out the existing elements of Houston’s land development system and highlights several areas where it could be improved.

Urban Edge
Highways, flooding and sprawl: How Houston could have a bigger say in the region's future
Back in 2021, the Houston region's governing council offered up a final resolution of support for the contentious I-45 expansion project. The measure passed 14-11, with suburban members narrowly outvoting those representing Houston and Harris County. The vote marked an episode of stark division and intense scrutiny for the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC). It also raised questions about regional governance and how the Houston area’s urban and suburban populations should be represented.

Q&A: How a green approach could help Houston shrink its flood risks—and its carbon footprint
If Houston took a nature-based approach to its drainage systems, it could help mitigate climate change, lessen the city’s severe heat and create job opportunities among other benefits, according to a recent report by the Rocky Mountain Institute.

How a former landfill could help fight floods and reimagine a swath of southwest Houston
A proposal to transform a former landfill in southwest Houston into a mixed-use development with a flood control component recently caught the attention of statewide planners who recognized it for its contributions to resilience.

With conservation districts, Houston could have a new path to preserve neighborhoods
In October 2010, city officials were poised to strengthen Houston’s historic preservation law by adding a provision that, for the first time, would empower the city to forbid the demolition of certain homes in designated historic districts. Preservationists, who referred to the concept as “no means no,” were elated. But during last-minute wrangling over details, a Heights resident named Calvin Simper urged the City Council to reject the whole idea.

The Plant/Second Ward developers hope to balance walkability and affordability in Houston’s East End
A Houston-based real estate acquisition, development and management company is in the beginning phases of reshaping parts of the East End and Second Ward into a more walkable and equitable place that adds to the neighborhood’s diversity.

Events
Ten Across Summit: The Future is Here
The Ten Across Summit will convene a premier group of leaders and experts to discuss important issues such as water, energy, infrastructure, equity, democracy and risk.

Kinder Institute Forum: Scott Beyer
Urban affairs journalist Scott Beyer shares how a free-market approach to housing, transportation, public administration and more can create more livable cities.

Kinder Institute Forum: Antoine Bryant
Planner and community advocate Antoine Bryant discusses his work on affordable housing, equitable development and community-led design.

Leslie Kern discusses "Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World."

Kinder Institute Forum: Tamika L. Butler
A national expert and speaker on issues related to the built environment and equity, Tamika L. Butler discusses institutional oppression, the importance of inclusive urban design, and how to make transportation and public spaces more equitable.

Kinder Institute Forum: Mitchell J. Silver
New York City Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver discusses how planning and design can create equitable, inclusive and fun places for residents of New York, Houston and beyond.

Distinguished urban planner Alexander Garvin identifies shared elements of great downtowns, offers lessons from successful and failed projects, and charts a path forward to support downtowns into the twenty-first century.

Kinder Institute Forum: Maurice Cox
Maurice Cox, director of planning and development for the city of Detroit, Michigan, discusses creative design and community engagement as strategies for long-term equitable development.

Named by Newsweek as one of the five most innovative mayors in the country, four-term Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett discusses lessons learned from his city's success, Houston's opportunity zones, and the way forward for America's midsize metros.

Experts discuss how technology, policy and transportation interact, and how they can be used to develop a city that functions better for all communities.

Urban Reads: I-45 Meets the Walkable City
Following a presentation on what the I-45 freeway expansion means for Houston, city planner and urban designer Jeff Speck talks with Kinder Institute Director Bill Fulton.

Physical Address
Rice University
Kraft Hall
6100 Main Street, Suite 305
Houston, TX 77005-1892