About half of Harris County residents unable to pay an unexpected $400 bill
An increasing number of Harris County residents are unable to readily come up with $400 to cover an unexpected expense — such as replacing tires worn out from crumbling roads, replacing a refrigerator full of food after the electricity is knocked out for a couple of days, or having a kid get sick or injured and needing to make a visit to an urgent care facility.
Physical activity is a magic bullet for our health. So what’s holding us back?
Regular physical activity may be the closest thing we have to a “magic bullet” to combat the obesity epidemic and alarmingly high rates of cardiovascular disease. Physical activity offers dramatic benefits for individuals but it also has the potential to knit together the social fabric of our communities, making us healthier physically and mentally. And it is free. So, what’s holding us back? As it turns out, something as easy as a safe walk around the neighborhood is out of reach for too many communities.
Houstonians have put aside concerns about public health as pandemic recedes from view
On May 11, 2021, Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research released the results of the 40th annual Houston Area Survey. Among the findings: 22% of respondents – a far higher share than in any previous survey – rated “public health” as the “biggest problem facing people in the Houston area today.”
Kinder Houston Area Survey: 2023 Results
The 42nd Kinder Houston Area Survey provides a glimpse into how Houstonians are thinking about the economy, affordable housing, inequality, and other critical challenges and issues facing their communities.
With Robins Landing, Habitat for Humanity takes on a new role: master-planned community developer
City officials, home builders and affordable housing developers gathered in northeast Houston this week to celebrate a new model for mixed-income housing.
Houston hopes more homeowners will embrace housing literally in their backyard
There is a lot to like about accessory dwelling units—garage apartments, in-law cottages, granny flats—as a form of housing. Done well, ADUs can help meet the needs for multigenerational families, workers and students, and they offer a gentler form of infill density in urban neighborhoods. They can also provide a source of income and build wealth for the homeowners who choose to build them. What will it take to spark a “backyard revolution” in Houston?
Is 3D printing ready to help meet the demand for housing? Texas puts it to the test
The urban population centers in Texas are losing their competitive edge in terms of housing costs, and it's becoming more expensive to build houses everywhere. Could 3D-printed housing help cities keep pace with demand and keep costs under control? One of the largest tests of the technology will soon be underway.
How close is Houston to ending homelessness? Closer than you think.
Houston has made considerable progress in reducing homelessness in the past decade. We know exactly what it will take to become the first major city to effectively end homelessness—including how many affordable housing units we’ll need to build.
Zillow, other iBuyer algorithms appear to be fixated on Harris County’s suburbs
Zillow’s recent high-profile offloading of its properties drew attention to the relatively new “iBuyer” sector of the housing economy. In this blog post, I explain this sector and map the location of Zillow and other iBuyer properties within Harris County. My analysis suggests that while urbanists often mull over gentrification, and this Institute often researches the subject, it doesn’t seem to apply to what’s happening to the communities where speculative investors operate.
What if houses of worship helped build more affordable housing?
Many houses of worship own empty and underused buildings and land. Cities and counties need properties for affordable housing. Seems like a match made in, well, heaven.
The Woodlands puts incorporation question up for a vote
The Houston suburb of The Woodlands has been called an “invisible city” for the dense tree canopy that shrouds the extent of its development. It is invisible perhaps in another way: It’s not a city at all, but rather a patchwork of special districts, service contracts and interlocal agreements—a tenuous marvel of public-private partnership. But that could soon change.
For Harris County renters, the path to homeownership is becoming harder to see
As housing prices rise, housing affordability is a growing concern for many families, especially for renters. The affordability gap varies by neighborhood, with most inner-city areas far beyond the reach of the median-income renter.
Four predominantly Black neighborhoods in Houston have been experiencing gentrification in recent years. Data captured by U.S. Census surveys shows these communities are becoming proportionally more Hispanic and more educated, housing prices are accelerating, and residents there are more likely to rent and face cost burdens than others in Harris County.
Who owns the single-family rentals and what do we know about them?
A lot of the rent houses owned by real estate investment trusts — or REITs — are located in unincorporated parts of Harris County and municipal utility districts (MUDs) that have been hit hardest by foreclosures and flooding. Many of them are connected to local and national homebuilders.
Houston and Harris County’s long reign of growth may have come to an end
Houston has always had a reputation as a fast-growing, go-go, get-it-done kind of place. But that’s changing.
Rice University
Kraft Hall
6100 Main Street, Suite 305
Houston, TX 77005-1892
