Houston is divided by highways today, but does it have to be that way tomorrow?
URBAN EDGE : April 23, 2024
The way highways cut through and loop around cities like Houston — disconnecting, disrupting and displacing communities, businesses and people and reinforcing racial and economic segregation — can feel like a fact of nature. But as Megan Kimble recounts in her new book, “City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, And the Future of America’s Highways,” this hasn’t always been the case.
After 40 years of encouraging play, SPARK wants to eliminate Houston’s park deserts
URBAN EDGE : November 27, 2023
In 1983, Houston’s Green Ribbon Commission reported that the city needed an additional 5,000 acres of greenspace to compete with the parks and recreation facilities in other U.S. cities. To meet this challenge, the report suggested creating community parks on public school grounds, which led to the SPARK School Park Program.
Urban farmers seeking healthier communities in Houston’s East End and beyond
URBAN EDGE : October 25, 2023
Finca Tres Robles, an urban farm in Houston’s East End established by the Small Places organization in 2014, is in a state of transition. It initially combined agriculture, community engagement and sustainability. As it moves into its second iteration, it will continue that work with hopes of expanding its reach.
Former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett reflects on Hurricane Ike 15 years later
URBAN EDGE : September 13, 2023
Hurricane Ike made landfall on Galveston in the early hours of Sept. 13, 2008, as a Category 2 storm with 110 mph winds. It produced a catastrophic storm surge throughout Galveston County, especially the Bolivar Peninsula and in Chambers County. While Houston was mostly spared from flooding, about 100,000 structures in Harris County were damaged by wind, according to the Harris County Flood Control District. Over 2 million CenterPoint customers lost power, with some areas going several weeks until electricity was restored. The widespread outages marked the first time a curfew was issued by the city of Houston.
'The New Red Book' is a call to appreciate Houston as a bastion of Black heritage
URBAN EDGE : November 21, 2022
A new book serves as a long overdue field guide to Black history in Houston, one that hearkens back to a century-old catalog of the city’s African American community. In “The New Red Book,” author Lindsay Gary takes readers to 50 sites, telling the stories about these important spaces and the people whose legacies remain relevant today.
Is Houston really better off without zoning? One planner makes the case in ‘Arbitrary Lines’
URBAN EDGE : September 29, 2022
A new book, “Arbitrary Lines,” argues that a century of zoning has hardened racial and class segregation in cities across the U.S. and worsened the effects of inequality by making it almost impossible to build anything but single-family homes in some cities. Author and planner M. Nolan Gray says there is a better way: Just look at Houston.
In ‘More City than Water,’ Houston tells its Hurricane Harvey story. Will we listen?
URBAN EDGE : August 25, 2022
Flood survival stories are a Houston shibboleth, a test of membership. Make it through a devastating downpour, and you are one of us. And everyone who lived in the Houston area in August 2017 has a Hurricane Harvey story. For some, it was another entry in a collection of flood stories, depending on how long they lived here and where; for others, it was their first, a rude awakening to very real vulnerabilities.
If it hopes to overcome future Harveys, Houston needs to double down on resilience and planning
URBAN EDGE : August 16, 2022
A new book serves as a guide for how cities can best learn from one another to design systems and build ways to endure the worst climate shocks to come. This includes Houston’s experience—both for what to expect from a changing climate and how to respond. Its authors say Houston has done several things right, but they also worry that future disasters could outpace these efforts.
The return to work will determine the fate of downtowns. Is Houston ready for what’s next?
URBAN EDGE : June 10, 2021
Central Houston President Bob Eury has been tracking COVID-19 case counts since the early days of the pandemic and has the spreadsheet to prove it. It was a ritual that he says helped him stay on top of the virus and how far off “normal” might be. But there may be one number he is tracking even more closely: how many of downtown’s estimated 168,000 workers are returning to the office.