Urban Edge

More and more American cities are setting Vision Zero goals, but progress toward making streets safe for all users, particularly those using non-motorized transportation, is slow to come.

In 2015, METRO took its outdated bus network down to the studs and designed an entirely new regional transit system that made bus service less complicated and more frequent along the busiest routes. The results made transportation officials in cities across the country take notice.

It’s a tough time of year for homeowners in Houston. In November, a letter arrives from the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector with next year’s property tax bill. Some people pay their taxes every month with their mortgage. Others, like me, end up writing a big check in January.

So, what’s the deal with zoning laws in Houston? While it’s true the city has none, it still regulates development using a complex system of codes. These codes, however, don’t govern land use.

Since the turn of the century, many neighborhoods in or near the heart of Houston and the state’s other large metropolitan areas — Dallas, San Antonio and Austin — have been transformed by the ongoing inflow of affluence. A change better known as gentrification.

It’s been a decade since the Kinder Institute for Urban Research was formed at Rice University. During that time, a lot has changed at the institute and in the Houston metropolitan area. In 2020, the Urban Edge will feature a number of stories related to the 10-year anniversary of the institute. To kick things off, let's compare the Houston area of 2010 with the city today.

Kinder Institute for Urban Research Director Bill Fulton recalls the optimism and influence of his mentor, the urban affairs writer and journalist Neal Peirce. 

The most-popular Urban Edge stories from the past year ranged in topic from dockless scooters and the growth rate of Dallas to the unequal distribution of trees in the city and the Opportunity Zone program. But the most popular topic of 2019 was TxDOT’s enormous I-45 expansion plan.

A comparison of data from the latest American Community Survey (ACS) with that of the ACS from 2008 to 2012 revealed something interesting about the continued steady growth of the Houston-area population.

Texas’ leading political figures have made it clear they don’t have much use for local government. From curbing cities' ability to generate property tax revenue to a call for localities from lobbying in Austin, state officials continue to limit the power of local governments.

And just like that, 2019 is (almost) over. It was a blur.

As we close in on Day 365 of the year, we're thinking back on some of the best things we watched, listened to, read and even came to rely on because they entertained, inspired, informed and moved us.

WalletHub calculated the cost and time it would take residents to pay off median card balances in cities across the country.

Last month, Metro announced it was studying the elimination of transit fares. Kansas City, whose city council recently approved a move to a universal free-fare system, could provide valuable insight into how such a system would work.

Extensions of light rail service in areas with easy access to Houston’s major job centers have brought residential and commercial development to those areas. Researchers at the Kinder Institute wanted to find out if and how transit investments impact patterns of gentrification in the city.