Urban Edge

A longtime public transit rider describes what it was like to use Metro again for the first time in more than a year.

And why there needs to be more investment in bicycle infrastructure in Houston and other cities.

New research from the Houston Education Research Consortium shows that — in both urban and nonurban parts of the state — students learning English are taking longer to become proficient. Texas needs to act now to address the problem and help these students avoid long-term struggles in school.

Among 34 large cities studied, homicide rates increased almost 30% last year, compared to 2019. Reasons for the shocking spike relate in large part to the pandemic and its societal impacts, but the killing of George Floyd may have been a contributing factor as well. Evidence-based approaches and committed elected officials will be key to reducing violent crime in American cities going forward.

The development of townhomes in Houston predominantly has taken place in high-amenity neighborhoods where gentrification has already occurred. The latest report from the Kinder Institute also shows new townhome construction is growing in at-risk neighborhoods, a trend that appears to be speeding gentrification in those communities.

English learners who have trouble moving on to English-only classes often have issues with low grades and test scores, and are at greater risk of dropping out. New data analysis from the Houston Education Research Consortium shows that, since 2007, there has been a significant increase in the number of Houston-area students who are taking longer than five years to learn English.

A newly released Kinder Institute report examines how different types of housing development impact gentrification patterns in Harris County.

If action isn’t taken now to address and counter the disruptions in the education of students during the COVID-19 pandemic, the damage will be long-lasting and disproportionate. Here are some ways to deal with the impact.

Despite good intentions, the city’s three-month “slow streets” experiment in Eastwood may have been undone by efforts to react quickly to the circumstances of the pandemic. But the lessons learned could improve the initiative going forward.

For many, the pandemic has been a time of self-reflection and reassessing how and why we spend our days doing what we do and the quality of our lives. That includes what we eat and where it comes from, which has led to a renewed interest in urban gardens. How can cities rethink the use of land and shared spaces in ways that promote gardening and help residents reap the rewards?

COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted the lives of low-income families living in homes that were in need of repairs even before the pandemic. A pilot study involving 16 Fifth Ward households was launched to better understand how stay-at-home stress affected underserved residents both during and after the “Stay Home, Work Safe” order in Harris County.

A new report shows most local economies aren’t delivering enough high-quality jobs to support the cost of raising a family. As cities across the nation work to recover from a recession that has worsened the preexisting challenge of struggling families, how can more jobs be created or upgraded to pay a family-sustaining wage?

Texas metros are the engines driving the state’s robust economy. To ensure things run smoothly in the future, metropolitan areas need to be at the center of state policy. The collaborative Texas Metropolitan Blueprint provides a plan for continuing and building on the metropolitan progress that benefits the entire state.

In the 10 months since the killing of George Floyd, has policing in America changed at all? We need to rethink what it means to protect and serve the well-being of citizens.

As the Buffalo Bayou Partnership looks east, some of the first improvements planned include mixed-income housing options, a Japhet Creek pocket park in the lower Fifth Ward, wharf and dock reconstruction in the Second Ward and filling gaps in existing trails. But it all started with connecting to communities.

With more extreme weather events and disasters in our future, we need to change how our city prepares for these shocks and their long-lasting impacts so that Houstonians will take disaster preparedness more seriously.

As access to the COVID-19 vaccination becomes increasingly widespread, it seems possible to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But what’s next for cities? Here are five ways cities will be different — from Zoomburbs and public transit to the fate of retail and housing — in the years to come.

As the housing demand continues to outpace supply, prices have risen to levels not seen since 2008. While industry analysts don’t see the current boom going bust like the one leading up to the Great Recession, they are nonetheless concerned. One fear is the market could put homeownership out of reach for a generation of Americans and be bad for everyone in the long run.

Women faced disadvantages in pay and promotions at work before COVID-19, and for many, the pandemic has only widened that deficit. How can we better address those gaps and improve equity in the years to come?

When a west Houston intersection was retrofitted with infrastructure to protect pedestrians, City Observatory’s Joe Cortright called the redesign hollow and ‘performative.’ But it’s not that simple.