Urban Edge

Stories, perspectives and insights from the Kinder Institute

Houstonians' tolerance for higher taxes and fees could soon be tested by city's budget woes

Yes, Houston is facing an exorbitant budget deficit. But residents still want a better city.

Q&A: Industry, academia and community have opportunity to close Houston's skills gap

Tens of thousands of Houston-area high school students graduate each year into one of three career pathways: workforce, two-year college degree and four-year college degree.

Data-driven strategies highlight the complexity and impact of nonprofit work in Houston

For several generations, the Alexander Jewish Family Service has provided an array of social services to people in need.

To build a better housing system in Houston, let’s start here

Houston has long been hailed as one of the country’s most affordable big cities, bucking national trends. But as the Kinder Institute and others have found, our affordability — and the economic opportunity that comes with it — could be slipping away.

In ‘A Good Reputation,’ Houston’s Northside offers diverging views on neighborhood change

In an April 2014 Houstonia Magazine article, “Where to Live Now: The 25 Hottest Neighborhoods of 2014,” the authors claimed that gentrification had “leapt beyond the Heights and into Lindale Park and Brooke Smith,” which meant that “Northside Village” was the “the next play for urban pioneers.”

Religious identities shift in Houston and the U.S. with rise of the ‘nones’

In the last 15 years, more Houstonians have become religiously unaffiliated, according to the Kinder Houston Area Survey. In the 2009 survey, 54% of respondents identified as Protestant and 31% as Catholic. In 2024, Protestants decreased to 38% and Catholics to 26%.

Harris County contends with shortage of mental health workers despite landmark state investment

One of the barriers to accessing mental health care in Harris County and across Texas is a workforce shortage in the field.

Advocates for the homeless set for Houston’s annual count with funding, plan of action in flux

Next week, over 400 volunteers with the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County will conduct the annual point-in-time count to determine if homelessness is increasing or decreasing in the area.

Why we’re taking a closer look at housing quality — and why we need your help

Over the last several years, we have come to understand that Houston is no longer as affordable as it once was. At the same time, relatively little has been learned about the quality of the places and spaces people call “home.” That’s why the Kinder Institute’s Housing Quality Registry is so urgently needed.

‘Any disruption spells disaster’: A deeper look at Houstonians’ financial vulnerability

Thirty-four percent of Harris County residents are financially secure, meaning they could go without a paycheck for three months or longer using just their savings, according to new Kinder Institute research.