Urban Edge

Stories, perspectives and insights from the Kinder Institute

Closing local achievement gaps begins with closing spending gaps in Houston, Harris County

Academic achievement gaps cost the U.S. economy trillions of dollars each year, according to estimates by McKinsey and Co. Yet we have not made significant progress toward closing these gaps since we began measuring them in 1969 through the National Assessment of Educational Progress, despite significant developments in teaching and learning.

Seeking Solutions: Connect Community bolsters success of new immigrants in southwest Houston

Since its founding in 2016, Connect Community and its partners have put $126 million toward community development and holistic revitalization in the Gulfton and Sharpstown neighborhoods in southwest Houston.

Residents leave Houston neighborhoods thanks in part to climate change

According to a report by First Street Foundation, 9% of census blocks in Harris County are listed as “climate abandonment areas,” where people are moving out due at least partially to climate change-related flood risk and not being replaced by incoming homebuyers.

Homeless coalition’s new CEO: Diversion, prevention key to reducing Houston’s unhoused population

With nearly 25 years of experience at social service agencies in Houston, Kelly Young is no stranger to the needs of the most vulnerable people in our area.

Houston has the jobs, but employers must be willing to take a chance

There should be plenty of jobs available in the Greater Houston region this year, but is the area producing enough work-ready people to fill them?

Seeking solutions: Pro-Vision Inc. strives to end intergenerational poverty in Houston’s Sunnyside

After nine years in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, cornerback Roynell Young determined his playing days were over at the end of the 1988-89 season.

Houston needs improving. Are Houstonians really willing to pay for it?

From parks to police to garbage pickup, our surveys have tapped into a surprising level of support for raising revenues to help the city of Houston improve services and raise the quality of life across the city. What should we make of that? Are Houstonians really willing to pay more for better local government?

As Whitmire sets his agenda, surveys show Houstonians have a few ideas

With John Whitmire taking the helm of the city of Houston, residents made it clear their top priorities for the new mayor are reducing crime, improving infrastructure and alleviating the high cost of housing. For his part, Whitmire addressed most of these issues during his campaign, setting lofty goals for his administration — but now it’s up to him and a new City Council to begin delivering.

10 in 2023: Top stories from the Urban Edge

Housing costs, the economy, increasing demands on income and concerns about the environment weighed on the minds of Urban Edge readers in 2023.

With eviction rates high in Houston, tenants face a legal representation vacuum

The burden that the COVID-19 pandemic placed on renters helped lead to the founding of the Eviction Defense Coalition in March 2020. The member institutions, which operate in Harris County and Houston, continue to work in partnership while also arriving at similar but separate conclusions about the state of evictions in Houston.