New homelessness data for the area was released by the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County this week, with the 2023 mark showing little change from last year, but an increase in shelter capacity is keeping more people in safer conditions. Houston, considered a national model in reducing homelessness over the past decade, now looks to put a stop to chronic homelessness.
Harris County’s population growth has found renewed vigor after a year of stagnation, according to new Census estimates released today, but these gains were far overshadowed by more rapid suburban growth.
On March 6, nine days before the Texas Education Agency confirmed its plans to take over the Houston Independent School District, officials received a presentation from researchers at Princeton University about a dilemma confronting families and students in the district: evictions.
In Houston, since the pandemic recovery began, office workers have been quick to return to their desks and cubicles, commuting back to their physical offices, even if for just part of the week.
As part of a wide range of testimony before the state Senate finance committee, education commissioner Mike Morath told lawmakers that Texas is entering a new demographic era for public school enrollment.
New data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed a surge in residential building permits issued in the Houston metropolitan statistical area in 2022, with an estimated total of 75,786. The preliminary numbers place the Houston metro at No. 2 in the country behind Dallas and would be an all-time record, according to Federal Reserve records dating back to 1988. Even with potential increases in supply and continued development, affordability remains a big challenge for renters and would-be homeowners.
Mayors on both sides of the political aisle have a range of worries on climate change, and found common ground regarding potential solutions in a recent poll by the Boston University Initiative on Cities. While the majority of top city leaders want investment in environmentally friendly municipal vehicles, they also believe that if meaningful climate change progress is to happen, the onus is on “residents to make real sacrifices.”
In the past decade, immigrant populations fueled immense population growth in cities and suburbs in particular, according to a new report by the George W. Bush Institute. In the Houston metropolitan area, the report finds that immigrants are thriving best in Fort Bend County, ranked No. 8 in the country, and Brazoria County, ranked No. 15. Harris County was ranked No. 99.
The number of people in the U.S. who live in an urban setting has grown by 6.4%, according to new 2020 Census data. But the nation's overall percentage of urban area population was slightly reduced after the U.S. Census Bureau altered the criteria for what is considered an urban or rural area.
In October 2010, city officials were poised to strengthen Houston’s historic preservation law by adding a provision that, for the first time, would empower the city to forbid the demolition of certain homes in designated historic districts. Preservationists, who referred to the concept as “no means no,” were elated. But during last-minute wrangling over details, a Heights resident named Calvin Simper urged the City Council to reject the whole idea.
Following a tumultuous span of more than two years since the pandemic’s onset in Houston, employment has shown strong signs of recovery, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. In fact, it was on track to grow jobs back to pre-pandemic projections by the end of 2022.
When officials at Harris County got word that the Treasury Department was appropriating a historic amount of funding for states and local governments to help struggling renters during the pandemic, Leah Barton picked up the phone and called her counterpart at the city of Houston.
After receiving a new federal grant to explore the potential for transit-oriented development at the Tidwell Transit Center in north Houston, Metro is now phasing into an “intense and aggressive public involvement strategy” for the site.
The share of renter households in the U.S. has doubled in the past 50 years—a trend that is reshaping how housing is built and distributed across cities and communities. In recent years, Houston has seen considerable growth in renters in a few concentrated areas.
The government just released millions of records on residential appraisals. A pair of researchers who focus on racial inequity in housing analyzed the data. Here’s what they found.
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