Latest Posts
Trees battle Houston’s brutal heat, but many poorer areas are left unshaded
Trees provide significant benefits that can be felt both now and in the future, from lowering temperatures, fighting flooding and slowing climate change. But not all Houstonians enjoy the valuable shade and other advantages trees offer in equal measures. A new interactive mapping tool makes it easier to see which neighborhoods are most in need of more trees.
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If urban planners could proactively and precisely identify which buildings and civil structures are less resilient to flooding, not only could interventions be better targeted and more effective, but communities could become more engaged in the process. An interactive, geospatial artificial intelligence-driven platform could be the answer.
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Houston and Harris County’s long reign of growth may have come to an end
Houston has always had a reputation as a fast-growing, go-go, get-it-done kind of place. But that’s changing.
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Urban flood buyouts are fracturing some Houston neighborhoods more than others
Since the 1980s, the federally backed home buyout program has been used to move more than 40,000 households out of flood-prone areas. What began as an effort to help farmers weather the devastating impacts of flooding has become a tool for urban and suburban homeowners to escape worsening climate risks. Yet as logical as this policy sounds, a new study from sociologists at Rice and Temple finds it may also be eroding the social fabric of some communities more than others—especially those with lower home values and higher proportions of Black and Hispanic residents.
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Despite increasing risk in Harris County, more people are living in the flood plains
The Kinder Institute's 2021 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston report highlights new data showing an increase in occupied housing units in the 100- and 500-year flood plains from 2018 to 2019. In Harris County, for example, about 2,000 homes were newly occupied—by either renters or homeowners—in the flood plains in 2019. Kinder researchers hope to better understand these development patterns, which can leave Houstonians vulnerable to flooding.
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A road trip to find the next big Texan metropolis
Texas’ “Big 4” metro areas—Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio—have all exploded with growth. Will a fifth emerge?
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As we worked to corral COVID-19, traffic deaths spun out of control
There were 3,896 traffic deaths in Texas last year, 273 more than in 2019. That 7.5% increase followed year-over-year decreases in motor vehicle fatalities from 2017–19, and is the biggest jump since 2012. Traffic fatalities in Harris County went up by almost 19% last year. That’s despite the fact that we were driving far less, or so it seemed.
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Houston had an overcrowding problem at precisely the wrong time: during a pandemic
COVID-19 killed Black and Brown people at a far higher rate than white or Asian people, and in this year’s State of Housing report, we suggest home overcrowding and labor conditions played a role.
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We need to talk about the Astrodome
Former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett discusses the past, present and once-future plan for the Astrodome, which has stood empty for almost 20 years. Recently, efforts to remake the Dome have been renewed.
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Sometimes good things are worth the wait. Sometimes big dreams can be shared. Sometimes reality is better than what you imagined. The new Law Harrington Senior Living Center, which marks its grand opening today, is a small solution to a big problem, but a big idea beautifully executed.
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Physical Address
Rice University
Kraft Hall
6100 Main Street, Suite 305
Houston, TX 77005-1892