Urban Edge

Stories, perspectives and insights from the Kinder Institute

Q&A: Helping bridge the gaps in maternal health care in Houston

The Community Bridges program continues to seek better outcomes for those in need in the Greater Houston area.

Master-planned community in northeast Houston puts affordable housing within reach

Last year, Nura Jemal, her husband and two sons lived in a two-bedroom apartment in southwest Houston. But with a third son on the way, they began to reconsider their living arrangement.

How Houston, the world’s energy capital, is embracing the transition to cleaner sources

Eighty-seven percent of all respondents in the 43rd Kinder Houston Area Survey felt that Houston should take a leading role in forging a new energy future.

Beryl, derecho, power outages amplify Houstonians’ concerns about climate, resilience

Climate change and its impacts weighed heavily on the minds of residents in the 43rd Kinder Houston Area Survey. Those concerns have been repeatedly validated in recent months.

About half of Harris County residents unable to pay an unexpected $400 bill

An increasing number of Harris County residents are unable to readily come up with $400 to cover an unexpected expense — such as replacing tires worn out from crumbling roads, replacing a refrigerator full of food after the electricity is knocked out for a couple of days, or having a kid get sick or injured and needing to make a visit to an urgent care facility.

Why Houston’s progress on homelessness is in jeopardy

Homelessness is an ongoing challenge for the Greater Houston area, but one it handles better than most of its peers. That may soon change if new sources of funding are not secured by 2025.

How homeownership is changing throughout Houston and Harris County

Buying a home continues to be a good investment: It has a better rate of return than most other investments, and unlike stocks, a home provides shelter, a fundamental human need. Unfortunately, it is an investment that far exceeds the grasp of many Houston-area residents.

Q&A: Protecting Houston’s prosperity from disasters requires quick coordination — and cash

The Houston area is no stranger to natural disasters, but the May 16 derecho was an uncharacteristic weather event for the region.

How can Houstonians keep up — and keep their jobs — in the rapidly evolving AI landscape?

About 6 out of 10 residents expect the rise of artificial intelligence to have a major impact on Houston’s workforce in the near future, according to the 43rd Kinder Houston Area Survey.

After getting the lights back on, what’s Houston’s biggest problem going forward?

Over the course of about four weeks early in 2024, residents across Harris County were asked their opinions on a variety of topics as part of the Kinder Houston Area Survey. That includes a question that has been asked every year since the survey’s founding in 1982: “What would you say is the biggest problem facing people in the Houston area today?”