Urban Edge

Stories, perspectives and insights from the Kinder Institute

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

The Law Harrington center is a small solution to a big problem. We’re going to need a lot more like it.

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.

As affordability wanes, Houston and Harris County renters face crowding, cost burdens

The Kinder Institute’s second annual “State of Housing” report comes as Houston—and much of the country—remains in the midst of a residential real estate bonanza. A yearlong buying spree, fueled by a combination of factors, is driving the country to historically low inventory levels and propelling prices ever higher.

Black neighborhoods have led the Houston area’s surge in start-ups during the pandemic

Economists studying the dramatic growth of new business activity found that the proportion of Black residents in a ZIP code had the greatest impact on the rate of increase and that business formation coincided with the stimulus payments.

Concentrated poverty in schools is redlining’s legacy. Undoing it should be ours.

As the school year ends, the relief is palpable. Let’s acknowledge what we went through during the pandemic. Many of us are feeling burnt out, but this is not the time to stop paying attention. Now is the moment to think big about the future of education.

Houston, the city of no zoning, lives to plan another day

The Texas Supreme Court has settled it: Houston's historic preservation ordinance is not a form of zoning, which is expressly banned in the city charter. The decision seems to clear the way for more local experimentation with urban design and development rules. Just don’t call it zoning.

The return to work will determine the fate of downtowns. Is Houston ready for what’s next?

Central Houston President Bob Eury has been tracking COVID-19 case counts since the early days of the pandemic and has the spreadsheet to prove it. It was a ritual that he says helped him stay on top of the virus and how far off “normal” might be. But there may be one number he is tracking even more closely: how many of downtown’s estimated 168,000 workers are returning to the office.

Is Houston underrated as a bike city?

The city has eight months of ideal cycling weather each year and has taken some sizable steps in building out its bike infrastructure in the past decade. But is anyone outside of Houston paying attention?

Where are we going? Remote workers, RVs and the new calculus of where we live and why

After COVID-19 lockdowns and stay-at-home mandates, anywhere with fast broadband became a viable place to call home. But for Houston natives Alex Jimenez and Hayley McSwain, the choice was to move—and keep moving.

In its 10th year, Community Bridges projects confront ever-apparent inequalities in Houston

The inequality that exists across Houston neighborhoods has perhaps never been more evident than it has over the past year.

The struggle to preserve the Black experience in Houston

The National Register of Historic Places lists 290 entries for Houston. Of those, only 13 focus on the history of African-American residents.