Urban Edge

Insights, perspectives and stories about building better cities and better lives

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.

Surveying Houston’s progressive shift through 40 years of data

Houston, a quintessentially free-enterprise, anti-government city, is increasingly recognizing the critical role of government in strengthening the safety net, expanding opportunity and building resiliency, according to the Kinder Houston Area Surveys.

Maternal deaths are public health and health equity problems. They’re also preventable.

The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is rising, and Black women have the highest risk. Extending access to postpartum health care would prevent deaths.

Analysis: COVID-19 infections, deaths didn't slow consumer spending recovery across US metros

COVID-19 infections and fatalities peaked at different times in cities across the U.S., and local efforts to slow the spread varied as well. Despite those differences, retail spending in Houston and other large metros followed very similar trajectories.

How an urban gardener without a yard grows vegetables for a family of 5

Part 3 of the "urban gardener" series: From homemade compost and what to plant, to dealing with the sun, wind and water issues of modern gardening in the city of the future.

Triumph of the Triangle: How Texas can hold onto its urban economic powerhouse

In 1966, a lawyer named Herb Kelleher met one of his clients, a pilot and investment banker named Rollin King, for a drink in a San Antonio hotel bar. Both were entrepreneurs looking for new opportunities, and they discussed starting an airline to serve an in-state. The legend is that King drew a triangle on a cocktail napkin, showing how the new airline would connect the major markets in Texas.

The Texas Triangle: A rising megaregion unlike all others

The Texas Triangle—the urban megaregion consisting of the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin metropolitan areas—stands out as a distinctive model among America’s large urban megaregions.

The killing of George Floyd altered views of racial discrimination in Houston

The 2021 Kinder Houston Area Survey shows a striking uptick among white and Hispanic residents in their acknowledgment of racial injustice and the discrimination that Black Americans face.