On March 28, Texas Housers was given the honor of accepting the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Resident Organizing Award…
Category: Local issues
Local issues consist of housing topics faced by city and county governments that are of interest to local organizers and community groups.
If this small fix to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program pushed further, it could reshape affordable housing
Building affordable housing can be a long journey with approval needed from many groups and individuals along the way. Unfortunately,…
Black and Latino residents live in more pollution than they cause. This is clearer in Houston more than anywhere else.
Early in March, a team of professors and researchers from universities nationwide published a study in Proceedings of the National…
The Stunning Difference Between These Neighborhood Storm Drains Is Inequality At Work
The equality in government resources, specifically storm drainage in Houston, is a path toward justice and a major policy priority…
These bills strengthening Texas tenants’ rights and disaster recovery could reshape our future
Texans face a host of housing issues: an inadequate amount of quality affordable homes and the lingering effects of Hurricane…
Our country and communities created neighborhood segregation. Houston, one of the most diverse cities in America, is no exception.
(Pictured, Texas Housers Southeast Texas co-director Zoe Middleton and Texas Housers community planner Libby Bland pose with author and scholar…
Texas’ first Opportunity Zone, intended to spur investment and revitalization, is…a South Side San Antonio storage facility?
If you ask many people living in neighborhoods that have been overlooked for investment in recent years what they’d like…
San Antonio’s revised infill policy went into effect today, but some advocates doubt its effectiveness at providing affordable housing
The typical San Antonian might feel unmoved by the phrase “Center City Housing Infill Policy (CCHIP).” With the city providing…
Master leases provide relief to voucher holders discriminated against in search for for decent housing
Only one in four people who qualify for rental assistance in this country receive it. It’s no wonder that getting…
After years of resident advocacy, Hidalgo County adopts higher standards for drainage and streetlight infrastructure for new model subdivisions
Colonia residents in Hidalgo County have experienced far too much flooding and darkness, the dangerous symptoms of poorly-planned subdivisions where…
Texas is offering $1 billion for cities to build resilience to prepare for the next storm. But the process could leave out communities that need it most.
(Photo: A lineman checks on a downed powerlines in Port Arthur) In the last blog on Port Arthur, we predicted…
Job opportunity: Texas Housers hiring Southeast Texas co-director to lead team of researchers, planners and organizers
Texas Housers, Texas foremost housing policy research and advocacy organization, seeks a leader dedicated to racial and economic justice, possessing…
The 8 things I’ve learned in my 40+ years in housing and community development
I’m often asked to summarize what I have learned in my 40+ years of activism in the field of housing…
New report details how Houston floodplain ordinance can worsen inequality in face of future floods
On April 3, 2018, the Houston City Council voted to make Chapter 19, the city’s Floodplain Management Ordinance, more stringent.…
Texas Housers staff learns from Arbor Court moms advocating for better living conditions
(Photo from ABC-13 in Houston of Arbor Court flooded during Hurricane Harvey) The expertise of each member of the Texas…
Disaster relief rolls out in the Rio Grande Valley; residents hope for just and fair process
(Home in Indian Hills colonia that experienced flooding after the June storms. Photo taken a week after the storms hit.)…
Tenants at Houston’s flooded, distressed Arbor Court Apartments sue HUD for intentional racial discrimination
(Photo above is of red tag, labeling Arbor Courts as a fire hazard) HUD Secretary Ben Carson declared that conditions…
Notes from the field: Houston mom says her home is making her sons sick. She and many others are demanding better.
“A decent, safe place to come home to, where I can give my kids a good life.” Ask any of…
Surprise rain brings expected flooding to Hidalgo County. It’s time drainage and county officials commit to solutions.
(Photo shows flooded yard in La Mesa colonia) Many Rio Grande Valley residents woke up with floodwater filling their homes…
A group of Lubbock neighborhood associations asks the City to make an equitable comprehensive plan – will Lubbock listen?
For many American cities, the biggest obstacle for creating an equitable comprehensive plan for the future is overcoming systemically racist…
Texas Housers submits comments to City of Houston on proposed Hurricane Harvey action plan
Texas Housers submitted comments to the City of Houston last week about the city’s proposed plan for spending $1.15 billion…
Lubbock student tells residents that Juneteenth is a call to remember the past and work toward unity
(Photo courtesy of East Lubbock Community Alliance Facebook page) Last week, Texas Housers had the distinct pleasure of hearing from…
Texas Housers project shines a light on concerns of Lubbock residents and provides context for community planning
Whether they’re black, Hispanic or white; whether they live on the east, north or southwest sides of town; or whether…
Texas Housers and advocacy partners receive support in lawsuit against HUD over failure to enforce fair housing law
Numerous cities and states, including the City of Austin, as well as housing and anti-poverty advocates, filed amicus briefs this…
EPA unveils plan to address decades of poison and toxic fish in Donna Lake; public input accepted through June 5
This article originally ran on Neta, a bilingual multimedia platform based in the Rio Grande Valley where I am a staff content creator,…
Port Arthur residents told to wait for disaster recovery for too long, but hold out hope their government come through
As the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey approaches, there are unanswered questions from residents and a rising level of concern…
An equitable Houston demands continuous engagement in the wake of Harvey
Hurricane Harvey “pulled back the curtain” on inequality in Houston, revealing some “scary truths about the city we are living…
Who has the right to live here? Austin’s fifty year fight over fair housing
The right to fair housing stands out among civil rights laws as the one that has historically received the most…
Sweeping new fair and affordable housing proposed by three Austin City Council members
Austin City Council members Garza, Renteria, and Casar have announced a sweeping progressive fair and affordable housing agenda. Here is…
Part 2: In a segregated Houston unequal neighborhoods mean unequal flood protection
This is the second part of a two-part blog on Texas Housers turning to the courts to direct the U.S.…