It is really hard to figure out Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s position on racial housing segregation in government-assisted housing. He…
Tag: Fair housing
Houston area representative, pledging to ‘Stop Low-Income Government Housing,’ files bill
Elected on a pledge to “Stop Low-Income Government Housing” (see campaign ad above), Real Estate Broker and State Representative Valoree…
Report: Did Texas reduce government-funded segregation in tax credit housing?
In 2013, the State of Texas changed its scoring criteria for applications for Low Income Housing Tax Credits, in response to…
Lincoln Property Company, country’s second largest apartment manager, hit with racial discrimination lawsuit
The Dallas-based Inclusive Communities Project (ICP) has filed suit in federal district court against one of Texas’ largest property management…
Texas Senate committee report addresses key fair housing issues
The Intergovernmental Relations Committee (IGR) is one of the most influential in the Texas Senate, dealing with the administration of…
Sweeping federal investigation finds City of Houston’s housing segregation violates Civil Rights Act
Racial housing segregation in Houston is no accident. It is not voluntary on the part of Houstonians of color. It is…
IRS indicates fair housing issues with Texas political influence on tax credits
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued a bulletin that reprimands a thinly-veiled “Agency” in “State X” for its reliance on local support…
How City actions perpetuate Houston’s housing segregation and violate civil rights
Every neighborhood in Houston deserves quality affordable housing, including the community of Independence Heights. But affordable housing should not only be…
Video: 10 ways to invest in the forgotten America and rebuild rural communities post-election
I gave this speech at the Housing Assistance Council Rural Housing Conference in Washington, D.C. on November 30. Watch the full…
Texas’ 2017 tax credit allocation plan presents fair housing issues
On November 10, after months of roundtables, discussions and compromises, the board of the Texas Department of Housing and…
Fair housing case produces lasting changes for Texas and nation
This piece originally ran on Shelterforce Magazine’s Rooflines blog. The Inclusive Communities project has now filed a motion and brief…
Video: Visualizing Houston’s housing segregation
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched a fair housing investigation after the City…
Houston co-director talks fair housing and comprehensive reinvestment on public radio
Fair housing is all about providing choice – the right to choose a living situation free from discrimination. But when…
How state legislators can improve fair housing compliance in Texas
Texas Housers fair housing planner Charlie Duncan and University of Texas professor Heather Way were among the speakers at a…
Stirring call for fair housing in Houston Chronicle editorial
The Houston Chronicle editorial board wrote a powerful column in support of fair housing in Sunday’s edition. We would not normally quote…
State interference threatens Galveston’s promise of equitable disaster recovery
Eight years ago, Galveston was devastated by Hurricane Ike. Four years ago, at the urging of the Texas General Land…
Where you live matters: Assessing unequal access to healthy environments
[The following is adapted from a presentation to the National Fair Housing Alliance‘s national conference on June 27, 2016.] Where…
Austin for everyone: Building an inclusive, diverse city begins in every neighborhood
[The following remarks were delivered before the Austin chapter of the American Institute of Architects on June 21, 2016.] I…
Proposed program change would provide voucher holders with greater choice, opportunity
A proposed rule change for the use of federal Housing Choice Vouchers would greatly improve the chance that housing vouchers will do what they…
Dallas apartment association advocates for voucher discrimination against veterans
The Dallas City Council has tabled a proposal to protect veterans from being denied housing based on their source of…
Federal report calls out political influence on affordable housing locations in Texas
A new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) identifies fair housing concerns with the way the State of Texas…
Radio interview with our Houston co-director Chrishelle Palay on the consequences of NIMBYism
Texas Housers Houston co-director Chrishelle Palay appeared on Houston Matters, the public affairs radio show from Houston Public Media, to discuss how…
More of the same: Houston risks fair housing progress, adds to segregation
There have been some recent signs that Houston is slowly accepting the need to practice fair housing and treat all…
Advocates: Let’s get the National Housing Trust Fund details right from the beginning
This piece originally ran on Shelterforce Magazine’s Rooflines blog. It’s rare when a major new national housing program comes along.…
Report: Texas childhood poverty largely divided by place and race
African-American and Hispanic children in Texas are around three times likelier to live in poverty than white children. That’s one of…
The importance of speaking up for fair housing
I recently I had the pleasure of providing comment at a public meeting around the Houston Housing Authority’s Fountain View project,…
Video: Anger over proposed public housing in high opportunity Houston neighborhood
The public meeting on the Houston Housing Authority’s (HHA) proposal to build the Fountain View Apartments, a mixed-income apartment complex in…
Houston Chronicle editorial supports Fountain View proposal and fair housing
On February 25, the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle defended a proposed affordable housing development which has become the target of organized…
The opportunity blueprint: Our plan for a united, diverse Houston
Houston is at a crossroads. The city is growing and the economy is booming – but only for some. Despite…
Houstonians should be angry about public housing – because of segregation
Note: A version of this post ran in the Gray Matters section of the Houston Chronicle on March 30. Our piece on…