Tag Archives: housing
Advocacy Groups Say Lubbock’s 2040 Land Use Plan Violates the Fair Housing Act
Texas Housers and the Lubbock NAACP filed a federal complaint alleging that industrial zoning in East and North Lubbock disproportionately burdens black and Hispanic neighborhoods.
A couple of years ago, Dianna Thomas spent a week away from her home in Lubbock’s Chatman Hill neighborhood. When she returned, she got into her car, which ha...Read More
I’ve Lived in East Austin for 60 Years, and I Don’t Recognize it Anymore
As gentrification reshapes my neighborhood, I fear we’re losing something of real value to our city.
As the cost of living in Texas’ cities continues to climb, gentrification is reshaping neighborhoods across the state. These changes might be starkest in East...Read More
American Cities Weren’t Revitalized by the White ‘Creative Class.’ Immigrants Made Them Great.
Barrio America weaves together several strands of urban studies to tell a story that transcends what might seem like irrevocable barriers of race and class.
In the 1960s, the Chicago neighborhood of South Lawndale—also known as Little Village—was one of the country’s most extreme examples of white flight. Pro-...Read More
Governor Clears Out Camps. Austin’s Homeless Remain Homeless.
Greg Abbott began clearing out the camps under Austin’s highways Monday, over the objections of the homeless and their advocates.
On Monday afternoon, state troopers, officials from the state transportation department, and cleaning contractors descended on a homeless encampment beneath Tex...Read More
Rent By Another Name
As rent continues to rise across the state, an increasing number of Texas tenants are also saddled with mandatory fees for everything from doorstep trash collection to cable television.
On July 1, Mario Queroz came home to find a notice on the door of the one-bedroom apartment he shares with his wife in north Dallas. They’d lived at Three Fou...Read More
‘Owned’ Explores the Racist Foundation of Homeownership in America
Giorgio Angelini, the film’s director and a native Houstonian, discusses the movie ahead of a showing in Austin on September 10.
After Giorgio Angelini graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2005, he toured the country with his two bands, playing in the same bars and clubs ye...Read More
How Julián Castro’s ‘Decade of Downtown’ Reshaped San Antonio
The presidential hopeful has branded himself as an affordable housing visionary. But his record in San Antonio on this issue is more complicated.
In January 2010, eight months into his job as mayor, Julián Castro delivered his vision for San Antonio to the city’s business and political elites. Inside a...Read More
Renter, Beware: Millions of Texans Could Soon Face Higher Fees for Late Rent, with Little Recourse to Fight Back
Tenant advocates say proposed legislation nearing the governor’s desk could lead to increased evictions.
UPDATE: Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 1414 into law on June 10. It is effective September 1. In July 2014, Cathi and Tara Cleven signed a one-year lea...Read More
Instead of Fighting ‘Tent City,’ Amarillo Decides to House Its Homeless
The city sued a landowner in 2018 for allowing about 30 homeless folks to set up tents. After a change of heart, city staff asked a camp advocate to help guide a "housing first" pilot program.
When Amarillo temperatures dip into the teens, like they did in early January, 36-year-old Dominic Baldivia simply turns up the heat in his two-bedroom duplex n...Read More
