Suburbs with green space

Demographia United States Housing Affordability, 2021 Edition

The Urban Reform Institute is pleased to present the 2021 edition of Demographia United States Housing Affordability.
A conversation about housing affordability with Wendell Cox

Frontier Thinkers Corner: Housing Affordability

Wendell Cox, senior fellow at Urban Reform Institute, joins David Lees to discuss housing affordability and the root causes of the housing affordability crisis.
Report on Issues relating to the potential incorporation of The Woodlands Township

URI Report: Issues Relating to the Potential Municipal Incorporation of The Woodlands Township

Urban Reform Institute releases new report on Issues Relating to the Potential Municipal Incorporation of The Woodlands Township. The Woodlands Township is considering setting an election that would allow residents to vote in favor of or in opposition to incorporating The Woodlands Township into a city.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner's approach to dealing with homelessness in Houston is seeing success.

Austin vs. Houston; Houston’s Tough Love Homelessness Model

by Tory Gattis — This week, I'm sharing my favorite excerpts from Evan Mintz's newest Texas Monthly essay, and how Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner's approach to homelessness is succeeding.
Austin Downtown July 4th

Flexible Remote Work Beating Hybrid Models, Austin’s CA Housing Frenzy

by Tory Gattis — Californians are feeding Austin's housing frenzy, as flexible remote work is beating hybrid models for work.
Reason video on how to solve the urban housing crisis

Reason Video on Houston’s Housing Approach

by Tory Gattis — The lead item this week is a very cool video from Reason, "Density or Sprawl? How To Solve the Urban Housing Crisis" — that discusses how Houston's housing approach gets it right.
Houston skyline at night

‘Be Someone’ City Opportunity Urbanism Event and more

by Tory Gattis — Join us Wednesday evening June 16th: Building a 'Be Someone' City: Houston and the Rise of Opportunity Urbanism. We will discuss how to develop a market-centered, ‘people-oriented’ approach to urban policy, planning, and development.
Four drivers of Texas' rapid growth

Four Drivers of Texas’ Rapid Growth

by Tory Gattis — Four drivers of Texas' rapid growth: a light touch on zoning, high standard of living, and family friendly housing prices in good school districts make for opportunity cities.
Photo credit: Aerial vies of Irvine, Texas by La Citta Vitta, via Flickr

Texas and Houston Growth Secret, Texas Miracle is More than Oil

by Tory Gattis — Going beyond all the usual reasons given for Texas' high growth, here's the technical overlooked one that I think is a big key: Texas does not allow unincorporated counties to regulate land use (i.e. create zoning), which creates pretty much a totally free market in development just outside cities.
Housing elasticity and prices in 20 fast-growing U.S. metrosMarket Urbanism Report

Texas Startup Manifesto 2.0, Houston housing elasticity, remote work reshaping America, and more

by Tory Gattis — How does the Houston housing market achieve elasticity? Less regulation. The city famously lacks a zoning code, and many of its suburbs are also very pro-growth.