CNT In the News

The urban ambitions of our government leaders — so easy to dismiss in the past as nice words with no budget — may get a serious infusion of funds because of Harvey.

The Texas delegation that Governor Abbott took to Washington D.C. lobbied for $61 billion beyond what the state already expects to receive from FEMA and the federal housing department. Almost two-thirds of the funds would go to floodgates, seawalls, dams and reservoirs.

Of the third for housing, $9 billion would be for housing assistance in the City of Houston, which would help rebuild 85,000 single and multifamily housing units damaged by Harvey. Even though that request has stalled for now and even if the final budget numbers are smaller, Houston could see an unprecedented investment in housing.

'A turning point'

"The post-Harvey disaster recovery could be a huge turning point that sets a positive course for the city," says Tom McCasland, Director of the City of Houston's Housing and Community Development Department. "The city can encourage multifamily housing where there is good transit, with service that is every 15 minutes during peak hours, and that is 100-percent affordable or has a mix [of affordable, workforce and market-rate housing]."

McCasland's emphasis on equitable transit-oriented development, or eTOD for policy geeks, would bring Houston in line with a national push for community development that considers housing and transportation costs together when measuring affordability.

Houstonians on average spend 45 percent of our income on housing and transportation together, according to a Center for Neighborhood Technology report. Houston could achieve a more affordable future by lining up housing investments and METRO's current services, and its capital planning.