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Amid a national housing shortage, Texas is an exception

Feb 7, 2024
"This market is just really wacky right now," says Houston-based broker LaTisha Grant.
The number of homes for sale in Texas has more than doubled from its low during the pandemic.
Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Houston has bucked the trend in homelessness. Can it afford to keep it up?

Jan 8, 2024
The city has been lauded for getting people into homes. But higher housing costs and expiring funding may put programs in jeopardy.
Houston's homelessness response network helped Derrick Escobedo find permanent housing — his first home ever.
Elizabeth Trovall/Marketplace

Retirement doesn't appeal to a notary in Texas who's still enjoying work

Oct 31, 2023
"This particular job, one of the reasons I took it is because I knew that you'd never stop learning, and I find that really exciting," said Violet O'Brien, a notary in Houston.
Texas notary Violet O'Brien (right) at a meeting with a client.
Courtesy Violet O'Brien

Inside Houston’s "vibrant but chaotic" strip mall economy

Oct 2, 2023
The centers are home to small businesses selling niche products, foods and services that represent the city’s increasingly diverse population.
Houston's diversity is "partially because of the affordability and availability of spaces such as strip malls," says architect Jesús Vassallo.
Elizabeth Trovall/Marketplace

Fossil fuels built Houston into an energy capital. Can it lead the clean energy transition?

Sep 13, 2023
With the aid of workers, technology and cash from the oil and gas industry, new companies offer a glimpse of a post-fossil fuels future.
An oil refinery in operation with the Houston skyline in the background. Fossil fuels continue to enrich the Texas economy, but some see the need to respond to the climate crisis.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Houston residents face Aug. 28 deadline to sue the federal government over Harvey floods

Jul 25, 2023
Fewer than half the homeowners entitled to file claims have done so, and the August 28 deadline is looming.
Hurricane Harvey flooded Houston neighborhoods, like the one pictured above, in August 2017.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

How's Houston's economy working for the working poor?

Jun 23, 2023
A new United Way report finds a 5% increase in the number of Houston-area households struggling to afford basic necessities.
Affordability has been a long-time selling point for people in Houston, but optimism in the local economy is waning.
Loren Elliott/AFP via Getty Images

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Immigrant women are increasingly running their own businesses

Jun 6, 2023
Roughly 11% of immigrant women are entrepreneurs, according to the American Immigration Council.
Ummehaani Karimjee began her flower design business Beginnings by UK after building up clientele through her religious community.
Elizabeth Trovall/Marketplace

Climbing housing costs rob Houston of reputation for affordability

Apr 18, 2023
Many Houston residents spend well over 30% of their income on shelter. On top of that, transportation costs are a growing burden on commuters.
Some Houston residents find themselves even more cost burdened than their counterparts in Los Angeles County. Transportation costs are part of the problem.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Houston officials are handing out rent relief, but not all landlords are signing up

May 31, 2021
The local program recently eliminated landlord participation as a requirement for renters to receive funding, so the payments can go directly to renters.
With the CDC eviction order set to expire at the end of June, renters are scrambling to pull together back rent.
David McNew/AFP via Getty Images