Houston Strategies

"Perhaps nowhere is the gap between America’s cognitive elite and its populace larger than in their preferred urban forms. For nearly a century—interrupted only by the Depression and the Second World War—Americans have been heading further from the urban core, seeking affordable and safe communities with good schools, parks, and a generally more tranquil lifestyle. We keep pushing out despite the contrary desires of planners, academic experts, and some real estate interests. In 1950, the core cities accounted for nearly 24 percent of the U.S. population; today, the share is under 15 percent, according to demographer Wendell Cox. Between 2010 and 2020, the suburbs and exurbs of the major metropolitan areas gained 2.0 million net domestic migrants, while the urban core counties lost 2.7 million."

• The Bush Institute: The Evolving Geography of Opportunity: Leading Cities of the Past, Present, and Future. 

"Lessons from history and from the relative success stories of the present point to clear priorities for today’s cities:

• Get the urban basics right: schools, safety, livability.
• Strengthen local anchor institutions in higher education, health care, and other areas.
• Invest aggressively in local quality-of-life amenities.
• Rebuild and expand critical infrastructure.
• Work toward openness, diversity, inclusion, and a welcoming approach to newcomers.
• Ensure a high degree of economic freedom.
• Emphasize housing affordability and work to build an opportunity-rich physical environment."

• WSJ: People Are Going Out Again, but Not to the Office - Only a third of U.S. employees have returned to the office, as workers prefer remote and companies fear ordering them back. Companies that force employees to the office will have to pay more (including office costs) for inferior talent from a more limited local talent pool. Excerpts:

"Elected officials are imploring companies to send workers back to the office. 

“Business leaders, tell everybody to come back,” said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, in remarks before a civic organization earlier this month. “Give them a bonus to burn the Zoom app and come on back to work.” 

The gap between public enthusiasm for office return and other activities underscores the wide range of factors other than health considerations that are slowing the return to work. After close to two years of working from home, surveys suggest most employees simply prefer it to the office, which often requires lengthy commutes and gives workers less flexibility in how they spend their days. 

Employers have also been reluctant to insist that workers return for fear of driving employees away during a labor shortage, corporate surveys show. Many managers feel remote work disrupts efforts to promote a corporate culture and collaboration, but they aren’t applying much pressure because studies have shown that many workers are as productive—or even more productive—when they work remotely. 

“They feel like remote work isn’t perfect, but it’s working pretty OK,” said Brian Kropp, chief of human-resources research for the advisory and research firm Gartner. “There’s not a real urgency to change it.”

• Houston #2 for tree cover among major metros (just behind Atlanta) with 30% tree canopy coverage in the metro. Technically it shows Austin as higher (34%), but their number is from the early 90s, and we all know how much development has happened in Austin since then!
• Antiplanner: The 15-Minute City: A Idiotic Dream