Tag Archives: Census

Making the push to sign people up for health insurance

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Harris County is at ground zero for this national effort. With less than two months remaining to enroll in the health care marketplace, the federal government is focusing outreach efforts on areas with the largest concentrations of uninsured, including Texas’ … Continue reading →

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Murder by numbers 2013

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The beginning of the new year means a look back at the homicide count for the previous year. Homicides are up in unincorporated Harris County, where the Sheriff’s Office is reporting a nearly 20 percent uptick in 2013, preliminary year-end … Continue reading →

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Perry keeps asking for the same Medicaid waiver he hasn’t gotten in the past

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Same as it ever was. Gov. Rick Perry is preparing for yet another battle in his war against Obamacare. In a letter to the state’s health agency on Monday, the governor laid out his plan to request a federal waiver … Continue reading →

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The redistricting road show is coming

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The House Redistricting Committee is taking it on the road. Rep. Drew Darby, chairman of the House Select Committee on Redistricting, said at a hearing Saturday that he’s decided to hold informational sessions in three of the state’s largest cities … Continue reading →

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Houston keeps on growing

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Sounds good to me. Among large American cities, only New York added more people than Houston in the year ending July 1, 2012, according to new census figures released Thursday. In addition, the Census Bureau reported, eight of the 15 … Continue reading →

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“One person, one vote” upheld

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

More accurately, a challenge to the constitutional doctrine of “one person, one vote” was dismissed by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has rejected a conservative challenge to the common practice of counting everyone, not just U.S. citizens, when adjusting … Continue reading →

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On African-American turnout in city elections

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Bill King makes an observation about Ben Hall’s chances in the upcoming Mayoral election. When Lee Brown was elected mayor in 1997, many pundits predicted that with Houston’s growing minority community, Houston had seen its last white mayor. That, of … Continue reading →

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City wins Census recount

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s official: The city of Houston really did have 2.1 million people as of the 2010 Census. The U.S. Census Bureau has adjusted the city’s 2010 population from 2,099,451 to 2,100,263. The difference is only 812 people, but it’s enough … Continue reading →

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Demographic change in the Panhandle

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

What’s happening in other parts of Texas is happening in West Texas, too. Whites no longer are the majority group in 17 counties in the Texas Panhandle/South Plains region, including Potter County, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. And based … Continue reading →

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Conroe is growing up

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. Conroe native Jay Ross Martin says he never imagined his rural hometown in the piney woods developing bustling retail centers, a thriving housing market and a population that’s more than doubled in the past 20 years. The … Continue reading →

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A national view on redistricting

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Atlantic has an interesting view of the redistricting process. Every 10 years, after U.S. census workers have fanned out across the nation, a snowy-haired gentle­man by the name of Tom Hofeller takes up anew his quest to destroy Democrats. … Continue reading →

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We’re not number one!

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Congratulations, Harris County, for not having the highest rate of uninsured residents in the country any more. An estimated 29.9 percent of Harris County residents lacked health insurance in 2010, according to the new U.S. Census Bureau data, a smaller … Continue reading →

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Ten things you should know about the demographics of Texas

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From the Center for American Progress: 1. Communities of color are driving population growth in Texas. Texas is one of five states in the country where people of color make up the majority of the population. Between 2000 and 2009 Hispanic population … Continue reading →

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The face of the country continues to change

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This is our future. For the first time, as of 2011, more than half of the children under age 1 in the U.S. were minorities, the newest benchmark illustrating the widening age gap between mostly white, older Americans and fast-growing, … Continue reading →

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No, San Antonio will not be getting an MLB team any time soon

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You are right to be skeptical. It’s a development that has become as predictable as yellow pollen in the spring. A Major League Baseball franchise, struggling financially, seeks a new stadium deal, a new location, a new life. In the … Continue reading →

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Our diverse region

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Cool. The Houston region is now the most ethnically diverse large metropolitan area in the country, surpassing New York City. Two suburbs – Missouri City and Pearland – have become even more diverse than the city of Houston. Other suburbs … Continue reading →

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Thinking long term about the city’s finances

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

If you didn’t have to worry about practicality or implementation issues, what ideas would you have about improving the city’s long term financial health? That in a nutshell is the mission of the Long-Range Financial Management Task Force that was … Continue reading →

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Expand the Senate?

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I think there’s a lot of merit to this. From state Sen. Kel Seliger, a member of the smaller-government Republican Party and an architect of the Legislature’s redistricting maps that were nixed by federal judges last week, comes this: Consider … Continue reading →

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DOJ defers again on voter ID

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In addition to the interim maps, we got some more good news yesterday. Texas provided “incomplete” information that does not enable federal officials to determine whether their proposed voter ID law would be discriminatory, the Justice Department said in a … Continue reading →

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Where the poverty is

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s all around us, but more in some places than in others. The number of Houston-area residents living in very poor neighborhoods almost doubled over the past decade, which researchers say increases their risk for unemployment, health problems and crime. … Continue reading →

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Biking to work

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

More Houstonians than before are riding their bikes to work, though in absolute terms it’s still a pretty small number. Figures from the League of American Bicyclists show a 62 percent increase in the number of Houston residents who commute … Continue reading →

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The Fifth Ward

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Lisa Gray writes about a popular art project making a reappearance in a new place. Six years ago, the white guys – Dan Havel and Dean Ruck – smashed up a couple of other bungalows, and in the process, created … Continue reading →

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Our long term water plan

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We’re in deep trouble if things continue as they are. Every five years, the Texas Water Development Board publishes a water plan for the state. The 295-page draft of the 2012 plan, published last week in the midst of the … Continue reading →

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Our gay state

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Is getting gayer, according to the Census. It’s no secret that Austin and Central Texas have much appeal for same-sex couples, but new census data from 2010 underscore the depth and breadth of the attraction. Among the highlights from an … Continue reading →

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Brown versus gray

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is an old, familiar story, but it really can’t be said often enough: When Gov. Rick Perry showed up in San Antonio earlier this summer to deliver brief remarks to the annual gathering of the National Association of Latino … Continue reading →

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No MLB or NFL for SA any time soon

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

San Antonio is many things, but a Major League Baseball or NFL city is isn’t, and won’t be any time soon. Those are the findings of California-based Premier Partnerships, which recently submitted the results of a six-month feasibility study commissioned … Continue reading →

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Meet the Harris County redistricting map

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

On the agenda yesterday at Commissioners Court – the long-awaited redistricting plan for County Commissioner precincts. The proposal would bring significant changes to several precinct boundaries, seeking to make the populations in the four commissioners’ precincts roughly equal, as required … Continue reading →

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Fourteen and counting

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

That’s fourteen lawsuits related to redistricting. At least 14 lawsuits have been filed against the state’s recent redistricting efforts, with more likely on the way. Every decade, Texas lawmakers are responsible for redrawing political boundaries in light of population changes. … Continue reading →

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No Metro redistricting for now

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Back in January there was a Chron story that pointed out a state law that would require the Metro board to add two more members if the non-Houston population of Metro’s service area made up 75% or more of the … Continue reading →

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“America’s largest city with no pro sports teams”

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This Houston Press lamentation about the city of Austin contained the following tidbit that caught my eye: Austin is America’s largest city with no pro sports teams (though some would debate the amateur status of the Texas Longhorns). Well, that … Continue reading →

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Our young population

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From last week, a story about new Census data that shows (among other things) how young Texas’ population is. The state’s median age — meaning half of residents are older, and half younger — is 33.6, substantially lower than the … Continue reading →

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More redistricting lawsuits filed

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

And to think, we don’t even have a Congressional plan yet. A federal lawsuit filed Monday by some Texas House members blasts the use of “inaccurate” 2010 Census data in the remapping of state political jurisdictions. The lawsuit by the … Continue reading →

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Mayor presents revised Council map

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the release. There was a press conference today at 10 to roll it out. Mayor Annise Parker today revealed a second version of the staff redistricting map that incorporates recommendations from members of various Houston communities. The new plan … Continue reading →

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Downtown living

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There are two things about this Chron story about the residential population of downtown that I find curious. Twenty-five years after the residential development of downtown Houston began in earnest, fewer than 4,500 people reside in the city’s central core, … Continue reading →

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