NPR’s Morning Edition has an interesting series of reports about the changes underway in Houston, TX. Steve Inskeep interviews Stephen Klineberg about his Houston survey and the demographic shifts reshaping the city.
A few decades ago, Houston’s demographics were normal for a Southern city: white-dominated, with a black minority. Today, it’s just 37 percent white. Hispanics outnumber Anglos. There’s a large black population. Thousands of Asian immigrants make Houston their first stop, as you can see at Houston’s Hong Kong Mall.
Inskeep also interviews State Rep. Coleman, who represents a historically black neighborhood called the Third Ward. He profiles Coleman’s work to fight gentrification and developers. Coleman says that he doesn’t want the neighborhood to become like parts of D.C., NYC, and ATL. In a moment that made for some interesting radio, Inskeep mentions that he is one of the people Coleman dislikes, because the radio host owns a home in a gentrifying neighborhood.
You can see an interactive map of Houston tracking the reports from this series here.
Other reports in the series:
- Greener Houston Grapples With Diversity And Sprawl–Sep. 16, 2009
- Houston: Texas-Sized Sprawl, No End In Sight–Sep. 17, 2009
