Jeff Reichman
A few months ago, Councilmember Ed Gonzalez asked a great question: what if we could bring the people working on the Ellington Spaceport together with the Houston startup community? I was honored to help organize a happy hour to do just that. Mario Diaz, the Director of the Houston Airport System, gave a short presentation of the…
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Here are some interesting recent stories about maps and data in the Houston area. I hope to make this a monthly roundup post covering areas of public interest, like crime, transportation, real estate, and population health. If you have a good project to share, please let me know! Houston Bike Share Crowdsourcing New Locations The Houston…
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This is the second post in a three part series profiling the winners of the recent City of Houston Open Challenge. You can read the first post here. Rakshak Talwar and Micah Thomas are both Computer Science majors at the University of Houston. I’ve gotten to know them over time through various activities in the…
Read More This is the second edition of Houston maps and data. This month, we saw Mayor Turner’s first major initiative take the form of an interdepartmental task force and a new website. Potholes in Houston will never be the same again. Here’s the scoop, along with a few other interesting stories about Houston told through maps…
Read More This month, we’re looking at three Super Tuesday primary maps of voter turnout and one fascinating map charting the racial change of Houston’s neighborhoods since 1970. The Texas primaries took place on March 1, causing long lines that once again highlight the antiquated technology and processes that Harris County uses. Case in point: the Harris County…
Read More Each month, we round up all the interesting stories told with data that help us understand the Houston region. Houston Public Housing Debate Rages A proposed public housing project at the edge of a fancy Houston neighborhood is causing confusion about the effects of public housing. This article drops some serious data (and a little bit of shaming) to…
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There’s a new spin on hackathons, and it doesn’t involve technology. In the last month alone, Houston hosted two policy hackathons. They got people thinking creatively about our government and the laws they write. On March 5-6, Polithon and Young Invincibles held a policy hackathon about student debt. They brought together a few dozen people between…
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Making maps is a great way to visualize data. Building them is easier than ever. In the past, you had to have enterprise software licenses and a lot of GIS knowledge. But if you’re just getting started with making maps, you probably don’t want to shell out thousands of dollars for software. Maybe you’re at a…
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Over at Sketch City, we’ve been working with various governments in the Houston area to introduce the idea of participatory budgeting. We’ll post more about our findings in a few months. In the meantime, I received this email from the Mayor’s office: Three Houston Parks and Recreation Department projects are competing for a $20,000 grant…
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The City of Houston Open Challenge closed on December 1. It was a lightning-fast, 30 day challenge around three areas identified as “priorities” by Mayor Parker and Mayor Pro Tem Gonzalez. This is part one of a three part series profiling each of the three open challenges. (part two) (part three coming soon) Up first…
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