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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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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Last year, we announced a 10% open source discount for 2015. We’ll be honoring that open source discount throughout 2016 as well. We love open source software, and we seek opportunities to launch or work to improve open source projects. 2015 was an important year for milestones in the movement, too. I won’t go into…
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There’s only 3 months left in 2015 and it’s been a doozy in the environmental world to say the least. Climate treaties, continued droughts, unprecedented flooding, and technology advances in solar power and water treatment have all taken center stage. Sure, scientists know the nuances of these issues, but these problems are complex and are going to be around…
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