A few weeks ago, I attended a civic club meeting where we talked about minimum lot size restrictions. Many of my neighbors were concerned about townhouse developments in the neighborhood, and the City of Houston Planning Department was on hand to teach us how to apply for minimum lot size protection. Minimum lot size restrictions…
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Hurricane Harvey was one of the largest storms in United States history, leading to over 100 deaths and causing an estimated $125 billion worth of damage. The City of Houston received approximately 51 inches of rain, causing widespread flooding, structural damage, and housing displacement. The storm arrived at the culmination of several years of population…
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I’ve been working in the Houston startup community since 2009, and one thing is clear: we’re growing like crazy. In a twelve-month period between 2011-2012, the City of Houston added more than 34,000 new residents, second only to New York City. But that’s just a drop in the bucket compared to what’s coming. The Greater…
Read More Back in October, I was in San Francisco for the Code for America summit. It was an inspiring trip, with civic hackers from around the world converging to share stories about technology and community development. Of course, the best stories travel over beers. That’s exactly how Rebekah Monson told me about the writeathon she organized in Miami.…
Read More On May 31, over 150 people converged at the Houston Technology Center for the second annual City of Houston Open Innovation Hackathon. Over the course of 24 hours, they formed teams, worked all night, and presented 18 different projects to Mayor Parker and her senior staff. You can check out all 18 projects here. Once…
Read More In the months following the first Houston Hackathon, several organizations approached us. They read about the city hackathon in the newspaper or they heard about it online, and they wanted one of their own. From the first email, there were always little clues that something didn’t quite add up. But we took every meeting. One by…
Read More This is the story of how we planned and pulled off the first City of Houston Hackathon. It’s a story that has an ensemble cast filled with software developers, policy wonks, civic innovators, bagels, and bahn mi. Here’s a video. It would not have been possible without the support and leadership of Mayor Annise Parker…
Read More I’m writing this blog on a rainy Monday afternoon in Houston, Texas. Tomorrow night, the President will deliver the 2013 State of the Union address. Over the course of an hour, he’ll talk about the year ahead. It’s a good amount of time to celebrate success and define challenges, but really, it’s only an hour.…
Read More Over the last few years, entrepreneurs across the country have self-assembled into regional startup communities. These communities provide a fabric of support that keeps entrepreneurs engaged, and resources to help them succeed. The Startup America Partnership connects these regional communities and creates a national network, making our world a little easier to navigate. At…
Read More Open data is a global concern. While most of our work has been concentrated in Texas, we have our eye on the international unfolding of data driven decision making, and what it means for different kinds of governments. That’s why I’m so excited to embark on our first international collaboration with China, spearheaded by Bruce…
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