The elections are over, but things are just getting started in Texas. The 86th Texas Legislature convenes in the beginning of 2019, and newly-elected House and Senate members are already filing legislation. Two years ago, we built a map of bills filed for the 85th session. This year, you’ll notice the maps got an upgrade.…
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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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Every year, the City of Houston goes through a capital planning process where they allocate about $8 billion over five years. I wanted to know where these projects are, and how much we’re spending on them. I became curious about this process after last year’s discussion about equitable distribution. So I extracted a bunch of data from the…
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Last week, I published an article outlining what the City of Houston can do to promote broadband competition. I was responding to a group of citizens who came to Houston’s city council public comment session and asked our elected officials to do something about net neutrality. While the City of Houston can’t do much about…
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This is the story of how we helped the City of Houston visualize and communicate the impact of Hurricane Harvey. You may have already seen these maps on Harvey by the Numbers. This isn’t a story about designing the maps and choosing the colors (although that was a lot of fun). This is a story…
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Over the summer, we worked with Children at Risk to develop a map of child care deserts in Texas. The map shows where there aren’t enough child care providers, as well as where there is a lack of subsidized seats or high quality providers. Then, using the map as a jumping off point, Children at…
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This map updates each week. Check the map credits for the last updated date. Every county in Texas is divided into voting precincts. The two major parties have precinct chairs who serve as election judges, as well as manage a ton of on-the-ground activities for the party. A precinct chair is the lowest level of…
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I read an excellent article on Gray Matters in the Houston Chronicle called Why Barbershops Are Disappearing. The article points out that, culturally speaking, the barbershop is more than just a place to get a haircut. It’s a place where “men spend time with other men.” There are differences between barbershops that cut along racial…
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There are over 200 civic clubs in the City of Houston. They have fancy names, like Timbergrove Manor and University Oaks. Some of them even have websites. But what do they actually do, and why should you get involved? What are civic clubs? Civic clubs are the most immediate, neighborhood-level form of public sector engagement.…
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Updated May 29, 2017. Last week, the Texas Legislature published bills filed by our newly elected House and Senate members. The Texas Legislature only meets for six months every two years. These bills are the raw materials for potential new state laws. You can browse the publicly available data here. I wanted to get a better…
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