Think your home insurance costs too much? Look at your credit. A new report from shows that Texans with low credit scores pay almost $3,000 more for home insurance on average each year than those with high scores. New in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202...

Houston! I'll be talking about CITY LIMITS -- and how to build a city without highways -- on Wednesday evening at MATCH Houston, hosted by Houston Design Collaborative. Come say hi! houstondesigncollaborative.org

“It's no longer just a rural issue, not just about the groundwater in East Texas,” said state Rep. Cody Harris, a Palestine Republican behind the effort to overhaul the state’s groundwater regulation. “This affects everyone.” Great story from @megankimble.bsky.social

NEW in @houstonchronicle.com: A fight over groundwater in East Texas has triggered a seismic rethinking of the state's water law, with state leaders promising to topple the 120-year-old doctrine governing groundwater in Texas known as the rule of capture. www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

How a Dallas investor's East Texas water grab triggered a statewide battle, via @megankimble.bsky.social www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

NEW @houstonchronicle.com: Less than 5% of homes in the highest-risk areas of Kerr County had flood insurance before July 4. Without insurance, "It's a much, much longer road home.” Read the story, by me and Caroline Ghisolfi: www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

The Trump administration wants to give Texas more authority – and require less transparency – as the state expands existing highways and builds new ones. New in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

The National Climate Assessment, and all special reports and past assessments, are now offline. Federal climate science is being systematically erased.

a lovely review of CITY LIMITS in the Journal of the American Planning Assocation! Professors, take note: "The book serves as a nearly complete introduction to many of the significant recent and ongoing debates in transportation and land use planning." www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

NEW in @houstonchronicle.com After months of wrangling, lawmakers reach a deal to spend billions shoring up the state's water supply, agreeing to a 50/50 split between new water supply projects and aging infrastructure in need of repair. www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

“Critics warn doing away with those protections would punish all renters in the state for the rare instance of an illegal squatter.” www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202... By @houstonchronicle.com's @megankimble.bsky.social #housing+ #urbanism+ #urbanism

For decades, the Texas Apartment Association has influenced lawmakers to weaken tenants’ rights. Now they want the right to evict tenants without a court proceeding. @megankimble.bsky.social www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202...

The Texas Apartment Association helped turn Texas into one of the most landlord-friendly states. But its new 'anti-squatting' bill is a step too far for some lawmakers. NEW from me & Matt Zdun in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202...

My story on Rio Grande & Pecos River water use in oil and gas drilling during an extreme drought is out today in @insideclimatenews.org insideclimatenews.org/news/1305202...

NEW in @houstonchronicle.com: Lawmakers hope desalination can bring new water to Texas. Critics want protections for the coast. “If we want seawater desalination to be our long-term water supply strategy, we better do it right." @texassierraclub.bsky.social www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

H/t to @megankimble.bsky.social @houstonchronicle.com for great reporting on the TX insurance crisis: www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

Texas' property insurance crisis hits an unexpected target: public schools. Can state lawmakers help struggling districts? New in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

Texas lawmakers are pushing a measure that would bar cities from narrowing roadways to create wider sidewalks or protected lanes for bicyclists and buses. New in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

NEW in @houstonchronicle.com: Texas Central's new investors told state lawmakers the high-speed rail project could be completed as soon as 2032, even after the Trump administration pulled federal funding earlier this week. www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

This Republican-led bill would divert millions in Harris County toll revenue to Houston, via @megankimble.bsky.social www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

Trump’s tariffs could increase homebuilding, insurance costs in Texas just ahead of hurricane season, via @megankimble.bsky.social www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

“This is the equivalent of using a shotgun in a schoolyard to kill a mosquito.”  www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex... By @houstonchronicle.com's @megankimble.bsky.social #housing+ #urbanism+ #urbanism

@megankimble.bsky.social wrote a phenomenal book on this very subject!

NEW: Texas leaders promised to crack down on squatting. But a new bill would radically transform the eviction process for millions of Texas renters, making it easier for landlords to evict them without notice or a legal proceeding. @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

Low-income tenants are paying for skyrocketing insurance costs through higher rents and fewer units. My latest, in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

Texas GOP lawmakers have shunned the idea of mandating paid parental leave in a state where most don't have access to it. Instead, they've touted a plan to let businesses buy paid leave insurance to cover the time off. But in its first year, just 2 insurers have signed up🧵

My latest on home insurance, in @houstonchronicle.com: How much is your Texas home worth? If you pay a lot for insurance, less than you might think. www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

"Our addiction to highways cuts across the political spectrum, afflicting red and blue states alike. And most of us willingly bear this cost without a second thought. Idols demand sacrifice." NEW REVIEW of City Limits by @megankimble.bsky.social https://buff.ly/3CnLVZp

Texas doesn't track where homeowners are being dropped by their insurance providers, which advocates say is critical to getting a handle on rising rates. My latest, in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

Great story from @dylanbaddour.bsky.social about Corpus Christi's dire water shortage -- and a proposal to build the world's largest seawater desalination plant insideclimatenews.org/news/2301202...

Reading “City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways” by @megankimble.bsky.social, and it so perfectly encapsulates my feelings about highways, car centric planning, and the struggles individuals and communities have with any highway. Definitely recommend to read

As the planet warms, insurance companies are dropping homeowners in communities they deem too dangerous because of wildfires, hurricanes and other threats. Now, for the first time, the scale of that pullback is becoming public. nyti.ms/41EOpNc

NEW in @houstonchronicle.com: Experts say one of the most immediate ways to combat the state’s insurance crisis is also one of the simplest: make homes more durable. Every other state in the region helps homeowners build stronger roofs. Why doesn't Texas? www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

If you love cities & history, or need to find a gift for someone who does, here are three great books that I highly recommend ✨ @conordougherty.bsky.social @megankimble.bsky.social @henrygrabar.bsky.social

9. City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways - @megankimble.bsky.social: www.instagram.com/modacitylife...

Reclaiming our communities from the car is about more than saving the planet. It’s about saving ourselves from the unsafe, unjust, unhealthy, unloveable places where we live. Sixteen books we read this year that changed how we think about the process of building cities: an #UrbanismBookClub thread.

This is how to do it, kids: Home insurance is now a climate story. Put it on the front, and put "climate change" at the top. Especially now that deniers will control the federal and state government. www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/hom...

🧵Texans are struggling to keep their homes insured, paying more for less coverage as climate change wreaks havoc on providers. Here's an inside look at the rising turmoil: www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/hom...

The Houston Chronicle has spent months looking into the rising cost of home insurance and potential solutions that state lawmakers can deploy when they reconvene in January. Here are the key findings: trib.al/KkQFiOq

New: A 2006 study found undocumented immigrants contributed more to Texas than they cost the state. The state hasn’t updated the analysis since. But a series of reports released by nonprofits and universities since then have reached similar conclusions. www.texastribune.org/2024/12/06/t...

I’ll be on Reddit at r/Texas next Thursday, Dec. 12 at 12:30 with data editor Caroline Ghisolfi for @houstonchronicle.com answering all your questions about home insurance. Save the date and ask us anything! 🏠

I talked to @houstonpublicmedia.bsky.social about my story in @houstonchronicle.com looking at how TxDOT oversees its own environmental compliance - and whether that should continue. www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/sho...

Remarkable deep dive into the Tx insurance market by @megankimble.bsky.social and Caroline Ghisolfi: “Because we're not answering the public policy questions of how do we adapt to a world in which the climate is changing, we've essentially outsourced land use policy to insurance companies."

The Chronicle has spent months looking into the home insurance crisis and potential solutions that state lawmakers can deploy when they reconvene in January. Read our latest series examining the insurance crisis here: www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/hom...

Today on Volts: the insurance industry is the canary in the climate change coal mine. Now prices are rising, insurers are pulling out of whole states, & state budgets are straining to make up the difference. I talk with @kategordon.bsky.social about the whole mess. www.volts.wtf/p/climate-ch...

There are many reasons for the recent surge in premiums. But extreme weather has been the biggest driver by far. Here’s a look at the rising turmoil through charts: www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/hom...

NEW: Home insurance in Texas is now among the most expensive in the country, trailing only Florida and Louisiana. Across the state, homeowners are paying more for less coverage as climate change wreaks havoc on providers. My latest, in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/hom...

Home insurance in Texas is now among the most expensive in the country, according to a Houston Chronicle review of U.S. Census survey data. www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/hom...

Y'all do listen to @austinchronicle.bsky.social and come to our party tonight! "In a red state that will only feel more emboldened by a Trump presidency, we’re going to need the @texasobserver.org now more than ever." LINK: texasobserver.fundjournalism.org/70thdonate/

Oh hey, @streetsblogusa.bsky.social calls CITY LIMITS “astonishing” and a “gripping drama.” Buy it for everyone on your holiday list! usa.streetsblog.org/2024/12/02/t...