Author: Alexis Jones
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🎉Milestone Announcement!
We have been quiet for a couple of months, but for good reason. Builders Without Borders has just grown its board for the first time, with two new members! Robert “Rue Rob” Jackson is a 5th generation Houstonian, 3rd Ward resident, a passionate leader dedicated to strengthening neighborhoods and expanding opportunities for long-standing residents. His…
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The New Kinder-SoH Just Dropped
What is Kinder-SoH? Is that a candy from overseas? No. Kinder = The Kinder Institute at Rice University, which is a nationally recognized hub for data-driven research on urban planning. Think: housing, transportation, infrastructure, and climate resilience. For architecture and sustainability professionals, the Institute’s work provides critical insights into the intersection of policy + the…
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The Grassroots Community of Urban Planning
There’s a group called Strong Towns. It’s a national group, started by Charles Marohn, with the intent to shift our building priorities from the WWI-era thinking that generated most of them. Some chapters key in on fighting the vampiric dominance of the single-family home model, passing ADU policy, and affordable housing. Here in Houston, we’re…
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#LostSpacesCommunity2025
Moments like this panel is why this organization needs to exist. The Lost Spaces Conference is a yearly event targeting independent developers who plan to do renovate homes in at-risk communities. From a sustainability professional’s point of view, independent developers are the builders committing the largest number of “offenses”. They don’t mean to – we…
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LISC: Envision Houston
On March 26, 2025, LISC Houston hosted their 2nd annual Envision: State of Communities – Neighborhoods Taking Action at the Federal Reserve Bank here in Houston. The focus of the day-long conference was to uplift, highlight, and elevate the people and entities involved in affecting change within the neighborhoods across the City of Houston and Harris…
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‘Don’t we owe it to our people?’ Frustration grows as senior communities struggle without power.
“HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — More than a million CenterPoint Energy customers were still without power on Tuesday evening, including communities that house seniors and those who need assistance to live.” Read More
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89-year-old woman unconscious for days due to heat in northeast Houston
“HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Relatives of an 89-year-old northeast Houston woman say she passed out from heat exhaustion days after losing electricity. ‘My momma got so overheated, her body shut down and she has not waken up yet,’ Monica Shaw said. That was on Wednesday. Shaw said she called in a nurse and bought two generators…
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89-year-old storm victim faces $3,000 bill to restore power after severe weather
“The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was told she needs to repair her electric lines and breaker box before Centerpoint can restore her power. An electrician told her that her wiring would have to be brought up to code which could cost $3,000, on the low end.” Read More
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Rice University: Kinder Institute for Urban Research on Housing Quality
Data on housing quality, safety and habitability in Houston is lacking, creating a need for information that can help propel policy to improve the condition of homes in the area. Working with community organizations, the Kinder Institute is engaged in an effort to survey residents in targeted neighborhoods about the condition of their homes and…
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