H-Town Growth
H-Town has kind of been stagnant in population growth the past few years. Not anymore. See this from the Chron:
Houston added more residents than all but one city in the United States last year, according to the Census Bureau’s latest population estimates, while the suburb of Fulshear retained its place among the fastest-growing cities in the country.
The city of Houston’s population grew by over 43,000 people between 2023 and 2024, more than any other city besides New York. With nearly 2.4 million residents, it remains the fourth-largest city in the U.S., behind New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Dan Potter, the director of the Houston Population Research Center at Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, said that while Houston is growing at a notably higher pace than America’s other largest cities, the region continues to grow most rapidly in the suburbs. The rest of Harris County, not including Houston, added over 60,000 residents last year, while Fort Bend and Montgomery counties both added more than 30,000 residents, despite being home to far fewer people than Houston.
Potter also questioned whether the Houston area’s growth will continue at this rate in the future, given the federal crackdown on immigration that is already underway in the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency. The vast majority of Houston’s growth since 2020 has come from international migration, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Nice. Maybe folks like the way H-Town Mayor John Whitmire is leading the city and dealing with our challenges. Something is obviously going on in terms of H-Town now attracting more residents. It is good to see H-Town growing again.
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If you are paying attention to the current Texas legislative session, you probably heard about this yesterday. See this from the Chron:
A yearslong effort to strike Texas’ ban on gay sex took a leap forward on Thursday after House lawmakers passed a repeal just hours before a midnight deadline.
The proposal, brought this session by state Rep. Venton Jones, D-Dallas, one of the chamber’s first Black gay members, passed in a 72-55 vote, with support from all Democrats and a handful of Republicans.
The bill, which strikes a criminal penalty from the books that hasn’t been enforceable since 2003, passed without debate and only outspoken support from backers. Some version of a repeal has been introduced in the House during every legislative session since the 1980s, according to Jones.
“I’m asking you to vote on a law that upholds the principles that Texans should have the freedom and ability to make their own private decisions without unwarranted government interference,” Jones said on the floor.
Jones’ bill was narrower than previous versions, striking the portion of state law that references a criminal penalty for “homosexual conduct” but leaving in place phrasing that homosexuality “is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public.”
Thursday was the last day that the chamber could vote out House-originating bills on second reading. With just weeks left in the legislative session, the effort still needs to pass the Senate before it can head to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk to be signed into law. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate, has not publicly weighed in on a repeal.
Who put this out a couple of years ago:
I have been longtime champion of the LGBTQ+ community.
10 years before the 2003 Supreme Court ruling on Lawrence v Texas, I led the effort to decriminalize being a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
30 years ago, in 1993, I sponsored SB 1067 which was a sweeping criminal justice reform of the Texas Penal Code. My bill included removing Sec. 21.06, this language:
“A person commits an offense if he engages in deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex.”
A Class C misdemeanor.
Under my leadership, the bill passed the Texas Senate.
The Texas House threatened to kill the entire bill on criminal justice reform if Sec. 21.06 was removed.
21.06 stayed on the books.
That’s the closest we have come to removing this language.
I was lauded for my efforts on this including being awarded the Harvey Milk Award.
Then Dean Whitmire put out the above when he was running for H-Town mayor. Yep, his bill to remove the language was passed by the Texas Senate 32 years ago. It is a different Texas Seante today.
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One year ago today, Derecho came out of nowhere and put a hurt on the H-Town area. Homes and businesses were damaged. Trees were blown down and a few hundred thousand of us suffered a loss of power. Commentary was lights out for a few days. The featured photo was taken on that night.
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Hunter Brown pitched great last night, but we still lost one zip. You hate to lose a game like the one last night.
