blue for our heroes

Houston lights it blue in nationwide tribute to our essential heroes

Houston City Hall will be one of the buildings lit in blue in honor of our heroes.

From applause from windows and balconies and passionate Youtube serenades, to gleeful donations and supply drives, Americans are anxious to pay homage to those battling on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic: healthcare and essential workers and first responders.

Now, Houstonians can join a nationwide salute to our heroes during an event dubbed #LightItBlue.

On Thursday, April 9, at 8 pm, major city buildings and venues around Houston will be lit blue to pay homage to the world’s essential workers and first responders. Houston joins a host of major cities across the nation participating in the event.

More than 150 sporting and entertainment venues, landmarks and historic buildings, and civic and arts organizations from coast to coast will transform into “beacons of blue,” according to event organizers. Instantly familiar structures such as New York City’s One World Trade Center, Los Angeles’ Forum, and Chicago’s Soldier Field will be awash in the color.

Here are the buildings in Houston participating in the #LightItBlue event:

City Hall
Highway 59 bridges
George R. Brown Convention Center
Partnership Tower
BBVA Stadium
Minute Maid Park
Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza
NRG Stadium
Rice Stadium
Reckling Park
TDECU Stadium
Theater District
Toyota Center

Meanwhile, Houstonians are encouraged to wear blue, decorate windows and doorways with blue, and share their own images or messages to essential workers with the hashtag #LightItBlue. Those interested can follow the movement on Twitter using @LightItBlue.

Dallas is also taking part in the national event, with the following institutions being lit in tribute:

AT&T Headquarters
Bank of America Plaza
One Arts Plaza
Dallas Skyline
American Airlines Center
Cotton Bowl Stadium
Omni Dallas Hotel
FC Dallas Soccer Club
Dallas Sports Commission

The #LightItBlue event originated in the United Kingdom as a volunteer #MakeItBlue movement and has since spread across the Atlantic. “We’ve been so inspired over the past few weeks by the cheers of our neighbors around the world — and we wanted to bring this collective gratitude to an even bigger stage here in the U.S.,” said lead organizer of the movement, Joe Zenas, CEO at Thinkwell Group, a design and production agency.

“This is a heartfelt ‘thank you’ from those of us at home to those of us who are going to work each day to keep our country going.”

city-news-roundup trends

income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

As the cost of raising a child balloons in major cities like Houston, many families are weighing the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Houston — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Houston, however, is somewhat more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $21,868 to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family

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income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home