money problems

Houston ranks No. 3 on list of cities with the most people in financial distress amid COVID-19

Out of the largest 100 cities in the country, Houston ranks high up on the list that evaluated personal financial distress of citizens.

Photo by Zview/Getty Images

During the pandemic-produced recession, debt and loans are weighing heavily on the hearts and minds of Houstonians.

A study released this week by personal finance website WalletHub found Houston ranks first among the country's 100 largest United States cities for online searches about debt and first for online searches about loans. Overall, Houston ranks third for financial distress, behind first-place Las Vegas and second-place Chicago.

To examine where Americans are struggling the most financially, WalletHub compared the 100 largest cities across nine key metrics. Factors taken into consideration include average credit score, number of bankruptcy filings between June 2020 and June 2019, and online searches regarding debt and loans.

Aside from sitting at No. 1 for interest in debt and loans, Houston ranks:

No. 9 for share of people with accounts in distress in September
No. 9 for average number of accounts in distress in September
No. 12 for average credit score in September
WalletHub defines a distressed account as one for which payments have been reduced, skipped or delayed.

Among Texas cities, Houston has a lot of company in WalletHub's top 10. San Antonio appears at No. 4, Dallas at No. 5, Austin at No. 8, and Fort Worth at No. 10. In all, the ranking includes 13 Texas cities. Irving demonstrates the most financial stability of the 13 cities, according to WalletHub, with its financial stress ranking at No. 72.

As with almost every U.S. city, Houston has been whacked by the recession. In September, the metro area's unemployment rate stood at 9.6 percent, up from 8.1 percent the previous month. Compared with the state's three other major metro areas, Houston's September unemployment rate was the highest. The September jobless rate was 6.4 percent in Austin, 7.4 percent in Dallas, 7.6 percent in Fort Worth, and 7.8 percent in San Antonio. The statewide unemployment rate was 8.3 percent, while the nationwide unemployment rate was 7.7 percent.

One of the main drivers of Houston's high unemployment rate is the ongoing slump in the U.S. oil, gas, and chemical industry. A report released October 5 by consulting giant Deloitte showed the nationwide sector shed 107,000 jobs from March to August.

"We will never see oil and gas employment get back to where it was in December 2014. Employment in the industry today is pretty much where it was in 2006," Patrick Jankowski, senior vice president of research at the Houston Partnership, said in June. "Energy has been real good to Houston. It's still a big part of our economy, but we cannot rely on it like we have in the past."

A September report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas noted that the Houston area is in recovery mode, but the pace has slowed, mostly due to weakness in the energy sector. The report says "that while Houston's recovery is likely to continue, it will lag the state."

The report adds that the Houston area had recovered 33 percent of pandemic-era job losses as of August, compared with 42 percent across Texas and 48 percent nationwide.

Of course, the pandemic recession also has hammered the hospitality industry.

During his State of the City address on October 22, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said said 196 meetings, conferences, and conventions in the city had been canceled or rescheduled since March. The result: an estimated economic loss of $332 million. The city's hotel occupancy rate stands at a meager 44 percent, according to Turner, with the rate for downtown hotels at only 17 percent.

The pandemic's impact during the rest of 2020 and into 2020 "will be significant for our hospitality community," the mayor said.

Despite the downturn in the energy and hospitality sectors, Turner and others feel optimistic about what's ahead for Houston.

"As we gradually take steps to reopen, we recognize that the full recovery will take several years, but when we work together, we put ourselves in the best position to manage the virus and rebound from it," Turner said. "As we move forward through these unprecedented times, the city's foundation is strong, the city itself is resilient, and the city's future is bright."

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This article originally ran on our sister site, InnovationMap.

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Astrodome's new vision

New proposal to save the Astrodome calls for shops, restaurants, and more

Rendering courtesy of Gensler

A new plan for renovating the Astrodome has emerged.

The Houston Astrodome is both the city’s crown jewel and a rotting albatross depending on which direction you view it from. To address the ongoing problem of what to do with the facility, the Astrodome Conservancy has unveiled Vision: Astrodome, the latest bold plan to repurpose the dome by turning it into a small city-within-a-city with four inner buildings and walkable green spaces.

“Our 8th Wonder of the World is as Houston as it gets,” says Abbie J. Kamin, Houston City Councilmember from District C. “This historic protected landmark, filled with generations of memories and a legacy of iconic sports and music, is woven deeply into our hearts and our heritage. I am grateful that the Astrodome Conservancy has found a path forward to not only save the Dome but provide an economic asset Houstonians can enjoy year-round.”

Here's the vision. There will be a central event space on the dome floor. Four building will surround it, offering restaurants, retail shopping, and offices. The plan should result in 450,000 square feet of revenue generating space, all within the confines of the dome itself.

In addition, a connecting boulevard will move visitors throughout the area. This plan is based on New York City’s Highline, a raised walkway built on an old viaduct that opened in 2009 and has become a template for repurposed city architecture across the nation. Not only will the dome boulevard connect the various structures inside the dome, but also lead to the other buildings in NRG Park.

Built in 1965, the Astrodome is one of the most iconic sports stadiums still standing in the world. It was the first domed stadium, ushering in a new era of air-conditioned sports entertainment that earned it the nickname 8^th Wonder of the World. Muhammad Ali fought in the dome, it hosted Wrestlemania, the famous “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match took place there, and it was of course the longtime home of the Houston Oilers, Houston Astros, and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

When it closed in 2008 (and failed to meet fire code the next year), no one quite knew what to do with it. Ken Hoffman, writing in 2019, called it “puny and old, an embarrassing, dingy public eyesore” next to the shiny new NRG Stadium. In 2013, the city held a referendum on spending $217 million to renovate the dome, which failed and seemed to doom the dome to the wrecking ball.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett started a campaign to save the dome, leading to a long and protracted discussion on what was best for the city. On the one hand, the Astrodome is a fully paid-for asset of Harris County and an iconic landmark to boot. On the other hand, no one could agree on what to do or how to pay for it. The dome waited.

In 2016, the Astrodome Conservancy was formed as a private nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing the dome. To date, they have raised $3 million toward the project, which is still a drop in the bucket when it comes to remodeling the space. Two years later, Harris County Commissioners court approved $105 million to raise the floor and turn the dome back into an event space. Progress was again halted under Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who questioned whether renovating the dome was a wise use of the county’s money. The county currently spends $150,000 to $400,000 to maintain the empty dome.

So, what will Vision: Astrodome cost and where will the conservancy get it? The answer to the first question is currently: don’t know. The answer to the second question is: don’t know, but . . .

Vision Astrodome is meant to be a “conversation starter” between the major stakeholders in NRG Park according to official press documents. That likely means the conservancy is hoping to leverage economic interest and city pride to raise the money from the Houston Texans and the rodeo. Both have a contract with the county that gives them priority at NRG Park until 2032 and are unlikely to approve anything that threatens the parking situation in the complex.

The rest will likely come from Harris County itself, paid for through taxes and hotel fees. Houston refused to foot the bill in 2013, but nostalgia may have turned the hearts of the populace since then, especially if Houston can get a first-class facility out of the deal. Until then, the dome sits as it has for 15 years, watching the city pass it by.

Rendering courtesy of Gensler

A new plan for renovating the Astrodome has emerged.