The Limit Does Not Exist in Houston - Borrowing A Line From Mean Girls

The limit does not exist. At least not here in Houston.

Officials from the Greater Houston Partnership economic development group revealed a new campaign this week labelled "Houston: The City With No Limits", hoping that it will continue to attract young professionals and corporate executives to the City of Houston, and more importantly, the greater Houston region.

Before we too far ahead of ourselves, let's be honest and admit that Houston has its limits. To borrow a joke from Tory Gattis at Houston Strategies: If you're talking about the physical city limits of Houston, no, it doesn't really feel like there are any limits!

If you're a fan of Mean Girls (I know you're out there!), you will know that Lindsay Lohan's character Cady Heron wins North Shore High School the Illinois High School Mathletes State Championship by correctly identifying that a particular math problem has no limit. If I were the Greater Houston Partnership, I might be asking Lindsay Lohan to do a reprisal of her role for a forthcoming campaign. The young professional crowd would probably identify with the humor!

But let's be real. Houston has some limits, unlike Cady's math problem. All cities have limits, and we can't claim some sort of Houston Exceptionalism right now.

Some might wonder why a campaign like this is even necessary. Houston is leading American cities in total net migration, and dominating the share of the domestic migration. Houston has already been a leader in international migrants as well. And, like the previous four years, Houston was ranked as the number one destination city in 2013 for U-Haul. People are moving to Houston regardless of a snazzy new campaign.

When you look at the brand strength of Houston when compared to other cities, it really is remarkable that so many companies and individuals are willing, and in many cases excited, to relocate to Houston. So, this is why these marketing tools are most likely worthwhile.

When looking at the top branded cities in the world, Houston doesn't crack the top 50. Out of 57 cities listed in a Saffron / Guardian Cities global brand survey, Houston wasn't included, and it's not hard to understand why. Houston's not considered a top shopping destination, nor does it rank among the top cities as a financial center or location for tech start-ups, and certainly not one of the top cities for transit infrastructure. If you look at the metadata, Houston was only ranked in one metadata category: "Top 25 Hot Spots by 2025", and specifically for the city's projected Gross Domestic Product. For Houstonians, we might be perfectly fine with that, as Houston is not widely regarded as a tourist destination, and that is what most of these Saffron / Guardian Cities categories seem to measure.

Houston is seen by some as the next great American city, however, there is not a place where segregation and inequality are so prevalent. In Smithsonian Magazine's article, What Makes Houston the Next Great American City?, the point is made that Houston has "the Texas Medical Center, the finest medical facility in the world, but we also have the highest percentage of kids without health care. The inequality is so clear here."

Houston has some of the highest crime rates in the country, and unfortunately contains two of the country's top-25 most dangerous neighborhoods. We have some of the worst traffic and congestion in the country, or some think in the Western Hemisphere. That was in 2013, and it's even worse in 2014! Houston has some of the dirtiest air in the country. It probably has to do with all that traffic congestion and our sprawling suburbs. Houston has historically been difficult to navigate. Nothing will be more welcoming than hopping off a plane and sitting in the limitless traffic on beautiful I-45 from either of Houston's airports, or then realizing the vastly limited transit options that exist to get you to your final destination. Houston's growth has forced many to bear the financial and time-related burdens of car ownership. Thankfully, METRO Houston is working on a reimagined bus network that will provide more frequent access to job centers across the city, and allow people to use their cars less frequently should they choose. Houston has also been ranked as one of the world's ugliest cities (and deservedly so in many respects).

I don't intend to be too harsh on Houston. It's my home, and I love it despite its flaws. Of course, the list can go on and on, and we can continue to find flaws everywhere we look. This is applicable to every city, not only Houston. We shouldn't be blind to that fact. But, of course, a city wouldn't stand a chance at gaining a competitive advantage in anything if it honestly listed its shortcomings. (I wonder what those slogans might look like!)

It is understandable that campaigns and slogans like this need to be generated for cities to continue to attract attention from around the country, and around the world. Without a doubt, Houston is a city that has pushed the limits of the known world, propelling humans into space, cooling and enclosing gigantic sports facilities, creating artificial hearts that extend lives, and fueling the world's gas guzzling cars.

But, Houston has yet to find an asset that it can continue to market that either hasn't been underfunded and discontinued (the space program and Space City, and this slogan is even emblazoned on our city's police department patches), has had its status wither away (with the Rockets and Clutch City), draws attention to a noxious byproduct of our riches (as the world's oil and gas capital), or has been grossly under capitalized (Bayou City), although the Buffalo Bayou Partnership is doing an amazing job at ensuring that Houston's most important natural feature can be enjoyed by residents, and used as an asset for the city, rather than just a conduit for roadway runoff. Buffalo Bayou Park will be a tremendous asset for Houston, and will lend some credibility to our name as the Bayou City.

Marketing cities is just like every marketing campaign. Your audience and message will change, and the simple fact that money is being spent to promote Houston will probably bring some benefit. If nothing else, this campaign helps to put a picture and description on the greater Houston region, much like this Swamplot article summarizes. If it's good for bringing business to Houston, all the better. We'll see how it pans out. However, it is somewhat of an easy target with all the sprawl jokes!

I love Houston, and I hope we continue to provide our citizens and visitors with the best services and products around. I also hope we continue to make our mark around the country and around the world as trendsetters, trailblazers and innovators. We just need to be honest with our assessments at times. There's much to be proud about, but the work can't stop in making Houston a desirable place to live, work or visit.

City Council in Houston; 50 Most Populous U.S. Cities

In the midst of the City of Toronto mayoral fiasco involving embattled Mayor Rob Ford, I started to watch clips of Toronto's City Council meetings. They were a highlight reel of laughs and distractions, yet there was still valuable work that got done. There seemed to be a palpable amount of tension and spirited debate, making things much more exciting than typical U.S. council meetings, and especially those here in Houston. I'm pretty sure that nothing like this would ever happen here in Houston (although sometimes I think that all cities would benefit from a little fun at their city council meetings):

Nonetheless, as I continued to watch Toronto's city council meetings, I started to compare Houston and Toronto in terms of their councils, then began to expand my comparison to other major cities. It led me to abandoning Toronto as a comparison city, focusing instead on comparing the councils of the 50 most-populous cities in the United States. See How Houston compares at the bottom of the page.

(DISCLAIMER: When I started this venture, I was unaware of the existing 2011 study of city councils by Pew Charitable Trusts, City Councils in Philadelphia and Other Major Cities. I did not use any of the data contained in this document, but some of the data comparisons are similar.)



Curiosity arose regarding the number of council members of other cities, the number of people they serve and the amount of area that their districts cover. I also wondered about each city's term limits, whether there were council members that served at large, or whether they solely elected members for given districts. Another small curiosity was whether or not the council members faced the public or faced an officiant during their hearings. At this point throughout my municipal experience I feel that when elected officials and public servants face those that they serve, they foster a more engaging environment for public involvement and input. (New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Nashville each have councils that face a council president or speaker, not the public they serve. I understand this is most likely due to the local form of government.) It's quirky, but nonetheless, a dynamic of civic involvement and trust.



As I looked at councils around the country, I documented the number of city council members, excluding mayors. A judgement was made that most mayors do not serve a particular district (any corrections to this data are welcomed), even when having voting power within their city council. The number of districts within a city were documented, as well as the number of any at large council members. It was also important to know the population and physical area of each city, which allowed for a few different comparisons to be made. (Austin, Texas is approaching elections in 2014 that will expand the number of council members to 10, each serving one district; statistics already reflect this change.)

When you think of these data sets and how they may relate to Houston, or any city for that matter, it creates many questions, and should beg comparison to other cities. Houston should not be in a position to be afraid to adopt practices from other cities, or be close-handed regarding changes to how its council functions in order to give its citizens the best representation possible and its council members an appropriate amount of time to complete projects without worry of running for reelection. You see a similar climate in collegiate athletics, where alumni, fans and administration demand instant results on the field or court without coaching staffs being afforded the ability to recruit their own players. The same holds true for local elected officials. They need to know who they're working with, and how to best achieve their preferred outcomes. Yes, terrific coaches can win games, and terrific chefs can prepare culinary masterpieces with what they are presented with (think Iron Chef), but for continued success, there must be an intimate understanding of how your team or entity matches against other competitors.

Should Houston institute a four-year term for its elected officials?

2014, Kinder Institute

Before a council member is elected, they have spent nearly a year campaigning, and by the time they learn how the city bureaucracy functions, they are back on the campaign trail to ensure they will be re-elected that next year! It is an undue burden for all of our political leaders, even if you disagree with their political position and motivations. Two years is not enough time to complete quality projects in Houston, as by the time council members develop a project or ordinance amendments, they begin to approach reelection, and must devote their time to other endeavors. At this point, a city council member must wait until their second council term to garner major support for any project. This seems like a large amount of time that could be spent on constituent relations within the second year of the council member's first term. Because of this continual election cycle projects or proposals can sit in the balance because of a lack of time to gain support or political backing.

During the annual Kinder Institute Houston Area Survey, Dr. Stephen L. Klineberg and his staff compile responses to various questions regarding the political, physical, social, and educational aspects of the Houston region. One question that continues to reveal support for longer local office terms explores "Attitudes Toward Term Limits On City Of Houston Elected Officials." 73 percent of those surveyed were in favor of continuing term limits, while the support for two 4-year terms rose to 49 percent in 2014 (page 16). Houstonians are clearly realizing the importance of longer terms. Only six of the 50 most populous U.S. cities have council terms of two years. Austin, Texas has council terms of three years, leaving only seven cities to have terms less than four years. Out of those seven, four are Texas cities; Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth.

Should Cities Redraw City Council Boundaries?

Houston City Council Districts

Fans of the Disney movie The Mighty Ducks might remember what happened with the redistricting of District 5 in the Minnesota Youth Hockey League. District 5, which was the team's name at the time, acquired Adam Banks, won a few games, and made the playoffs for the first time in years. That's a stretch of an example, but there may be many positives that come from modifying district boundaries in a city, or having additional districts created for residents. The feasibility of this happening in Houston is riddled with political and demographic considerations and elaborate requirements for district characteristics. But, council districts with a more manageable number of residents can allow council members to dedicate a greater amount of time and energy in creating more intimate relationships with residents. A more manageable geography alone should be persuasive enough to considering changing council boundaries. In looking at Houston's districts, they act as a "pinwheel" of sorts, with downtown Houston acting as a vertex of sorts, with districts reaching out from Downtown.

In Houston's Council District E, Councilman Dave Martin, or one of his staff members, could spend nearly an hour and drive over 50 miles to get from one side of the district from NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center for a morning meeting to Kingwood's Hidden Hollow Elementary School to speak about civics to elementary school students. Aside from being inconvenient for city representatives to drive regularly, it is also far too long a distance for residents at one end of the district to have similar concerns as those 50 miles away.





Austin, Texas recently changed its city charter to allow for ten council districts, represented by one member, as well as a city-wide election for mayor. This is very similar to Houston's council election procedure, however,  council members in Austin will serve approximately half of the number of citizens compared to council members in Houston. The City of Austin constructed a website to address the council boundary and redistricting process. The City of Houston conducted a similar process in 2011, creating two additional districts, giving the city 11 districts. The City of Houston has a set of criteria and rules for drawing districts, spelled out on the city's Planning and Development Department's website.





As Houston and other cities continue to grow, there will need to be continued consideration given to adding council districts and councilors. That is the only way to ensure that services are rendered properly to residents and that the voices of residents are heard by the rest of council.

When Houston added additional council districts in 2011, the population of the city was 2,126,196 residents. 2014 population estimates for the City of Houston reach 2,201,027 residents. This equates to a gain of 74,831 residents in a three-year span. If we can assume Houston continues its grown at the same rate, the city would need to add another council member to achieve the same level of current representation by 2016. There is nothing in the city's charter requiring any additional council members as the population grows. Houston would end up much like Los Angeles in the size and population of their council districts. (There are currently 131,266 residents represented per council member in Houston).

How Does Houston Compare in Council District and Council Member Population?

Compared to cities of similar population size, Houston sits behind only the City of Los Angeles for the number of people that are represented per council district, and ranks sixth in the number of people per council member, taking into account Houston's five at-large council members. As these numbers indicate, Houston's council members have a large constituent population to attend to. Often, a city's population will forget that at-large council members function in the same capacity as those representing districts, and are most likely underutilized by residents with district-specific concerns.

City Councilor Salaries

Would cities and their councils be able to attract a more diverse, higher skilled, and better prepared set of councilors if the office of city councilor paid a greater sum of money in most cities? Without a doubt, some cities offer more than a fair compensation for the office of city councilor. However, many major cities have continued to offer a seemingly measly compensation for positions that continuously demand more and more accountability and responsibility, especially as our urban areas grow in population and physical size.

Why have cities made it a de facto requirement that city councilors must be retired or have flexible, full-time, high-paying jobs to accommodate the workload required of a councilor? By the nature of the position it may be very difficult for an educated, fairly common civic leader to even ponder serving as a councilor, as opposed to those who have a greater economic independence, or who are popular among specific populations, such as local celebrities or influential citizens, but may not have the educational background that is demanded of many city councilors today.

What can be done? Offer more money for councilor positions. the City of San Diego recently attempted to raise city council salaries, hoping to attract a greater range of leadership talent. (Their council ultimately voted against the salary increases.) With a plan like San Diego's there is an increased consideration of the character of council members due to their higher salaries. This creates a greater incentive for those who would then be able to support a family with a city council salary, and a greater incentive for citizens to elect representatives who may truly hold the office of councilor with esteem, as opposed to those who may be competing in a popularity contest. Right now the job of city councilor is so demanding that you'd need another full time job to better support a family with it, given that most salaries are so slow, and some positions are considered part time. The idea of increasing council salaries is becoming more accepted in cities, and is currently being considered in Honolulu, as councilor work is full-time, but their pay is thought of as part-time.

There seems to be a slight correlation between the salaries of council members and the quality of life, travel opportunities, leisure amenities and business climate ranking. Using the Bloomberg and Businessweek 2012 rankings of the best American cities to compare against council salaries, there are obvious outliers. Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago are getting a poor value for their expense on leadership compared to their  ranking, while cities like Nashville, Oklahoma City and Raleigh get a greater return on their council salaries compared to their ranking.



At the very least, it is interesting to consider the geographic and demographic characteristics that make up city council districts within Houston, and see how Houston's council compares to other U.S. and North American cities. Houston is a melting pot of different cultures and backgrounds, willing to adopt other people's point of view. It should be no different in our public administration, and determining what will best serve the city's citizens.

Houston City Council - How Does It Compare to Other U.S. Cities?

BEST OF CITY COUNCIL VIDEOS: (As a side: If you'd like some best-of city council highlights, I recommend watching a few clips from Detroit City Council as well. Former Detroit city council member Monica Conyers was known to provide some highlights, calling Ken Cockrel "Shrek", and then debating about it with 8th graders. Also, notable city council highlights include Steve Jobs' last television appearance before his death, as he presented Apple's campus plan to the City of Cupertino, California. And, what could make city council meetings any more appealing than dramatic music, paired with slow-motion close-up action shots of council members? Give this Whitehorse, Canada city council commercial a view.)

What's with all the Blogging?

It seems like blogging has become as regular as a new Harlem Shake video. Okay, that was an exaggeration. But the question remains, "What's with this boom in blogging?", especially among everyone at Sojourn? "The City is clogged with blogs!" It may seem like information overload, but it must be counted as an encouragement that there are brothers and sisters who continually desire to shape their minds in the understanding of Christ and God's word, share their struggles, share their backgrounds, and desire to encourage one another in our family of faith; even if it is digitally.

Here are some thoughts about all this blogging, especially for those within Sojourn Houston (or who have other brothers and sisters in Christ who are blogging), and who are subjected to seeing our links and posts through the context of The City, Twitter or Facebook.

(Al Mohler weighs in on this topic in The Christian Leader in the Digital Age, stating that "the Christian imperative in the digital domain comes down to this – sharing the light in a world of darkness.")

What Blogging is Not

First and foremost, blogging is NOT a replacement for worship, community, real conversations with others, and the reading of God's word. The most important aspect here is worship. Without worship, community, conversation, and the reading of God's word are just tasks for us to complete, devoid of any sort of lasting joy. Podcasts of our favorite pastors help in our growth, but can't be relied upon either. Nothing can replace the worship, teaching and fellowship that takes place within the context of a local church.

Blogging also is not intended to be boastful. For those of us that blog, it must be recognized that we are not professionals, are not celebrity pastors, and that we have a limited knowledge of God. Rather, we are those who are on mission, plodding along in the context of a local church, continuing to increase our knowledge and understanding of the Lord, growing in His holiness; and are also sinners in need of encouragement and guidance from our brothers and sisters in Christ.

How Blogging Can Help

Blogging can assist in sharing experiences with others, including family and friends, and as an outlet to be able to process ideas, thoughts and reflections.

Blogging is exercise for the brain. For those that experienced collegiate writing courses, our brains were challenged, and, whether you know it or not, developed more advanced writing skills. So, now that we are working in fields that do not demand regular writing, blogging can be an exercise in creativity and the thought process, and a way to increase our knowledge and understanding of God's word.

While we (those of us at Sojourn Houston) see each other in the context of community through Sunday worship gatherings and weekly neighborhood parish gatherings, we don't always get to share our thoughts in their entirety or elaborate as much as we would like to due to brevity. Sharing thoughts through a blog can fill those conversational gaps.

Blogging can be a means of leadership. (Read here what Al Mohler has said about Christian leaders in the digital age). Leaders are commonly held to a higher standard, and must be accountable and willing to defend their actions and thoughts. Even though many of us are young in the grand scheme of our time spent in communion with the Lord, I believe as a body, we have a variety of experiences and perspectives that are worth sharing and can provide encouragement to others.

Why Bother to Blog?

Finally, scripture calls us as brothers and sisters in Christ to exhort one another daily so that our hearts would not be hardened to our sin (Hebrews 3:13). We are also called as co-laborers in Christ to hold fast to our confession of Christ as our savior, stirring up one another to love and good works (Hebrews 10:23-25). Actually, the entire book of Hebrews is considered to be a word of exhortation (Hebrews 13:22). While you may not have had your life changed through a blog post, we can be sure to point to numerous posts that have been informative, refining, and encouraging, and most of all, timely to struggles or issues we have faced. They have helped to reorient my attitude or behavior on days where my heart is vulnerable to hardening in sin. That is the mindset I have adopted while typing my thoughts into blog form, and I am hopeful that our contributions stir up good works to the encouragement of our brothers and sisters in Christ.