<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-US" prefix="og: http://ogp.me/ns#" class="html_stretched responsive av-preloader-disabled av-default-lightbox  html_header_top html_logo_center html_bottom_nav_header html_top_nav_header html_menu_center html_custom html_header_sticky html_header_shrinking_disabled html_mobile_menu_tablet html_disabled html_header_searchicon html_content_align_center html_header_unstick_top_disabled html_header_stretch html_entry_id_2947 ">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />


<!-- mobile setting -->
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1">

<!-- Scripts/CSS and wp_head hook -->
<title>Hurricane Harvey: A View From a Rugged Communitarian - Center for Opportunity Urbanism</title>

<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v6.1.1 - https://yoa.st/1yg?utm_content=6.1.1 -->
<link rel="canonical" href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/09/hurricane-harvey-view-rugged-communitarian/" />
<meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" />
<meta property="og:type" content="article" />
<meta property="og:title" content="Hurricane Harvey: A View From a Rugged Communitarian - Center for Opportunity Urbanism" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Narratives are not necessarily built on facts; they’re built on stories, pictures, graphics, and videos. Ideally, we want our narratives to be aligned with the facts; but that doesn’t always happen." />
<meta property="og:url" content="http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/09/hurricane-harvey-view-rugged-communitarian/" />
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Center for Opportunity Urbanism" />
<meta property="article:section" content="Urban Issues" />
<meta property="article:published_time" content="2017-09-04T15:57:58+00:00" />
<meta property="og:image" content="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/harvey-aftermath-03-e1504558770356.jpg" />
<meta property="og:image:width" content="2579" />
<meta property="og:image:height" content="1289" />
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" />
<meta name="twitter:description" content="Narratives are not necessarily built on facts; they’re built on stories, pictures, graphics, and videos. Ideally, we want our narratives to be aligned with the facts; but that doesn’t always happen." />
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Hurricane Harvey: A View From a Rugged Communitarian - Center for Opportunity Urbanism" />
<meta name="twitter:image" content="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/harvey-aftermath-03-e1504558770356.jpg" />
<script type='application/ld+json'>{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"WebSite","@id":"#website","url":"http:\/\/opportunityurbanism.org\/","name":"Center for Opportunity Urbanism","potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"http:\/\/opportunityurbanism.org\/?s={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}</script>
<!-- / Yoast SEO plugin. -->

<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s.w.org' />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Center for Opportunity Urbanism &raquo; Feed" href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/feed/" />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Center for Opportunity Urbanism &raquo; Comments Feed" href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/comments/feed/" />

<!-- google webfont font replacement -->
<link rel='stylesheet' id='avia-google-webfont' href='//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans:400,600' type='text/css' media='all'/> 
		<script type="text/javascript">
			window._wpemojiSettings = {"baseUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/2.4\/72x72\/","ext":".png","svgUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/2.4\/svg\/","svgExt":".svg","source":{"concatemoji":"http:\/\/opportunityurbanism.org\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-emoji-release.min.js?ver=4.9.4"}};
			!function(a,b,c){function d(a,b){var c=String.fromCharCode;l.clearRect(0,0,k.width,k.height),l.fillText(c.apply(this,a),0,0);var d=k.toDataURL();l.clearRect(0,0,k.width,k.height),l.fillText(c.apply(this,b),0,0);var e=k.toDataURL();return d===e}function e(a){var b;if(!l||!l.fillText)return!1;switch(l.textBaseline="top",l.font="600 32px Arial",a){case"flag":return!(b=d([55356,56826,55356,56819],[55356,56826,8203,55356,56819]))&&(b=d([55356,57332,56128,56423,56128,56418,56128,56421,56128,56430,56128,56423,56128,56447],[55356,57332,8203,56128,56423,8203,56128,56418,8203,56128,56421,8203,56128,56430,8203,56128,56423,8203,56128,56447]),!b);case"emoji":return b=d([55357,56692,8205,9792,65039],[55357,56692,8203,9792,65039]),!b}return!1}function f(a){var c=b.createElement("script");c.src=a,c.defer=c.type="text/javascript",b.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(c)}var g,h,i,j,k=b.createElement("canvas"),l=k.getContext&&k.getContext("2d");for(j=Array("flag","emoji"),c.supports={everything:!0,everythingExceptFlag:!0},i=0;i<j.length;i++)c.supports[j[i]]=e(j[i]),c.supports.everything=c.supports.everything&&c.supports[j[i]],"flag"!==j[i]&&(c.supports.everythingExceptFlag=c.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&c.supports[j[i]]);c.supports.everythingExceptFlag=c.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&!c.supports.flag,c.DOMReady=!1,c.readyCallback=function(){c.DOMReady=!0},c.supports.everything||(h=function(){c.readyCallback()},b.addEventListener?(b.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",h,!1),a.addEventListener("load",h,!1)):(a.attachEvent("onload",h),b.attachEvent("onreadystatechange",function(){"complete"===b.readyState&&c.readyCallback()})),g=c.source||{},g.concatemoji?f(g.concatemoji):g.wpemoji&&g.twemoji&&(f(g.twemoji),f(g.wpemoji)))}(window,document,window._wpemojiSettings);
		</script>
		<style type="text/css">
img.wp-smiley,
img.emoji {
	display: inline !important;
	border: none !important;
	box-shadow: none !important;
	height: 1em !important;
	width: 1em !important;
	margin: 0 .07em !important;
	vertical-align: -0.1em !important;
	background: none !important;
	padding: 0 !important;
}
</style>
<link rel='stylesheet' id='contact-form-7-css'  href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/plugins/contact-form-7/includes/css/styles.css?ver=4.9.2' type='text/css' media='all' />
<link rel='stylesheet' id='avia-grid-css'  href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/css/grid.css?ver=2' type='text/css' media='all' />
<link rel='stylesheet' id='avia-base-css'  href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/css/base.css?ver=2' type='text/css' media='all' />
<link rel='stylesheet' id='avia-layout-css'  href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/css/layout.css?ver=2' type='text/css' media='all' />
<link rel='stylesheet' id='avia-scs-css'  href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/css/shortcodes.css?ver=2' type='text/css' media='all' />
<link rel='stylesheet' id='avia-popup-css-css'  href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/js/aviapopup/magnific-popup.css?ver=1' type='text/css' media='screen' />
<link rel='stylesheet' id='avia-media-css'  href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/js/mediaelement/skin-1/mediaelementplayer.css?ver=1' type='text/css' media='screen' />
<link rel='stylesheet' id='avia-print-css'  href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/css/print.css?ver=1' type='text/css' media='print' />
<link rel='stylesheet' id='avia-dynamic-css'  href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/dynamic_avia/cou.css?ver=5a6f4eb7bbff2' type='text/css' media='all' />
<link rel='stylesheet' id='avia-custom-css'  href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/css/custom.css?ver=2' type='text/css' media='all' />
<link rel='stylesheet' id='avia-style-css'  href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/cou/style.css?ver=2' type='text/css' media='all' />
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.js?ver=1.12.4'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery-migrate.min.js?ver=1.4.1'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/js/avia-compat.js?ver=2'></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
var mejsL10n = {"language":"en","strings":{"mejs.install-flash":"You are using a browser that does not have Flash player enabled or installed. Please turn on your Flash player plugin or download the latest version from https:\/\/get.adobe.com\/flashplayer\/","mejs.fullscreen-off":"Turn off Fullscreen","mejs.fullscreen-on":"Go Fullscreen","mejs.download-video":"Download Video","mejs.fullscreen":"Fullscreen","mejs.time-jump-forward":["Jump forward 1 second","Jump forward %1 seconds"],"mejs.loop":"Toggle Loop","mejs.play":"Play","mejs.pause":"Pause","mejs.close":"Close","mejs.time-slider":"Time Slider","mejs.time-help-text":"Use Left\/Right Arrow keys to advance one second, Up\/Down arrows to advance ten seconds.","mejs.time-skip-back":["Skip back 1 second","Skip back %1 seconds"],"mejs.captions-subtitles":"Captions\/Subtitles","mejs.captions-chapters":"Chapters","mejs.none":"None","mejs.mute-toggle":"Mute Toggle","mejs.volume-help-text":"Use Up\/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.","mejs.unmute":"Unmute","mejs.mute":"Mute","mejs.volume-slider":"Volume Slider","mejs.video-player":"Video Player","mejs.audio-player":"Audio Player","mejs.ad-skip":"Skip ad","mejs.ad-skip-info":["Skip in 1 second","Skip in %1 seconds"],"mejs.source-chooser":"Source Chooser","mejs.stop":"Stop","mejs.speed-rate":"Speed Rate","mejs.live-broadcast":"Live Broadcast","mejs.afrikaans":"Afrikaans","mejs.albanian":"Albanian","mejs.arabic":"Arabic","mejs.belarusian":"Belarusian","mejs.bulgarian":"Bulgarian","mejs.catalan":"Catalan","mejs.chinese":"Chinese","mejs.chinese-simplified":"Chinese (Simplified)","mejs.chinese-traditional":"Chinese (Traditional)","mejs.croatian":"Croatian","mejs.czech":"Czech","mejs.danish":"Danish","mejs.dutch":"Dutch","mejs.english":"English","mejs.estonian":"Estonian","mejs.filipino":"Filipino","mejs.finnish":"Finnish","mejs.french":"French","mejs.galician":"Galician","mejs.german":"German","mejs.greek":"Greek","mejs.haitian-creole":"Haitian Creole","mejs.hebrew":"Hebrew","mejs.hindi":"Hindi","mejs.hungarian":"Hungarian","mejs.icelandic":"Icelandic","mejs.indonesian":"Indonesian","mejs.irish":"Irish","mejs.italian":"Italian","mejs.japanese":"Japanese","mejs.korean":"Korean","mejs.latvian":"Latvian","mejs.lithuanian":"Lithuanian","mejs.macedonian":"Macedonian","mejs.malay":"Malay","mejs.maltese":"Maltese","mejs.norwegian":"Norwegian","mejs.persian":"Persian","mejs.polish":"Polish","mejs.portuguese":"Portuguese","mejs.romanian":"Romanian","mejs.russian":"Russian","mejs.serbian":"Serbian","mejs.slovak":"Slovak","mejs.slovenian":"Slovenian","mejs.spanish":"Spanish","mejs.swahili":"Swahili","mejs.swedish":"Swedish","mejs.tagalog":"Tagalog","mejs.thai":"Thai","mejs.turkish":"Turkish","mejs.ukrainian":"Ukrainian","mejs.vietnamese":"Vietnamese","mejs.welsh":"Welsh","mejs.yiddish":"Yiddish"}};
</script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-includes/js/mediaelement/mediaelement-and-player.min.js?ver=4.2.6-78496d1'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-includes/js/mediaelement/mediaelement-migrate.min.js?ver=4.9.4'></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
/* <![CDATA[ */
var _wpmejsSettings = {"pluginPath":"\/wp-includes\/js\/mediaelement\/","classPrefix":"mejs-","stretching":"responsive"};
/* ]]> */
</script>
<link rel='https://api.w.org/' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-json/' />
<link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/xmlrpc.php?rsd" />
<link rel="wlwmanifest" type="application/wlwmanifest+xml" href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-includes/wlwmanifest.xml" /> 
<meta name="generator" content="WordPress 4.9.4" />
<link rel='shortlink' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/?p=2947' />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/json+oembed" href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fopportunityurbanism.org%2F2017%2F09%2Fhurricane-harvey-view-rugged-communitarian%2F" />
<link rel="alternate" type="text/xml+oembed" href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fopportunityurbanism.org%2F2017%2F09%2Fhurricane-harvey-view-rugged-communitarian%2F&#038;format=xml" />
<meta property="fb:app_id" content=""><meta property="fb:admins" content="">        <div id="fb-root"></div>
        <script>(function (d, s, id) {
                var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
                if (d.getElementById(id))
                    return;
                js = d.createElement(s);
                js.id = id;
                js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.0";
                fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
            }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script>
        <link rel="profile" href="http://gmpg.org/xfn/11" />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Center for Opportunity Urbanism RSS2 Feed" href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/feed/" />
<link rel="pingback" href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/xmlrpc.php" />

<style type='text/css' media='screen'>
 #top #header_main > .container, #top #header_main > .container .main_menu ul:first-child > li > a, #top #header_main #menu-item-shop .cart_dropdown_link{ height:152px; line-height: 152px; }
 .html_top_nav_header .av-logo-container{ height:152px;  }
 .html_header_top.html_header_sticky #top #wrap_all #main{ padding-top:204px; } 
</style>
<!--[if lt IE 9]><script src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/js/html5shiv.js"></script><![endif]-->
<link rel="icon" href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/COU_ico.ico" type="image/x-icon">
<style type='text/css'>
@font-face {font-family: 'entypo-fontello'; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal;
src: url('http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/config-templatebuilder/avia-template-builder/assets/fonts/entypo-fontello.eot?v=3');
src: url('http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/config-templatebuilder/avia-template-builder/assets/fonts/entypo-fontello.eot?v=3#iefix') format('embedded-opentype'), 
url('http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/config-templatebuilder/avia-template-builder/assets/fonts/entypo-fontello.woff?v=3') format('woff'), 
url('http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/config-templatebuilder/avia-template-builder/assets/fonts/entypo-fontello.ttf?v=3') format('truetype'), 
url('http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/config-templatebuilder/avia-template-builder/assets/fonts/entypo-fontello.svg?v=3#entypo-fontello') format('svg');
} #top .avia-font-entypo-fontello, body .avia-font-entypo-fontello, html body [data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello']:before{ font-family: 'entypo-fontello'; }
</style>
			
<script>
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
ga('create', 'UA-59579709-1', 'auto');
ga('send', 'pageview');
</script>

</head>




<body id="top" class="post-template-default single single-post postid-2947 single-format-standard stretched open_sans " itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="https://schema.org/WebPage" >

	
	<div id='wrap_all'>

	
<header id='header' class='all_colors header_color light_bg_color  av_header_top av_logo_center av_bottom_nav_header av_top_nav_header av_menu_center av_custom av_header_sticky av_header_shrinking_disabled av_header_stretch av_mobile_menu_tablet av_header_searchicon av_header_unstick_top_disabled av_header_border_disabled'  role="banner" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="https://schema.org/WPHeader" >

<a id="advanced_menu_toggle" href="#" aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'></a><a id="advanced_menu_hide" href="#" 	aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'></a>		<div  id='header_main' class='container_wrap container_wrap_logo'>
	
        <div id='header_main_alternate' class='container_wrap'><div class='container'><nav class='main_menu' data-selectname='Select a page'  role="navigation" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="https://schema.org/SiteNavigationElement" ><div class="avia-menu av-main-nav-wrap"><ul id="avia-menu" class="menu av-main-nav"><li id="menu-item-1863" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-home menu-item-top-level menu-item-top-level-1"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Home</span><span class="avia-menu-fx"><span class="avia-arrow-wrap"><span class="avia-arrow"></span></span></span></a></li>
<li id="menu-item-1639" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-top-level menu-item-top-level-2"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/about-us/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">About Us</span><span class="avia-menu-fx"><span class="avia-arrow-wrap"><span class="avia-arrow"></span></span></span></a>


<ul class="sub-menu">
	<li id="menu-item-1043" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/about-us/our-perspective/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Our Perspective</span></a></li>
	<li id="menu-item-1045" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/about-us/leadership/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Leadership</span></a></li>
	<li id="menu-item-1082" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"><a target="_blank" href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Opportunity-Urbanism-2-2-2.pdf" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Brochure</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li id="menu-item-1759" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-top-level menu-item-top-level-3"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Topics</span><span class="avia-menu-fx"><span class="avia-arrow-wrap"><span class="avia-arrow"></span></span></span></a>


<ul class="sub-menu">
	<li id="menu-item-1860" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/all-topics/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">All Topics</span></a></li>
	<li id="menu-item-1769" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category current-post-ancestor current-menu-parent current-post-parent"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/urban-issues/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Urban Issues</span></a></li>
	<li id="menu-item-1776" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/small-cities/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Small Cities</span></a></li>
	<li id="menu-item-1775" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/suburbs/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Suburbs</span></a></li>
	<li id="menu-item-1770" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/demographics/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Demographics</span></a></li>
	<li id="menu-item-1773" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/housing/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Housing</span></a></li>
	<li id="menu-item-1772" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/planning/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Planning</span></a></li>
	<li id="menu-item-1771" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/economics/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Economics</span></a></li>
	<li id="menu-item-1774" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/education/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Education</span></a></li>
	<li id="menu-item-2808" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/video/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Video</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li id="menu-item-1585" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-top-level menu-item-top-level-4"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/publications/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Publications</span><span class="avia-menu-fx"><span class="avia-arrow-wrap"><span class="avia-arrow"></span></span></span></a></li>
<li id="menu-item-1777" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-top-level menu-item-top-level-5"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/events/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Events</span><span class="avia-menu-fx"><span class="avia-arrow-wrap"><span class="avia-arrow"></span></span></span></a></li>
<li id="menu-item-1033" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-top-level menu-item-top-level-6"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/contact-us/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Contact Us</span><span class="avia-menu-fx"><span class="avia-arrow-wrap"><span class="avia-arrow"></span></span></span></a></li>
<li id="menu-item-1032" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page av-menu-button av-menu-button-colored menu-item-top-level menu-item-top-level-7"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/donate-2/" itemprop="url"><span class="avia-bullet"></span><span class="avia-menu-text">Donate</span><span class="avia-menu-fx"><span class="avia-arrow-wrap"><span class="avia-arrow"></span></span></span></a></li>
<li id="menu-item-search" class="noMobile menu-item menu-item-search-dropdown">
							<a href="?s=" rel="nofollow" data-avia-search-tooltip="

&lt;form action=&quot;http://opportunityurbanism.org/&quot; id=&quot;searchform&quot; method=&quot;get&quot; class=&quot;&quot;&gt;
	&lt;div&gt;
		&lt;input type=&quot;submit&quot; value=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;searchsubmit&quot; class=&quot;button avia-font-entypo-fontello&quot; /&gt;
		&lt;input type=&quot;text&quot; id=&quot;s&quot; name=&quot;s&quot; value=&quot;&quot; placeholder='Search' /&gt;
			&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/form&gt;" aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><span class="avia_hidden_link_text">Search</span></a>
	        		   </li></ul></div></nav></div> </div> 
		<!-- end container_wrap-->
		</div>
		
		<div class='header_bg'></div>

<!-- end header -->
</header>
		
	<div id='main' class='all_colors' data-scroll-offset='152'>

	<div class='av-section-bottom-logo header_color'><div class='container av-logo-container'><div class='inner-container'><strong class='logo'><a href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/'><img height='100' width='300' src='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/COU_masthead.png' alt='Center for Opportunity Urbanism' /></a></strong></div></div></div><div class='stretch_full container_wrap alternate_color light_bg_color empty_title  title_container'><div class='container'><h1 class='main-title entry-title'></h1><div class="breadcrumb breadcrumbs avia-breadcrumbs"><div class="breadcrumb-trail" xmlns:v="http://rdf.data-vocabulary.org/#"><span class="trail-before"><span class="breadcrumb-title">You are here:</span></span> <a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org" title="Center for Opportunity Urbanism" rel="home" class="trail-begin">Home</a> <span class="sep">/</span> <span typeof="v:Breadcrumb"><a rel="v:url" property="v:title" href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/urban-issues/">Urban Issues</a></span> <span class="sep">/</span> <span class="trail-end">Hurricane Harvey: A View From a Rugged Communitarian</span></div></div></div></div>
		<div class='container_wrap container_wrap_first main_color sidebar_right'>

			<div class='container template-blog template-single-blog '>

				<main class='content units av-content-small alpha  av-blog-meta-comments-disabled av-blog-meta-date-disabled av-blog-meta-tag-disabled'  role="main" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="https://schema.org/Blog" >

                    <article class='post-entry post-entry-type-standard post-entry-2947 post-loop-1 post-parity-odd post-entry-last single-big with-slider post-2947 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-urban-issues'  itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="https://schema.org/BlogPosting" itemprop="blogPost" ><div class="big-preview single-big"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/harvey-aftermath-03-e1504558770356-1030x515.jpg" title="Hurricane Harvey: A View From a Rugged Communitarian"><img width="845" height="321" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/harvey-aftermath-03-e1504558770356-845x321.jpg" class="attachment-entry_with_sidebar size-entry_with_sidebar wp-post-image" alt="" /></a></div><div class='blog-meta'></div><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix standard-content'><header class="entry-content-header"><h1 class='post-title entry-title'  itemprop="headline" >	<a href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/09/hurricane-harvey-view-rugged-communitarian/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Hurricane Harvey: A View From a Rugged Communitarian'>Hurricane Harvey: A View From a Rugged Communitarian			<span class='post-format-icon minor-meta'></span>	</a></h1><span class='post-meta-infos'><time class='date-container minor-meta updated' >September 4, 2017</time><span class='text-sep text-sep-date'>/</span><span class="blog-categories minor-meta">in <a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/urban-issues/" rel="tag">Urban Issues</a> </span><span class="text-sep text-sep-cat">/</span><span class="blog-author minor-meta">by <span class="entry-author-link" ><span class="vcard author"><span class="fn"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/author/leo-linbeck-iii/" title="Posts by Leo Linbeck" rel="author">Leo Linbeck</a></span></span></span></span></span></header><div class="entry-content"  itemprop="text" ><style>.fb_iframe_widget span{width:460px !important;} .fb_iframe_widget iframe {margin: 0 !important;}        .fb_edge_comment_widget { display: none !important; }</style><div style="width:100%; text-align:left"><div class="fb-like" style="width:450px; overflow: hidden !important; " data-href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/09/hurricane-harvey-view-rugged-communitarian/" data-size="small" data-colorschem="light" data-width="450" data-layout="button" data-action="like" data-show-faces="true" data-share="false" kid_directed_site="false"></div></div><p>Narratives are not necessarily built on facts; they’re built on stories, pictures, graphics, and videos. Ideally, we want our narratives to be aligned with the facts; but that doesn’t always happen.</p>
<p>Here is a synthesis of some of the predictable narratives being spun in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Harvey from such places as <em>The Washington Post</em>, <em>Slate</em>, <em>The Guardian</em>, <em>Newsweek</em> and <em>NPR</em>:</p>
<blockquote><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/08/27/catastrophic-flooding-underway-in-houston-as-harvey-lingers-over-texas/" target="_blank">Hurricane Harvey was a catastrophe of epic proportions. Floodwater is everywhere; people can only move around the city using boats and helicopters</a>. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/27/us/houston-evacuation-hurricane-harvey/index.html" target="_blank">Local officials failed to order evacuations, so Houstonians have been forced from their homes as flood waters rose</a>, and <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-houston-harvey-bodies-20170831-story.html" target="_blank">the death toll is horrific and rising</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/business/metropolis/2017/08/houston_wasn_t_built_to_withstand_a_storm_like_harvey.html" target="_blank">But Houston had it coming. It is a miserably hot swamp where no one really wants to live</a>. <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/harvey" target="_blank">It embraced a “wild west” approach to growth, paved over wetlands, and refused to implement zoning, which would have lessened the impact of Harvey by requiring developers to mitigate the impacts of new projects</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/29/hurricane-harvey-manmade-climate-disaster-world-catastrophe" target="_blank">Moreover, it is the global center of the energy business, which is the biggest driver of climate change – one impact of which is the increased frequency and severity of hurricanes like Harvey</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://qz.com/1066995/hurricane-harvey-aerial-photos-reveal-the-effect-of-flooding/" target="_blank">Look at these pictures of flooded streets; families in boats, or shopping carts, or floating on inflatable mattresses; bridges that are totally submerged, and littered with abandoned cars</a>. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/investigations/harvey-urban-planning/" target="_blank">Check out these graphics showing how Houston has paved over much of the land, destroying wetlands and creating impermeable barriers and exacerbating the impact of major rainstorms</a>. <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/houston-drowning-freedom-regulations-656087" target="_blank">Read these interviews with experts who bemoan Houston’s lack of centralized planning</a>, and <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/08/31/547646730/houstons-flooding-problem-reflects-shortfalls-in-city-planning" target="_blank">who implore the city leaders in Houston to use their power to address the many failures that became evident during Hurricane Harvey</a>.</p></blockquote>
<p>These narratives, alas, are a combination of ignorance, and arrogance that tells the reader more about the narrative spinners’ flawed view of Houston than about the city itself.</p>
<p>Let’s start with some facts and perspective:</p>
<ul>
<li>Harvey is the wettest storm ever to hit the continental US. Over 50 inches of rainfall and 1 trillion gallons of water fell during the event. No one builds a church for Easter, or a gated community for the zombie apocalypse. It’s pretty naive to expect people to expect the unexpected.</li>
<li>So far, there have been fewer than 50 storm-related deaths. Each of these deaths is tragic, but even if that number creeps higher, it is a stunning low fatality rate for such a major event in such a large city. The Houston region has more than 6.6 million people, and every year more than 40,000 of them die – so Hurricane Harvey increased the annual death tally by about 0.1%. Sad, but not catastrophic.</li>
<li>An estimated 30,000 people have been forced from their homes. This is approximately 0.5% of the population of the Houston region. In other words, 99.5% of people in the Houston region have been able to stay in their homes. Unfortunate, but not catastrophic.</li>
<li>The Trump Administration has estimated that 100,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. While it is unclear how that estimate was obtained – if 30,000 people were forced from their home, then probably 70-90% of those homes did not sustain enough damage to force an evacuation – the Houston region has more than 1.6 million housing units, so about 6% of homes sustained damage of some kind. Lamentable, but not catastrophic.</li>
<li>Economic impact estimates are all over the map at this point; initial estimates were in the $30-40 billion range, but have been rising since then. Let’s say they end up being comparable to Superstorm Sandy, which caused about $70 billions of damage in today’s dollars. The Houston region GDP is about half a trillion dollars a year, so Harvey’s economic cost would be about 14% of our total economic output. Expensive, but not catastrophic.</li>
</ul>
<p>A dispassionate weighing of these facts would tell you that while stressful events always help identify areas for improvement, by and large our infrastructure and leadership performed admirably well under extraordinary circumstances.</p>
<p>It other words, the facts would tell you that Harvey was not a catastrophe for Houston; it was our finest hour.</p>
<p>But the narrative spinners have an agenda: they want to assert that this event was an utter failure for Houston, and shame our city and county leadership into embracing centralized planning, and ultimately zoning. They believe in a top-down, expert-driven technocracy that rewards current real estate owners by actions that restrict new supply, raise property value (and therefore taxes), stifle opportunity and undermine human agency. As a life-long Houstonian, I would like to politely ask the narrative spinners to please pound sand.</p>
<p>Peter Drucker once said that culture eats strategy for breakfast, and Houston’s culture is one of opportunity. People come to this city to build a better life for themselves, to start and raise a family, and to do so with the support and encouragement of neighbors. This culture of opportunity means that Houstonians welcome newcomers, in a way that older or more status-conscious cities do not. Houston may not be a nice place to visit during the summer, but it is a great place to create a life all year round.</p>
<p>This culture really shines through during events like Hurricane Harvey. Despite what the narrative spinners would have you believe, we are not rugged individualists; we are rugged communitarians. We know that when times are tough, you must rely first on family, then friends, then neighbors, and then – and only if you’re one of the few, unfortunate folks who cannot rely on any of those three – on the government. And if we have family, friends, or neighbors who can help, reaching out for government support is actually taking resources away from those who need them more.</p>
<p>In short, the best governance to rely upon is self- governance.</p>
<p>When the storm hit, I saw these networks in action. People first took care of family – in my case, my five siblings and I were in regular communication, checking in on how each of us was weathering the storm. Good news: everyone came through pretty much unscathed.</p>
<p>Once it was clear that my family was OK, my wife and I began to focus on neighbors and friends. Yesterday, I spent several hours with neighbors clearing away trees that had fallen across streets in our neighborhood, making them unpassable. It was hard work – lots of chain sawing and branch hauling – and we were helped by a crew that was distributing power poles in our area. But folks just driving in the area would also stop and help, doing what they could, or just providing fellowship and encouragement. One lady in the neighborhood brought us some chicken meatballs for lunch – no one asked her to do that, she just wanted to help however she could. (The meatballs were delicious – thanks Costco!)</p>
<p>Also, in our network of friends, there were a couple of families who were forced from their home. We worked together to find them places to stay, and today a group of about 40 men, women, and children went to their house today to box up and move out their valuables, throw away everything else, and tear out the damaged drywall. People brought tools, gloves, and a can-do attitude, and a job that might have taken weeks was finished in about 6 hours. Our friends now have their valuables with them in a rented home (found by another friend in our network), ready for the next step in returning to normalcy.</p>
<p>These stories are real, and not about heroes doing the unusual. They are commonplace and just the way things get done in Houston. If you have friends in Houston, just ask they will tell you similar stories.</p>
<p><img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4342/36970940155_2f5a128dd4_b.jpg" width="580" height="380" /></p>
<p><img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4361/36799553752_a516798f7d_b.jpg" width="580" height="380" /></p>
<p>Of course, leadership is important, and our regional leadership did great. Mayor Sylvester Turner and Judge Ed Emmett were both calm, deliberate, and stayed on task throughout the crisis. Governor Abbott and President Trump did their parts, but make no mistake about it – this was a local challenge that required top-notch response from local officials. And they did their jobs well.</p>
<p>Houston was able to absorb the wettest storm on record with remarkably little loss of life and property also because of good engineering, informed by the experience of previous storms. A good engineer designs systems that won’t fail when hit with an expected event; a great engineer designs systems that fail gracefully and non-catastrophically when hit with an unexpected event. Hats off to our great engineers.</p>
<p>However, a focus on Houston’s public officials or public infrastructure will lead you away from the more important truth: our response was driven by thousands of Houstonians who voluntarily stepped up to the challenge, and didn’t wait for some central authority to tell us what to do. The truth is that Houston’s culture was its biggest asset, a culture of mutual support that is extraordinary in a city of this size and diversity.</p>
<p>And this culture is not an accident; it the consequence of a system that was designed to be driven from the bottom-up, by regular folks, responding to needs on the ground rather than some kind of theoretical plan put together by experts with no stake in our future, or interest in our family, friends, or neighbors.</p>
<p>Of course, there is always room for improvement. By studying what happened, we will find ways to improve the system for the next storm – and there will always be a next storm. We learned a lot from Ike, Rita, and earlier storms. When I was a child, a couple of inches of rain would flood my neighborhood; today, that same neighborhood absorbed 25 inches of rain and made it through. We have come a long way.</p>
<p>Harvey was a difficult challenge, but not a catastrophe. However, it would be catastrophic for city leaders to accept the narrative spinners’ version of what happened in Houston. It is demonstrably wrong on all counts:</p>
<p><em>Houston is a miserably hot swamp where no one really wants to live.</em></p>
<p>It’s hot during the summer, but it is pleasant the rest of the year. As <a href="http://kellegous.com/j/2014/02/03/pleasant-places/"target="_blank">this map shows</a>, Houston actually gets more “pleasant days” than Miami, Raleigh-Durham, Chicago, Portland, or Phoenix. Forget your preconceptions for a moment, and answer a simple question: how could a place get to a population of 6.6 million if no one wanted to live there?</p>
<p><em>It embraced a “wild west” approach to growth.</em></p>
<p>Houston’s approach is not the “wild west.” We have land use that is managed from the bottom up, through a system of deed restrictions that often include local homeowners’ associations to police those restrictions. What we don’t have is a top-down, expert-driven, bureaucratic system of centralized planning. As a result, it’s easier to develop real estate than most cities, which keeps real estate prices – especially housing prices – low relative to the rest of the country. It is actually a more sophisticated and economically efficient system than the antiquated politically-driven zoning system that generally favors entrenched interests over new entrants.</p>
<p><em>Paved over wetlands</em></p>
<p>Over an 18 year period, Houston lost about 25,000 acres of wetlands. But this amounts to about 4 billion gallons of storm water detention capacity. As stated above, Harvey dumped about 1 trillion gallons; so the lost capacity represents about of 0.4% of Harvey’s deluge. But it’s also important to understand that the streets – a huge portion of the paved area – are used as detention, places to hold storm water temporarily when there is nowhere for it to drain. Houston’s strategy for many years has been to use streets as detention and runoff channels, the idea being that it is better to flood a street than a house. And the city’s performance under Harvey confirms the wisdom of that strategy.</p>
<p><em>Refused to implement zoning, which would have lessened the impact of Harvey by requiring developers to mitigate the impacts of new projects.</em></p>
<p>This is the most ridiculous of all the claims made by the narrative spinners. Mayor Turner put it best: “Zoning wouldn&#8217;t have changed anything. We would have been a city with zoning that flooded.” Proof positive of this fact: one of the harder hit areas was Sugar Land, just south of Houston. Sugar Land has zoning. Alas, Harvey was unaware of that fact and dropped 30+ inches on them anyway (and they handled it well, just like the City of Houston, evidence that zoning was not correlated with impact).</p>
<p><em>Moreover, it is the global center of the energy business, which is the biggest driver of climate change – one impact of which is the increased frequency and severity of hurricanes like Harvey.</em></p>
<p>Yes, Houston is the center of the energy business. But Houston’s energy industry is as much about natural gas as crude oil, and the increasing use of gas in power generation has led to a much-improved carbon dioxide picture in the US. If you believe that CO2 is causing climate change, you should be thanking the energy entrepreneurs in Houston for bringing cheap, clean natural gas to the nation. Moreover, the hypothesis that greenhouse gas emissions impact Atlantic hurricane activity is controversial; <a href="https://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/global-warming-and-hurricanes/" target="_blank">an official NOAA publication</a> stated that “neither our model…nor our analyses…support the notion that greenhouse gas-induced warming leads to large increases in either tropical storm or overall hurricane numbers in the Atlantic.”</p>
<p>A final point about who pays for all this.</p>
<p>The narrative spinners have made a big deal about how federal funds will be needed to rebuild Houston, and therefore Houston must do what they say.</p>
<p>My take on this is: we are going to rebuild with or without you, so you are not the boss of us.</p>
<p>Most of the money from previous Texas hurricanes has come from private insurance. And, in some ways, this process of rebuilding restores a balance in the economy. For the past couple of decades, almost all homeowners have paid for insurance but few people make a claim. Most of that money sits on the balance sheet of big insurance companies to pay out future claims, and those companies often invest those dollars on Wall Street and real estate. That’s all fine – good, healthy commerce.</p>
<p>Now the time has come for the flow to go the other way. Big insurance companies will be paying out money to settle insurance claims, and most of that will go to working class Americans who will rebuild damaged property. Demand for labor will rise, as will wages, as the money starts to flow. The tilting of the economy away from physical labor toward the financial sector will reverse – maybe only temporarily, but it will still reverse.</p>
<p>Of course, if the federal government decides to give away money, I suppose people will sign up for it. But this madness eventually needs to end. The federal government is broke, and insisting that folks in Kansas or Vermont pay for a hurricane in Houston is silly on the face of it. This is not an invading army we’re talking about here. It’s a really bad storm. The Constitution doesn’t contain the words “storm,” “weather,” or “insurance.” Why are we continuing to twist its meaning to make Congress and the President look like heroes? If they want to help, let them help with their own time, talent, and treasure. Like the rest of us.</p>
<p>But we also don’t want to be suckers. If Washington DC decides not to help Houston, they should end it for everyone in the future. Which they should, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Bottom line: I believe we should celebrate the ability of the nation’s fourth largest city to absorb the wettest storm on record and bounce back with gusto. It is a testament to the culture of my hometown and the leadership that supports and nurtures that culture.</p>
<p>Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get back to work. That wet drywall won’t remove itself.</p>
<p><em>Leo Linbeck III is a husband, father of 5, CEO of Aquinas Companies, Executive Chairman of Linbeck Group, a Houston-based institutional construction firm, Founder and Chairman of Fannin Innovation Studio, a biomedical startup studio, and Lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He was also the Founding Chairman, and is currently the Vice Chairman, of the Center for Opportunity Urbanism, a Houston-based think tank.</em></p>
<p>Top Photo: A Dickinson resident hugs a friend who came to help her remove possessions damaged by flooding brought on by Hurricane Harvey, Sept. 1, 2017 in Dickinson, Texas. Source &#8211; <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-harvey-victims/story?id=49451305" target="_blank">http://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-harvey-victims/story?id=49451305</a></p>
<p>Second photo: Volunteers from Performance Contractors help co-worker Cornell Beasley recover from damage to his home after torrential rains caused widespread flooding during Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey, Sept. 1, 2017, in Houston, Texas. Source &#8211; <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-harvey-victims/story?id=49451305" target="_blank">http://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-harvey-victims/story?id=49451305</a></p>
<p>Third photo: Volunteer rescuer workers help a woman from her home that was inundated with the flooding of Hurricane Harvey, Aug. 30, 2017 in Port Arthur, Texas. Harvey, which made landfall north of Corpus Christi late Friday evening, is expected to dump upwards to 40 inches of rain in Texas over the next couple of days. Source &#8211; <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-harvey-victims/story?id=49451305" target="_blank">http://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-harvey-victims/story?id=49451305</a></p>
</div><footer class="entry-footer"><div class='av-share-box'><h5 class='av-share-link-description'>Share this entry</h5><ul class='av-share-box-list noLightbox'><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-facebook' ><a target='_blank' href='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/09/hurricane-harvey-view-rugged-communitarian/&amp;t=Hurricane%20Harvey%3A%20A%20View%20From%20a%20Rugged%20Communitarian' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on Facebook'><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on Facebook</span></a></li><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-twitter' ><a target='_blank' href='https://twitter.com/share?text=Hurricane%20Harvey%3A%20A%20View%20From%20a%20Rugged%20Communitarian&url=http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/09/hurricane-harvey-view-rugged-communitarian/' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on Twitter'><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on Twitter</span></a></li><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-gplus' ><a target='_blank' href='https://plus.google.com/share?url=http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/09/hurricane-harvey-view-rugged-communitarian/' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on Google+'><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on Google+</span></a></li><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-linkedin' ><a target='_blank' href='http://linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;title=Hurricane%20Harvey%3A%20A%20View%20From%20a%20Rugged%20Communitarian&amp;url=http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/09/hurricane-harvey-view-rugged-communitarian/' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on Linkedin'><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on Linkedin</span></a></li><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-reddit' ><a target='_blank' href='http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/09/hurricane-harvey-view-rugged-communitarian/&amp;title=Hurricane%20Harvey%3A%20A%20View%20From%20a%20Rugged%20Communitarian' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on Reddit'><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on Reddit</span></a></li><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-mail' ><a  href='mailto:?subject=Hurricane%20Harvey%3A%20A%20View%20From%20a%20Rugged%20Communitarian&amp;body=http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/09/hurricane-harvey-view-rugged-communitarian/' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share by Mail'><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share by Mail</span></a></li></ul></div></footer><div class='post_delimiter'></div></div><div class='post_author_timeline'></div><span class='hidden'>
			<span class='av-structured-data'  itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"  itemprop='image'>
					   <span itemprop='url' >http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/harvey-aftermath-03-e1504558770356.jpg</span>
					   <span itemprop='height' >1289</span>
					   <span itemprop='width' >2579</span>
				  </span><span class='av-structured-data'  itemprop="publisher" itemtype="https://schema.org/Organization" itemscope="itemscope" >
				<span itemprop='name'>Leo Linbeck</span>
				<span itemprop='logo' itemscope itemtype='http://schema.org/ImageObject'>
				   <span itemprop='url'>http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/COU_masthead.png</span>
				 </span>
			  </span><span class='av-structured-data'  itemprop="author" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="https://schema.org/Person" ><span itemprop='name'>Leo Linbeck</span></span><span class='av-structured-data'  itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2017-09-04T15:57:58+00:00" >2017-09-04 15:57:58</span><span class='av-structured-data'  itemprop="dateModified" itemtype="https://schema.org/dateModified" >2017-09-04 15:57:58</span><span class='av-structured-data'  itemprop="mainEntityOfPage" itemtype="https://schema.org/mainEntityOfPage" ><span itemprop='name'>Hurricane Harvey: A View From a Rugged Communitarian</span></span></span></article><div class='single-big'></div>


	        	
	        	
<div class='comment-entry post-entry'>


</div>
				<!--end content-->
				</main>

				<aside class='sidebar sidebar_right  alpha units'  role="complementary" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="https://schema.org/WPSideBar" ><div class='inner_sidebar extralight-border'><section id="text-9" class="widget clearfix widget_text"><h3 class="widgettitle">Subscribe to Feed</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><p><a class="rss" href="/feed"><img src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/rss.png" width="34" height="34" align="left" /></a>    <a href="http://cloud.feedly.com/#subscription%2Ffeed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fopportunityurbanism.org%2Ffeed" target="blank"><img id="feedlyFollow" src="http://s3.feedly.com/img/follows/feedly-follow-square-volume_2x.png" alt="follow us in feedly" width="34" height="34" /></a></p>
</div>
		<span class="seperator extralight-border"></span></section><section id="newsbox-4" class="widget clearfix newsbox"><h3 class="widgettitle">Latest News &#038; Articles</h3><ul class="news-wrap image_size_widget"><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='Millennials Search for Home&#8230;On Their Terms' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2018/01/millennials-search-for-home-on-their-terms/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/millennials-economics-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/millennials-economics-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/millennials-economics-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/millennials-economics-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/millennials-economics-120x120.jpg 120w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/millennials-economics-450x450.jpg 450w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>Millennials Search for Home&#8230;On Their Terms<span class='news-time'>January 18, 2018</span></strong></a></li><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='COU Standard of Living Index 2017 &#8211; 2nd Annual Edition' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/11/cou-standard-living-index-2017-2nd-annual-edition/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cou-living-standard-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="COU Reports" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cou-living-standard-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cou-living-standard-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cou-living-standard-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cou-living-standard-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>COU Standard of Living Index 2017 &#8211; 2nd Annual Edition<span class='news-time'>November 27, 2017</span></strong></a></li><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='Hurricane Harvey Whitepaper' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/10/hurricane-harvey-whitepaper/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-suburb-flooded-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="Photo credit: Defense.gov" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-suburb-flooded-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-suburb-flooded-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-suburb-flooded-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-suburb-flooded-120x120.jpg 120w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-suburb-flooded-450x450.jpg 450w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>Hurricane Harvey Whitepaper<span class='news-time'>October 1, 2017</span></strong></a></li><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='Trump&#8217;s Infrastructure Plan is a Rare, and Potentially Bipartisan, Feel Good Moment' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2018/02/trumps-infrastructure-plan-is-a-rare-and-potentially-bipartisan-feel-good-moment/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/road-damage-repairs-mulholland-e1518453727728-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/road-damage-repairs-mulholland-e1518453727728-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/road-damage-repairs-mulholland-e1518453727728-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/road-damage-repairs-mulholland-e1518453727728-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/road-damage-repairs-mulholland-e1518453727728-120x120.jpg 120w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/road-damage-repairs-mulholland-e1518453727728-450x450.jpg 450w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>Trump&#8217;s Infrastructure Plan is a Rare, and Potentially Bipartisan, Feel Good Moment<span class='news-time'>February 12, 2018</span></strong></a></li><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='A Year Into Trump&#8217;s Peasant Rebellion' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2018/01/year-trumps-peasant-rebellion/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/world-economic-forum-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/world-economic-forum-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/world-economic-forum-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/world-economic-forum-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/world-economic-forum-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>A Year Into Trump&#8217;s Peasant Rebellion<span class='news-time'>January 29, 2018</span></strong></a></li><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='The Screwed Millennial Generation Gets Smart' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2018/01/screwed-millennial-generation-gets-smart/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/housing_and_opportunity_fb-e1477957225992-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/housing_and_opportunity_fb-e1477957225992-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/housing_and_opportunity_fb-e1477957225992-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/housing_and_opportunity_fb-e1477957225992-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/housing_and_opportunity_fb-e1477957225992-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>The Screwed Millennial Generation Gets Smart<span class='news-time'>January 29, 2018</span></strong></a></li><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='Housing and the California Dream are at a Crossroads' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2018/01/housing-california-dream-crossroads/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/suburban-homes-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="suburban homes" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/suburban-homes-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/suburban-homes-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/suburban-homes-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/suburban-homes-120x120.jpg 120w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/suburban-homes-450x450.jpg 450w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>Housing and the California Dream are at a Crossroads<span class='news-time'>January 22, 2018</span></strong></a></li><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='Housing Affordability and the Standard of Living: The 14th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2018/01/housing-affordability-standard-living-14th-annual-demographia-international-housing-affordability-survey/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Crowd_in_Kowloon_HK-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="Kowloon, HK" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Crowd_in_Kowloon_HK-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Crowd_in_Kowloon_HK-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Crowd_in_Kowloon_HK-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Crowd_in_Kowloon_HK-120x120.jpg 120w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Crowd_in_Kowloon_HK-450x450.jpg 450w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>Housing Affordability and the Standard of Living: The 14th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey<span class='news-time'>January 22, 2018</span></strong></a></li></ul><span class="seperator extralight-border"></span></section><section id="categories-2" class="widget clearfix widget_categories"><h3 class="widgettitle">Categories</h3>		<ul>
	<li class="cat-item cat-item-8"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/demographics/" >Demographics</a>
</li>
	<li class="cat-item cat-item-4"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/economics/" >Economics</a>
</li>
	<li class="cat-item cat-item-12"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/education/" >Education</a>
</li>
	<li class="cat-item cat-item-23"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/event/" >Event</a>
</li>
	<li class="cat-item cat-item-10"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/housing/" >Housing</a>
</li>
	<li class="cat-item cat-item-11"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/planning/" >Planning</a>
</li>
	<li class="cat-item cat-item-20"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/reports/" >Reports</a>
</li>
	<li class="cat-item cat-item-7"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/small-cities/" >Small Cities</a>
</li>
	<li class="cat-item cat-item-9"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/suburbs/" >Suburbs</a>
</li>
	<li class="cat-item cat-item-6"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/urban-issues/" >Urban Issues</a>
</li>
	<li class="cat-item cat-item-24"><a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/topics/video/" >Video</a>
</li>
		</ul>
<span class="seperator extralight-border"></span></section><section id="archives-4" class="widget clearfix widget_archive"><h3 class="widgettitle">Archives</h3>		<label class="screen-reader-text" for="archives-dropdown-4">Archives</label>
		<select id="archives-dropdown-4" name="archive-dropdown" onchange='document.location.href=this.options[this.selectedIndex].value;'>
			
			<option value="">Select Month</option>
				<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2018/02/'> February 2018 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2018/01/'> January 2018 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/12/'> December 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/11/'> November 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/10/'> October 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/09/'> September 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/08/'> August 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/07/'> July 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/06/'> June 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/05/'> May 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/04/'> April 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/03/'> March 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/02/'> February 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/01/'> January 2017 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2016/12/'> December 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2016/11/'> November 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2016/10/'> October 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2016/09/'> September 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2016/08/'> August 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2016/07/'> July 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2016/06/'> June 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2016/05/'> May 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2016/03/'> March 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2016/02/'> February 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2016/01/'> January 2016 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2015/12/'> December 2015 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2015/11/'> November 2015 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2015/10/'> October 2015 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2015/09/'> September 2015 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2015/08/'> August 2015 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2015/07/'> July 2015 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2015/06/'> June 2015 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2015/05/'> May 2015 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2015/04/'> April 2015 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2015/03/'> March 2015 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2015/02/'> February 2015 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2015/01/'> January 2015 </option>
	<option value='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2014/12/'> December 2014 </option>

		</select>
		<span class="seperator extralight-border"></span></section></div></aside>

			</div><!--end container-->

		</div><!-- close default .container_wrap element -->


						<div class='container_wrap footer_color' id='footer'>

					<div class='container'>

						<div class='flex_column av_one_third  first el_before_av_one_third'><section id="text-7" class="widget clearfix widget_text"><h3 class="widgettitle">CONNECT WITH US</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><p>Join in the conversation at<br />
Facebook. Visit our YouTube<br />
channel or our Blog to<br />
read our latest articles.</p>
<p><a href="https://facebook.com/OpportunityUrbanism" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/facebook.png" width="44" height="44" /></a>  <a href="https://twitter.com/OppUrbanism" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/twitter.png" width="44" height="44" /></a>  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRSgmYIUjlFZ_3rp-cV1Tlw" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/youtube.png" width="44" height="44" /></a>   <a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/feed"><img src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/rss.png" width="44" height="44" target="_blank"/></a></p>
</div>
		<span class="seperator extralight-border"></span></section></div><div class='flex_column av_one_third  el_after_av_one_third  el_before_av_one_third '><section id="newsbox-3" class="widget clearfix newsbox"><h3 class="widgettitle">LATEST NEWS</h3><ul class="news-wrap image_size_widget"><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='Millennials Search for Home&#8230;On Their Terms' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2018/01/millennials-search-for-home-on-their-terms/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/millennials-economics-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/millennials-economics-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/millennials-economics-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/millennials-economics-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/millennials-economics-120x120.jpg 120w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/millennials-economics-450x450.jpg 450w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>Millennials Search for Home&#8230;On Their Terms<span class='news-time'>January 18, 2018</span></strong></a></li><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='COU Standard of Living Index 2017 &#8211; 2nd Annual Edition' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/11/cou-standard-living-index-2017-2nd-annual-edition/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cou-living-standard-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="COU Reports" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cou-living-standard-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cou-living-standard-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cou-living-standard-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cou-living-standard-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>COU Standard of Living Index 2017 &#8211; 2nd Annual Edition<span class='news-time'>November 27, 2017</span></strong></a></li><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='Hurricane Harvey Whitepaper' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/10/hurricane-harvey-whitepaper/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-suburb-flooded-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="Photo credit: Defense.gov" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-suburb-flooded-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-suburb-flooded-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-suburb-flooded-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-suburb-flooded-120x120.jpg 120w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-suburb-flooded-450x450.jpg 450w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>Hurricane Harvey Whitepaper<span class='news-time'>October 1, 2017</span></strong></a></li><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='Trump&#8217;s Infrastructure Plan is a Rare, and Potentially Bipartisan, Feel Good Moment' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2018/02/trumps-infrastructure-plan-is-a-rare-and-potentially-bipartisan-feel-good-moment/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/road-damage-repairs-mulholland-e1518453727728-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/road-damage-repairs-mulholland-e1518453727728-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/road-damage-repairs-mulholland-e1518453727728-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/road-damage-repairs-mulholland-e1518453727728-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/road-damage-repairs-mulholland-e1518453727728-120x120.jpg 120w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/road-damage-repairs-mulholland-e1518453727728-450x450.jpg 450w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>Trump&#8217;s Infrastructure Plan is a Rare, and Potentially Bipartisan, Feel Good Moment<span class='news-time'>February 12, 2018</span></strong></a></li><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='A Year Into Trump&#8217;s Peasant Rebellion' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2018/01/year-trumps-peasant-rebellion/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/world-economic-forum-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/world-economic-forum-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/world-economic-forum-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/world-economic-forum-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/world-economic-forum-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>A Year Into Trump&#8217;s Peasant Rebellion<span class='news-time'>January 29, 2018</span></strong></a></li><li class="news-content post-format-standard"><a class='news-link' title='The Screwed Millennial Generation Gets Smart' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2018/01/screwed-millennial-generation-gets-smart/'><span class='news-thumb '><img width="36" height="36" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/housing_and_opportunity_fb-e1477957225992-36x36.jpg" class="attachment-widget size-widget wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/housing_and_opportunity_fb-e1477957225992-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/housing_and_opportunity_fb-e1477957225992-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/housing_and_opportunity_fb-e1477957225992-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/housing_and_opportunity_fb-e1477957225992-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 36px) 100vw, 36px" /></span><strong class='news-headline'>The Screwed Millennial Generation Gets Smart<span class='news-time'>January 29, 2018</span></strong></a></li></ul><span class="seperator extralight-border"></span></section></div><div class='flex_column av_one_third  el_after_av_one_third  el_before_av_one_third '><section id="text-8" class="widget clearfix widget_text"><h3 class="widgettitle">OUR LOCATION</h3>			<div class="textwidget"><p>Center for Opportunity Urbanism<br />
3900 Essex Lane, Suite 1200<br />
Houston, Texas 77027</p>
<p>COU is a 501c3 Non-Profit organization that exists to promote approaches that enable cities to drive opportunity for the bulk of their citizens.</p>
</div>
		<span class="seperator extralight-border"></span></section></div>

					</div>


				<!-- ####### END FOOTER CONTAINER ####### -->
				</div>

	


			

			
				<footer class='container_wrap socket_color' id='socket'  role="contentinfo" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="https://schema.org/WPFooter" >
                    <div class='container'>

                        <span class='copyright'>&copy; Copyright 2012 - 2016 COU    |&nbsp; <a href="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-admin/index.php">Site Admin</a>   <a href="http://www.1184design.com/" class="credit" target="new">site design 1184design</a> </span>

                        
                    </div>

	            <!-- ####### END SOCKET CONTAINER ####### -->
				</footer>


					<!-- end main -->
		</div>
		
		<a class='avia-post-nav avia-post-prev with-image' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/09/texas-thou-hast-sinned/' >    <span class='label iconfont' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'></span>    <span class='entry-info-wrap'>        <span class='entry-info'>            <span class='entry-title'>Texas Thou Hast Sinned</span>            <span class='entry-image'><img width="80" height="80" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/houston-city-center-80x80.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Houston Downtown" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/houston-city-center-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/houston-city-center-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/houston-city-center-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/houston-city-center-120x120.jpg 120w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/houston-city-center-450x450.jpg 450w" sizes="(max-width: 80px) 100vw, 80px" /></span>        </span>    </span></a><a class='avia-post-nav avia-post-next with-image' href='http://opportunityurbanism.org/2017/09/spotlight-infrastructure-harvey/' >    <span class='label iconfont' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'></span>    <span class='entry-info-wrap'>        <span class='entry-info'>            <span class='entry-image'><img width="80" height="80" src="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-aftermath-80x80.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Houston Infrastructure Damage After HurricaneHarvey" srcset="http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-aftermath-80x80.jpg 80w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-aftermath-36x36.jpg 36w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-aftermath-180x180.jpg 180w, http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/houston-aftermath-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 80px) 100vw, 80px" /></span>            <span class='entry-title'>Spotlight on Infrastructure After Harvey</span>        </span>    </span></a><!-- end wrap_all --></div>


 <script type='text/javascript'>
 /* <![CDATA[ */  
var avia_framework_globals = avia_framework_globals || {};
    avia_framework_globals.frameworkUrl = 'http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/framework/';
    avia_framework_globals.installedAt = 'http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/';
    avia_framework_globals.ajaxurl = 'http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php';
/* ]]> */ 
</script>
 
 
<script type='text/javascript'>
 /* <![CDATA[ */  
var avia_framework_globals = avia_framework_globals || {};
	avia_framework_globals.gmap_api = 'AIzaSyBHr2ngUeronzQBmEu8XLBZUNazWPOQFU4';
/* ]]> */ 
</script>	
<script type='text/javascript'>
/* <![CDATA[ */
var wpcf7 = {"apiSettings":{"root":"http:\/\/opportunityurbanism.org\/wp-json\/contact-form-7\/v1","namespace":"contact-form-7\/v1"},"recaptcha":{"messages":{"empty":"Please verify that you are not a robot."}}};
/* ]]> */
</script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/plugins/contact-form-7/includes/js/scripts.js?ver=4.9.2'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/js/avia.js?ver=3'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/js/shortcodes.js?ver=3'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-content/themes/enfold/js/aviapopup/jquery.magnific-popup.min.js?ver=2'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-includes/js/mediaelement/wp-mediaelement.min.js?ver=4.9.4'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-includes/js/comment-reply.min.js?ver=4.9.4'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://opportunityurbanism.org/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js?ver=4.9.4'></script>
<a href='#top' title='Scroll to top' id='scroll-top-link' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><span class="avia_hidden_link_text">Scroll to top</span></a>

<div id="fb-root"></div>
</body>
</html>
