No Fixed Address · Episode 7 of 11 · 43 min
How Houston Cut Homelessness by 63%
Between 2011 and 2025 Greater Houston housed more than 32,000 people and cut its counted homeless population by roughly 63%, the steepest drop among the ten largest cities. It did it by aligning about 100 nonprofits and agencies behind one by-name list and disciplined Housing First. The episode asks how much is exportable governance and how much is cheap land and light zoning.
Who's who
- Marc EichenbaumMayor's special assistant for homeless initiatives, the city's liaison to the system
Where it happens
- Houston, Texas+5 more episodesCity whose coordinated system, The Way Home, cut homelessness
- Harris County, Texas+1 more episodeCounty partner in the regional homeless response system
Timeline
- 2011The regional count finds roughly 8,900 people homeless
- 2012Houston goes all in on Housing First and launches The Way Home
- 2024The count is about 3,280 and HUD grants more than $71 million
- 2025The count is 3,325, flat overall, with unsheltered homelessness up about 15.8%
Still debated
Skeptics credit cheap land and loose zoning, while advocates note other Texas metros did not match Houston, so likely both matter. Whether progress has plateaued, how to replace expiring federal relief, and how fairly one-night counts measure the 63% are also open.