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Megan Kimble

@megankimble.bsky.social
2.6K followers 271 following 26 posts

Texas political economy reporter @houstonchronicle.com, based in Austin. Author of CITY LIMITS: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America's Highways Professionally curious

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Reposted by Megan Kimble
William Hazen @williamhazen.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
For today’s #LayoverLibrary, I’m reading ‘City Limits’ by @megankimble.bsky.social. The book focuses on the stories of people whose neighborhoods were affected by construction of the highways and those fighting highway expansion today while working to rebuild community.
Cover of City Limits on a bus
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
Think your home insurance costs too much? Look at your credit. A new report from shows that Texans with low credit scores pay almost $3,000 more for home insurance on average each year than those with high scores. New in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202...
houstonchronicle.com
Map shows where low credit adds the most to home insurance in Harris County
Texans with low credit scores are paying almost $3,000 more for home insurance on average each year than those with high scores.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Houston! I'll be talking about CITY LIMITS -- and how to build a city without highways -- on Wednesday evening at MATCH Houston, hosted by Houston Design Collaborative. Come say hi! houstondesigncollaborative.org
houstondesigncollaborative.org
Houston Design Collaborative – Dedicated to exploring, understanding, and advocating for design in Houston.Houston Design Collaborative – Dedicated to exploring, understanding, and advocating for desi...
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Reposted by Megan Kimble
John Schwartz @jswatz.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
“It's no longer just a rural issue, not just about the groundwater in East Texas,” said state Rep. Cody Harris, a Palestine Republican behind the effort to overhaul the state’s groundwater regulation. “This affects everyone.” Great story from @megankimble.bsky.social
houstonchronicle.com
How a Dallas investor's East Texas water grab triggered a statewide battle
Kyle Bass wants to pump 10 billion gallons of groundwater a year from the aquifer underneath Anderson County and pipe it to other parts of the state.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
NEW in @houstonchronicle.com: A fight over groundwater in East Texas has triggered a seismic rethinking of the state's water law, with state leaders promising to topple the 120-year-old doctrine governing groundwater in Texas known as the rule of capture. www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
How a Dallas investor's East Texas water grab triggered a statewide battle
Kyle Bass wants to pump 10 billion gallons of groundwater a year from the aquifer underneath Anderson County and pipe it to other parts of the state.
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Reposted by Megan Kimble
Alan Fossler @alanfossler.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
How a Dallas investor's East Texas water grab triggered a statewide battle, via @megankimble.bsky.social www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
How a Dallas investor's East Texas water grab triggered a statewide battle
Kyle Bass wants to pump 10 billion gallons of groundwater a year from the aquifer underneath Anderson County and pipe it to other parts of the state.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
NEW @houstonchronicle.com: Less than 5% of homes in the highest-risk areas of Kerr County had flood insurance before July 4. Without insurance, "It's a much, much longer road home.” Read the story, by me and Caroline Ghisolfi: www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
Exclusive: Most Kerr County homes hit on July 4 had no flood insurance
Less than 5% of homes in the county's FEMA floodplain had flood coverage, well below the national average. Uptake was even worse in other areas that flooded.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
The Trump administration wants to give Texas more authority – and require less transparency – as the state expands existing highways and builds new ones. New in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
Trump officials want to give TxDOT more power over highway expansions
If approved, TxDOT won’t have to inform citizens of their right to sue the agency or file a civil rights complaint with the Federal Highway Administration.
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Reposted by Megan Kimble
Haley Crim @haleycrim.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
The National Climate Assessment, and all special reports and past assessments, are now offline. Federal climate science is being systematically erased.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
a lovely review of CITY LIMITS in the Journal of the American Planning Assocation! Professors, take note: "The book serves as a nearly complete introduction to many of the significant recent and ongoing debates in transportation and land use planning." www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways
Published in Journal of the American Planning Association (Ahead of Print, 2025)
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
NEW in @houstonchronicle.com After months of wrangling, lawmakers reach a deal to spend billions shoring up the state's water supply, agreeing to a 50/50 split between new water supply projects and aging infrastructure in need of repair. www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
Texas lawmakers reach deal to spend billions shoring up water supply
The deal allocates $1 billion a year for water and splits that funding equally between new water supply projects and aging infrastructure in need of repair.
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Eviction Lab @evictionlab.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
“Critics warn doing away with those protections would punish all renters in the state for the rare instance of an illegal squatter.” www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202... By @houstonchronicle.com's @megankimble.bsky.social #housing+ #urbanism+ #urbanism
houstonchronicle.com
How a bill to speed up evictions is testing Texas’ powerful landlord lobby
The Texas Apartment Association helped turn Texas into one of the most landlord-friendly states. But its new 'anti-squatting' bill is a step too far for some.
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Josephine Lee @josephinelee.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
For decades, the Texas Apartment Association has influenced lawmakers to weaken tenants’ rights. Now they want the right to evict tenants without a court proceeding. @megankimble.bsky.social www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202...
houstonchronicle.com
How a bill to speed up evictions is testing Texas’ powerful landlord lobby
The Texas Apartment Association helped turn Texas into one of the most landlord-friendly states. But its new 'anti-squatting' bill is a step too far for some.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
The Texas Apartment Association helped turn Texas into one of the most landlord-friendly states. But its new 'anti-squatting' bill is a step too far for some lawmakers. NEW from me & Matt Zdun in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202...
houstonchronicle.com
How a bill to speed up evictions is testing Texas’ powerful landlord lobby
The Texas Apartment Association helped turn Texas into one of the most landlord-friendly states. But its new 'anti-squatting' bill is a step too far for some.
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Reposted by Megan Kimble
Martha Pskowski @psskow.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
My story on Rio Grande & Pecos River water use in oil and gas drilling during an extreme drought is out today in @insideclimatenews.org insideclimatenews.org/news/1305202...
insideclimatenews.org
Texas Oil and Gas Companies Drill With River Water During Extreme Drought - Inside Climate News
Oil and gas companies have used billions of gallons of Rio Grande and Pecos River water for drilling in the past four years, according to an exclusive Inside Climate News analysis.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
NEW in @houstonchronicle.com: Lawmakers hope desalination can bring new water to Texas. Critics want protections for the coast. “If we want seawater desalination to be our long-term water supply strategy, we better do it right." @texassierraclub.bsky.social www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
As Texas looks to invest in desalination, critics want protections for the coast
The state has few regulations governing what seawater desalination plants do with the concentrated brine that is left over.
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Reposted by Megan Kimble
Insurance Fairness Project @insurancefairness.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
H/t to @megankimble.bsky.social @houstonchronicle.com for great reporting on the TX insurance crisis: www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
Texas plan to rein in home insurers won't guarantee lower prices, critics say
Texas lawmakers are considering proposals that would require insurers to get approval for rate hikes over a certain threshold.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Texas' property insurance crisis hits an unexpected target: public schools. Can state lawmakers help struggling districts? New in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
Texas' insurance crisis is hitting an unexpected target: Public schools
Insurance costs for districts have increased by 44% statewide since 2020, according to financial data from the Texas Education Agency.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
Texas lawmakers are pushing a measure that would bar cities from narrowing roadways to create wider sidewalks or protected lanes for bicyclists and buses. New in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
Texas bill would bar cities from narrowing streets for new bike and ped zones
The bill by Houston Sen. Paul Bettencourt would also ban congestion pricing, which was undertaken in New York.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
NEW in @houstonchronicle.com: Texas Central's new investors told state lawmakers the high-speed rail project could be completed as soon as 2032, even after the Trump administration pulled federal funding earlier this week. www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
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Reposted by Megan Kimble
Alan Fossler @alanfossler.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
This Republican-led bill would divert millions in Harris County toll revenue to Houston, via @megankimble.bsky.social www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
Republican bill would divert millions in Harris County toll revenue to Houston
Supporters say the move would help compensate the city's first responders while critics say it would block projects like nature trails and bike paths.
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Alan Fossler @alanfossler.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Trump’s tariffs could increase homebuilding, insurance costs in Texas just ahead of hurricane season, via @megankimble.bsky.social www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
Trump’s tariffs could increase homebuilding and insurance costs in Texas
The state imports many of the raw goods used to build and repair homes. The tariffs come just months before hurricane season.
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Eviction Lab @evictionlab.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
“This is the equivalent of using a shotgun in a schoolyard to kill a mosquito.”  www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex... By @houstonchronicle.com's @megankimble.bsky.social #housing+ #urbanism+ #urbanism
houstonchronicle.com
Texas tenant advocates dispute lawmakers' claim that squatting is widespread
Housing experts say there is little data to show that squatting is a widespread problem, much less a growing one.
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Enjoyer of Hats @themikeheld.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
@megankimble.bsky.social wrote a phenomenal book on this very subject!
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
NEW: Texas leaders promised to crack down on squatting. But a new bill would radically transform the eviction process for millions of Texas renters, making it easier for landlords to evict them without notice or a legal proceeding. @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
Texas bill to curb squatting would make it easier to evict any renter
Tenant advocates, judges and lawyers have raised the alarm about House Bill 32, calling it a Trojan Horse that would strip tenants of their due process rights.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Low-income tenants are paying for skyrocketing insurance costs through higher rents and fewer units. My latest, in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
Texas wants more affordable housing. Insurance costs are getting in the way.
Some affordable housing developers have seen their insurance costs increase by 300% since 2020, far surpassing the price hikes for single-family homeowners.
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Reposted by Megan Kimble
Taylor Goldenstein @taygoldenstein.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Texas GOP lawmakers have shunned the idea of mandating paid parental leave in a state where most don't have access to it. Instead, they've touted a plan to let businesses buy paid leave insurance to cover the time off. But in its first year, just 2 insurers have signed up🧵
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
My latest on home insurance, in @houstonchronicle.com: How much is your Texas home worth? If you pay a lot for insurance, less than you might think. www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
Climate change is driving insurance costs up in Texas — and home values down
Buyers are backing away from increasingly uninsurable homes, and homeowners are struggling to keep up with rising monthly costs.
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The Englewood Review of Books @erbks.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
"Our addiction to highways cuts across the political spectrum, afflicting red and blue states alike. And most of us willingly bear this cost without a second thought. Idols demand sacrifice." NEW REVIEW of City Limits by @megankimble.bsky.social buff.ly/3CnLVZp
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Texas doesn't track where homeowners are being dropped by their insurance providers, which advocates say is critical to getting a handle on rising rates. My latest, in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
Where are homeowners getting dropped by insurers? Texas doesn’t know.
Texas doesn't track where homeowners are being dropped by their insurance providers, which advocates say is critical to getting a handle on rising rates.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Great story from @dylanbaddour.bsky.social about Corpus Christi's dire water shortage -- and a proposal to build the world's largest seawater desalination plant insideclimatenews.org/news/2301202...
insideclimatenews.org
Corpus Christi Launches Emergency Water Projects as Reservoirs Dwindle and Industrial Demand Grows - Inside Climate News
The Texas city has been trying for years to develop a seawater desalination plant, but its efforts have lagged as big, thirsty industries continue to locate nearby and a five-year drought persists.
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Weston @lordzeus31.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Reading “City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways” by @megankimble.bsky.social, and it so perfectly encapsulates my feelings about highways, car centric planning, and the struggles individuals and communities have with any highway. Definitely recommend to read
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 18/12/2024
As the planet warms, insurance companies are dropping homeowners in communities they deem too dangerous because of wildfires, hurricanes and other threats. Now, for the first time, the scale of that pullback is becoming public. nyti.ms/41EOpNc
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
NEW in @houstonchronicle.com: Experts say one of the most immediate ways to combat the state’s insurance crisis is also one of the simplest: make homes more durable. Every other state in the region helps homeowners build stronger roofs. Why doesn't Texas? www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...
houstonchronicle.com
Stronger roofs lower insurance costs. Why isn’t Texas helping build them?
Texas is the only Gulf Coast state that doesn’t offer incentives like grants and discounts to homeowners for retrofits that can help protect against hurricanes.
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crogers.bsky.social @crogers.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
If you love cities & history, or need to find a gift for someone who does, here are three great books that I highly recommend ✨ @conordougherty.bsky.social @megankimble.bsky.social @henrygrabar.bsky.social
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Melissa & Chris Bruntlett @modacitylife.com · 10/12/2024
9. City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways - @megankimble.bsky.social: www.instagram.com/modacitylife...
A photograph of a hand holding a book about city planning in front of an urban streetscape.
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Melissa & Chris Bruntlett @modacitylife.com · 10/12/2024
Reclaiming our communities from the car is about more than saving the planet. It’s about saving ourselves from the unsafe, unjust, unhealthy, unloveable places where we live. Sixteen books we read this year that changed how we think about the process of building cities: an #UrbanismBookClub thread.
A collage of 16 photographs, each containing an image of a hand holding a book about city planning in front of an urban streetscape.
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John Schwartz @jswatz.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
This is how to do it, kids: Home insurance is now a climate story. Put it on the front, and put "climate change" at the top. Especially now that deniers will control the federal and state government. www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/hom...
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Houston Chronicle @houstonchronicle.com · 09/12/2024
🧵Texans are struggling to keep their homes insured, paying more for less coverage as climate change wreaks havoc on providers. Here's an inside look at the rising turmoil: www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/hom...
houstonchronicle.com
‘Never experienced anything like this:’ The new reality of insuring a Texas home
Texas homeowners are struggling to keep their homes insured, paying more for less coverage as climate change wreaks havoc on providers.
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Reposted by Megan Kimble
Houston Chronicle @houstonchronicle.com · 06/12/2024
The Houston Chronicle has spent months looking into the rising cost of home insurance and potential solutions that state lawmakers can deploy when they reconvene in January. Here are the key findings: trib.al/KkQFiOq
trib.al
Why Texas homeowners are paying a lot more for home insurance
Home insurance has increased everywhere in Texas and rates are now among the most expensive in the country.
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Alejandro Serrano @serranoalej.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
New: A 2006 study found undocumented immigrants contributed more to Texas than they cost the state. The state hasn’t updated the analysis since. But a series of reports released by nonprofits and universities since then have reached similar conclusions. www.texastribune.org/2024/12/06/t...
texastribune.org
A 2006 study found undocumented immigrants contribute more than they cost Texas. The state hasn’t updated it since.
A comptroller’s report found that deporting the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants living in Texas in 2005 would have cost the state about $17.7 billion in gross domestic product.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
I’ll be on Reddit at r/Texas next Thursday, Dec. 12 at 12:30 with data editor Caroline Ghisolfi for @houstonchronicle.com answering all your questions about home insurance. Save the date and ask us anything! 🏠
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
I talked to @houstonpublicmedia.bsky.social about my story in @houstonchronicle.com looking at how TxDOT oversees its own environmental compliance - and whether that should continue. www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/sho...
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Julian Gill @juliangill.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Remarkable deep dive into the Tx insurance market by @megankimble.bsky.social and Caroline Ghisolfi: “Because we're not answering the public policy questions of how do we adapt to a world in which the climate is changing, we've essentially outsourced land use policy to insurance companies."
houstonchronicle.com
‘Never experienced anything like this:’ The new reality of insuring a Texas home
Texas homeowners are struggling to keep their homes insured, paying more for less coverage as climate change wreaks havoc on providers.
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Houston Chronicle @houstonchronicle.com · 04/12/2024
The Chronicle has spent months looking into the home insurance crisis and potential solutions that state lawmakers can deploy when they reconvene in January. Read our latest series examining the insurance crisis here: www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/hom...
houstonchronicle.com
The home insurance crisis straining Texas homeowners
Home insurance costs in Texas have skyrocketed. Read the Chronicle's latest investigation into the crisis here.
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 04/12/2024
Today on Volts: the insurance industry is the canary in the climate change coal mine. Now prices are rising, insurers are pulling out of whole states, & state budgets are straining to make up the difference. I talk with @kategordon.bsky.social about the whole mess. www.volts.wtf/p/climate-ch...
volts.wtf
Climate change and insurance: a growing fustercluck
Climate change is breaking the insurance market, and state governments can't afford to pick up the pieces
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Houston Chronicle @houstonchronicle.com · 04/12/2024
There are many reasons for the recent surge in premiums. But extreme weather has been the biggest driver by far. Here’s a look at the rising turmoil through charts: www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/hom...
houstonchronicle.com
Texas has a home insurance crisis. These four charts show how it's getting worse
Texas is the third most expensive state for homeowners' insurance, with premiums climbing amid growing climate threats and market pressures.
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Megan Kimble @megankimble.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
NEW: Home insurance in Texas is now among the most expensive in the country, trailing only Florida and Louisiana. Across the state, homeowners are paying more for less coverage as climate change wreaks havoc on providers. My latest, in @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/hom...
houstonchronicle.com
‘Never experienced anything like this:’ The new reality of insuring a Texas home
Texas homeowners are struggling to keep their homes insured, paying more for less coverage as climate change wreaks havoc on providers.
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Houston Chronicle @houstonchronicle.com · 04/12/2024
Home insurance in Texas is now among the most expensive in the country, according to a Houston Chronicle review of U.S. Census survey data. www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/hom...
houstonchronicle.com
‘Never experienced anything like this:’ The new reality of insuring a Texas home
Texas homeowners are struggling to keep their homes insured, paying more for less coverage as climate change wreaks havoc on providers.
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Gus Bova @gusbova.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Y'all do listen to @austinchronicle.bsky.social and come to our party tonight! "In a red state that will only feel more emboldened by a Trump presidency, we’re going to need the @texasobserver.org now more than ever." LINK: texasobserver.fundjournalism.org/70thdonate/
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