Houston's Transit Deserts. Kyle Shelton. Rice-Kinder Institute, Grey Matters, HoustonChronicle.com ($$$)
(No wonder the Chron likes the Kinder Institute so much, they're willing to provide content for them to shove behind the increasingly expensive pay-wall)
The researchers acknowledge that the approach isn't perfect. The number of cars per household is certainly not the sole factor that determines use of transit. For example, a household of five in which all members are over the age of 16 is unlikely to own five cars. By the study's mechanisms, such a household would be considered transit dependent. In reality, though, this car-to-person gap does not automatically make a household transit dependent. Indeed a household might get along fine with three or even two family vehicles.
Or, "food deserts" Part II.
If this is to be the next wave in attempts to engage in opinion making by the unproductive class then Houston, and the rest of the region, is in a world of hurt.
It's impossible to rebut so-called "studies" where the researchers and defenders themselves admit to flaws, but then counter with "well, those flaws don't matter because we say so." Logical fallacies being the most difficult to shoot-down.
As with any of the newly coined "deserts", there's little doubt that this one will be used to call for increased government intrusion and expenditure (read: increased taxes) to rid the city of this scourge. Since we know that the Chron's pro-rail lens is very much still in focus you can bet that the entire reporting and editorial team are preparing to flex their muscles in a concerted effort to rid us of this scourge.
Now, granted, the Chron wants to do it using your money (ideally not theirs) but you get the point.
Strong leaders would take a look at this study and rightly point out that the shortcomings and obvious pro-transit bias make it all but useless in terms of planning. However, Houston does not, as has been demonstrated over the years, currently posses anything resembling strong leadership so we can all look forward to the days when City Council has hand-wringing meetings, the Mayor (both current and future) proclaim that SOMETHING! must be done, and someone in Metro (Probably Christof Spieler) pens an urgent memo stating that the organization takes this "seriously" and is currently reviewing options to address it fully (and expensively). This will also most certainly be a question in next year's Kinder/Houston Area Survey and, faced with a yes/no choice with no potential trade-offs, you can be certain that a vast majority of Houstonians will be against all deserts and thinks the Cities and Counties effected should do something about it post-haste.
That it's such a vicious circle that it is this easy to predict is a direct result of sub-par political leadership and below-average media in the region as well.
