UH poll: Houstonians wary of the city direction
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A majority of Houstonians rate the city's quality of life as good in a new University of Houston survey, but a significant share expressed concern with long-standing issues like crime, traffic and infrastructure.
The big picture: While most (59%) said they feel Houston is headed in the wrong direction, a majority still back local leaders like Mayor John Whitmire and County Judge Lina Hidalgo, per the Hobby School of Public Affairs survey.
- The survey, fielded between March 29 and April 4, includes responses from about 1,400 Houstonian registered voters and has a +/- 2.62% margin of error.
By the numbers: 59% approve of the job Whitmire is doing as mayor and 55% approve of Hidalgo's performance as county judge.
- 41% say the quality of life in Houston has declined over the past year, while 12% say it's gotten better and 47% say it's the same.
- Roughly half of Houstonians say roads and streets in bad condition are among the city's top problems — and that they take a major toll on neighborhood quality of life.
The intrigue: Republican voters were more likely to approve of Whitmire, with 71% giving him positive marks compared to 56% of Democrats.
- Hidalgo saw the opposite pattern — 80% of Democrats approved of her performance, versus just 13% of Republicans.
Between the lines: While some issues drew broad agreement, views on quality of life varied sharply by race, said Mark P. Jones, a Hobby School researcher and political scientist at Rice.
- 67% of white voters rated citywide quality of life as excellent, very good, or good, compared to 56% of Black and 47% of Latino voters.
- Overall, 58% of respondents said the same.
The bottom line: "Our findings suggest the city has its work cut out for it," said Renée Cross, researcher and senior executive director of the Hobby School, in a statement about the high quality of life but persistent concerns about crime, traffic and housing.