Housing Conditions
Housing is a basic human need because it serves as a place of refuge and provides a sense of belonging, self-esteem, and pride. Housing maintenance is expensive, however, and not everyone has the means to keep up with it. The extent to which vulnerable populations live in poor housing conditions remains unknown.
Community-Engaged Assessment of Housing Conditions
During spring 2024, together with the Historic Westside Residents Association (HWRA) and the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, we surveyed more than 400 homes—the first community-led housing-conditions inventory in San Antonio.
Over eight weeks, we met community members and neighbors. The neighborhood association now has the power of data: accurate depictions of the housing needs of the neighborhood’s most vulnerable households. As we continue collecting data, installing temperature and air-quality sensors, checking and validating information, we look forward to learning from residents’ local knowledge, stories, and truths.
Special thanks to Leticia and Graciela Sanchez; the promotoras at Casa de Cuentos—Luissana, Ana, Eva, Olivia, Araceli, Sandra, Maria, Rene, and Ray; Sarah Serpas, AICP; the Urban and Regional Planning and Architecture students who participated; and Allison Pineda, whose work has been unrelenting from the beginning.
We also thank UTSA faculty collaborators Wei Zhai, Angela Lombardi, Ryun Jung (RJ) Lee, Kristen Brown, Farzad Hashemi, and Neil Debagge; UTSA Research and its Connect 2023 grant; the Southwest Research Institute; and Stuart Stothoff.
View preliminary slides · Watch the presentation
