More than half of Houston's residents think the city is headed in the wrong direction, according to new numbers from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at U-H.
More than half - 53% - say the city is headed in the wring direction. The remaining 47% say things are headed in the right direction.
"It's primarily Republicans and Latinos and to lesser extent whites who believe it's headed in the wrong direction," Rice's Mark Jones told KTRH.
The numbers also showed that 83% said crime should be the top priority for the next Mayor of Houston.
"There is strong consensus across the board on that," Jones stated.
Among the survey’s other findings:
Forty-four percent said affordable housing should be a priority for the next mayor, while 34% named trash collection and recycling.
- Forty-five percent identified car and home burglaries as having a negative impact on their neighborhood’s quality of life, along with the sale and use of illegal drugs and the homeless population (both 39%). Twenty-eight percent named illegal dumping, along with poor or no sidewalks (27%), a lack of street lighting (21%) and the lack of a grocery store within a mile of home (17%).
- There were few major generational splits, but millennials and members of Gen Z were far less likely to cite violent crime as a negative, at 29%, compared with 52% of Gen X and 49% of members of the baby boomer and silent generations.
- And while both Democrats and Republicans agree poor streets are a problem, at 47% and 49%, they diverge on the issue of crime; 34% of Democrats said violent crime is a negative, compared with 61% of Republicans. Among Independents, 59% said violent crime has a negative impact on their quality of life.
- Fifty-four percent of likely voters oppose, 34% strongly, the recent conversion by the city of Houston of motor vehicle lanes to dedicated bicycle lanes, a policy that is supported by 41%, 17% strongly.