Education, ethnic diversity are keys to Houston’s future

By DANA GUTHRIE
Updated: 01.30.09
If American cities are to remain competitive they must accomplish three things - educate their children, improve quality of life and capitalize on demographic trends that will make every ethnic group a minority.

That’s the advice from Stephen L. Klineberg, a Rice University sociologist who has spearheaded the ongoing Houston Area Survey since 1982.

Klineberg teamed up with the University of Houston-Clear Lake’s John Hodgin on Wednesday to provide an economic update to members of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership.

Click here to read a related story on Hodgin's economic presentation.

Houston has changed a lot since Klineberg and his team at Rice University conducted the first Houston Area Survey.

In the early 80s, it was a booming oil town, where businessmen were celebrating the success of their coveted natural resource and well-paying jobs were available to residents of all education levels.

Two months after the 1982 survey was finished, the oil market crashed, and Houston hasn’t been the same since, Klineberg said.

Now, “the source of wealth is less natural and more human,â€