37
Table 4.3 (continued)
Houston metro performance on SDGs compared to the top 100 most populous metros in the USA
GDP growth
%
100
−0.7
6.6
2.0
2.9
23
Jobs STEM
%
100
5.9
22.1
11.9
11.9
66
Unemployment %
100
2.3
9.3
4.3
5.1
85
Disconnected
youth not
working
%
94
7.7
21.6
13.5
14.2
56
Utility patent
grants
1/1000
100
0.3
53.3
4.6
4.3
29
Broadband
%
100
64.6
90.8
82.6
83.3
63
Gini coefficient Index
100
0.4
0.5
0.5
0.5
90
Racial
segregation
Index
97
21.9
81.5
55.1
61.4
63
Upward
mobility
Index
100
33.7
49.2
40.9
42.9
27
Housing
affordability
$
100
2.3
7.9
3.6
2.6
13
Pop
overcrowded
housing
%
100
0.7
12.8
3.1
5
86
Sustainable
transportation
%
100
1.4
37.6
6.0
4
58
Sprawl index
Index
100
1.4
37.6
6.0
4
58
Access to parks %
100
8.0
81.5
41.8
26
79
PM 2.5 average Micrograms
per cubic
meter
99
6.5
14.8
10.0
11.7
85
Ozone levels
ppm
81
0.048
0.106
0.071
0.077
84
Toxic releases
lbs per
square mile
100
3.5
33,728.9
1432.9
9,601.7
97
Household
carbon
footprint
TCO2e per
capita
100
12.4
51.4
22.9
33.7
89
Open space
sq-meters
per capita
87
14.9
226.0
84.5
No data No data
Brownfield and
Superfunds
Sites per
square mile
100
0.0
0.5
0.1
0.04
49
Violent crimes 1/100000
92
8.5
1262.3
425.3
578.2
75
Firearms
deaths
1/100000
100
2.1
25.6
10.3
11.6
66
Data Source: (Espey et al. 2018)
4 The Idea of Sustainability to Evaluate Growth and Development in the Houston Region