Real estate
BY MELISSA ENAJE
BY JULIANNA WASHBURN
Livability, affordability threatened in Harris County by rising climate risks
Pool remodel manager Karl Steinbacher shares pool safety tips With summer in full swing, Community Impact interviewed Karl Steinbacher, the remodel manager for Sunrise Pool Renovations, on what safety features he recommends homeowners keep around backyard pools as well as costs associated with common renovations. Sunrise Pool Renovations serves the North Houston area. What trends in safety features have you seen recently? When it comes to safety ... that’s something that people have a tendency to put on the back burner just because they don’t necessarily think of it. ... My theory on pool safety is that denied access is by far and away the best remedy. So, some type of pool fencing is the best way to go when it comes to securing the swim area.
Factors such as rising home prices, surging premiums and growing climate risks are reshaping how and where Harris County residents live. Key findings
Is a pool cover a feature you recommend for safety reasons? People do put covers on. The reason I’m not a huge cover guy is because they’re not easy to [put on] and put back. What happens is that the homeowners do it a couple of times and then it ends up rolled up ... and doesn’t get used anymore. Are there other recommendations you like to make when homeowners have pools and young kids? One thing I always find interesting is that homeowners won’t hesitate to spend a couple of $100 on a nice float for the pool, but they won’t spend a couple of $100 on safety items—like what we call a ring buoy ... or, like a fixed pole with a shepherd’s hook. ... It’s things like that that we find is the easiest to recommend. What would be a good alternative for a pool cover if someone is focused on safety? They make a pool mesh that comes in 3-foot panels that they can configure so that you can secure the pool off and not kill your backyard or kill your patio.
More than 20% of all county housing units are in one of three major flood areas: floodways, the 100-year flood plain and the 500-year flood plain* 63 of 143 Harris County neighborhoods experienced population loss between 2018 and 2023 $15,000 on average is being added to home insurance costs brought upon by extreme weather events
Extreme weather and climate change are seeing ripple effects on neighborhood livability across Harris County, according to a June 17 report by Rice University’s Kinder Institute of Urban Research. Housing experts recommend data-driven infra- structure planning and accurate flood risk mapping to address climate risks across the county. “The risk is going to continue to grow, and it’s really on us to figure out and start to understand what we do with these spaces where we have so much infrastructure and economic investment and development in a place like Houston,” said Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications research at the nonprofit First Street. Porter said his work has translated into actionable insights in the housing space, including adding climate-risk scores to housing search websites so
buyers can understand how much risk could cost in the future. “It’s important for us to start to think about what are the smartest ways we can adapt to the risk we have today. But let’s future-proof it and build for what the climate is going to be like in 30 years,” Porter said. Digging deeper In fact, Harris County lost nearly 80 square miles, or more than 51,000 acres of green space from 2014 to 2023, to developments, which could lead to more flood and heat risks, officials said. Taking precipi- tation into account is part of calculating flood risks, Porter said. “Climate correcting these authoritative pieces that drive things like infrastructure development, stormwater management, all of the infrastructure
Backyard pool safety options Pool fencing Ring buoy Fixed pole with shepherds hook
Floating monitors Security cameras
*A 100-YEAR FLOODPLAIN HAS A 1% CHANCE OF BEING FLOODED IN ANY GIVEN YEAR, WHILE A 500-YEAR FLOODPLAIN HAS A 0.2% CHANCE. SOURCE: KINDER INSTITUTE FOR URBAN RESEARCH/COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: SUNRISE POOL RENOVATIONS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
that is put into a city like Houston relies on [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] Atlas 14 precipitation records,” Porter said. “We should be building infrastructure to not only address today’s risk but future risk, so it’s not outdated immediately as we build that.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For a longer version, visit communityimpact.com.
TOMBALL PARKWAY 28595 Tomball Pkwy (281) 290-7810
THE WOODLANDS 10491 Kuykendahl (281) 681-9110
SPRING STUEBNER 6603 Spring Stuebner Rd (281) 288-0239
GOSLING ROAD SPRING 24527 Gosling Rd (281) 516-9404
Powered by FlippingBook