Culture
The State Fair of Texas and the Making of Big Tex
A fair chartered in 1886 sits inside one of the country's largest intact 1930s exposition grounds, watched over by a cowboy that began life as a small town Santa Claus.
All Articles
Every story published by Voices of Texas, newest first.
Outdoors
Who Needs a Texas Fishing License, and What It Actually Covers
Texas licenses anglers by age, residency and type of water, with a license year that ends every August 31 no matter when you bought in.
Culture
Texas Barbecue Is Four Traditions, Not One
Texas barbecue grew from German and Czech meat markets, Black East Texas pits, South Texas barbacoa and West Texas mesquite coals before brisket took over in the 1960s.
Outdoors
How Visiting a Texas State Park Works Now
At the busiest Texas state parks, a weekend visit now depends on a reservation made days or weeks before anyone reaches the gate.
Transportation
Texas Emissions Testing Counties in 2026
Find the 17 current testing counties, the vehicle exemptions, and Bexar County's scheduled November 1, 2026 start date.
Infrastructure
The Texas Power Grid and the Job ERCOT Does
Because Texas runs its own grid, one decision shapes who regulates it, how generators get paid and what happens when demand outruns supply.
Environment
Water, Drought and Resilience Across Texas
Texas plans against the driest stretch on record. Resilience means closing the gap between that benchmark and a state headed toward 51 million people.
Education
Universities and Workforce Development in Texas
Meeting the state's 2030 credential target runs through community colleges, universities and the workforce boards that link them to open jobs.
Economy
Jobs, Trade and the Texas Freight Workforce
The tonnage crossing at Laredo is also a payroll: drivers, dock crews and dispatchers whose work rises and falls with trade.
Infrastructure
The Condition of Texas Bridges
Texas keeps the largest bridge inventory in the country, yet federal inspection data puts its poor-condition share near the lowest in the nation.
Infrastructure
Texas Water Systems and Aging Utilities
How far apart could water supply and demand drift by 2070? The state water plan puts a number on a fast-growing state's shrinking water base.
Public Safety
Commercial Vehicle Safety on Texas Highways
A loaded truck can outweigh the car beside it many times over. A joint federal and state safety system exists to keep that mismatch from turning fatal.
Public Safety
Texas Road Fatalities and the State's Most Dangerous Corridors
Not one day on Texas roads has passed without a death since 2000. The crash record shows the deadliest miles are rarely the busiest ones.
Transportation
Texas Freight and Trucking: Moving a Growing State
Most of what Texans buy, build, and export spends part of its journey on a truck, which makes the freight network quiet infrastructure the whole economy leans on.
Transportation
The I-35 Corridor: Texas' Busiest Lifeline
One interstate ties San Antonio, Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth into a single congested spine that the state is spending billions to rebuild.
Texas
One State, Many Regions: How Texas Differs Across Its Map
The Texas Comptroller splits the state into twelve economic regions. The border, the Panhandle and the metro triangle answer the same pressures in very different ways.
Texas
Texas Growth and Demographics: A Statewide Snapshot
Texas passed 31 million residents and again added more people than any other state, while the mix of who lives here keeps shifting.
Economy
What Economic Growth Really Means at the Community Level
A record statewide output figure can sit beside a family that feels no richer. The gap between the two is where community economics lives.
Environment
Why Environmental Planning Matters for Community Health
The air a neighborhood breathes, the water it drinks, and the heat and floodwater it must live with are all planning decisions long before they are health outcomes.
Education
Education as the Foundation of Long-Term Community Strength
Early access, steady funding and how far a diploma carries a young Texan decide whether schools and communities rise together.
Transportation
How Transportation Shapes Daily Life Across Texas
Where you live in Texas decides how far you drive, how long it takes, and how easily you reach a job, a clinic, or a school.
Communities
Healthcare Access Across Rural Texas Communities
In much of rural Texas the nearest hospital sits a county or two away, with closures and provider shortages widening the gap.
Communities
Urban Growth Versus Rural Sustainability in Texas
Record growth in the metros and steady losses in the countryside now pull on the same water, schools and state budget.