HOUSTON \u2013 As Houston prepares for an influx of visitors during FIFA World Cup-related events, a new community effort in Third Ward is giving residents a closer look at something they can\u2019t always see \u2014 the air they breathe.<\/p>\n
Along the Columbia Tap Trail, 17 air quality monitors are being installed in homes, churches, and businesses, creating a neighborhood-level network designed to track pollution in real time.<\/p>\n
For longtime resident Vernon Goosby, the issue is deeply personal.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I\u2019m a sickly person, and I had a heart attack and all of that, but I\u2019m getting better,\u201d Goosby said.<\/p>\n
Goosby, 85, says she spends time outside her home watching peacocks that roam the neighborhood \u2014 moments she says bring her joy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey come up on my porch, and I\u2019m a country girl. And I love that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it just thrilled me to death to see her with her babies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Long-Standing Air Quality Concerns<\/p>\n
Goosby says her health makes air quality a concern as she spends time outdoors.<\/p>\n
The monitoring project is being led by Air Alliance Houston, which says the goal is to provide residents with accessible, real-time information about local air conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been working on installing them for the last two months,\u201d said Juan Flores with Air Alliance Houston. \u201cThe smaller ones that you see over there, those are about $225 each. And then the bigger ones that we have, they\u2019re about 6,000 to $9,000 each.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flores said the network will eventually include 17 monitors spread along the Columbia Tap corridor from East Downtown toward Highway 288.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we get everything together, we\u2019re going to be at 17,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Real-time data for neighborhood air quality<\/p>\n