Talking Headways Podcast: Colonias — Informal Housing in the U.S.
This week on Talking Headways, Emily Perlmeter of the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas discusses the half million people living in informal settlements known as Colonias, on the U.S. side of the Mexican border.
By
Jeff Wood
1:01 PM EST on December 8, 2016
This week on Talking Headways our guest is Emily Perlmeter of the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas. Emily discusses the half million people living in informal settlements known as Colonias, on the U.S. side of the Mexican border. Join us for a look at how these settlements are formed, who lives there, and their strengths and hardships.
Jeff Wood is the creator of the Talking Headways podcast and editor of the newsletter The Overhead Wire.
Read More:
More from Streetsblog USA
The California DMV’s Culture of Obstruction
California’s DMV is responsible for managing some of the biggest risks on the state’s roads, but researchers say a culture of secrecy and obstruction makes it nearly impossible for the public to access basic information about dangerous drivers and disabled parking placard fraud.
November 6, 2026
Opinion: I (Almost) Killed a Pedestrian With My Car
Every driver has a story or two about a near-miss traffic crash, even when they were doing everything right. Can we get those numbers down with safer systems?
November 6, 2026
Talking Headways Podcast: The Value of Cities
Cities are valuable precisely because there are so many people in them.
November 5, 2026
What It Will Take To Turn the ‘Blue Wave’ Into a Watershed Moment for Transportation Reform
Democrats won big at the ballot box in the midterms. Will they fight for multimodal travelers when they're in office?
November 5, 2026
