Chained to our cars in 77075

Houston isn’t just car-dependent. It’s more than that. It’s as if cars have held us hostage and threatened to slit our tires if we attempt any other mode of transportation.

Just ask the folks in Houston’s 77075 ZIP code. Because it looks like they’re the most car-dependent of all of us. Funny, since they live near another major transportation hub: Hobby airport.

In 77075, 87.2 percent of workers hop in their car all by their lonesome to get to work each day, more than any other neighborhood wrapped up by the Beltway. Cars here are so pervasive that only 1.7 percent of workers live in a home without a car — less than half the national rate of 4.5 percent of homes.

This part of town certainly isn’t the most affluent in the city. The mean family income here in 2015 was $56,637, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, compared with a city average of $74,322.

So while the folks in 77075 depend on their cars more than neighbors in other corners of Houston, they certainly don’t have the most cars per capita. That distinction goes to 77046 in Upper Kirby, where household incomes averaged out at $148,890 in 2015, and there are more than nine cars for every 10 residents. In 77075, it’s closer to five cars per 10 residents.

And while economics is a factor in that difference, it’s not the only one. Households in 77046, a mecca for millennials and renters, are less likely to have kids under the age of 16, watering down the car-percapita ratio.

Interestingly, though, while 77046 has the greatest ratio of cars to people in the city, it’s also a hotspot for people who want walkable lives. The ZIP code has the most residents walking to work in the entire city.

As for 77075, buckle up.