CoolHOU

CoolHOU: find a place to get out of the heat.
Explore a map and list of sourced indoor places in Houston.
Check venue details and sources before traveling.
CoolHOU current live app interface (captured 2026-09-27 19:40 UTC).

Inspiration

The Stay Cool challenge focused on the practical difficulty of finding free indoor cultural and community places during Houston heat, humidity, and downpours. CoolHOU treats discovery as the problem and keeps the urgent-service boundary explicit.

What it does

CoolHOU offers a map and list of source-linked public places. Visitors can search by name or neighborhood, filter for open now, free access, transit, and category, save a local shortlist, and inspect hours, directions, access notes, and the official source page.

How I built it

The app uses Vite and vanilla browser modules, Leaflet, an Express and TypeScript backend, PostgreSQL and Drizzle ORM, and a small source-backed catalog. Browsing and saved places work without sign-in; the backend serves the built frontend and health endpoints.

Challenges

Hours and access details can be dynamic, seasonal, or missing from an official page. Unknown hours are a visible state, and the product repeats the instruction to verify before travel while keeping CoolHOU separate from emergency response and designated cooling-center registries.

Accomplishments

The working release exposes seven sourced places with map and list views, practical filters, detail pages, official links, and a local shortlist. The demo and pitch show the real discovery surface without claiming attendance, coverage, or cooling impact.

What I learned

A guide earns trust by showing what it does not know. The next useful piece of information is often the official page and a clear reason to check it, not another generated summary.

What's next

The next step is to expand the catalog with a repeatable source-check process, improve neighborhood and transit coverage, and test which details residents need on a hot or rainy day. Emergency guidance would continue to point people to the appropriate official services.