Growth, Development, and Sprawl
Houston’s Growing Pains
During 2002-2003, there was increasing focus on Houston's quality of life, and more specific initiatives dealing with the idea of quality of place. That Houston is not considered a desirable place to live by many national organizations, and that the problem is not just about a badly managed image, led to discussion well beyond the environmental community and into the highest business and political circles.

The national problem known as sprawl is development that distances people from daily needs and produces widely separated single use development. The results are the same everywhere: worsening traffic congestion, increased air pollution, aesthetically displeasing landscapes, and a vanishing sense of community. Sprawl destroys important ecosystems and wildlife habitat and impinges on agricultural land. This highly inefficient development pat-tern also produces inequities in infrastructure spending and increased taxes to support far-flung private development. In 2002, Houston was named in a report from the National Resources Defense Council as one of the top five cities most affected by urban sprawl.

Approximately 5 million people live in the 7,705-square-mile, eight-county region surrounding Houston, and population is expected to double by 2025. Most growth in the Houston-Galveston area has historically been unregulated. Haphazard development has left the region the sixth most sprawling urban area in the country, according to a study produced by the Fannie Mae Foundation. It has also left the region with the second highest household costs (after Dallas-Fort Worth) for transportation of all US metropolitan areas.

Smart Growth
Across the nation, local governments, organi-zations, and citizens are combating sprawl through smart growth, a set of development principles that emphasizes quality of life. Smart growth encourages walkable communities that mix housing, job sites, stores, and community space. It calls for revitalization of existing neighborhoods, multiple housing options, transportation choices, and citizen participation in development decisions. One of the key principles of smart growth is the efficient use and upgrading of existing infrastructure before adding new infrastructure. Smart growth can only be achieved through long-term planning. Although leaders in the Houston region have not embraced planning in the last several decades, they are beginning to realize that uncontrolled development has negative impacts on quality of life.

Recent Progress
The region's first smart growth conference was held in October 1999 by the Gulf Coast Institute. It brought national experts together with business, government, and nonprofit community organizations to explore smart growth strategies for the region. A second conference in February 2000, called "Connecting the Visions," began the process of understanding planning. That conference led to the birth of Blueprint Houston, a project of the Gulf Coast Institute that is now seeking independent nonprofit status. Blueprint Houston was intended to build community support for a planning process to improve the quality of life in the City of Houston. It has now established, through a broad series of public meetings, a "Citizens' Agenda for Houston's Future." In many ways, this is a smart growth agenda, demonstrating that people in Houston, like people in other cities, have a common set of values about the future of their communities and that these are far different from the strategies generally adopted by elected officials. Now Blueprint Houston is pursuing a planning process with the City of Houston. Additionally, several other efforts are ongoing:

The Center for Houston's Future
The Center for Houston's Future is a nonprof-it foundation spun off some years ago by the Greater Houston Partnership, the region's pre-mier business association. The Center published a report called "Building Goals, a Strategic Plan, and Sustainable Business/Civic Leadership for Houston's Future." The report suggested that continuing to pursue the same policies that brought Houston to this point would cause the city to fall short of its potential and be less com-petitive in the new economy.

During 2003, the Center began a scenario-building process for Houston's future. Scenarios, as defined by the Center, are stories about how something-- in this case the quality of the place in the Houston region--might unfold over time rather than proposals for how something should or will happen. The purpose of a scenario is to examine possibilities. Scenarios can help people see what is there and what may not be immediately recognized. They can also help people avoid being surprised by unexpected developments in the future. That process was concluded in late 2003 and the scenarios will begin to be explored by leadership groups during 2004.

Metro Solutions
Many smart growth experts point to this year's voter approval of the Metro Solutions transit plan as a chance for the city to redefine the way it grows. In other cities, light rail has encouraged multi-use development along its corridors, creating walkable communities. However, there is pressure to continue using the region's transportation dollars to promote suburban development, bringing suburban commuter lines to the forefront, at the expense of urban rail. Whether Houston will develop real urbanity remains to be seen, but the bones for that evolution are now funded.

Downtown redevelopment
On January 1, 2004, Houston's central down-town essentially became a new place, as light rail operation began (see Transportation section) and the intense period of reconstruction of infrastructure is largely past. Downtown has gone from a daytime employment center to a mixed-use area with various housing options and an active night life. New restaurants, shops and refurbished apartment complexes sprout up weekly.

Main Street master plan
Making Main Street Happen, a foundation, began the effort to redesign Houston's Main Street in 1994, and the Main Street Coalition, a public/private partnership created by Mayor Lee P. Brown, released its Main Street master plan in June 2000. The document outlines plans to make the eight-mile Main Street corridor between Quitman on North Main and the Astrodome into the city's signature boule-vard. Strategies include a unique entrance, landscaped open spaces, and a pedestrian friendly environment that mixes housing, shops, and restaurants. Houston's first light rail line runs along the Main Street corridor (see Transportation section).

Midtown
In September, an initiative was launched to urge the City of Houston to being a comprehensive planning process. The proposal came from 1000 Friends of Houston, a project of the Gulf Coast Institute. The group called for “coordinating plans for transportation, land development, stewardship of our cultural heritage and natural resources, revitalization of neighborhoods, flood management, and many other issues.”

Land Assembly Redevelopment Authority
The Land Assembly Redevelopment Authority, a committee of City of Houston, Harris County, and Houston Independent School District representatives, was finally approved by City Council in late 2003. That authority will begin to sell abandoned, tax-delinquent properties to promote construction of housing that low- to moderate-income families can afford. This authority, if it uses its power to attach planning restrictions to the properties before they are sold, could have significant impact on whether the central city grows in an efficient and environmentally friendly way, or instead suffers a burst of suburban development that would adversely affect the transit system and other infrastructure. There are thousands of delinquent properties in the city.

What You Can Do
Affiliate yourself with the appropriate group
Changing the way Houston thinks about development will require a coalition of organizations. For more information, contact the Gulf Coast Institute at (713) 523-5757, or the Sierra Club at (713) 895-9309.

Let local government and developers know how you feel
Tell officials and developers that uncontrolled growth affects the quality of your life. Let them know that you support sensible planning that involves citizens.

Join your neighborhood civic association
Smart growth is intensely local and reflects the values and aspirations of neighborhoods. This is a quick way to get involved and bring smart growth principles to the area where you live.

Go to www.livablehouston.org for more information