Livable Centers Study
Para leer en español haga clic aquí
Click here to learn more about each of the health benefits listed above. Scroll down to view and learn more about the recommendations for South Houston!
Community Feedback and Draft Recommendations
Based on feedback that the project team heard from the community through the public engagement process, the existing conditions analysis, and stakeholder meetings, we identified three tiers of recommendations to make South Houston a more walkable, bikeable, livable place for everyone.
Neighborhood focus areas: Avenue G, Avenue A, and Main Street are areas to strengthen in the city that aim to have big impacts, these can be implemented in incremental stages.
Connector recommendations link the focus areas together to create a bigger network of walkable, bikeable places in South Houston.
City-wide recommendations are not dependent on focus areas or connector projects and include major streets, local streets, transit, housing, and economic development projects.
Focus Areas
We heard that residents use Avenue G to walk and exercise along the drainage channel, that Avenue A Park and the South Houston Public Library are important community spaces, and that the schools near Main Street are used for walking and running tracks.
We want to strengthen places that are already being well used, so we have chosen these three focus areas around Avenue G, Avenue A, and Main Street as priority community spaces within South Houston.
Avenue G Focus Area
In the Avenue G focus area, we are recommending turning Avenue G into a neighborhood outdoor recreation space, with shared-use paths along the drainage channel, shade trees, lighting, fitness stations, and connections to the baseball and softball fields.
Avenue A Focus Area
In the Avenue A focus area, we are recommending to improve Avenue A Park with shade structures for the splash pad and basketball courts, new playground equipment, and soccer fields, and turn Avenue A into a ped-bike corridor, with a shared-use path, shade trees, lighting, and connections to a new trail around a proposed detention pond.
Main St Focus Area
In the Main Street focus area, we are recommending transforming Main Street and the civic center into a multi-modal city center, with shared-use paths along the Main Street and wide sidewalks along Georgia Street and Virginia Avenue, shade trees, lighting, bioswales for flood control, parking spaces, improvements to City Center Park, and loan and grant programs for local businesses.
Connector Recommendations
The connector recommendations build upon the focus area recommendations by linking the focus areas together and allowing residents to enjoy other neighborhoods and other recreation spaces via safe, comfortable, all-ages-and-abilities infrastructure.
When these connector projects and the focus area recommendations are complete, they will create an incredible set of recreation spaces in South Houston that include several miles of shaded and well-lit shared-use trails, improved intersection safety, new and improved parks and community spaces with a variety of play fields, outdoor fitness equipment, and community art.
City-Wide Recommendations
This section includes larger scale streets projects, safe routes to school projects, bike projects, public transit projects, housing projects, and economic development projects that benefit the entire city. They are not tied to the focus area recommendations, and their timing is not impacted by any of the focus area improvements; they can happen whenever there are opportunities for partnerships and funding is available.
These large-scale, city-wide recommendations will take time to fully build out, but once they are completed South Houston will be a walkable, transit-friendly place with enhanced access to employment opportunities, civic infrastructure, and amenities, and will promote healthy lifestyles through increased connectivity of greenspace and trails and improve the residents’ quality of life.
Project Schedule
Join us to give your feedback on the final draft plan for South Houston. We will join the Harris County Public Library for their Fall Fest on October 30th from 5pm to 7:30pm and the City of South Houston for their Trunk or Treat on October 31st from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.
Click here to learn more about what is a Livable Center Study and everything we have learned so far.