A Rapidly Urbanizing Texas County Gets in Touch With its Agricultural Roots

Fort Bend County, a rapidly growing county adjacent to Houston, Texas, more than doubled its population in the last two decades, writes John Brannen in the Kinder Institute for Urban Research’s Urban Edge blog. Now, developers building in the largely suburban and rural area are taking cues from cities to create communities with urban-style amenities that retain a connection to their rural, agricultural roots. 

One development, Indigo, aims to be “an ecosystem” that connects housing, agriculture, and other uses in a compact area. “What we’re trying to accomplish is human-oriented development. When you start thinking through a humanistic lens, you start to uncover some challenges, some opportunities and some solutions,” says Indigo developer Clayton Garrett.

According to Brannen, “Indigo will feature eight housing types, with 650 units for purchase and 100 rental properties. They include cottages, three-story townhomes, duplex-style housing called “duets,” 35-foot and 45-foot alley-loaded homes with rear-facing garages and a small number of traditional 50-foot frontloaded homes — the only homes that will have driveways on the street.” Every other street in the development will be a linear park.

Indigo co-developer Snodgrass says “All of the residents’ local travel for immediate daily needs, exercise, and leisure can be handled by walking. Eighty-five percent of our homes are within a quarter mile of our town center area.” However, Snodgrass acknowledges the limitations of building a new community in an area lacking a local bus system, where residents will still need to rely on personal vehicles for longer trips.