Billions have been invested in redeveloping Houston's downtown. Now, civic boosters are looking to revive a waterfront section of the city by creating active parkspace and increasing preservation efforts for a nearby historic building.
"Turning Allen's Landing on Buffalo Bayou, where Houston began 171 years ago this week, into an active water and lawn amenity has long been a dream of city boosters. Noble efforts have been made, but attracting Houstonians to the downtown waterway has been sidetracked by, at different times, pollution, floods, lack of funds, apathy, area blight, wrong approaches, homeless campers - you name it."
"Buffalo Bayou Partnership is confident the dream will soon become reality. In the spring, it will launch a $3 million rehabilitation of the 97-year-old International Coffee Company Building adjacent to Allen's Landing, turning it into a site bike, canoe and kayak rentals, dining and other activities."
"A great effort has been made to turn Houston's urban center into a more vital, attractive environment and destination."
"'Downtown has been transformed in the last 10 years with light rail and Discovery Park and major efforts by Buffalo Bayou Coalition (now Partnership) and landscaping of the roads,' says Stephen Klineberg, Rice sociology professor and director of the annual Houston Area Survey. 'Four-and-a-half-billion dollars have been spent over the last 10 years of public and private investment in downtown.'"
FULL STORY: Bayou plan would bring Allen's Landing back to life
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Placer County
Mayors' Institute on City Design
City of Sunnyvale
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP), the Department of City and Regional Planning (CRP)
Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
City of Portland, ME
Baton Rouge Area Foundation