Well well. Lookit what Houston’s been up to on the down low:
They’re really doing some things down there. I suppose when you have terrible weather, you have to be smart with your urban design in order to compete and attract. I kid. I love what they’re doing with transit and trails, so this is not surprising.
Looking at the details, the removed Pierce Elevated doesn’t unlock a lot of land, but it does reposition a TON of underdeveloped sites along both sides of it. It doesn’t do a lot to reconnect the grid underneath it where the grid is already well connected between downtown and Midtown. Everything between is an absolute gold mine for infill where they can harnass their growth and focus it inward towards a more sustainable future.
Along the west side of town, they’re boulevarding, parkway-ing if you will, the segment between the Buffalo Bayou and downtown. This will probably have a more significant impact from a grid interconnectivity standpoint.
They’re also proposing to plow the new 45 alignment through a dreadful public housing project where they can then shift those affordable units to mixed-income developments near jobs and transit in the area between downtown/midtown without being isolated and concentrated in the current no-man’s land condition. Right where affordable housing needs to be in order to provide humane living conditions and access to opportunity and the step ladder out of these residents’ current condition.
