Message from Director Margaret Wallace Brown:
Livable Places Housing Recommendations
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Through the Livable Places initiative, the Planning & Development Department team is working with Houstonians to develop better rules that create homes that are affordable, equitable and walkable. We are proposing changes to Chapter 42 of the City’s Code of Ordinances that will have a positive and enduring influence on how our city grows and develops for years to come.
Watch this brief video to hear Planning & Development Department Director Margaret Wallace Brown’s message about why these changes can help encourage small scale, neighborhood-friendly type homes like garage apartments, duplexes, triplexes and courtyard homes that were once prevalent in Houston. She also clarifies some confusion about the proposed combined driveway approaches for narrow-lot development.
The Planning Commission will consider the recommendations in June. If approved, staff will present at a City Council committee meeting and a public hearing will be held at City Council later this summer.
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Mayor Celebrates Successes & Shares Hope for Future in
His Final State of Mobility Address
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At his annual and final State of Mobility Address, Mayor Turner reflected on the progress and continued commitment to shifting the transportation paradigm in Houston.
"Promises are easy. Words are easy. Making change is hard. Paradigms do not shift themselves. They change when you think big, put in the work, and everyone plays a part. I’m here today to ask you to look around and see that vision and hard work for yourself. Today, Houston’s State of Mobility is so very different than it was seven years ago"
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Citywide Truck Route Plan:
Drop a Map Pin, Complete the Survey, Join the Meeting
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The Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC) estimates that freight tonnage in the Houston metropolitan area will grow by 60% from 2015 to 2040, driven by population growth, economic development, and increasing trade volumes.
The Planning & Development Department is developing a Citywide Truck Route Plan to proactively manage freight movement throughout the city. We aim to create objective criteria to designate certain roadways as “Through Truck Routes."
A well-designed and implemented citywide truck route plan can help make Houston more livable, walkable efficient, and safe for everyone by:
- Improving multimodal safety
- Reducing traffic congestion
- Improving quality of life
- Preserving infrastructure
- Enhancing transportation efficiency
Join us for a public meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 6 at Judson Robinson Community Center. Please take a moment to complete the survey, and help us identify truck-related hot spots by dropping a pin on our mapping tool.
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Planning Department Provides Research for
City's Recent LEED Gold Designation Achievement
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The City of Houston earned the Gold designation by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Cities. This recognition is a milestone achievement of the Houston Climate Action Plan which implements specific efforts and preventative measures to address the negative outcomes of climate change. Houston joins more than 125 local governments that have achieved LEED for Cities certification and nearly 200 that are in the LEED process.
To earn the Gold distinction, LEED for Cities evaluated Houston’s performance on energy, water, waste, transportation, education, health, safety, and equitable outcomes. Houston was awarded 66 out of 110 possible points. The rating system applies to everything within city limits, not only city operations.
The Planning & Development Department contributed toward achieving the prerequisites and credits under the quality of life, transportation and land use, innovation and regional priority categories. A task committee comprised of subject matter experts across all PD divisions
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collected the required information including maps, current historic preservation policies and practices, quality of life indicators and trends (i.e., health, safety, income, employment, education), and public engagement techniques. Some of the points earned under Innovation and Regional Priority are thanks to Planning-led projects such as Vision Zero and Bike Houston.
Overall, approximately 35 percent of the 66 points awarded to the City derived from those categories.
Planning staff who contributed to the research included Davonte Caldwell, Abraham Zorrilla, Bennie Chambers lll, Tamara Fou, Ryan Jost, Jason Lilienthal, Kyle Lloyd, Andy Sauls and Brian Smith ll.
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Engagement Tools are Available for
New Neighborhood Resilience Planning Communities
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Public engagement is underway in the latest round of Neighborhood Resilience Plan communities – Braeburn, Greater Fifth Ward and Greater Inwood. The goal of Houston’s Neighborhood Resilience Planning (NRP) is to create a community that can adapt and thrive in the face of a range of potential challenges, such as natural disasters, economic challenges, or to improve social empowerment strategies.
Staff invites you to give your feedback using the map tools and community surveys for each neighborhood.
The map tool provides information about features such as buildings, roads, and landmarks and allows you to show us the places you love and areas that need improvement.
Greater Inwood: Coming soon
The community surveys will provide valuable information about the needs and options of the communities. They will also help to identify areas of improvement,
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promote community engagement and participation, and it will identify community leaders who need to be involved in the NRP process.
Greater Inwood: Coming soon
Visit the NRP website for details on how to join the planning processes for the three new communities or to help implement the projects and goals of the three pilot neighborhoods. |
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For the 23rd consecutive year, the City of Houston celebrated Bike to Work Day with a downtown ride. This year, we gathered at EaDo Bike Co. and rode to City Hall where Mayor Sylvester Turner spoke about how we are making Houston streets safer for bikes. Together with our partners, we have built more than 400 miles of high comfort bike lanes and have 155 miles planned for this year. |
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611 Walker Street, 6th Floor,
Houston, TX 77002
832-393-6600
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