BRENTWOOD AT 50 WELCOMING COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT “DOWNTOWN”
Hill Center and City Park among the new developments in the Brentwood commercial district, shown here, in this view looking southeast.
BY SUSAN LEATH ER S
The dream? A pedestrian-friendly district filled with brick-faced shops, restaurants and offices. And yes, even the possibility of – gasp – residential options that looked far different than the city’s suburban, onehouse-one-acre tradition. A new two-block city street, christened Town Center Way and lined with wide sidewalks, paved the way for other improved streets to follow. Alas, with too many individual landowners and too few tracts large enough to make any serious redevelopment feasible, the Town
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s the City of Brentwood celebrates its 50th birthday, it’s fitting that we go back to the beginning to understand the city’s cautiously undertaken but almost unimaginable transformation from a sleepy little suburb to a vibrant, very deliberately and carefully planned destination. After decades of nurturing a community that emphasizes and cherishes its residen-
tial nature, Brentwood has taken measured strides toward the future, most recently envisioning commercial development that would support, and not overwhelm, the city’s neighborhoods and green spaces. In the early 2000s Brentwood invested several years and thousands of dollars into a reimagined and revitalized vision of what “downtown Brentwood” could become.
ANDREW COLLIGNON
They called it Towne Center
GUIDE TO WILLIAMSON COUNTY
Brentwood at 50.indd 7
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4/18/19 12:27 PM
