Buffalo Bayou and Beyond Master Plan Summary

Buffalo Bayou and Beyond Visions Strategies Actions

for the 21st Century

Prepared for

Buffalo Bayou Partnership City of Houston Harris County Harris County Flood Control District By

Thompson Design Group, Inc./EcoPLAN

Buffalo Bayou’s Central Role in Houston’s Past and Future

“…the backbone of a park system for Houston will naturally be its bayou or creek valleys, which readily lend themselves to ‘parking,’ and cannot so advantageously be used for any other purpose. These

Buffalo Bayou has been a focal point in Houston’s history since the Allen brothers founded the City in 1836. Houston’s early success was driven by the Bayou’s commerce. When coastal shipping was eclipsed by the railroads a century ago, port cities such as Galveston were bypassed. Anticipating this trend, Houston reinvented itself as one of the world’s great 20th century ports of call.

valleys intersect the city in such a way as to furnish opportunity for parks of unusual value within a comparatively short distance of most residential areas…”

Arthur Coleman Comey Landscape Architect Planning Report of 1913 for the Houston Park Commission

Houston in 1891 was a city defined and sustained by Buffalo Bayou at its center. District street patterns responded to local alignments with the Bayou edge.

Today, Houston is once again poised to reinvent itself as a great 21st century world center — with Buffalo Bayou as the focal point for its development and livability.

What many competitive cities have is a central, regional-scale amenity that helps to create a vivid impression of the place and that offers tangible opportunities for recreation, urban living, entertainment, and urbanity. Buffalo Bayou offers such promise for Houston.

Great Cities Have Great Waterfronts

Buffalo Bayou and Beyond builds upon one of Houston’s greatest traditions and competitive advantages — the willingness of citizens to pull together to overcome virtually any obstacle to create great results for their city. The Plan also builds on the substantial achievements of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, a non-profit organization founded in 1986 to oversee beautification and development activities for Houston’s historic waterway. In the past six years alone, the Partnership has raised and leveraged over $40 million in public and private funds for Buffalo Bayou’s improvements and currently is facilitating nearly $50 million in landscape enhancements.

Successful 21st century cities will be those that attract and retain creative entrepreneurial people who drive knowledge-based industries — the new global economy. As this global economy shifts from moving goods to generating ideas, great cities are renewing themselves along their waterfronts — New York’s Harbor, Chicago’s Lakefront, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Barcelona’s seafront, and London’s Docklands.

Because of these global shifts in the competitive value system, it is the moment to reevaluate ecological and urban goals, to rejoin land and water, and to establish an identity for Houston extolling the harmony of its built and natural environment. This 21st century outlook establishes the Buffalo Bayou Master Plan’s theme — Balancing Conservation and Development.

Over the past 18 months, hundreds of committed citizens, business leaders and neighborhood residents have participated in major workshops, focus group meetings and design sessions to share their dreams and to build consensus for the waterway’s future. Buffalo Bayou and Beyond is a people’s plan, developed by Houstonians with a vision for Buffalo Bayou and a deep concern for the future of their city.

Planning Strategies

An Integrated Regional Plan

By balancing conservation and development, the Buffalo Bayou Master Plan invites Houstonians to explore, with renewed perspective, a deeper relationship between nature and the city. The Plan maintains that nature is not a decorative ornament, but an essential system. Buffalo Bayou’s restoration will build value into Houston’s urban economy; it will build a better quality of life to sustain and attract residents, celebrating the landscapes, wetlands and waterways beautifully integrated throughout the city.

Multiplicity and connectivity are other concepts incorporated into the Buffalo Bayou Master Plan.

Conserving unbuilt land within cities must serve multiple purposes — recreation, flood management and erosion control. Developing land must integrate diverse urban functions efficiently. With both conservation and development, the plan connects wildlife habitat and people-populated places.

The principles can be reinforced by conscientious planning for land connectivity, for urban connectivity through space networks and centers, and social connectivity through lively and interactive gathering places, both built and natural.

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Rehabilitate the Bayou as an Ecologically Functional System

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Increase Floodwater Conveyance Capacity

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Promote Low-impact Development

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Improve Visibility of the Bayou

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Ensure Equity of Access

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Increase Residential Opportunities Downtown

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Maintain Affordability

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Create New Jobs and Revenue

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Promote Joint Public-Private Development

Proposed Financial Strategy

The Buffalo Bayou Master Plan anticipates $5.6 billion of private investment in the Buffalo Bayou District over the next 20 years.

Public investment is estimated at $800 million (hard costs only) over this period. A five-pronged approach is recommended to finance Buffalo Bayou’s revitalization: ■

Use general obligation bonds backed by incremental new fiscal revenue associated with the investment anticipated within the corridor.

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Seek funding from the Harris County Flood Control District through a special Congressional appropriation for those major improvements related to flood management.

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Mount a campaign to generate intergovernmental funds from an array of federal and state sources, including both existing and special appropriations.

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Create a new public improvement district and/or expand the responsibilities of existing management districts, funded by a special assessment on real property in the corridor to fund ongoing management, supplemental services, and maintenance.

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Employ a regional assessment earmarked for bayou-related infrastructure, park improvements and land acquisition. This longterm strategy also would include broad-based funding for other bayous and parks throughout Houston, and would be coordinated with other civic groups.

As with many of the world’s great urban waterways, the North Canal will be designed to accommodate cafes, places for watching new water-based events, and other pedestrian activities.

Envisioned as a new mixed-use community, the East End’s Richardson Place provides opportunities for varying densities of low-impact residential development flanking a wide, tree-lined pedestrian mall.

The Plan’s Benefits ■

Greater Regional Competitiveness

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Enhanced Property Values

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Reduced Future Flood Impacts

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Increased Support for Public Transit

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Increased Tourism and Visitation

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Enhanced Quality of Life for Residents and an Attractive Focus for New Jobs and Housing As a major new entertainment center and northern terminus to the Crawford Street “Super Boulevard,” Gable Street Landing provides an inviting link between Buffalo Bayou’s waterfront and the Convention Center District.

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A New Urban Core Focused on Buffalo Bayou Houston’s challenge is to revitalize both the Buffalo Bayou corridor and surrounding urban setting, creating a unified Buffalo Bayou District where nature is an integral part of a new urban vitality. This revitalization presents a unique opportunity to rediscover the waterway as a powerful impetus for high-quality urban development. Buffalo Bayou and Beyond proposes new destinations and development sites that will transform

Houston’s neglected waterfront into an active and vibrant center, enriching the lives of its residents and attracting visitors from throughout the region and beyond.

Landscape Plan

Access and Transportation Plan

The Landscape Plan looks to the remarkable rewards of reclaiming Buffalo Bayou as a recreational resource. By providing continuous public access, integrating landscape amenities with flood management infrastructure, and encouraging boating and other public uses, the Landscape Plan will transform the Bayou’s image — from polluted industrial channel to vibrant community destination.

Houston is a city that relies primarily on automobile transportation.

As the Buffalo Bayou District grows and evolves over the next 20 years, it will be important to evaluate current transportation priorities against changing demographics and land use imperatives.

Enhanced public transit will be important to ensure convenient access to work, residential and recreational destinations for Buffalo Bayou District residents and all Houstonians.

Landscape Plan Project Initiatives ■

Add 850 acres of new park land to create a linked park system connecting Memorial Park to the Turning Basin.

Access and Transportation Plan Project Initiatives ■

Remove/reconstruct bridges that negatively impede floodwater flow.

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Create continuous publicly-accessible Bayou bank edges.

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Integrate landscape amenities and urban design elements with flood management infrastructure.

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Upgrade East End boulevards and improve modes of transit along these corridors.

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Integrate neighborhoods in the park system through “Green Streets.”

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Reclaim underutilized roadways to create new urban park space.

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Improve access to Bayou landings, coordinated with parking provisions.

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Extend hike and bike trails along both sides of the Bayou.

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Connect to metropolitan and regional greenway networks.

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Build 14 new and expanded boat landings.

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Offer excursion boat services.

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Buffalo Bayou Eco-Region (restrictions-driven) covers nearly 500 square miles and includes the Bayou’s larger watershed. The strategic framework outlined here needs to be reflected in watershed policy to promote environmentally sound development.

Buffalo Bayou District (guidelines-based) encompasses the entire 10-square-mile project area. Development within the overall district will be regulated not by zoning or land use regulations, but by district-specific guidelines. These guidelines are intended to promote the intentions of the Master Plan through low-impact development responsive to and focused on the Bayou.

WaterView District

Richardson Place offers residential and other mixed-use development opportunities.

(project-based) includes nearly 500 acres and is the mixed-use center of the Buffalo Bayou District, opening the bayou edge to the city. A set of key project sites has been identified for joint public-private development. Local area plans or Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) will be required to create these neighborhoods.

Environmental Quality and the Eco Region Plan

Flood Management Plan

Buffalo Bayou is a significant resource for Houston, but one seriously impacted by environmental problems. Very little native wildlife has survived, water quality is poor, Bayou banks suffer from severe erosion, and brownfields are extensive throughout the corridor. The Environmental Plan will create environmentally rich ecosystems that are integrated into a regional system of open space improvements. Minimizing flood impacts, improving water quality, and increasing wildlife habitat will be key efforts in attracting people to Buffalo Bayou.

Frequent flooding of the bayous in Houston’s urban core often results in substantial property damage and sometimes loss of life. The impacts of Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 have brought a sense of urgency to the long-felt need to address problems that have contributed to flood damage.

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Improve downtown floodwater flow carried by Buffalo and White Oak bayous by creating supplementary canals.

Environmental Plan Project Initiatives

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Consolidate bridge crossings to reduce impedance to the flow of floodwater.

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Increase Buffalo Bayou conveyance capacity along critical reaches, particularly from Allen’s Landing to McKee Street.

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Create “Green Fingers” to detain, filter and cleanse stormwater.

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Reduce erosion by stabilizing bayou embankments.

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Coordinate trash cleanup program.

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Convert brownfields to parks.

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Promote the use of low-impact development techniques.

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Expand and create wildlife habitat areas.

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Initiate demonstration projects to test long-term impacts of Bayou-related improvements.

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Develop a regional Eco-Park to expand rehabilitation efforts beyond Buffalo Bayou.

Flood Management Project Initiatives

Balancing Conservation and Development

A Steering Committee, comprised of representatives from constituent communities and funders of the plan, guided the Buffalo Bayou master planning process. chair

Susan Keeton

Toni Beauchamp

Buffalo Bayou Partnership

Buffalo Bayou Partnership

Sara Kellner

c0-chair

DiverseWorks

Kay Crooker

Yolanda Navarro

Buffalo Bayou Partnership

J. D. Bartel

Navigation Area Business Association

Old Sixth Ward Association

Kelley Parker

Harvey Clemons, Jr.

Cushman & Wakefield of Texas

Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation

Vicki Rivers

Ramona Davis

Main Street/Market Square Redevelopment Authority

Greater Houston Preservation Alliance

F. Max Schuette

Robert M. Eury

Louis Sklar

Central Houston, Inc.

Mary Margaret Hansen Greater East End Management District

Buffalo Bayou Partnership Hines

Richard Weekley Houston Quality of Life Coalition

Guy Hagstette Houston Downtown Management District

Buffalo Bayou Partnership Board of Directors chair

Toni Beauchamp vice-chair

Gerald D. Higdon s e c r e ta ry

Susan Keeton treasurer

F. Max Schuette Holly Anawaty Alan Atkinson James C. Box Brady F. Carruth Claire Caudill William M. Coats Kay Crooker Iris Cross Diana Davila Martinez Rey de la Reza Marsha Dodson Leslie Elkins Robert M. Eury Sonny Flores James W. Fonteno, Jr. William R. Franks Pat George Lainie Gordon Lynne Johnson

Willie Jordan Ann Kelsey Truett Latimer Eugene Lee Caroline Quan Long Anne Mendelsohn Georgianna Nichols Sarah Peterson Jack Rains Gracie Saenz Algenita Scott Davis Louis Sklar Robert Smith, III Terri Thomas Dinah Acord Weems Scott C. Wise Staff

Anne Olson President

Aaron Tuley Director of Planning

Sara Stevens Planning Assistant

The Buffalo Bayou Partnership sincerely thanks the following funders for their commitment to the public-private Buffalo Bayou master planning effort:

City of Houston Harris County Harris County Flood Control District The Wortham Foundation Main Street/Market Square Redevelopment Authority Houston Downtown Management District Port of Houston Authority Reliant Energy Toni and Jeff Beauchamp C. M. Garver American General Corporation Alan Atkinson BP America Greater East End Management District Halliburton/Brown & Root Hines JP MorganChase Bank Co.

Kirksey Peterson Charitable Lead Annuity Trust Terri and Raymond Thomas John L. Wortham & Son Trammell Crow Residential/Alexan Lofts Marsha and Sam Dodson Kay and John Crooker, Jr. Leslie Elkins Gerald and Karen Higdon Artie Lee Hinds Houston Chinese American Lions Club Lynne B. Johnson Susan and Richard Keeton Ann and Thomas R. Kelsey Locke, Liddell & Sapp LLP Anne and Dr. John Mendelsohn WEDGE Group Incorporated

Buffalo Bayou Master Plan Team Members

planning and urban design Thompson Design Group Inc., Boston Jane Thompson Pratap Talwar Ranjan Nambiar

landscape architecture Dodson Associates, Ashfield, MA Harry Dodson Peter Flinker

policy & implementation Armando Carbonell

Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, MA

sub-consultants Engineering

Turner, Collie & Braden, Houston Georganna Collins Alem Gabriel Carrie Eick Transportation and Access Planning

Sunland Engineering, Houston Jerry King Water-based Activities

International Waterfront Group, San Antonio Rudy Rodriguez

Robert Yaro

Regional Plan Association, New York

Regulatory Analysis

Vinson & Elkins, Houston Barron Wallace

economic feasibility Economics Research Associates, Washington, D.C. Patrick Phillips

Workshop Facilitation

International Waterfront Center Ann Breen and Dick Rigby

perspective renderings Kevin Wilson

buffalo bayou partnership 1113 Vine Street, Suite 200 Houston Texas 77002 713.752.0314 www.buffalobayou.org

Material excerpted from Buffalo Bayou and Beyond Report, August 2002 Thompson Design Group, Inc./EcoPLAN Brochure layout and design by Peter Boyle Graphic Design

Buffalo Bayou and Beyond

West Sector A Park With Many Moods

Nowhere is the Master Plan’s theme of balancing conservation and development more apparent than along Buffalo Bayou’s West Sector. With Downtown’s dramatic skyline as the backdrop, this reach is a sylvan yet urban setting, comprised of neighborhoods, parks and paths.

Plan elements include a general upgrading of the Bayou environment, improving habitat, and expanding the waterway for boating and other recreational activity. Improved access is also required along the corridor. This can be achieved with angled parking, drop-off areas and new shared parking lots along Allen Parkway. A linked system of trails will connect schools and neighborhoods to parks so that residents and visitors alike can reach diverse destinations and events along Buffalo Bayou.

goals: Initiate incremental park enhancements A great urban park system provides a variety of settings for active and passive recreation. The West End greenway and Eleanor Tinsley Park are underutilized because existing amenities and treatments cater to a limited and divided, albeit growing, audience.

Incremental improvements will make this unique stretch of the Bayou a sequence of varied parks with amenities and moods ranging from active recreation, large and small gathering spaces, quiet, introspective places, and wetland wilderness areas.

Improve Bayou access Currently, limited and poor access points prevent full utilization and restrict use of the West End’s wooded park setting. Recommendations focus on access to the Bayou park system from historic Fourth and Sixth Wards, as well as from Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive. Enhanced contact with the water will include small boat landings near parking and drop off areas.

Encourage compatible Bayou-front development Buffalo Bayou’s two-mile long West End has few vacant and underutilized sites. The program of each new development project fronting the Bayou should attempt to relate physically and visually to this great civic space.

Incorporating Master Plan concepts into new real estate development projects will further encourage active and passive use of the Bayou park.

A Park With Many Moods

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intersection) will open an additional 20 acres of new park space along the Buffalo Bayou corridor.

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1 Memorial Park Linkage

Memorial Park anchors Buffalo Bayou to the west and is an integral part of the waterway’s ecological, recreational and hydrological system. Existing links between Memorial Park and the Plan’s study area will be strengthened and new connections established.

Boathouses at key landings will provide opportunities for boat rentals, food service and activity space.

2 Waugh/Heights and Memorial Drive

Cloverleaf Reconfiguration Waugh Drive’s existing cloverleaf will be redesigned as a compact diamond intersection with traditional on and off ramps, opening up as much as 20 acres of new green space to accommodate parking, additional recreational area at Spotts Park, a large water body, and new boathouse, where watercraft can be anchored and landed.

3 Reconstructed Wetlands

New ponds shaped like oxbow meanders that historically defined Buffalo Bayou will be created to provide additional flood storage capacity, wildlife habitat, boating areas and visual interest. New wetland areas will improve water quality dramatically by naturally filtering water before it reaches Buffalo Bayou. These areas also will improve flood management by moderating the time required for stormwater to reach the Bayou. Reintroducing native plants will provide for greater diversity of wildlife to exist within the Bayou environment, creating a natural bayou preserve for Houstonians to enjoy.

4 Allen Parkway Realignment

Allen Parkway is usually closed to traffic during special performance events, creating a pedestrian destination.

Event parking often aggravates nearby neighborhood residents. Shared structured parking, located in the potential development sites at Montrose/Studewood and the realignment of Allen Parkway from Taft to Sabine, will provide additional parking and open space. Improved pedestrian amenities, such as promenades, crosswalks and overpasses, links between all parks along the Bayou, and access to new developments will make this area a truly pedestrian-friendly destination.

To extend the ecological richness of rehabilitated wetlands into the surrounding City as well as provide passive filtering of stormwater, a system of greenways, or “Green Fingers” will link existing neighborhoods to the Bayou corridor.

5 Boat Landings

To encourage recreational use, a program featuring enhanced waterfront activity and launching areas along the Bayou’s length are included in the Plan. Boat landings, some coordinated with parking drop-offs, are proposed at Shepherd Drive, Waugh Drive/Memorial Drive, Eleanor Tinsley Park, and Sam Houston Park.

Boat landings will encourage recreational activity on the Bayou.

Through reclamation, regrading and restoration of native vegetation on the Bayou’s steep, sterile banks, the varied ecological zones that once flourished along the Bayou can be recreated.

buffalo bayou partnership 1113 Vine Street, Suite 200 Houston Texas 77002 713.752.0314 www.buffalobayou.org

Material excerpted from Buffalo Bayou and Beyond Report, August 2002, Thompson Design Group, Inc./EcoPLAN Brochure layout and design by Peter Boyle Graphic Design

Buffalo Bayou and Beyond

Downtown A New WaterView District

Reclaiming Buffalo Bayou’s waterfront potential is a key component in downtown Houston’s continued revitalization. Today, the Bayou is largely invisible — roadways cover it, access is poor and few retail and recreational activities exist along its edges. Adjacent properties such as parking lots and vacant sites are incompatible with active waterfront use. The Buffalo Bayou and Beyond Master Plan emphasizes downtown investments that are multi-purpose and tailored to the larger urban design vision of a high quality waterfront—a great place to live, work and visit.

goals: Create a high amenity urban waterfront by developing Bayou-fronting parks, distinctive bank treatments and supplementary canals Regrading Buffalo Bayou’s banks to improve stormwater conveyance simultaneously creates a priceless opportunity to build distinctive urban destinations.

Terraced Downtown Bayou banks will increase floodwater storage capacity and allow activity to take place despite varying water levels. Supplementary canals will provide pedestrian access to Bayou edges, stimulate new development in the North Downtown Warehouse District, and provide a new urban linkage between Downtown and the East End. Build a pedestrian friendly street network Shaded waterfront promenades will provide a seamless link from Sesquicentennial Park to Festival Place (Post Office site) and from a revitalized Allen’s Landing to the new Gable Street Landing. This network envisions using downtown streets near the waterfront for major celebrations and festivals.

Promote high quality mixed-use development along the improved Bayou edge Flooding concerns have long prevented high-quality development from activating the downtown Bayou waterfront. By employing the North and South Supplementary canals, a 24-hour Buffalo Bayou WaterView District will be established, including 25 million sq. ft. of expanded residential and retail development. In contrast to the business focus of the Downtown Skyline District, the mixed-use WaterView District will offer recreation and entertainment along historic waterfront streets.

Promote adaptive reuse and restoration to reinforce the Bayou’s historic assets Houston’s downtown Historic District follows its waterfront, reflecting the city’s connection to Allen’s Landing. Many of its historic assets, however, are dispersed or altogether lost. To preserve key historic and community resources, the plan recommends an evaluation process that defines value, selects its choices for preservation, and offers ideas for adaptive reuse of historically significant structures.

A New WaterView District

White Oak Wetlands Park North Warehouse District UH Downtown

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Sam Houston Park Enhancements Several enhancements are recommended to enable Sam Houston Park to once again be a key recreational destination for Houston. The Plan proposes the acquisition of an additional 20 acres south of existing Sam Houston Park at West Dallas and Bagby. Also important to West End improvements is the redesign of Interstate 45 as it crosses Buffalo Bayou. Relocating highway ramps and structures, and re-linking the landscape of Downtown and West End will address safety concerns, noise and environmental pollution.

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Festival Place Framing Downtown as its backdrop, a live-oak shaded amphitheater on the Bayou’s north bank will provide a new outdoor venue for the Theater District and reinforce Sesquicentennial Park. A new mixed-use cultural and performance center will be constructed on the existing Post Office site. Expanding the Theater District across

Convention Center District

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is planned for the current Post Office site.

Elysian Park

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Power Station, will form the Bayou gateway to the Convention Center District and Minute Maid Park.

The North Canal features a three-tiered quay connected by a system of stairs and ramps, accommodating temporary and seasonal amenities such as cafes, restaurants, openair markets and exhibitions.

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the Bayou will create a cohesive arts and cultural destination, an important step in raising Houston’s tourist profile and convention appeal.

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Milam/Travis Signature Bridge Interstate 45 highway access ramps at Milam and Travis will be reconstructed to create a new signature bridge rising over Buffalo Bayou and announcing arrival into downtown. Raising Milam and Travis ramps above the current railroad alignment and closing the underpasses, which often serve as de-facto floodways at Milam, Travis, Smith and Louisiana, will prevent the flow of White Oak Bayou through these underpasses into Downtown during periodic storm events.

North and South Canals Two new canals will provide supplementary floodwater capacity for Buffalo Bayou. These channels will create new urban edges forming recreation and activity spines to vital new waterfront neighborhoods.

Extending from Gable Street Landing through Guadalupe Plaza and to Guadalupe Landing, the South Canal connects the existing Alexan Development (formerly Las Americas/El Mercado del Sol) and Live Oak Park neighborhoods to Downtown.

5 Allen’s Landing

Houston’s birthplace at the foot of Main Street will be the centerpiece for a restored Sunset Coffee Building, housing a boathouse, visitor center, restaurant and offices.

6 Commerce Street Promenade

Wide and spacious, offering a continuous vantage overlooking Buffalo Bayou, Commerce Street Promenade will connect Allen’s Landing – gateway to the Skyline District and Main Street Corridor – to the new Gable Street Landing, the northeast gateway to Minute Maid Field, Brown Convention Center and beyond.

7 Allen Place

Potential exists for a mixed-use landmark at the head of Main Street overlooking Allen’s Landing. This high-value site has been earmarked for academic expansion by the University of Houston-Downtown. Because of its key location, retail opportunities and public amenities are recommended.

8 Gable Street Landing

A proposed adaptive reuse of Reliant Energy’s Gable Street Power Station will create an anchor at the edge of Downtown, directing development eastward along the Bayou. This key location at the head of Crawford Street forms an inviting link between the waterfront and Convention Center District. A great flight of steps will tie the park to the water’s edge, creating a natural stage and Bayou vista.

9 Festival Streets

Expanding on the forward-thinking Cotswold Project, a network of pedestrian-friendly, tree-lined streets will connect Downtown waterfront destinations to the Theater District, Skyline District and Convention Center. These “pedestrian preserves” occasionally can be closed to vehicular traffic, serving as a stage for major celebrations and festivals.

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Allen Avenue Realignment/removal of Union Pacific’s southern downtown rail line provides the opportunity for developing a new east – west transportation corridor, effectively linking Washington/Bagby Streets to the west with the new Festival Place performing arts complex (Post Office facility site) eastward, to San Jacinto and Runnels. This new avenue ultimately will connect to Navigation Boulevard, providing greater connectivity between North Downtown, Gable Street Landing and the East End.

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Frostown Urban Garden With the removal of the adjacent Elysian Viaduct, Frostown Urban Garden expands James Bute Park into a 12-acre outdoor art environment.

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Commemorating historic Frostown, the Frostown Urban Garden will offer a site for permanent and rotating works of environmental art.

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Section across the widened Bayou near Crawford Street and Frostown Urban Garden shows bank ledges and steps transitioning to the water edge. A new pedestrian bridge at Austin Street increases access to both Bayou banks.

Boat Landings To encourage recreational use of Buffalo Bayou, a program featuring enhanced waterfront activity and launching areas along the Bayou’s length are included in the Plan.

Boat landings, some coordinated with parking drop-offs, are being proposed at Sesquicentennial Park, Allen’s Landing, Gable Street Landing, McKee Street and US 59.

Historic Allen’s Landing has been reborn as a City landmark. buffalo bayou partnership 1113 Vine Street, Suite 200 Houston Texas 77002 713.752.0314 www.buffalobayou.org

Material excerpted from Buffalo Bayou and Beyond Report, August 2002, Thompson Design Group, Inc./EcoPLAN Brochure layout and design by Peter Boyle Graphic Design

Buffalo Bayou and Beyond

East Sector A Reach Revitalized for Community Growth

Buffalo Bayou’s character within the East Sector is that of a large river, rich with history and charm, though often hidden behind existing industry—some functional, some derelict and abandoned. This segment of the Bayou holds enormous potential for continuation of a regional park system while allowing the East End to maintain its historic industrial base. Cut off from Downtown by freeways and railroads, the East End will enjoy new connections, improved boulevards, enhanced parks, diverse neighborhoods, and new employment opportunities through new industry.

goals: Develop diverse neighborhoods Houston’s unique racial and ethnic diversity is visible throughout the city. This diversity will be expanded through redevelopment of underutilized sites along Buffalo Bayou in the East End, providing an array of public amenities as well as increased access to the waterway.

Expand Buffalo Bayou park system east to the Turning Basin and beyond, incorporating regional destinations and institutional anchors Unique East End areas have been earmarked as special regional destinations. In addition, existing parks will be expanded and improved to better integrate nearby neighborhoods with the waterfront. New parks for recreational use, a botanical garden, and an ecology park will benefit residents as well as tourists, and can attract institutional interest in the long term.

Strengthen neighborhood connections to the Bayou To provide strong connections for residential neighborhoods and schools, extensive tree planting, bike paths, sidewalks, and other streetscape improvements will be developed.

Revitalize East End industrial parks Existing industry is a vital source of East End employment and must grow and evolve over time to meet challenges of the new economy. Eco-industrial parks will incorporate high-tech and biotech development, as well as offer nearby housing opportunities for employees. While still adhering to the principle of balancing conservation and development, the plan recognizes that new growth is needed for the area to remain a vital economic center.

Improve transit corridors New transit corridors along Clinton and Navigation Boulevards will guide and direct new development eastward. Improved transit, beginning with dedicated busways and future light rail, will provide a powerful incentive to eastward business relocation, as well as encourage growth of medium-density developments and communities.

East Sector

A Reach Revitalized for Community Growth

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Boat 7 Landing Hidalgo Park

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Green Streets

Ship Channel Visitors' Center

1 New Neighborhoods

Medium-density, mixed-use development in park-like settings will capitalize on bayou views and access at the following sites: ■ ■ ■ ■

Live Oak Park Richardson Place West Jensen/Bayou Redevelopment Alexan Redevelopment

3 Symphony Island Performance Center

Programmed for large audiences on grassy amphitheatertype seating, this proposed open-air facility promises a sylvan setting for outdoor performances and events during Houston’s temperate winters.

2 Expanded and Improved Existing Parks ■

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Guadalupe Park Guadalupe Park can be expanded and reconfigured as part of the future South Canal redevelopment. Graded banks with grassy amphitheater seating will create a Bayou viewing area for water-based events.

Tony Marron Park A plan is currently being developed to revitalize this existing park.

3 Symphony Island

5 North Side Sewage Treatment Facility redevelopment

Northside Sewage Treatment Facility and Turkey Bend oxbow 4 Turkey Bend Ecology Park

Houston’s gift to future generations will be the gradual naturalization of Bayou-fronting land, currently occupied by marginal or polluting industrial uses. Like Memorial Park upstream, this reserve can be Houston’s contribution to a continuous regional park system.

5 North Side Sewage Treatment Facility Redevelopment

4 Turkey Bend Ecology Park

A botanical garden of regional significance is envisioned at the City’s derelict Northside Sewage Treatment Facility.

The plan proposes that existing settling basins and other sewage treatment infrastructure be enclosed to house rare and endangered plant species for varied climates and habitats. As part of the larger Turkey Bend Ecology Park, these botanical gardens would provide a regional draw for the East End. 6 Turning Basin Overlook Park

Envisioned as a gateway to the Turning Basin, a new park on the Bayou’s north bank will include the Port of Houston Authority Visitor Center and connections to existing Hidalgo Park on the south bank.

7 Boat Landings

To encourage recreational use of Buffalo Bayou, a program featuring enhanced waterfront activity and launching areas along the Bayou’s length are included in the Plan.

Boat landings, some coordinated with parking drop-offs, are being proposed at Jensen, North York, Lockwood, Navigation Landing, and Hidalgo Park.

Houston’s Ship Channel is the anchor for East End industry.

buffalo bayou partnership 1113 Vine Street, Suite 200 Houston Texas 77002 713.752.0314 www.buffalobayou.org

Material excerpted from Buffalo Bayou and Beyond Report, August 2002, Thompson Design Group, Inc./EcoPLAN Brochure layout and design by Peter Boyle Graphic Design