'Plan Downtown' Project to Create a New Vision for Downtown Houston
This week the Houston Downtown Management District launched “Plan Downtown,” a 20-year plan that will create a new vision for Downtown Houston and surrounding areas, the Houston Chronicle reports.
The group has assembled a 17-person leadership group and Houston-based design firm Asakura Robinson Co. LLC to draft the plan for the project, which has a $1.05 million budget.
The plan involves seeking input from residents and stakeholders and using this data to idenitify improvements. For example, an app meant to yield “sentimental data” about how residents experience downtown every day will go live this month. There will also be public workshops and focus groups.
Among the eight areas the plan will target include infrastructure, mobility, and transportation; livability, connectivity, and public space; technology; and social equity.
The last time the neighborhood underwent a comprehensive plan was in 2004, and that plan yielded a lot of changes that characterize downtown today—it expanded the light rail system, improved entertainment corridors, and created parks. But now the city might be ready for a new plan that addresses modern concerns. For example, a call for proposals for Plan Downtown that went out to Houston firms asked them to consider how self-driving cars might change the city.