“The Greening of Houston

Anthony Flint. Feb 3, 2012

After many years, Buffalo Bayou is finally coming on its Nixon in China moment.

Or, perhaps, a little bit of Paris in Texas.

The 10-square-mile Brownfields restoration in the front yard of downtown Houston is a collection of parks, walkways, a performance center, botanical gardens, boat landings, and residential development, all along the waterway that winds in from the Gulf of Mexico. It’s the kind of neighborhood revitalization project, complete with retooling freeway corridors and re-using vacant and industrial land, that one might see in Portland, Oregon.

But instead it’s an injection of urbanism in the land of sprawl – and a showcase in a city famous its lack of zoning. That rejection of the fundamental framework of most other American cities has made Houston averse to urban planning and design.

In fact, there is regulation in place in Houston. Building standards and development are controlled through neighborhood covenants and other restrictions. The downtown has towers and a grid like most other cities. But development has been guided by the principle that the free market should prevail.

The fundamentally green and carbon emission-mindful infrastructure of Buffalo Bayou may also seem incongruous with the capital of fossil fuels. But Houston has become remarkably green in its civic impulses. One notable figure in sustainability there is oil and gas magnate George Mitchell and the George and Cynthia Mitchell Foundation, who brought in the legendary Ian McHarg to design the Woodlands in Texas. The Buffalo Bayou Partnership has been the coalition to frame the goals, provide the management of some 6,400 acres, plan the park and facility improvements, and keep it all together.”

Via: The Atlantic

Photo credit: Buffalo Bayou Partnership