In comparison to… well, basically any city in the entire world, Houston is a laughable example of good land use. As I’ve noted in previous posts, the city is the second-largest in the nation by land area and encourages sprawl with lenient regulation and a lack of formal zoning. The suburbs go on forever, and the Downtown area is still in a near-laughable state of affairs when put up against nearly any other city of comparable population. However, as I’ve also noted, there are exceptions to the unfortunate decentralized, low-density pancake that makes up most of the city. Houston has developed a number of cosmopolitan, densified districts spread across the metro area. These hubs serve as centers of business for the surrounding residential suburban sprawl, as well as areas for leisure.
With the sudden resurgence of the energy industry as a whole thanks to increased investment in natural gas and the glorious comeback of North American oil production, there has been a sudden and overwhelming focus on the Energy Corridor district, which lies along Interstate 10 between State Highway 6 (to the west) and Beltway 8 (to the east). I live in this area, and it’s pretty damn cool to be able to watch all of the new development first hand. The transformation has been incredibly swift – ten years ago, the area was just coming out of the stagnation it had been in since the 1980s. During the late 1970s, coinciding with the energy crisis and Houston’s golden age, numerous high-profile energy corporations – Shell, BP, Exxon and Citgo, to be specific – set up sprawling office campuses in the Energy Corridor. At the time, the district was on the edge of the city’s suburban sprawl, and there was plenty of room for further development and an abundance of cheap land. Companies purchased large spaces for their buildings, leaving plenty of room for even more office space in the future. With the corporate presence came a swath of white-collar residents, solidifying the West Memorial area as a wealthier (yet not nearly the wealthiest) district of Houston. However, after the price of oil crashed in the early 80s, the entire metro area was struck by a strong recession. The impact of this slump is most clearly seen today in the proliferation of low-income apartment complexes sprinkled across the area. This has helped feed Houston’s distinction of being deeply integrated along lines of both class and race.
Anyway, excluding continuing suburban development extending the city beyond the western border of Highway 6, there was little commercial development in the Energy Corridor. Some corporations constructed buildings along Enclave Parkway, directly east of thoroughfare Eldridge Parkway and south of the Buffalo Bayou, but there was still much undeveloped land in the district. This Google Earth image shows the area in 1995:
The Buffalo Bayou runs through the center of the image. The corporate campuses of ConocoPhillips and Shell can be seen at the very top, east of Eldridge Parkway. BP’s complex is located south of Interstate 10, to the west of Eldridge. Enclave is near the bottom, slightly left of center. (click on image to enlarge)
Besides the enormous corporate headquarters of three oil giants (BP, ConocoPhillips and Shell), the Energy Corridor resembled most any other area of western Houston. However, a great amount of infill and higher-grade office building construction has transformed the area, as shown in this 2012 image below:
Note the large amount of infill along Eldridge Parkway, and new construction along the renovated Interstate 10. (click on image to enlarge)
There are many defining characteristics of the area that make it stand out as an important example of good land use within the Houston area.
First of all, the management of the Buffalo Bayou through the creation and maintenance of Terry Hershey Park is probably one of the best exhibitions of proper environmental conservation in the entire metro area. As can be seen in both images, the park borders the bayou along its entire stretch from Barker Reservoir immediately west of Highway 6 to Beltway 8. The history of this stretch of the bayou is one of my favorite things to study concerning West Houston. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Army Corps of Engineers completely modified the natural system of meandering bayous and swamps that covered the existing Energy Corridor. Like in many other parts of the country at the time, the federal government imposed permanent flood control solutions to open the area to suburban development. Two enormous reservoirs, Barker (west of Highway 6 and south of I-10) and Addicks (north of I-10), were zoned out to keep floodwater at bay, and the Buffalo Bayou and its tributaries were all straightened into their current shapes. The bayous were already completely stripped of vegetation and slated to be paved with concrete, like all of their siblings in other parts of the city (and country – picture Los Angeles). However, a group of local conservationists led by resident Terry Hershey petitioned the city to instead preserve the natural beauty of the once heavily forested bayou. While none of the vegetation along it today is more than 50 years old, and the entire bayou is sharply deviated from its natural course, the contemporary Terry Hershey Park is an impressive example of a well-designed greenway within an urbanized area. The city has stayed true to the concept of preserving nature by encouraging a thick canopy of plant growth to obscure the bayou itself from view. A system of both paved and dirt trails is well maintained for hiking, walking and biking – all of which local residents eagerly take advantage of on a daily basis, often in the late afternoon. The city also funds playgrounds, exercise stations, barbeque pits, water fountains and other basic park features for public use. The park makes it possible for residents to easily travel from neighborhood to neighborhood, all around the area. Most residents who own private property along the park allow the public access to it.
The aesthetic attractiveness of the park and its extensive trail system have vastly improved property values in the area and quality of life in general – in the Energy Corridor, residents can access many different places without resorting to the roads, have an isolated area of natural beauty just down the street, and get plenty of exercise through jogging and biking. Thankfully, Houston’s hike and bike trail system is being extended in many other parts of the city thanks to an initiative by mayor Annise Parker, extended all the benefits seen in Terry Hershey Park.
Since the late 1980s the city has been promoting development in the “core” of the Energy Corridor with the beautification of a stretch of Eldridge Parkway from Memorial Drive south to Westheimer, dubbed “The Parkway”. Most of the development along the Parkway occurred during the late 1990s and early 2000s, contrasting it with the much older surrounding neighborhoods. Its youthfulness signifies a clear transition in urban planning and land use philosophy since the 1960s. This area is distinct in its increased density – instead of more suburban labyrinths, The Parkway is an eclectic mix of hotels, retail, restaurants, office buildings and dense upper-class apartment and townhouse complexes. In many of the neighborhoods nearby – including mine – walking to a nearby grocery store or restaurant can take upwards of 20 to 30 minutes. While the situation, as I noted in my last post, is not nearly as bad as the new suburban development towards the Grand Parkway, it is still not pedestrian friendly. In contrast, the Parkway mixes both residential and commercial space. At midday, the area is often filled with pedestrians visiting various restaurants – a sight that you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the city outside of the 610 loop. The Parkway features broad oak trees along the length of the median and sidewalks, providing ample shade from the scorching Texas sun. Well-maintained sidewalks actually exist along Eldridge, further encouraging walking and biking – and the stretch of avenue is also directly connected to the Terry Hershey Park hike and bike system. The city has done a fantastic job at promoting a densified commercial center to serve as the core of the burgeoning Energy Corridor, and should attempt to apply the same land use concepts to the Downtown area.
Other examples of pedestrian friendly, densified commercial and residential development nearby include CityCentre at the junction of Interstate 10 and Beltway 8. The renewal of the once dilapidated area is truly remarkable – CityCentre occupies the lot of the former Town and Country Mall, which had been stagnating for years and suffered a fatal blow when nearby Memorial City Mall launched an enormous renovation project that stole away almost all of T&C’s major retail anchors. The mall was completely demolished in 2005. Now serving as a model for “edge city” development, CityCentre is a high-density mix of apartments, offices and retail. It puts strong emphasis on walking over driving, with narrow, limited-access streets and lushly landscaped corridors and green spaces.
Aerial view of CityCentre. (click on image to enlarge)
The Energy Corridor District is planning another mixed-use development similar to CityCentre along Interstate 10 between Highway 6 and Eldridge. Currently, the targeted land is vacant, yet lies adjacent to a METRO Park and Ride station, giving it ideal access to public transportation. Preparation for the development of this area is already underway with the extension of Terry Hershey Park’s hike and bike trails north, under Interstate 10, and along the southern border of the Addicks Reservoir. Plans also call for the extension of Dairy Ashford Road westward through the property. The Energy Corridor District’s vision for the area, shown below, is fully laid out in their Livable Centers Study.
While there is still much car-friendly suburban development on Houston’s west side, it is quickly becoming a model for good, mixed-use development. The energy resurgence is bringing with it a flood of investment and even more densification though the construction of new retail centers and office towers. It’s an exciting time to live in the Energy Corridor – it seems like something new is popping up every couple of weeks. I’m definitely enjoying watching the area revitalize from its quiet suburban existence to something much more exciting. Hopefully, the prosperity will continue and more mixed-use concepts will enter into reality. The future is bright for West Houston; it’s undoubtedly one of the most interesting areas in the entire metro right now. With the state of the national economy, it’s difficult to find anywhere flourishing as quickly as the Energy Corridor.
Alternate Amnesiac 