Livable Center Study: South Belt

The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) is the region-wide voluntary association of 133 local governments and local elected officials in the 13-county Gulf Coast Planning region of Texas. Local elected officials organized H-GAC in 1966 after authorization by State enabling legislation. Its service area is 12,500 square miles and includes more than 7-million residents. H-GAC is governed by a 36-member Board of Directors composed of local elected officials, who serve on the governing bodies of member local governments. All H-GAC programs are carried out under the policy direction of its Board of Directors. H-GAC's mission is to serve as the instrument of local government cooperation, promoting the region's orderly development and the safety and welfare of its residents. H-GAC is the regional organization through which local governments consider issues and cooperate in solving area-wide problems. Agency programs emphasize local government concerns, such as transportation, air and water quality, criminal justice, demographic analysis, mapping programs, and intergovernmental purchasing. H-GAC also serves its citizens through workforce development programs, services to the aging and elderly, and small business finance programs. H-GAC is the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the eight-county Houston-Galveston Transportation Management Area (TMA). This study (and resulting recommended project(s) is one of a number of action steps adopted by H-GAC's Transportation Policy Council to address mobility challenges and quality of life in the region. Established in 2008, H-GAC's Livable Centers Program staff works with local communities to reimagine auto-focused infrastructure, policies, and programs aiming to create mixed-use places that provide multi-modal transportation options, improve environmental quality, improve pedestrian safety, and promote economic development and housing diversity. H-GAC's Livable Centers Program teams work with local communities to identify context sensitive recommendations, a vision for the study area, and an implementation plan that provides the community leaders with the resources they need to facilitate Livable Centers. Livable Centers are places where people can live, work, and play with less reliance on their cars. Livable Centers studies have been completed in urban, suburban, and rural areas throughout the 8-county region. There are two types of studies: Livable Centers Studies and Focused Livable Centers Studies. Livable Centers Studies Serve as small area plans and fulfill all four Livable Centers Program goals. Programmatic goals are evaluated on a community-wide scale as defined by study sponsors and may span a larger neighborhood or series of neighborhoods in a single service area, such as a district or other sponsor-defined boundary. A study area may define multiple locations or nodes of interest, including identified areas for future land use improvements. A Focused Livable Centers Study serves as a targeted, community-node studies that must meet two Livable Centers Program goals to create multi-modal travel choices, resilient quality places, and one additional Livable Centers goal that best fits the needs of the study sponsor. This is a Full Livable Centers Study. The overall goal of the study is to create a Livable Centers plan for the study area that will define new, context-sensitive standards that foster multi-modal access and connectivity, a mix of land uses, a diversity of housing options, and a sense of place. The study's conceptual plan and recommended catalyst projects should encourage walkability, connection within and between nodes of community activity, and built environment strategies that support local economic development and employment. The study should result in a forward-looking vision and practical implementation strategies that consider responsible stewardship of the existing resources to best meet the community's needs. All recommendations should be based on strengthening the area's existing best characteristics while providing real strategies and a road map for implementing improvements over time. Wherever feasible, recommendations should be data driven and include actions for the local sponsor to take, including potential changes or additions to land use regulations, codes and ordinances. Recommended projects and/or strategies should identify fiscal impacts and include potential funding mechanisms such as public-private partnerships and investment opportunities. An implementation plan should consider the benefits and consequences of each recommendation and identify proposed implementation timing and funding opportunities. For more information on the Livable Centers Program, please visit: www.h-gac.com/livablecenters