Houston as a Model City: Meeting the challenges of an environmental crisis
Greenspace
by Vicki Wolf, May 2006

Houston has a reputation for being a big Texas city with lots of huge buildings, parking lots and expressways . . . driving into Houston from the north, that’s what you see. Although much of Houston’s ecosystem has been paved over for development, a closer look reveals some beautiful lush greenspaces teeming with life. When you leave the freeways and get out of your car, the bayous, bays, marshes, prairies and forests offer relief from the speeding vehicles, hot barren concrete and tall buildings.

Another rich feature of the Houston area is a warm, wet climate that is great for growing all kinds of things. Houston has a surprising number of community and school vegetable gardens. However, only a few small pockets of agricultural land are left.

Over the coming years, with the demands of population growth, Houston stands to lose what’s left of its beautiful, precious ecosystem. Forecasts show Houston will have 3,538,000 more people by 2035, and the region is expected to grow to nine million people by 2036, according to Tomorrow: Houston 2035, a publication just released by the Gulf Coast Institute. If development and transportation trends and policies continue, most of the remaining greenspace will be covered with roads and buildings by 2035. But it doesn’t have to be that way, and surveys show that the people living in Houston today don’t want it that way.

Furthermore, continuing to cover up the greenspace with concrete is not sustainable, according to David Crossley, president of Gulf Coast Institute. “To stay alive human beings need air, water and food,” Crossley says. “If the air is dirty, the water not drinkable and the food is flown in, you have to ask: What kind of shape are we in?”

All of these things require greenspace, according to Crossley. Greenspace pumps out oxygen and trees help control ozone. Greenspace helps control flooding. “It’s impossible to build everywhere and control flooding,” Crossley says.

The services provided by greenspace are free, and the dollar value of these services is rarely considered. Jim Blackburn, environmental attorney, professor and activist, in an essay titled “Place, Spirituality and Activism” explains, “The values of this coastal ecosystem is incredible and has never been appropriately established by our society.” Blackburn notes that applying methodology developed by Environmental Economist Robert Costanza, the Galveston Bay system, its marshes, adjacent swamps and tidal flats are valued at over $5 billion per year. “These are free goods, a gift of ecological capital, to me-to you-to us, and to those who come after us,” Blackburn says.

Houston’s growth is unavoidable, but there are choices that can be made to decide to grow in a way that preserves natural resources, provides a healthier more beautiful place to live for more people. The economy also will benefit as Houston becomes a more desirable place to live and work.

The Houston-Galveston Area Council has been exploring how and where area residents will live in the future through a process called Envision Houston 2035. The meetings have resulted in ideas for healthier development for the Houston-Galveston area. Participants are thinking outside the box, literally: Instead of rectangular blocks of large buildings and parking lots bordered by busy roadways, the vision is soft and green with curved edges of open space surrounding cities with gardens. Here are some ideas that are catching on and that call for making greenspace and convenient ways to live more sustainably a priority:

• Develop mass transit instead of more roads. Roads tend to encourage excessive land use for parking lots and concrete freeways, while mass transit encourages greenspace conservation.
• Develop garden cities around the major business hubs that exist, and connect them with mass transit. Houston is actually five cities within a city: Downtown, the Texas Medical Center, Greenway Plaza, Uptown/Galleria and Westchase, each with more jobs, businesses than downtown Seattle, Miami or San Diego, according to the Gulf Coast Institute’s magazine, Tomorrow. The institute suggests that a transit backbone be created to connect these centers as a crucial move toward a more sustainable Houston. Each of these towns could be urban areas that allow more greenspace by limiting damage to the environment in small places. The creation of clear urban zones surrounded by greenspace can make Houston a city that is inviting to visit and live. Eventually the transit network could connect outward to Greenspoint, the Energy Corridor, Sugar Land, The Woodlands and Galveston.
• Create networks of creeks, rivers and bayous into the countryside. These ribbons of green could also connect business and shopping centers and provide walking and bike trails to get from home to work, school and shopping without ever getting in a car or on a concrete roadway.

In Europe and some cities in the United States, greenspace with walking and biking trails has been included in plans and development for many years. Amsterdam is known for its bicycling population. Manhattan has two million people, the same as Houston, and will fit inside Loop 610 four times. It has 75 miles of rail transit compared to Houston’s 7.5 miles. Eighty-two percent of people living in Manhattan walk, bike or take transit to work – in Houston it’s more like 7 percent. With less land and more people than Houston, New York City has more parks per person than any other city in the United States, according the Gulf Coast Institute’s Tomorrow magazine.

New developments in the Houston-Galveston area show promise. Harris County Flood Control has construction projects that will produce parkland, wildlife habitat and bike trails that provide fingers into the countryside. “As growth occurs, it’s critical for flood control to acquire land for construction projects and preservation,” says Fred Harris, Harris County Flood Control communication director. “If it gets gobbled up by development or poor planning, opportunities could be lost forever.”

The question that haunts Houston is: Will there be countryside left by the time these green pathways can reach it?

According to Gulf Coast Institute, much of the answer to this question hinges on the 2035 Regional Transportation Plan. If the plan calls for more roads, development will likely consume much of the greenspace that exists. If mass transit is emphasized in the plan, land is more likely to be conserved. Pollution and energy consumption also can be reduced.

Decisions that are being made now will determine quality of life for Houstonians now and long into the future.

More Information

To get a copy of Tomorrow: Houston 2035, and to participate in discussions and planning for Houston’s future, write to: tomorrow@gulfcoastideas.org. For more information, go to www.gulfcoastinstitute.org.

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