Baytown master plan calls for smart growth

Rejects sprawl

Vilas Bhuchar, Mar 19, 10.

A master plan designed to redevelop and revitalize Baytown’s downtown around Texas Avenue is based on “smart growth” principles, according to the plan’s executive summary, which acknowledges that the Smart Growth concept rejects sprawl:

Smart Growth is a concept that recognizes that sprawl does not work and that communities will be more successful if they encourage pedestrian-friendly environments and incorporate a mix of land uses. The smart growth framework encourages communities to strengthen their urban cores and provide a balance of commercial, residential, retail, and open spaces.

The master plan, created by Harris County and the City of Baytown, aims to redevelop the Texas Avenue area after Baytown residents, during 2008 visioning workshops, indicated that the city lacks a core area. To help establish a core, or Central Business District (CBD), the plan recommends two new transit routes and pedestrian-friendly amenities, according to a March 11th H-GAC Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) information sheet on the Baytown Livable Center Initiative:

The Baytown Study recommends two new transit routes that will link Lee College with Baytown’s downtown area and provide increased general mobility. The first route is called the San Jacinto Mall route and the second is Lee College. In addition to increased transit, the study also recommends public amenities for the area such as: a plaza with a fountain, bus shelters, street furniture such as sidewalks, art, and brick-paved sidewalks.

In addition to smart growth principles, the plan is also based on the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Livable Communities Initiative (LCI), which “seeks to provide resources that can help communities create pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented environments that will draw and retain businesses and residents,” notes the TAC info sheet.

Baytown is a strong model for LCI because it has “internal structure in (its) CBD that can support a mixed-use environment and attract a high-density mix of white-collar and blue-collar jobs throughout a mix of retail, residential, restaurant, and mid-size and corporate office space,” adds the plan’s executive summary.

TAC info sheet: Baytown Livable Centers Initiative
Baytown LCI master plan: Executive summary