Fresno Livable Centers Study

In partnership with our region's Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC), Fort Bend County Precinct 2 applied for and was awarded funding to conduct a Livable Centers Study in the Fresno area.  The objectives of the Livable Centers Program are 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 will provide 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.  They encourage a complementary mix of land uses that are designed to be walkable, connected, and accessible by multiple modes of transportation.

 

Project Background

The purpose of the Fresno Livable Centers Study is to spur private and public investment in a sustainable, highly connected manner in an area of Fort Bend County suffering the consequences of “leapfrog development”. The Fresno community is a classic example of the realities and consequences associated with areas considered “too complicated to develop” and subsequently passed over by the private sector. In fact, Fresno poses an incredible opportunity to be a truly Livable Center if addressed proactively and creatively. Fort Bend County is committed to resolving issues in the area and has assembled several partners to make it possible – what it lacks is the plan of action to move forward in a way that is transformative, sustainable and inclusive of current residents.

This study will result in a plan that provides infrastructure recommendations geared towards multimodal travel choices and providing equitable infrastructure to connect activity centers and ensure these areas are resilient and remain quality places for people to live, work, and play.

 

Study Area

The proposed area to be covered by the Fresno Livable Centers study is bounded by what would be a connection between unfinished Lake Olympia Parkway and W. Broadway Streets to the north, Pearland and Fort Bend County limits to the east, SH 6 to the south, and Long Point Creek and Teal Bend Boulevard to the west. The area includes some of what is considered “New Fresno” – subdivisions such as Teal Run and Andover Farms but is largely comprised of what is considered “Old Fresno” – the series of older linear developments, vacant tracts and limited commercial/industrial activity.

Fresno Livable Centers Study

 

Project Update

The study has reached an important milestone with the successful completion of Phase 1, which included existing conditions analysis and report development, first community advisory group meeting, and first community-wide meeting. It included assessing opportunities and constraints and developing a shared vision for the future of the study area. Building on the feedback received from residents, community organizations, agency partners, and local stakeholders, the project team has initiated Phase 2, focused on developing and evaluating potential recommendations. As the study progresses, additional opportunities for public and stakeholder input will help shape the final recommendations and implementation strategies for creating a more connected, vibrant, and livable Fresno community.

Fresno Livable Centers Study

 

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