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Planning Matters
February 13, 2013

Calendar…………..

University of Houston
Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture
Spring Lectures
February 13th 5:30pm
Free and open to the public

February 21
Charles Waldheim
Landscape Urbanism
 
March 28
Jonathan D. Solomon
Aformal Urbanism
 
April 2
Housing Tomorrow Exhibit
through April 19
 
April 26
Witold Rybczynski
How Architecture Works

Charles Waldheim – Landscape Urbanism
February 21st

Center for Houston Future
February 22, 2013
Healthy Communities Indicators Symposium
For information:
 Healthy Community Indicators Symposium

League of Women voters
March 8, 2013
Issues Forum:  Houston Needs a Plan for Its Future
Registration 9:30 am
Program 10:00 am
United Way
For information: 
www.lwvhouston.org

Save the Date:
Visions for a Greener Houston 
March 12, 2013
1:00 pm to 6:00 pm
United Way $25.00
For information www.cechouston.org

DONATE HERE TO CITIZENS FOR BLUEPRINT HOUSTON

Information, Articles, and Videos

The case for a strategic general plan for Houston on Houston Media Source 
Shot on January 24, 2013

2040 Regional Transportation Plan
H-GAC seeks public input.  Visit 
www.h-gac/2040plan.org  for a survey and comment box.

Our Mission
The mission of Blueprint Houston is to assure the creation of a general plan for the City of Houston based on the citizens’ vision, values, and goals. 

Why Planning Matters?
I have served on the Blueprint Houston board for several years.  Its mission is “to assure the creation of a General Plan for the City of Houston based on citizens’ vision, values and goals.” So, why do I think it is important to advocate for this?  I’m not a professional planner or architect.  I’m not an environmentalist or futurist.  But, I am a Houstonian who cares about how this great city survives and thrives successfully in the 21st century.  And, I do not see an overall vision for our city to guide us in the decades ahead through the dynamic changes, good and bad, happening all around us.
 What is a General Plan?  Some think it’s a complicated, detailed document saying exactly what the City would and would not do.  Some think it is an arduous process taking years to complete and many millions of dollars to conduct.  But, it does not have to be any of this.  Blueprint Houston conducted a series of workshops and Citizens’ Congresses over the last several years that culminated in a document that expresses citizens’ vision, values and priorities (www.blueprinthouston.org).  This document has been offered to the City of Houston as a good start to have a general plan.
A general plan provides a roadmap for the city that guides planning, public improvements and development in a city.  It encompasses all parts of the community and addresses interdependent quality of life issues including transportation, land development patterns, parks, streets and infrastructure, housing and neighborhoods, recreation and community facilities, downtown and other urban centers, the environment, public health and safety, education and flooding.  Once adopted, the General Plan becomes the official policy guide for a coordinated approach to deal comprehensively with all issues.  It gives us a strategic direction and framework, based on citizens’ visions and values, by which we can direct our progress and development. The many patchwork individual plans for major roads and thoroughfares, public transportation, housing, parks and bayous, business development, etc. are well thought-out and feasible in their own right but they are not weaved and coordinated into an overall general plan that reflects the vision, values and priorities of our citizens.
Being a native Houstonian, I’ve I have seen Houston grow during what I call its “adolescent phase,” like a teenager, enjoying its new found freedom and opportunities—an “anything goes” attitude.  Now, it has matured into a more sophisticated adult phase and, as a grownup, has to assume responsibilities and think about the future.
That’s where I feel we are in our great city.  We’ve been used to uninhibited growth and development, which has often been attributed to Houston’s great success.  But, have we reached a point of diminishing returns?  Is it time now to more strategically plan our growth and development?  The wide-open spaces we once had around the city are filling up.  That’s not all that’s filling up!  So are the roads, freeways and parking spaces.  It is estimated that by the next 30 years we will have added a population the size of Los Angeles.  We have got to plan better if we want our great city to survive and thrive in the 21st century.
That’s why I serve on the Blueprint Houston board.  That’s why I feel that Planning Matters.  I hope you will also see the urgency and necessity for our great city to have a General Plan to help lead the way for us to become even greater.
 

Rogene Gee Calvert

 

Blueprint Houston
3015 Richmond Avenue, Suite 201
Houston, TX 77098
www.blueprinthouston.org

 
713-522-0590