June 15, 2011
Sustainable development means compact mixed-use infill neighborhoods featuring connectivity, walkable streets and sites for social interaction – which contrast with sprawl development patterns that convert agricultural land, destroy wildlife habitat, require costly extensions of infrastructure, and make people dependant on personal automobiles.
These are not new ideas — they work today just as they worked in neighborhoods built before the car. Learn how the LEED-ND rating system guides the development of new neighborhoods such as the City Centre project in West Houston. The same principles can be used to evaluate existing neighborhoods, using the results of the Midtown Livable Centers Study as an example.
Then take a walk through Midtown and see how the design of streets, sidewalks, transit, and buildings work together to create livable, environmentally friendly places with a 40 minute total 3/4 mile walking tour of Midtown beginning and ending at the GBRC.