HOUSTON
Who We Are
We are a grassroots group of local Greater Houston citizens, joining together in a non-partisan, non-government affiliated manner to explore ways to advocate, advance, and promote smarter methods for the development of our region. We aim for human-centered, sustainable, and local ecosystem-friendly development for all neighborhoods, regardless of the class or ethnic background status of the community where rapid development is happening.
Houston is famous for its cheap development. It's what put us on the map along with the oil boom and space race. Our city was founded after all by two brothers who were land speculators that hailed from New York. Since then Houston has been a town of booms followed by the rush of development to fill in the empty land to accommodate that rapid growth.
It has carried our city far. The opportunities afforded to many people who are both from here or who have moved here have been great. A big key to that has been the affordability of Greater Houston. We like that. It's an amazing thing to share. But there are drawbacks.
Our communities are irreplaceable. Let’s save them.
In the rush to build quickly and cheaply we have stripped ourselves of enjoying a central part of life (the environment around us) at best, and at worst put us in a dangerous situation where our ecosystem can no longer support and protect us from the extreme or even normal elements of our growing regions severe weather.
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We aren't against developing entirely. The new millennium promises us new opportunities. And one of those opportunities is how the relationship between the human need for shelter and growing a civilization meets the need to protect and connect with our environment.
Houston has the opportunity to lead by example. We can work together to turn one of the largest, fastest-growing, most polluted, and sprawling suburban developed cities, into an example of what sustainable, affordable, human and nature-centered development can look like. We can SHOW THAT IT ISN'T ALL OR NOTHING. That it is a false choice to be choosing between affordability or protecting our ecosystem. We can do both. We have a responsibility to do both.
HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM
The benefits if we do are endless. The consequences if we don't are dire. We hate to sound dramatic.
We all remember the images from the Tax Day floods and of Hurricane Harvey. Our region's obsession with concrete and using cheap methods to build were significant factors in those events.
Concrete doesn't grow like trees or floodwaters. But it does block and alter the way rainfall and rising water drains. With every home, goes a driveway, a street, and a roof that does not absorb or effectively direct water fast enough to the outflowing waterways.
Sometimes we ask when seeing the full razing of land to fit new development "So, there was absolutely NO WAY of saving a few of those trees for the end? They all had to go? We couldn't build around them?" Often times a land owner will clear the land and then put it on the market (a big for sale sign goes up) and the new developer doesn't even have a choice on whether if they want to build around the ecosystem or save as much of the land as possible in its natural state. Land that has already been cleared is more attractive on the market as it means it's ready to be built upon. But it saves none of the original character or resources of what was there before. Instead concrete replaces the grass. A roof replaces the tree canopy and a few little saplings and juvenile trees that hopefully can make it to maturity, are meant to replace the hundreds if not thousands of mature trees that once called that very property home for centuries.
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So by now, you get the picture. We have made our point. Things in Greater Houston are not being efficiently managed. And many of you are asking "WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP THIS" and that is absolutely a valid question. Houston is a city of doers and hustlers. WE KNOW HOW TO GET TO WORK. Houston was the first word spoken on the moon for a reason.
And that is why we have hope we can make a change. But the challenges do seem overwhelming. Especially for just one person. Luckily you aren't alone. If you are here then it is because you are upset, a little concerned, or at least bummed when you see acres of trees or waterways and ponds in your community razed overnight. All just to put up another strip mall, or gas station, or fast food joint with a big parking lot out front. Because we all know Houston doesn't have enough of those already around town. (We hope you caught on that it was our attempt to be humorous)
A large part of it going forward is changing how we develop in our region. We need and demand methods that respect and incorporate the existing local ecosystem, from how the development is planned out and through every phase from start to finish and beyond. From planning, to design, to construction to the final aesthetics and finishing details.
Much emphasis has been going into planning better. And we support that. But better planning is just a small part of it. and as great as better planning is, it's pointless if not put into practice. We want a greater focus placed on building methods and the design of development itself. With a stronger focus on how the ecosystem can be incorporated into our lives and saving as much of it as possible while developing around Greater Houston.
