Houston-Galveston Area Council
The Pitch
Houston-Galveston Area Council’s (H-GAC's) Livable Centers Program works with local communities to transform auto-focused infrastructure and policies to be more multi-modal.
The Problem
The Houston-Galveston region has been shaped for decades by automobile-dependent development, resulting in limited transportation options, disconnected land uses, inadequate public spaces and increasing vulnerability to flooding. These challenges disproportionately affect low-income and minority communities that have experienced decades of underinvestment. As a result, residents face higher transportation costs, unsafe walking and biking conditions, and limited access to jobs, housing, essential services and other opportunities.
The Process
- Funded 43 (and counting) community-driven planning studies across the eight-county Houston-Galveston region, helping local governments turn local priorities into implementable strategies for transportation, housing, public spaces and economic development
- Works with residents through multilingual workshops, neighborhood walk audits, stakeholder meetings and community-visioning sessions to identify local priorities and shape future investments
- Provides technical assistance, planning expertise and implementation support to municipalities with limited planning capacity, helping them move projects from concept to implementation
- Strengthens regional collaboration among local governments, transit agencies, flood control districts, state transportation agencies and private partners to deliver more integrated community improvements
- Helps communities integrate walkability, multimodal transportation, flood resilience, affordable housing and economic development into a unified planning framework
- Expands professional capacity through the annual Livable Centers Workshop Series, equipping planners, public health professionals, engineers and local leaders with tools to advance healthier and more equitable communities
- Refines program criteria to prioritize historically underserved and climate-vulnerable communities while introducing new tools to track long-term livability, resilience and equity
- Helps communities secure federal, state, local and private funding to turn planning studies into built projects, accelerating implementation beyond the initial planning investment
- Created a replicable regional planning model that continues to guide local governments in creating healthier, more connected, and more climate-resilient neighborhoods
The Impact
- Directly benefited more than 900,000 residents by improving planning, mobility and quality of life
- Invested $9 million in planning studies that have catalyzed approximately $965 million in completed infrastructure and community development projects
- Completed 43 Livable Centers studies across all eight counties, providing locally driven implementation strategies for transportation, housing, flood resilience and economic development
- Leveraged more than $678 million through public-private partnerships while helping communities secure additional funding through programs such as Safe Streets for All and local bond initiatives
- Improved pedestrian safety and expanded sidewalks, bikeways, parks, transit access and green infrastructure in historically underserved and flood-prone neighborhoods
- Advanced flood resilience through investments in greenways, stormwater infrastructure, resilient housing and nature-based public spaces
- Established community-driven planning as a regional standard by engaging residents, businesses and local organizations throughout every stage of project development
