Projects in Conroe, other areas look to pedestrian-friendly byways

CONROE - Nobody walks the half mile of West Davis Street that leads to the central square of this leafy Montgomery County seat.

It's not because of crime or shirt-soaking humidity or a lack of destinations. On one end of the road are two large ponds, fountains and plenty of grass for a picnic. On the other end is a vibrant downtown, with government buildings, law offices, restaurants and historic theaters.

You can't get from the cascading fountains to City Hall on foot because there isn't a sidewalk. While the concrete void covers only a few blocks, Conroe leaders concede that they have a long way to go to before turning this sprawling, car-dependent city into a more walkable, mass transit-friendly place.

They're starting with a series of projects that are intended to help residents get out of their vehicles, including the addition of wide sidewalks, bus routes and tree-filled medians along West Davis, a busy, six-lane artery also known as Texas 105.

"If people have a safe place to walk or ride a bike, they will do it," said Tommy Woolley, assistant director of projects and transportation for the city.

The move reflects a shift in the way people want to live - not just in Conroe, and not just in the urban core, but throughout the eight-county Houston region. Many people are tired of long commutes and seek more interaction with their neighbors. They want to be able to walk or bike to places where they can work, shop or eat and linger outdoors.

The Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University found that half of the people surveyed in Harris County prefer to live in neighborhoods near jobs and shops. Even in the far-flung, car-centric suburbs of Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, 4 in 10 people say they would like more urbanized places to live, according to the recent survey.

"That would have been inconceivable five to 10 years ago," said Stephen Klineberg, a sociologist who has conducted the survey for more than three decades. "It's a different mentality because we have a different set of needs."

Living near amenities

Walkability has become an urgent theme as the state's population swelled, particularly with young adults and baby boomers who want to live closer to everyday amenities, said Meredith Dang, the chief regional planner for the Houston-Galveston Area Council.

Her job is to help cities and neighborhoods find ways to be more "livable." The plans typically call for communities to assume a pedestrian character by setting more and wider sidewalks and bike paths and creating narrower streets that slow vehicle traffic.

The benefits include healthier and more lively communities. "More feet on the street are good for economic development," Dang said.

On Houston's historic East End, for example, home values are on the rise with the addition of more than 60 miles of sidewalks, hundreds of trees, access to the recently expanded light-rail system and new lighting, public art and benches.

Other communities have taken note. Tomball, for one, has designs to turn dirty, concrete alleys behind Main Street shops into places where people can safely walk and to add sidewalks linking the eight-block commercial district to surrounding neighborhoods.

Along a gritty stretch of FM 1960, meanwhile, property and business owners are pushing for new, wide sidewalks to connect neighborhoods and schools and pathways along Cypress Creek for pedestrians and cyclists. They also plan to employ the roadway's existing parking lots for farmers' markets, races and block parties as a way to build a sense of community and attract others.

And Rosenberg leaders are making walkability a key part of their plans to revitalize their historic downtown. They plan to create a public gathering space in an alley alongside a popular wine bar and to add decorated benches and public art throughout the district.

The aim is to create the feeling that the area is a destination, not just a place to pass through, said Dan Kelleher, who was hired as Rosenberg's first Main Street manager in April.

"It was largely vacant 20 years ago," Kelleher said. "Now you can walk down the street and there are people in front of you and behind you. That's pretty good for a small town."

Conroe focus sharpens

Conroe already has spent millions to improve sidewalks, lighting and building façades while maintaining the historic integrity of its central square. City officials are now focusing on getting people there.

Earlier this year, the city launched a bus service with stops in the central district. Knowing people are unlikely to use transit if they can't reach it, the city also added sidewalks to help pedestrian safely reach stops along the route.

The next phase includes new sidewalks for streets leading into downtown, including West Davis. The $5.4 million project, which is expected to begin next year, would install wide sidewalks on both sides of the roadway, create paths around the ponds and add trees and benches. A raised, landscaped median would reduce the number of cars making turns.

"We are trying to get connectivity," Woolley said.

Even then a walkable Conroe is hard to imagine. After decades of typical suburban development, the city of 66,000 residents spans some 70 square miles - a land area twice the size of Manhattan.

It's so spread out that its Walk Score - a measure of how many destinations, such as restaurants and parks, within a short walk of a home - is 26. Closer to downtown Houston, the Heights neighborhood rates an above-average 66, meaning some errands can be done on foot.

Conroe and other places far from the urban core still should strive to be more compact as more people move to the region, said Klineberg, the Rice sociologist.

With the eight-county region expected to add 3.5 million people over the next 20 years, "how do we accommodate the growth?" Klineberg said. "Houston is already the most spread-out region, and it's not sustainable. You can't expand the roads fast enough."