Texas Target Communities Contact Info

University Faculty Contact
Bill Eisele
Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning

Local Government / Community Contact
Jacques Blanchette

Under the guidance of faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, a graduate student in landscape architecture developed a conceptual design for the park, including strategies to restore the Nueces River’s riparian habitats and provide a community space with safe river access for Real County residents. The design offers sustainable ways to stabilize the riverbank and manage waste, to foster passive and active recreational areas, and opportunities to educate the community on riparian ecosystems. The Real County Visionaries and Keep it Real-ly Beautiful provided community feedback to ensure the design aligned with the community-wide discussion, particularly the community vision developed by Real County citizens in the TRLP process.

TxTC worked with a core team of community members to establish the project scope and conduct a community survey to identify community needs and priorities. Based on the community priorities, undergraduate students in LAND 312 in the landscape architecture program developed a Masterplan and Landscape Improvement Plan for the Gateway Corridors in the City of Columbus. Students conducted a 3-hour community design charrette with 30 stakeholders, who provided valuable information and guidance. Later, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the design studio moved online, and students presented ideas to community leaders remotely via Zoom. Designs focused on enhancing the City’s gateway image, improving the sense of arrival, and strengthening the linkage between major highways, the downtown area, and the Colorado River. Additionally, a final year graduate student in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning developed a master plan to beautify the HWY 90 corridor and historic downtown. The project provides recommendations to promote economic development through tourism, enhance the quality of life, and preserve and enhance the historic downtown character.

Students and faculty developed a comprehensive land use plan, infusing resiliency practices and flood mitigation throughout. The plan includes strategies for future housing, economic development, community facilities, transportation, and parks, and the environment. Additionally, students developed a wayfinding plan, downtown design, and revitalization plan, as well as sustainable strategies to reduce the consumption of natural resources. In total, ten community meetings were held with additional outreach with the long-term disaster recovery group and at the annual Schmecken Fest.

In La Grange, TxTC met with a Planning Ambassador for the American Planning Association, a voluntary educational outreach program that teaches kids about planning. Wilson previously spoke to kids about the community to talk about parks for different ability levels and water conservation. At a public meeting, TxTC worked with the Planning Ambassador Program to garner feedback from youth about their needs and wants for the comprehensive plan.

Three graduate urban planning and one undergraduate geography course contributed to the plan. The process included several public meetings and various outreach efforts to discuss community values, a vision, and goals. By engaging local stakeholders, the process produced a vision to embrace the unique cultural heritage, strengthen the connection to the land and sea, and prepare for the future by promoting vitality, health, well-being, and safety. Guided by that vision, the resulting plan includes ideas to enhance the quality of life, increase access to parks and recreational programs, and promote vibrant neighborhoods with resilient infrastructure that support public safety, and continuity in the face of disasters. The plan also focuses on additional floodplain standards and ways to guide development away from hazards.
Additional project features:

With 36% of the population in poverty, the community identified the need for economic development. The plan explores strategies to leverage community assets, including the natural environment that attracts “Winter Texans” for various recreational activities such as bird watching, fresh and salt-water fishing, and hunting.

Located near the U.S.-Mexico border, Colonias, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), are defined as “residential subdivisions, usually in unincorporated areas of a county, lacking all or some of the basic services, such as water and sewer, paved roads, electricity, drainage, etc.” Colonias are rural communities close to the US-Mexico border that may lack decent housing or adequate water and sewer infrastructure. To understand these communities’ needs and conditions, the project team connected to the Colonias Program. The Colonias Program helps increase self-sufficiency and enhances the quality of life for colonias residents all along the Texas-Mexico border.

Because of the growing concern of the spread of COVID-19 in April 2020, we had to reimagine ways to continue our in-person meetings by implementing online engagement through Facebook, Zoom, and ESRI StoryMaps.
On April 28, 2020, we held a Public Meeting on Facebook Live to discuss Big Ideas and goals for the future of the County. We received 78 comments, 31 shares, and over 100 reactions on the video, whether it was at the time of the virtual event or in the following days and weeks. Additionally, we had nearly 80 live viewers during the stream.

Raymondville High School extracurricular group called the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) participated in the planning process by joining the community meetings in November and March. Early in the planning process, the students conducted a needs assessment in order to obtain information about what the community members felt was needed to make Raymondville a better place to live. The students came together to create a proposal for an emergency clinic to serve the residents of Raymondville and surrounding cities. They created a video that was presented at a June 2020 Raymondville Townhall.