Equity, Heritage, & Planning in

Unincorporated Communities

Andrea Roberts

March 4, 2014

Institute for Urban Policy & Research Analysis

Presentation Overview

• My Background

• Research Agenda

• 5th Street Project

MY BACKGROUND

Origins

Academic

Professional

I'm From

Ft. Bend County

• Historic Plantations

• Prisons

• “Mc Mansions”

• Master Planned

Communities

• Sprawl

• East-West Income &

Race Divide

Academic

Vassar College

– BA Political Science/Women’s Studies (1996)

Fels Institute of Government, University of Pennsylvania

– MA Government Administration, Certificate Public Finance (2006)

UT School of Architecture

– Doctoral Student, Community & Regional Planning/Historic

Preservation Program (2016 Expected)

Professional

– Historic Preservation Advocacy (Austin Landmark

Commissioner)

– Project Management

– Public Finance Consulting & Management

– Federal Grant Administration

– Non-Profit

– Community Organizing

Sites, Subjects

• Invisible & Marginalized Geographies

– Freedom Colonies

– Unincorporated/Suburban Fringe

Communities

• Economic Justice & Cultural

Sustainability

– Land Tenure

– Cultural Landscapes

– Intangible Heritage

– Traditional Cultural Practices

– Opportunity & Asset Accumulation

THE FIFTH STREET PROJECT

• Origin

• Scope

• Goals

• Strategies

• Status

Project Origin – FIS Cemetery

• FIS Mutual Aid Society

• Platform

• Abolish share-cropping & credit system

• Promote ownership

• Promote improved farming methods

• Foster cooperative buying

• Sickness & health benefits

• 21,000 members in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas (1909)

•

Black Bodies, Difficult Memories: African American

Heritage & Spatial Agency in Fort Bend County, TX

• Difficult public memory

• 2 Case studies

– FIS Cemetery

– Sugar Land Imperial

Development - Mayfair

Park

• Planning & development

avoid opportunity costs

associated with “dark

heritage”

10

Dark Heritage Panel,

Critical Heritage Conference,

Gothenburg, Sweden, 2012

Project Purpose

• Fifth Street community’s quality of life is below area standards

• Community needed a vision, revitalization strategies

• Goal: Community centered marketing strategy, based on

culture/heritage

Fifth Street Meadowcreek, ¼ mile from Fifth Street

Fort Bend County Contract for Services with

University of Texas

– August 2012 to March

2014

– Lead local planning

process

– Conduct community

survey

– Perform market research

(housing, business)

– Help community develop

vision

– Compile final report Fifth Street community survey participant

Fifth Street Study Area:

East Fort Bend/Southwest Houston

Population 2,486 (2010)

Total Area 3 sq. mi

Life & Culture in Fifth Street

• Culture

• Family

• Faith (60 area churches)

• FIS Cemetery (historic),

Fifth Street, and

Community Center most

commonly identified

landmarks

• Surrounding area contains

• Black Working/Middle

Class

• White Middle/Upper Class

• Residents are mostly Latino

• 65+, youth drive population

Community Engagement: Fifth Street Task Force

• Ongoing consultation with residents, business, government

Chapter 4: Community Survey

Process

• 390 households

• 15% of residents (88)

• Door-to-door

Results

• Needs, Concerns

• Community Culture/Heritage

• Consumer Preferences

• Desired Amenities

Needs/Desired Amenities

Needs

• Safety and drainage improvements

• Small business training, access to

credit

• Coordination between municipalities

to access services, solve problems

Desired amenities

• Healthy Food/Farmers Markets

• Grocery Stores

• Clinic/Medical Services

• Restaurants

• Parks /Public Space

Chapter 5: Fifth Street Demographics

5.0%11.5% 9.7% 11.9% 9.9%

4.4% 6.8%

7.5%

11.7%10.6%

10.7%

6.9%

6.4%6.7%

4.4%

6.8%6.0%

7.8%

4.8%

3.6%

7.6%4.5%

5.5%7.3%

8.3%

5.6%

4.7%

3.7%

1-person 2-person 3-person 4-person 5-person 6-person 7-or-more-person

Housing Tenure by Household Size (2000-2010)Fifth Street CDP US Census

2000 Owner Occupied 2010 Owner Occupied 2000 Renter Occupied 2010 Renter Occupied

Chapter 6: Market Study Housing Analysis

• Household type,

tenure & composition

• Multifamily demand

• Area subdivision

comparability study

• Top ten landowners

• Development

potential

42 acres in vacant parcels available

Chapter 7: Business/Retail Gap Analysis

• Retail gap and amenities in survey results overlap

• Grocery stores, restaurants, and clinics found outside Fifth Street’s 1 - 3 mile radius

Chapter 8: Developing the Fifth

Street Neighborhood Plan

All day planning & visioning

workshop

Expert facilitators (ACDDC)

Completed charrette drawing

Stakeholder Vision for Fifth Street “Village”

• The desired vision is for a

community that is

• Walkable

• Has healthy food, recreation

nearby

• Includes a variety of housing

options

• Near a substation, urgent care

• Able to creating an area identity

with public art that

commemorates area families

“Fifth Street shall be the center of the Missouri City

– Stafford community”

Workshop Sketch

5th Street

Master Plan

CHAPTER 9: ADDRESSING CHALLENGES,

EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES

Recommendation: Market Fifth Street Village as

East Ft. Bend’s “Green” Business Core

• Fifth Street’s values (family, faith) and enterprising people (skilled craftsman, construction,

landscaping) can provide goods and services that attract green consumers or “locavores”

• Village is ideal for Community Assistance District that promotes green/local business

• Empty retail space in adjacent areas is a competitive advantage (convert to shared, small

business incubator sites)

• Use open green space for food trucks, open air markets, housing development

• Prioritize learning and job training (possible Texas Workforce Commission site)

Texas Color Plants off Joann Street

Developer’s Symposium, March 2014

• Build residents’ capacity to use report

• Scholarship

Next Steps