COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Since College Station adopted its comprehensive planning effort last year, the city has been working on ways to make the area near the intersection of Texas Avenue and University Drive a more welcoming part of the city.
"Between Texas Avenue and University Drive, these are two of the main corridors that go through our city," College Station Director of Planning and Development Services Michael Ostrowski said. "Two of the biggest economic drivers within our city that we want to get right, and we want to hear from the public of what they want to see because ultimately through the planning effort, it's the citizen's plan."
City planners are hoping to get input on a variety of topics from those who live, work or own businesses in that area. Some of those topics include traffic, mixed-use developments, and commercial spaces.
"So traffic has been one of the biggest considerations in terms of concerns within the area, especially at the University and Texas intersection, Ostrowski said. "Traffic does bring some additional patronage to businesses along that corridor, so that can be very beneficial."
Another part of the redevelopment plan is to provide a greater mix of housing options to support the growing population in the city, who come to live, work and play near the largest 4-year university in the lone star state. You don't have to look far to find earlier examples of successful redevelopment in town.
"We did a very similar process with the North Gate about 20 years ago. So it's taken that long to kind of see that implementation," Ostrowski explained. "You typically from these redevelopment plans don't see that immediate impact, but over time you'd like to see that gradual that incremental growth within the district."