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Downtown Redevelopment Plan
Business Development
A New Vision
The Galveston Downtown Redevelopment Plan defines a new vision of a modern economy for downtown that incorporates and enhances the unique factors and qualities of our historic urban core.
Galveston Downtown Redevelopment Plan
Economic Reports Download
Includes Introduction, Executive Summaries, Technical Study Information and Presentation Plan Excerpts
Master Plan Book Download
Regional Economic Analysis
Dr. Stephen Fuller
Report Download
An Introduction to the Galveston Downtown Redevelopment Plan
Dense with data, complex conceptual drawings and a macro-vision approach to regional economic analysis, the Galveston Downtown Redevelopment Plan contains a tremendous amount of information. However, there are some basic concepts and conclusions contained within the many pages of the plan and its supporting reports.
Downtown must be reconnected. Three main zones of activity within Downtown exist in isolation: Postoffice Street, The Strand, and the active waterfront. Surface parking lots break the continuity of the streetscape and discourage pedestrian movement throughout the zones. Harborside Drive creates both a physical and visual barrier separating most of downtown from its greatest asset: the active waterfront. The Plan calls for the enhancement of the numbered streets downtown in order to create pedestrian friendly corridors to reconnect these zones, and for the re-utilization of surface parking lots to allow for infill development, whether in the form of infill construction or developed green-space that includes much needed urban amenities such as public restrooms.
The plan identifies 21st Street as the best candidate for the first north-south corridor to be converted. Streetscape enhancements such as landscaping, better lighting and wayfinding address the needs of the people who use downtown, and infill development fills the gaps that exist along its length. A parking garage in the eastern zone of downtown would enable the opportunity for re-utilization of the land and closing of gaps in the streetscape which is critical for an energized corridor that moves people throughout downtown.
The plan calls for an initial major public investment and identifies specific types of projects that can spur additional private investment in the downtown. Other cities across the nation have shown that this strategy works. When cities take the lead and invest in their downtowns, the private sector responds, and in most cases far exceeds the dollar value of the municipal investment; documented cases range from a multiplier of 3 to 10 times. In other words, investing in downtown pays!
Finally, it is contemplated that the creation of one or more special purpose districts, i.e. management district or business improvement district, will be necessary for both the long-term, sustained maintenance of the improvements made, added benefits such as increased security, and the continued investment that will be necessary to maintain downtown's competitive edge within the region.
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