City of Galveston
Livable Communities Initiative

Executive Summary

The City of Galveston Livable Communities Initiative Design Charrette was an intensive two-day work session conducted with the consultant team in cooperation with the stakeholders and the Steering Committee. The Strand Street Theater hosted the charrette on January 19th and 20th, 2000, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The consultant team members are the Goodman Corporation, Michael Gaertner & Associates, Peter H. Brown Civic Design, and Clark Condon Associates. The goal of this initial phase was to review existing conditions and establish priorities and recommendations for the development of an improved downtown streetscape.

The project boundaries extend from Harborside Drive to Postoffice Street between 19^th and 25^th streets in downtown Galveston, Texas.

The first day included a site walk-through and analysis of existing conditions, identifying potential terminal sites and opportunities for enhancement. The team documented the physical conditions of streetscape elements including transit shelters and stops, street lighting, street furniture, curbs, sidewalks, ADA compliance, signage, alleyways and dumpsters, landscaping and public gathering spaces.

After accumulating pertinent physical documentation, the consultant team developed a set of 6 organizing principles. The team further divided themselves into 6 groups corresponding to the organizing principles, which were

1) destinations, 2) land use, 3) street classifications, 4) development opportunities, 5) legibility, and 6) transit opportunities.

The groups then compiled information using maps to portray the existing conditions.

At the conclusion of the first day, the team conducted an interactive forum using a graphic presentation to illustrate existing conditions while soliciting feedback from community stakeholders. Large-scale maps were displayed around the theater, and "uestion and answer" boards were placed at the front of the stage. Each board posed a uestion to the stakeholder and provided space below to answer, using self-adhesive red circles to indicate each response. The "uestion and answer" boards proved a quick and effective means of measuring stakeholder preferences and ensured 100% voter participation.

Day 2 began by tallying the responses from the previous evening's stakeholder meeting, thereby further establishing the priorities of the Initiative. Team members then developed conceptual sketches and preliminary recommendations based on the findings and discussed and refined these recommendations with the Steering Committee in a lunch meeting. Responses from the lunch meeting enabled the team to further develop stakeholder preferences and helped the team refine its recommendations.

The team worked through the afternoon, clarifying conceptual ideas and sketches. The 6 organizing principles that had been identified the previous day were further refined and delineated to illustrate more specific plans of action.

At the conclusion of the second day's work session, the team assembled once more and presented the consultant recommendations to the community stakeholders and the Steering Committee. The interactive forum proved successful for developing a cohesive strategic plan for implementing the Livable Communities Initiative for the City of Galveston. At the completion of the second hearing, additional considerations were raised by the stakeholders and will be considered by the team in future planning.

Issues and Challenges

The consultants were directed to respond to the following:

• Transit Orientation
• Downtown Needs
• Tourist Activity
• Unified are treatments or emphasize differences?

Eligible Items

Curbs Restore to brick, use old brick, area-wide or historic district only?
Sidewalks Use different treatments for different zones, unifying treatment, safety, history?
Terminals Railroad Museum, Panama, Moody, other (more centrally located, site availability)? Transit Shelters Canopy, highly visible, fit theme, key locations, materials, people places, more than a plastic cover with a bench? Big points from FTA, a new approach?
Street Lighting Save as existing, with better illuminations, high level lighting, building fixtures, different treatments, different zones, bollards?
Landscaping Major/minor element, planters on the Strand, mask unpleasantness, different zones, area-wide treatment?
People Places Shady area to sit/people watch, take a break, fountains, (good general public use for modified shelters)?
Street Furniture Location, special places, (really exciting ideas by creating some special places versus the same old street furniture plan with a bench here, a trash can there, etc.), provide banners (events only or all the time)?
Extension and use of Sidewalks Retail, restaurants, exhibits
Wayfinding Signage Automobile (changeable) and pedestrian, special interactive at terminal, stops, special information resource center and urban park?
Kiosks, Historical Signage
Transit Stops How identified?
Alleys How to use for bikes, bike routes, public restrooms?

Organizing Principles

Destinations

Employment Centers Postoffice Street (Arts District/Cultural Attractions) Retail Waterfront Residential Restaurants Churches Institutions Off-Site Hotel

Land Use

Parking Vacant Commercial      Bank/Financial      Others…Industrial Parks Retail/Residential/etc. Urban Mixed Use Hotel

Street Classifications

Transit Promenade Connector/Linkage Thoroughfare

Development Opportunities

Raw Land Vacant Under-Utilized Buildings "Too Wide" Streets Outdoor Market Liner Buildings Street Vendors Cluster Retail Neighborhood Service

Legibility

Wayfinding Views Focal Points Identity of Districts Blockages and Barriers Identifiable Places Streetscape/Amenities Paving/Vocabulary of Materials

Transit Opportunities

Terminal Sites Stops Mini-Terminals Bus/Trolley Marketing Inter-Modal Locations

Stakeholder Responses to Issues

In the first day's stakeholders meeting, attendees were asked to prioritize and rank various alternatives.  Each question was written on a board, and each person placed a red dot to symbolize the importance of an item.  In two cases, maps were used and stakeholders were able to designate locations using their dots.  The results of the first day's session are shown below:

Which should receive the most attention downtown?

Pedestrian facilities	43%
Vehicular facilities	43%
Transit facilities	13%

What does downtown need more of?

Retail	28%
Tourist Attractions	22%
Residential	19%
All of the above	25%
Office	2%

Downtown needs more entertainment venues

Yes	97%
No	3%

Should physical improvements be uniform downtown, or vary?

Uniform	52%
Vary	48%

Should Market Street and Postoffice Street have a historic character?

Yes	100%
No	0%

Which is the most important North/South pedestrian connector street?

21st	42%
23rd	39%
22nd	19%
24th	0%

Where should a transit terminal be located?

West (25th)	55%
Central (23rd)	38%
East (20th)	7%

Do we need an improved pedestrian crossing of Harborside?

22nd	63%
21st	33%
24th	3%
23rd	0%

We need wider sidewalks

No	85%
Yes	15%

Which elements are most important?

Street Lighting	18%
Transit Terminal	14%
Street Landscaping	14%
Public Restrooms	13%
Wayfinding	10%
Wheelchair ramps	7%
Curbs	4%
Sidewalks	4%
Street Furniture	4%
Information Systems	4%
Pocket Parks	4%
Shade	3%
Parking meters	3%
Transit Shelters	2%

Parking is needed most in these areas.

These areas of downtown most need revitalization

Consultant Recommendations

After working with the stakeholder input and meeting informally with the steering committee, the consultants developed the following list of recommendations, to be submitted to the committee in their regular meeting on January 31, 2000:

"Fast Track"

• Identify improvements that can be expedited or "Fast Tracked" to completion

Terminal Location

• Studied alternatives
• Convergence of opportunities and facilities
• Parking
• Multi-modal transportation
• Multi-functional
• Gateway to downtown

Enhanced Trolley Stops Special Place Landscaping Lighting Attraction/Directional information Shelter People Place Public Improvements After safety and legally required improvements, follow stakeholders priorities for public improvements

Wayfinding

• Improved directional signage and wayfinding system
• Vehicular signage to get to parking
• Pedestrian signage as you exit parking on foot
• Distributed throughout area
• Develop hierarchy of unifying elements while respecting variety of historic fabric and urban landscape
• Lighting
• Amenities

Support redevelopment of Church Street

• Trickle Down
• Phase II & III
• Include in wayfinding

Develop Tourism Data

• Examine existing data then report back to committee
• Design survey to be administered by GHF and others

Narrative

Consultant team recommendations were based on observations made at the site, organizing principles, and feedback from the stakeholders and Steering Committee. The team is a panel of experts, composed of the Goodman Corporation, Michael Gaertner & Associates, Peter H. Brown Civic Design, and Clark Condon Associates.

Covering a broad range of experience, the team consists of architects, city planners, transportation consultants and landscape architects, some being Galveston residents and others from outside the Galveston community. This diversity within the team contributed to the objectivity when formulating the recommendations, combining both the "insider" and "outsider" perspectives to achieve an un-biased result.

Stakeholder feedback was key in determining the goals and strategies of the Initiative for downtown Galveston. After tallying responses from the first day's "uestion and answer" boards, and discussing the results with the Steering Committee, the team developed the following recommendations:

• "Fast Track" improvements

A fast track project is one in which construction begins prior to the completion of the design. As each successive phase of the design is completed, bidding and subsequent construction of the phase is undertaken, allowing shorter project lead times. Fast tracking a project is often cost effective and should be implemented whenever possible throughout this project.

The stakeholders and Steering Committee feel there has been a lot of talk in recent years about improvements to the downtown area, but no action has been taken. Fast tracking would expedite the realization of the project's goals, giving proof to the residents of Galveston that downtown beautification is no longer a fantasy.

• Terminal location

As identified in the Steering Committee and stakeholder meetings, the new terminal facility should be located at 25^th Street and Strand. Its proximity to popular tourist attractions such as the Strand, the Railroad Museum, the Arts District on Postoffice Street, the cruise terminal and Piers 19 and 21 makes this a favorable location.

The terminal location will allow it to be multi-modal, encompassing electric buses, the trolley, and adequate parking for those patrons who prefer "park and ride." The terminal can also serve as a terminus, providing a welcoming "gateway" to downtown.

• Enhanced trolley stops

Nearly unidentifiable in their current state, trolley stops need to be more recognizable. Improved signage would help alleviate this problem, but the stops also need to be more user-friendly. Shading devices with benches and posted transit schedules with accompanying maps could be incorporated to improve wayfinding and ridership.

• Public improvements

After safety and legally required improvements have been made, public improvements will be undertaken according to stakeholder priorities. Stakeholders felt strongly that pedestrian and vehicular facilities should receive first attention, and that retail, residential, and tourist attractions should be encouraged. They also felt that there needed to be more uniformity within downtown, while respecting the historic integrity of the different areas. Examples of this might be uniform wayfinding and parking signage throughout downtown while maintaining the varied street lights in their respective historic districts.

Streets and sidewalks also warranted stakeholders' attention. They felt that the sidewalks, while in need of repair, were sufficiently wide, and that the most important streetscape elements were street lighting, street landscaping, public restrooms, and improved wayfinding. They also felt that one-way streets and traffic signals should be re-evaluated.

• Way-finding

Although wayfinding may not be an issue with local residents, the first-time visitor would have difficulty knowing what attractions to see, how to get there, and where to park. Directional signage should begin just after the causeway, listing attractions by exit (i.e., "Strand, Pier 21, and the Railroad Museum, exit Harborside Drive"). Once directed to the proper exit, signage should direct patrons to the proper parking destinations, also listed by attraction (i.e., "Strand visitor parking, this way").

Once the car is parked, further signage should point to the various attractions (i.e., "The 1877 Tall Ship Elissa, this way"). Signage should be strategically placed along the path of travel, a "trail of crumbs" directing tourists to other attractions that may have been overlooked.

For those travelling by bus or trolley, directional signage should be placed near the drop-offs, similar to signage located in the parking lots. Descriptive graphics and maps on the signs would also be helpful in wayfinding.

• Church Street Redevelopment

Although not within the scope of the Livable Communities project area, stakeholders felt this area of downtown was most in need of revitalization.

• Compile tourism statistics

Accurate tourism data would be beneficial in determining preferences of first-time visitors, based on their experiences in Galveston. This market would, perhaps, be the best source for identifying opportunities for improvement in areas such as wayfinding, parking and convenience. Existing data should be reviewed and new surveys administered to obtain necessary tourist feedback. For example, does increased nighttime illumination result in increased sales?

These recommendations are intended to guide the project through its completion, and are by no means absolutes. The proposed transit facility and streetscape enhancements will provide a more user-friendly environment for the first-time visitor to Galveston, creating a more pleasurable experience that will encourage tourists to return. Residents will benefit from an efficient and reliable transit system, improved amenities to the downtown area and an improved quality of life as a result.

mdg@mgaia.com
This page last updated on 05/18/00