An ambitious project Mayor Annise Parker calls "one of the most exciting things I've had the opportunity to work on as mayor" took a major step forward this week.
Mike Morris reports that Houston's Bayou Greenways 2020 initiative is gaining steam. The $220 million effort will build 150 miles of hike and bike trails along the city's nine waterways.
"The ambitious plan advanced Wednesday as City Council approved $19 million for the next phase of trails in north Houston and also cleared the way for the purchase of land on which some of the trails will run. The vote also allows the city to seize tracts through eminent domain, though [Mayor Annise] Parker and parks officials said this step likely will be rare, used only when a tract's legal ownership is murky or when owners demand exorbitant prices."
The rest of the article focuses on some of the properties that could be seized by eminent domain to make way for the trail as well as details about construction of the Bayou Greenways so far.
FULL STORY: A big step toward more bayou trails
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research