Chapter 8 Placemaking
Placemaking opportunities The existing landscaping, entryway monuments, pear- shaped grate design, modern pillar-styled city signage, and consistent beautification throughout the City indicates to people that they are in the City of Pearland. The Pearland Economic Development Corporation (PEDC) has identified the beautification of Pearland’s corridors and gateways as a major priority in the Pearland Prosperity Strategic Plan. This continued emphasis on keeping Pearland an attractive place, with specific branding, will help to distinguish it from other communities. Even with the existing branding and beautification campaigns, a main theme that was expressed through the public feedback was that Pearland lacks a sense of identity. While people may know that they are in Pearland, Mayor Emeritus Tom Reid often spoke of Pearland being a Special Place. The existence of our diverse neighborhoods and the support that the City lends through capital improvement projects to address drainage and other infrastructure concerns help to reinforce the aging housing stock that did not have the benefit of modern design requirements. The pattern of these existing neighborhoods help provide a place for people to create their own story within the Pearland. Pearland should continue to take steps to reinforce those existing places as the community maintains its unique features such as gentle topography, existing vegetation, water features, and green spaces while seeking out opportunities to highlight and further the creation of character of Special Places.
Placemaking is the collaborative process of planning, designing, and managing public space in order to promote high quality living and evoke a “sense of place.” This process helps establish a city as a desirable place to live and guides the selection of site amenities that support its vision. It is placemaking that will distinguish Pearland from other communities within the Greater Houston area. Everyone who lives, visits, or travels through a city develops a perception of the community based on the streets they travel and the places they see. The public realm influences people’s perception of a city and how desirable it would be to live or work there. People seek out the places that offer affordability, a quality community, connectivity, and a higher quality of life. These places tend to emerge where a city and/or a developer takes advantage of the attributes of the surrounding area—topography, vegetation, land uses, building form—and utilizes those attributes to create a place that is distinct from anywhere else in the region. Placemaking provides essential social and economic value that can set Pearland apart as unique and special. The Pearland Comprehensive Plan establishes policies that will help identify and define the key distinctive areas in the city. As key places are identified and further invested in, these centers serve to attract residents to the area and foster a strong sense of ownership and community pride. Ultimately, placemaking positions the community to realize its potential as a place people identify as uniquely Pearland.
Policies 1. The City of Pearland will work with 1
developers to create unique destinations that build off existing areas of cultural or architectural distinction to attract residents, businesses, and visitors. 2. The City of Pearland will create a hierarchy of streets that meets the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists, and automobiles and respects the architectural and overall design character of the surrounding area. 3. The City of Pearland will encourage the development of parks, open space, and trails by utilizing land within floodplains to create connections across Pearland. SENSE OF PLACE Unique, interesting places that reflect the diverse values, culture, and heritage of the people who live there have the greatest staying power. Projects and neighborhoods that incorporate natural features, historic structures, public art, and placemaking can help distinguish a place from its neighbors to attract new residents and visitors and support a vibrant community for the people who already live there. Credit: “Smart Growth America”
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there is no established sense of “who” Pearland is as a community. This is made more complex by the number of different neighborhoods, corridors, and public spaces throughout the city. Giving each of these areas its own distinct character, while referring to the overall Pearland identity, will help Pearland be known for the unique place that it is. EXISTING PLACES
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Opportunities can be created through signage to place a spotlight on certain neighborhoods or the City as a whole through adopting coordinated iconography in street signs or through seeking out a new flag to unify all of Pearland.
PEARLAND COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2040
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Chapter 8
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