Victoria Texas is blessed
with a rich and diverse cultural heritage
and with numerous historic downtown buildings.
The original plat associated with the Mexican
land grant established civic open spaces
in the block layout of the city. Over time,
the downtown area has lost some of its relevance
to community life as business and commerce
moved to the suburbs. Our commission was
to work with civic leaders to develop a
plan to revitalize the downtown core. We
led them through a process designed to incorporate
local understanding and vision into a blueprint
that outlines the fundamental components
for revitalizing downtown public spaces
and streets. After goals were established,
we assessed downtown conditions in terms
of:
• Heritage
• Pedestrian environment
• Green character
• Parking
• Image and visual character
•
Economic development and tourism opportunities
For each goal, we developed opportunities
for urban design, including a ‘Paseo
de Victoria’ heritage walk, a system
of small outdoor spaces throughout downtown,
expansion of de Leon Plaza, use of ‘curb
extensions’ to achieve better pedestrian
safety and expanded sidewalk width at key
locations.
As an outgrowth of the Master Plan, we developed
a prototype design for one prominent intersection,
to illustrate the potential for phased development
of the historic downtown.
Jim Patterson led this project as Principal
in Charge at Knudson & Associates. Images
used by permission.
Artist rendering provided by Hai Long. |
