During a meeting for the North Houston Association (NHA), the organization released an aerial land use map that can be used as a tool for local businesses, real estate agents and anyone interested in the North Houston business climate.
The map shows areas northwest, north and northeast of Beltway 8. Subdivisions, major thoroughfares, recreational areas, school districts, railroads, hospitals and commercial and retail corridors are all designated. According to Paula Lenz, executive director, the map can be used as an economic development tool.
“It is a really important tool for use by real estate [firms], economic development groups, and it is used nation-wide,” Lenz said in an article for ImpactNews.com. “In terms of growth, it is a very important tool…there are a lot of [new] developments here.”
NHA creates a new map about every fives, and it is the organization’s most requested publication, according to Lenz. NHA compiled information for the map using geographic information systems, and each category is color-coded.
During the meeting, NHA also hosted two experts who spoke about the future of the Houston region’s transportation and economy.
Delvin Dennis, district engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation’s Houston district, spoke about the past legislative session and future road projects in North Houston. “TxDOT had a pretty good session,” he said, according to the article.
Also a topic of discussion was the development of the Grand Parkway, a third loop around Houston.
“The Grand Parkway has more momentum today than in its 25-year history,” Dennis said, in the article. “It has a very aggressive [construction] schedule…work is underway on Segment E…and there is a target opening date of 2014 for Segments F-1, F-2 and G.”
The other expert on hand was Patrick Jankowski, vice president of research for the Greater Houston Partnership. He spoke about the positive future of the region’s economy.
“As the private sector recovers [from the recession], we will start to see recovery in the public sector,” he said in the article for ImpactNews.com.
According to Jankowski, Houston has already gain more than three quarters of the jobs lost during the recession, and economists predict continuous Job growth for the area.
Lenz said the speakers show that Houston and the surrounding area are ideal for economic growth with the map showing evidence that North Houston is ripe for new businesses and transportation options, according to the article.