Yep, that’s a bike-gear-sporting State Sen. Rodney Ellis, 2 city council members, and both bearded and cleanshaven versions of model Lauren Bush’s brother — Pierce Bush — talking up the idea of building more parks by more Houston bayous in this promotional video for an organization called Parks By You. What are they and their smiling costars so earnestly upbeat about? A $160 million bond initiative on the November ballot that would take a big step toward implementing the Houston Parks Board’s Bayou Greenways Project — a proposal to add green spaces and linear parks with concrete hike-and-bike trails along 100 miles of Houston bayous. The bond issue would help pay for improvements to more than a dozen existing parks and connect trails along 7 bayous in the city.
The overall vision (not all of which, apparently, is included in the bond measure) would transform Houston’s park map from this:
* * *
to this:
Bayou trails for all! Except, of course, along the upper reaches of the Ship Channel, and that non-greenified stretch of Buffalo Bayou from Beltway 8 to the 610 Loop. People have homes along there, y’know.
- FAQ [Parks by You]
- Houston Bayou Greenways [Houston Parks Board]
- Mayor Parker Proposes $410 Million Public Improvement Bond Package [Mayor's Office]
- Previously on Swamplot: The Missing Link in the Bike Trail from Oak Forest to Downtown
Video: Parks by You. Maps: Houston Parks Board