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THE WOODLANDS WATERWAY By RENÉE C. LEE It's hard to imagine The Woodlands Waterway as a drainage ditch, but that's exactly what it was more than 30 years ago. Today, the 1.25-mile linear park and pedestrian/transit corridor is the heart of a growing urban center. Such urban centers — high-density places where people like to gather — are a burgeoning trend, particularly in suburban areas across the country. ''People in the suburbs are desperate for an interesting urban experience, a sense of community or civic place," said Alan Ward, principal of Sasaki Associates, an international urban design and planning firm based in Boston and San Francisco. By linking green space, office, shopping and residential living, the waterway is fast becoming a place people want to be and it's drawing people from across the Houston region. 'Unique lifestyle' Charles Manning and his wife, Ann, moved from Hawaii and bought a luxury condominium on the waterway in 2005. The couple had lived in The Woodlands before but wasn't interested in buying a house. ''This was a unique and different lifestyle," said Manning. ''I just fell in love with it. It's just like being in the middle of everything going on ... We're able to live an urban lifestyle in a suburban area." The Woodlands downtown area is emerging as a live, work and play destination, said Jeff Taebel, director of community and environmental planning for the Houston-Galveston Area Council. Many places in the area, including Sugar Land and Midtown Houston, are adopting a similar concept, he said. And while suburbanites want a taste of urban living, they want the experience to be one that's not heavily dependent on a car, Ward said. The waterway provides that with pathways, water taxis and a trolley system that runs on streets alongside it. People can park and ride or walk the downtown area. The transportation corridor, envisioned by The Woodlands founder George Mitchell more than 30 years ago, also has become a catalyst for development. Since its opening in 2002, luxury condominiums and apartments have been built on the waterway's edge. So have multistory office buildings with retail and restaurants and a hotel/convention center. The latest project is Waterway Square, a 1-acre plaza with a collection of dancing, interactive fountains . The nearly $7 million park adds a special feature to the middle of the waterway, already flanked by The Woodlands Mall and several restaurants on the east end and the Cynthia Mitchell Woods Pavilion and Town Green Park on the west end. ''We think of the waterway as being the core of the Town Center, said Alex Sutton, co-president of The Woodlands Development Co. More than 20 million people visit the town center each year. And last year, they generated $1.16 billion in retail sales taxes and $3.7 million in hotel occupancy taxes, according to the visitors bureau. Wendy Wotasek, of Spring, said she visits the waterway area once a month with either her family or friends because she like the beautiful scenery and amenities. ''You can bring your kids and take them to the movies and you can come here for a while," said Wotasek, enjoying a glass of wine with a friend at a restaurant on the waterway. ''It's a cultural gathering place." Her friend Julie Ross, of Magnolia, said she would like to see the waterway become more like the San Antonio River Walk. River Walk's designers The San Antonio River Walk served as an inspiration for the waterway, and Mitchell even consulted River Walk designers when developing the project. The River Walk is a 2.5-mile loop while the waterway is linear, which makes it more suitable as a transportation corridor, said Robert Heineman, vice president of planning for The Woodlands Development Co. When people take a 45-minute walk along the waterway, they are 45 minutes from their car, and need transportation to get back, Heineman said. In early stages of planning the town center, nobody knew the existing drainage would become the proposed corridor, said Heineman. Transforming the ditch into a waterway didn't evolve until the 1980s, he said. Other waterway projects are on the horizon, including an Asian garden and Koi pond, and the completion of the Waterway Square District. Kristin Harrelson lives about four miles from The Woodlands in Spring. She recently visited Waterway Square with her 6-year-old daughter, Erin, after hearing about the fountains. ''What I really like about it (the waterway) is that they've made it urban," she said. ''Before you had to leave town for the experience. They've put it in our own backyard. It's wonderful." |