Author: /u/OnetenthZero

As a suburb, Sugar Land has aspects that make it a pleasing place to live, but also there has been development setbacks and problems the city is worried about it will have to face in the future economically to avoid suburban bankruptcy since the city’s land is almost built out.

First what I like about the First Colony Community specifically is that the majority of the buildings from the late 80s onward are built with nice looking brick which does match well architecturally, including fast food places like McDonalds. The Kroger on Sweetwater is within walking distance to many prime destinations, such as: grocery, retail, banks, the mall, football stadium, Town Square, and 1 of the 2 post offices. The street lights and the intersections are decorative style, and business signs have to be tethered to the ground which is less obnoxious. You will also notice there’s no billboards along the highways. The city does a good job cutting and watering grass, but also having green “islands in the middle of roads with plenty of matured trees for shade. Memorial Park area draws in a lot of people for their decent trails that go underneath 59.

However, in streets along residential and commercial districts, there are barely any dedicated bicycle lanes, or they end abruptly. Sweetwater blvd. is popular among cycling groups, and even when cycling alone on the street without bike lanes I don’t feel nervous at all about the cars because they keep space or pass by me in the left lane. There are many cyclists who run red lights, and I do think they make everyone else who cycles look bad. Police here ride on motorcycles sometimes, but once I had hostility with a police who acted like it was illegal/unsafe to ever cycle on a road with only the speed limit of 20 mph and that bicycles only belonged on sidewalks. There’s lot of concrete trails on the creeks that I walk for exercise, but I am more concerned about joggers who jaywalk intersections and run by pedestrians without slowing/stopping than a bicycle. Alongside University blvd, the city has built ‘mixed use paths’ for both pedestrians and cyclists to share, but because of the park sometimes the path can be entirely blocked by walkers. Sidewalks aren’t as smooth as a road bike lane because of the horizontal dividers between concrete pavers, causing friction. There is a pedestrian crosswalk on University connecting to the subdivision Avalon Telfair, but it’s a death trap because cars are unlikely to stop and notice. Clements High School’s intersection has a slip lane, and the school’s signboard obscures visibility of students walking home to drivers, who are only looking the opposite direction for only cars, not humans.

Sugar Land has acknowledged the importance of mixed use development, but it is half-assed just to attract young professionals as families move out once their kid graduates from FBISD. The city has made renovations around Town Square, but what is truly hindering more attendees is because of the asphalt streets are unfriendly, cars are allowed to drive through it, and because it’s too small (they could expand more small business, or redo the entire shopping center across Lexington with plenty of parking). It reminds me a bit like La Centerra in Katy or Market Street in the Woodlands. Sugar Land’s motto in their PR is “live, work, and play”. That’s why they have spent tax revenue on venues such as the baseball stadium and the Smart Financial Centre because single family homes are almost built out, and homeowners like to petition to lower their property tax. The city is looking for outside revenue, and has faced financial hardships because when they annexed New Territory the requirement to build a new fire station hit them so hard that they cancelled fireworks and the Kite festival for a few years.

There are a limited amount condos and apartments along highway 6 and 59, but they are fine since they are near desirable locations with retail and they are built with quality materials as middle class housing. There is an abandoned gym on 59 seeking redevelopment into mixed use apartments but were rejected by Sugar Creek NIMBYs. The problem here is that there’s no public transit around the city to reduce car congestion fears brought by apartments, and that’s on purpose to keep homeless looking people out coming from Houston who can’t afford a car. There is the Fort Bend bus, but it only goes to the Galleria and the Medical Center, not the Energy Corridor or UH Main. These venues and the Fluor office take up so much valuable space, and it’s ashame to see so much asphalt paved instead of building a parking garage. My parents also voted against these apartments to keep Clements High from being overcrowded.

After reading a couple articles/videos about Sugar Land, I realized the Conservative Mayor Sugar Land Joe Zimmerman also needs to be acknowledged as NIMBY/pro-car, just as much as John Culberson. Praising the development of the Grand Parkway , Highway Conflict of Interest?