The Gulf Coast Institute seeks a livable community with a dynamic economy that revitalizes and protects neighborhoods, improves access, increases mobility choices, improves air and water quality, protects green space and natural resources, and builds a sense of place and community.

The Gulf Coast Institute brings to the region a sustainable entity committed to instilling long-term stability in Houston’s planning process. It leads and manages fundamental change in the broad discussion of urban growth and quality of life in Houston.

Provides education on how public decisions can help make Houston a more livable city in all its meanings, including health, education, environment, physical development, mobility, and other important factors.

What is so distinctive about the Gulf Coast Institute?
The Institute brings to the region independent analysis of urban growth issues around the world and injects that information and knowledge into hundreds of local civic initiatives and government projects.

The Gulf Coast Institute is the shepherd and think tank for Houston’s planning initiatives and urban issues:

• Initiated “Blueprint Houston,” the first significant effort to develop a general business plan in the City of Houston since 1929. Funded and supported by the Houston Endowment and the City of Houston, Blueprint is a citizen-driven, citywide visioning project to set the framework for a plan for the City’s future.
• Played a leading role in creating an alternative plan, endorsed by the Houston Chronicle, to the highly controversial freeway expansion plan set for I-10.
• Proposed and in process of promoting a new park for Midtown that promises to greatly increase economic prosperity, property values, and livability for the area.
• Leverages funds that provide research, public forums, Geographic Information System maps, and related education materials to many quality of life advocacy organizations throughout the region.
• Targets and educates young professionals about quality of life issues, and integrates them into the civic decision-making process.

The Gulf Coast Institute encourages research and communication about urban issues, and works to find grounds for mutually beneficial collaboration from among leaders working in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

The Gulf Coast Institute’s primary purpose is to study the process of urban growth, to explore and communicate problems and possible solutions, and to foster dialogue and collaborative initiatives to improve the quality of economy, community, and environment in the region. The basis of its work is the set of principles and concepts widely known as Smart Growth.

GCI creates links among leaders within public agencies, business associations, and nonprofit community organizations in order to share expertise and projects leading to a more livable community. GCI sponsors regular meetings, publishes an email newsletter, maintains many Web sites, and actively disseminates educational information relevant to the project.

GCI encourages community representatives to take leadership roles in initiatives that are intended to improve the health of the community as it grows.

People from more than 200 organizations have participated in smart growth events sponsored by the Institute. Among these groups are the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the American Institute of Architects/Houston, Greater Houston Builders Association, the Houston-Galveston Area Council, the Houston Homeowners Association, the Texas Southern University Center for Transportation, HARC Center for Global Studies, and many other community organizations.

In addition to regular meetings, GCI sponsors regional conferences for policy makers, planners, and leaders in community development, social equity issues, and environmental concerns.

GCI is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code.