The event comes a month after the city launched a survey to collect feedback from residents on the potential plan, which will be developed over the next nine months.
The gist
Director of Community Development Vance Wyly said open house attendees had voiced a desire for more cultural arts programming and entertainment venues, such as a barbecue cook-off on Grand Boulevard or having the city partner with the local Montessori school to host plays and theater performances.
Wyly added that residents had also asked for more boutique-style shopping and family-friendly venues.
The plan will take nine months to draft and is entirely funded by the Pearland Economic Development Corporation, or PEDC. The planning effort will be a partnership between the PEDC, the city of Pearland and Kansas City-based Olsson Studio, a national planning and urban design firm.
Initially platted in 1894, the Old Town district was Pearland’s first settled area. It included businesses such as a hardware store, general store, lumber yard and hotel, attracting migrants from Midwestern states to settle in Pearland, according to the city’s website.
Once completed, The Old Town Revitalization Plan will be a strategic guide outlining the goals, actions, timelines and costs for upgrading the district to stimulate economic growth and attract new businesses and opportunities while nurturing the existing character and historic identity of the Old Town area.
What they’re saying
Taylor Wolfe, owner of The Best Little Hairhouse in Texas, said she hoped the revitalization plan would include creating more parking spaces for small businesses in the area. Wolfe, whose business is located on Grand Boulevard, says she currently has six spaces, but her staff usually parks there, meaning customers have to park further away and walk.
“All these ladies leaving the salon at 8 or 9 at night ... the street lights are really bad, and they’re having to walk all the way down here by themselves ... in the dark,” Wolfe said.
Lifelong Pearland resident Katelyn Kenney picked up roller skating after a five-year stint in South Carolina for work. When she returned to Pearland in 2024, she said she was disappointed the community didn’t have as many spaces suitable for roller skating. She said she hopes city planners will consider building skatable pathways and skate parks in the Old Town area.
Kenney said rather than driving into Houston to visit one of the skate parks there, she tends to skate in her Pearland residential neighborhood but thinks building a public park could be a way to foster community in Pearland.
“It’s a really multigenerational kind of place,” Kenney said. “You see little kids learning how to ride scooters [and people] up to their 40s and 50s who are still skating recreationally. I really love that environment.”
What else?
Prior to the open house, Olsson Studio, which has helped cities such as Sapulpa, Oklahoma, and Lincoln, Nebraska, revitalize their historic neighborhoods, met with roughly 30 resident and business stakeholders in Old Town.
“We use the stakeholder committee as really that sounding board that’s of all diverse voices,” lead planner Brennan Kane said. “We encourage people to voice their opinions, good or bad, and that allows us the opportunity to really refine strategies and really find that common thread.”
Looking ahead
The city will host a second public open house from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in March at a to-be-determined location.
Residents will also be able to share their thoughts with city planners at the following pop-up events:
- Oct. 19, Fall Festival
- Oct. 24, Trunk or Treat
- Nov. 12, Outdoors for All
- Nov. 16, Old Pearland Farmer’s Market
- Dec. 6, Hometown Christmas Festival
- Dec. 7, Hometown Christmas Parade
