Master of Urban Planning students
helping Texas town plan for future

Troy, a small central Texas town on Interstate 35, is planning for its future growth with the help of students at Texas A&M’s Master of Urban Planning program.

As part of a capstone class, students began working last fall with the residents and municipal government of Troy, a town of 1,836 located approximately eight miles north of Temple. The project, developing a growth plan for the city, will continue through May 2011.

“We are in the process of creating alternative scenarios for future commercial growth in Troy because the residents don’t want to always have to drive out of town to get something they need,” said Heather Brianne Wade, manager of the student project, in a Dec. 10, 2010 article published in the Temple Daily Telegram. “Some residents of the city want more opportunities, including a health care facility, recreational opportunities like a strong park and trail system and pedestrian-friendly improvements such as sidewalks and bike lanes.”

Last fall, Wade said, the students undertook a community analysis and developed alternative scenarios for the future based on projections, community surveys and public workshops. The students are also providing the city with recommendations for contending with repercussions resulting from the scheduled 2012 widening of I-35.

“In some respects they pretty much know the city as well as I do, maybe better,” said Jeff Browning, the city’s mayor, in the Daily Telegram report.

In addition to Wade, urban planning students working on the project are Jian Shen, Preeti Shankar and Jeremy Cross.

- Posted: Feb. 21, 2011 -

Contact:   Phillip Rollfing, prollfing@archone.tamu.edu or 979.458.0442.