Target Texas Program

The Target Texas Program, in the College of Architecture's Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, not only gives students real-world experience but also provides comprehensive plans for Texas communities.

Target Texas Program is evolved from an earlier program (Texas Target Cities Program) established by Dr. David Pugh. The earlier program primarily focused on planning related issues with a limited engagement from the other programs within the department. The newly revised, Target Texas Program, widen this scope by broadening its emphases to both design and planning related issues. The revised program envisions to engage all programs in the Department of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning. The program offers mainly graduate students from various programs within the department a chance to put classroom theory into practice. This program is an opportunity for students to apply classroom-based knowledge to real urban and regional problems. Target Texas Program provides research and technical assistance to communities within Texas and beyond.

Some examples of Target Texas Program projects are:

Project Title: A Neighborhood Revitalization Study of the Fox Avenue Corridor in Lewisville

Project years: fall 2005 – spring 2006
Project Location: Fox Avenue corridor in Lewisville
City: Lewisville
County: Danton
Region: the Fox Avenue corridor in Lewisville
State: Texas
Researcher: Dr. Elise Bright
Students Involved: MUP - Tariq Al Busaidi, Leslie Chady, Christina Croxell, Stephan Gage, Kevin Gifford, Himanshu Grover, Kristina A. Harpst, Ji Li, Sze Lun Li, Jordan Maddox, Dipti Mathur, Madhu Narayanasamy, Rajat Parashar, Lee Ann Roman, Jon Toffer, Sudhish Verma
Project Sponsor: City of Lewisville
Project Summary: A neighborhood revitalization study of the Fox Avenue corridor in Lewisville was conducted in the fall of 2005 and the spring of 2006 by the Texas A&M University Target Cities Program. The Fox Avenue corridor neighborhood study area is bounded by Main Street on the north, IH-35E on the east, Bellaire on the south and Old Orchard on the west, with Fox Avenue being the central east-west road. The study area was further divided into seven sub-areas according to the block group areas defined by the U.S. Census for further analysis. Following link will take you to the final report of this study... [more] ( 5.3 MB)

Project Title: Sustainability Indicators for Texas

Project years: 2006
Project Location: Texas
State: Texas
Researcher: Dr. Sam Brody
Students Involved: LDEV 671 students, - Joel Allen, James Baker, Jacob Browning, Andrew Burleson, Jung Eun Kang, Jae Sue Lee, Matthew, Hilgemeier, James Tu
Project Summary: Sustainability is essentially a question, an important question affecting our communities, our nation, and the world. The question is: how much can we consume right now without compromising our future? At current rates of consumption—of raw materials such as land, fossil fuels, even water—the earth’s capacity may be unable to sustain future population growth. Sustainability is a relatively new subject of study and has been defined in several ways. Following link will take you to the final report of this study... [more] ( 16.3 MB)

Project Title: City of Castle Hills: State of the City and Recommendations

Project years: Spring 2006
Project Location: Texas
City: Castle Hills
State: Texas
Researchers: Dr. Elise Bright
MUP students: Tariq Al Busaidi, Leslie Chady, Christina Croxell, Stephan Gage, Kevin Gifford, Himanshu Grover, Kristina A. Harpst, Chao-Yuan Hsiao, Ji Li, Sze Lun Li, Jordan Maddox, Dipti Mathur, Madhu Narayanasamy, Rajat Parashar, Lee Ann Roman, Jon Toffer, Sudhish Verma
Project Summary: This report has been a collaborative effort of eighteen graduate students of Texas A&M University’s Master of Urban Planning Program. The students have come from a wide variety of backgrounds and countries, and nearly every student has professional experience. This combination has provided an excellent range of expertise for the project. Following link will take you to the final report of this study… [more] ( 11.5 MB)