TCU News<\/a> . \u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cThis is one of the seven big ideas behind our master plan. A green network will add more open spaces, known to enhance mental well-being and promote physical fitness and collaboration. Simultaneously, this will give us an opportunity to address stormwater challenges.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That issue is no small thing. Over the past decade, heavy rains have repeatedly overwhelmed the east side of campus \u2014 turning sidewalks into creeks and crosswalks into hazards. Soileau\u2019s team is working with the City of Fort Worth on a series of solutions that go well beyond drainage pipes. Two blocks of university- and Brite Divinity-owned property near Forest Park Boulevard and McCart Avenue will be converted into landscaped, floodable parkland \u2014 designed for pickup soccer games on most days, and engineered to absorb excess stormwater on the worst ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But this isn\u2019t just a flood fix dressed up with a few benches. TCU\u2019s long-term vision is a campus that works as well on foot as it does on paper. From Berry Street to Bellaire Drive, circulation corridors will be widened and shaded. Bowie Street will gain bike lanes and stormwater features. And the university\u2019s current east-west pedestrian spine \u2014 already a well-traveled route for students between class and residence halls \u2014 will be extended in both directions, forming a continuous loop that ties together old and new.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In short, the plan puts people first \u2014 walking, biking, studying outdoors, gathering under trees. It leans into the idea that a great college experience isn\u2019t confined to classrooms or stadiums \u2014 it\u2019s in the moments between them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re being very intentional about how and where the green spaces will be to make for the most pleasant campus experience we can,\u201d Soileau said. \u201cIt\u2019s all very achievable and what people are most excited about.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
Berry Street \u2014 long a utilitarian strip of student-focused commerce \u2014 is poised for its own glow-up. The plan imagines a greener, more vibrant corridor, with shops, restaurants, and apartment-style housing seamlessly integrated with campus life. A large, landscaped gateway would offer both a new visual identity for the east side of campus and a flexible venue for outdoor events.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The initiative also responds to growth. As TCU\u2019s student population continues to rise, so does demand for residence halls, classrooms, and research space. The Master Plan anticipates that too \u2014 layering in new academic buildings, athletic facilities, and living quarters that aim to match the university\u2019s national ambitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But for all its architectural renderings and infrastructure goals, the heart of the plan is something simpler \u2014 make it easier for people to be outside, together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just about aesthetics, either. Study after study has shown that students who spend more time outdoors \u2014 especially in intentional, welcoming spaces \u2014 report higher levels of well-being and stronger community connection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s the crown jewel: the Trinity River. Just a short walk north of campus, it remains surprisingly disconnected from the university it practically borders. No sidewalk links the two. No bike lane beckons students toward the water.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s changing. Soileau says a link to the trail system is both realistic and popular. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re being very intentional about how and where the green spaces will be to make for the most pleasant campus experience we can,\u201d Soileau said. \u201cIt\u2019s all very achievable and what people are most excited about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The east side of TCU\u2019s campus has always felt like a bit of a frontier \u2014 an in-between…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":124160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,9361,7371,7372,8191,10763,10077,358,7453,14967,41105,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-124159","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-campus","10":"tag-fort-worth","11":"tag-fortworth","12":"tag-green-space","13":"tag-stephen-montoya","14":"tag-tcu","15":"tag-texas","16":"tag-top-story","17":"tag-trails","18":"tag-trinity-river","19":"tag-tx","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114983027675086389","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}