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Strategies for Cooling Transit Stops and
Adjacencies in Houston’s Second Ward

University of Houston, ARCH 5500
Image Credits: Above Left University of Houston, Bottom Right Rachel Gutierrez

Situated south of Buffalo Bayou between downtown and the Port Authority, “El Segundo Barrio,” Houston’s Second Ward, serves as one of the city’s most diverse communities. Largely recognized for its Hispanic population, the East Side was home to immigrants looking to resettle near the Gulf’s port during the early 1900s. Today, Houston’s East Side remains a cultural center that symbolizes a cross section of Houston’s port and its relationship to the area’s diversity and urban condition.

Nonetheless, the community’s cultural lifeline is under constant threat. Shadowed by Houston’s 52-mile-long ship channel on the north, the East Side’s bayou serves as the community’s link to toxic air pollution from arguably the largest concentration of petrochemical and refinery plants in the nation.