
Burk Downtown Plan
City: Burkburnett, Texas
Client: City of Burkburnett
Service Type
Special Area Plan
Timeframe
Adopted September 2021
Community Engagement, Infrastructure Condition Analysis, Land Use, Building, and Place Assessment, Mobility and Connectivity, Graphic Design & Plan Production
Project Activities
Cultivating a vibrant downtown starts with identifying what makes the area unique. Then, creating the environment and programming that encourages activity can follow. A focus first on tactical, inexpensive improvements allows incremental improvements over time.
Burkburnett, Texas, known as 'Boomtown USA,' with over 11,000 residents, lies north of Wichita Falls near Sheppard Air Force Base. The project's goal was to revitalize its once vibrant downtown, aiming to re-establish it as the cultural and fiscal hub of the community.
Verdunity was chosen by city leaders for their expertise in promoting long-term fiscal stability, local economy growth, and incremental implementation. The project, completed in four months, was budget-efficient. Verdunity’s team focused on understanding Burkburnett's unique characteristics and downtown area, pinpointing immediate, feasible opportunities. The engagement process included city commission and advisory committee meetings, community surveys, downtown walkshops, and stakeholder interviews.
The plan features a graphic community history timeline, a summary of assessments and engagements, a conceptual land use, zoning, and connectivity plan, and an implementation framework. It divides downtown into five distinct districts, each reflecting its specific context, and outlines a connectivity strategy blending pedestrian-friendly and vehicle-centric routes. The implementation strategy, encouraging community involvement, classifies actions as either accessible, low-resource initiatives, or strategic, high-impact efforts requiring more resources and time.
