Outside The Loop

New children's museum is taking over a historic building in Sugar Land

Sugar Land's about to get even more kid friendly.

The capital campaign for the Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center in Sugar Land — a special project of the Children's Museum of Houston — has ended after reaching its $3.65 million fundraising goal.

The campaign, which began in April 2012, received donations from Fort Bend corporations, foundations and the community, all in support of the new children's center. With two final major gifts received from The George Foundation — which is dedicated to supporting organizations and programs that serve Fort Bend families — and Mercedes-Benz of Sugar Land, the project goal was successfully reached by the Dec. 31 deadline.

Now one step closer to opening as a year-round facility, the Children's Discovery Center — scheduled to debut in the summer of 2015 — will occupy a 10,000 square foot warehouse space that once belonged to the Imperial Sugar Company. Situated behind the historic sugar silos, the space will house five permanent exhibits, one temporary exhibit space and an outdoor area. Renderings for the new center identify several of the exhibits including a puzzle-oriented "Think Tank" area and a multi-cultural gallery.

The Children's Discovery Center — along with the Houston Museum of Natural Science at Sugar Land which opened in 2009 — will provide much-needed educational and family-friendly opportunities for those living in the ever-changing area that so many young families already call home.

The center is located within the Imperial Sugar Land community, which has been plagued by problems and controversy since its proposal in 2007. In spite of many prior set backs, the community is growing rapidly and construction on a 6,500-seat performing arts venue there is slated to begin this summer.

Rendering of the Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center in Sugar Land.

$Fort Bend Children\u2019s Discovery Center January 2014 Kidtropolis rendering$

Rendering courtesy of Children's Museum of Houston

Rendering of the Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center in Sugar Land.

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good for the soul

Houston blooms as No. 3 best city for urban gardening in the U.S.

Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash

Let's get gardening, Houston

Folks in the Bayou City have plenty of reasons to develop a green thumb: Houston has harvested new acclaim as the No. 3 best city in America for urban gardening in 2026.

Lawnstarter's annual report, "2026’s Best Cities for Urban Gardening," compared 500 U.S. cities based on their respective public access to community gardens, climate, the prevalence of nurseries and gardening supply stores, and the number of regional gardening clubs and online groups.

Atlanta topped the list as the No. 1 best U.S. city, followed by Miami (No. 2); St. Louis (No. 4); and Jacksonville, Florida (No. 5).

For the uninitiated, urban gardening is the practice of growing plants or food in densely populated areas. Local examples include Blackwood Skyfarm, which is the largest rooftop farm in Texas, or Urban Harvest's 160 affiliate gardens – but backyards, apartment balconies, and vacant lots could also fit the bill. Additionally, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department has an Urban Garden Program where residents can volunteer to help locate sections of local parks to turn into community gardens.

Houston was No. 1 nationally in the "supplies" rank, and Lawnstarter said the city is home to 253 landscaping equipment shops – the most in the U.S. – and the second-highest number of gardening stores (276) and nurseries (132). The city also earned a respectable No. 6 rank for its "support and interest" of urban gardening, meaning many residents are searching terms like "community gardens," "vertical gardening," and others.

Here's how the city fared in the remaining three categories:

No. 115 – Public access
No. 157 – Climate
No. 390 – Private access (based on average yard size for starting an at-home garden)

Cathy Walker, president of the American Community Gardening Association, offered some tips for first-time gardeners to help get their hands in the soil: choose only a few easy growing plants to start; learn which growing zone you're in to determine the plants that will thrive in your area; watch how much sunlight your garden space gets daily; and prioritize keeping soil healthy with compost and mulch.

Ecoregions are also helpful for understanding what plants will thrive. Whereas zones are about temperature, ecoregions are much more detailed groups. Planters can learn about their ecoregion and get personalized growing tips from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation in its new native planting app, Wild Thumb.

Starting your own garden can also have a financial benefit, the report suggested. However, up-front costs can get high in gardening, so gardeners might have to stick to it for a few seasons to see savings.

"With grocery prices projected to rise by 3.1 percent in 2026, there’s never been a better time to grow your own food," the report's author wrote. "Estimates show that growing a 600-square-foot plot for fruits and vegetables can save you around $600 in a single season."

The top 10 best cities for urban gardening in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Atlanta
No. 2 – Miami
No. 3 – Houston
No. 4 – St. Louis
No. 5 – Jacksonville, Florida
No. 6 – Orlando
No. 7 – Cincinnati
No. 8 – Fort Meyers, Florida
No. 9 – Tampa
No. 10 – Austin

urban gardening gardening houston

Outside The Loop

New children's museum is taking over a historic building in Sugar Land

Rendering of the Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center in Sugar Land.

good for the soul

Houston blooms as No. 3 best city for urban gardening in the U.S.

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