Spurred by a groundswell of public opinion initiated by a group of nonprofits called the Green Ribbon Committee, Texas State Representative Garnet Coleman approached the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) with a mandate to raise the aesthetic quality of Houston’s freeway corridors. Working with the architects, engineers, and planners of the HNTB Corporation; Rey de la Reza Architects; and the Cultural Arts Council of Houston and Harris County, SWA developed aesthetic guidelines for improvements to the major freeway corridors in the Houston metropolitan area. Over time, the TxDOT Green Ribbon Project will improve the Houston District freeway system by enhancing safety, decreasing maintenance through sustainable landscape concepts, and developing innovative and integrated design for everything from lighting to signage to bridges. Foremost among project guidelines are the principles of “Green First” that encourages planting of indigenous and appropriate species, the encouragement of public/private partnerships, and the acknowledgement that freeways, as public spaces, must provide a positive experience.