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Keller board launches peer-city assessment; Brentwood, Tenn., cited as model for family-focused growth
Summary
The Economic Development Board agreed to pursue a peer-city network to learn from similar cities’ successes and mistakes, using Brentwood, Tennessee, as an illustrative example for recruitment, long-range planning and infrastructure investment.
The City of Keller Economic Development Board voted to begin a peer-city assessment initiative to connect with similarly sized communities and learn from their approaches to retail recruitment, office space, zoning and long-term planning.
Board members will each be sent a list of peer cities and encouraged to contact counterparts to ask what worked, what failed and which contacts the cities recommend for further conversation. “What we wanted to show you today is an example of one of these cities,” said the meeting facilitator, who summarized research on Brentwood, Tennessee, and said its demographics and land-use planning resemble Keller’s.
The nut graf: Board leaders said the exercise is intended to surface practical “gold nugget” ideas — specific tactics other cities used successfully — rather than general benchmarking metrics. Brentwood’s officials emphasized schools, long-run land-use discipline and infrastructure investment as the primary draws that attracted retailers and residents.
During the Brentwood example, staff said that Brentwood had focused on Class A office space to attract health-care–related employers and noted redevelopment pressures (older office stock moving from Class A to Class B/C) that created new parking and land-use challenges.
Board members discussed how Brentwood’s proximity to a larger city center and neighboring suburbs may affect retail recruitment; members suggested the city could ask peer contacts about hotel and short-term rental strategies, redevelopment pitfalls and marketing taglines that highlight public-school quality. Tag Green called the Brentwood quote — schools described as “the best private education ... through the public school system” — a compelling tagline worth considering.
Ending: Staff will email the full peer-city list and suggested questions; board members were asked to “call dibs” on cities to contact and to nominate additional questions and local contacts (chambers, managers) to broaden the outreach.
