Scenic Houston is an active and effective advocate for a green, uncluttered, visually appealing city. Scenic Houston’s work creates immediate positive impacts on our streets and in our neighborhoods, and leads to statutory changes that will benefit our city for generations to come.

Scenic Houston promotes sign control, billboard reduction, freeway landscaping, scenic byway development, and enhanced design standards for public projects. Our success improves the quality of life for all Houstonians.

Scenic Houston’s roots are deep, born in a local advocacy effort to battle the unregulated proliferation of billboards in our city. In 1966, concerned Houstonians led by local attorney Carroll Shaddock formed the non-profit group Billboards Ltd to fight against the mushrooming billboard blight. Billboards Ltd fought to establish, for the first time ever, a City of Houston sign ordinance as a means to create standards and regulations for billboards.

Scenic Houston has maintained its unique position as the only local non-profit counterweight to the billboard industry, but has broadened its agenda to include freeway landscaping, scenic byway development, on-premises sign regulation, enhanced design standards for public projects, and more.

Today Scenic Houston is focused on launching the Scenic City Certification Program [1], improving the visual impact of business signage, monitoring transit ways and toll roads, and supporting scenic initiatives at the state and national lever.