"What we are attempting to do here is to redefine the definition of infrastructure, " Houck says.
"Subsidizing development in the hit zone only encourages more hits and more hit losses, " Houck said.
She moved South, to Jacksonville, Florida, and Houck was soon involved in civil rights demonstrations.
Houck says he was kind of stocky, and the boys naturally assumed he could play football.
This kind of buyout plan has never been attempted and Houck said the idea is long overdue.
Oliver Houck, an environmental law professor at Tulane University, said it's worth it.
When they coaxed Houck into a game of catch outside, tumbling playfully on the ground, Houck won their hearts.
In February Houck mounted a campaign and got 162, 000 signatures on Change.org.
For Houck, it was just the beginning of a career in crusading for preserving wildlife habitat within the city limits.
Although conventional parks, with ball fields, playgrounds and tennis courts, are important, natural habitat where wildlife can thrive is also critical, Houck says.
But a group of activists -- including Houck, who was a graduate student at Portland State University -- fought the plan to develop the area.
"One of the development criteria we've established in this region is everybody should have access to a natural area within a 15-minute walk of their home, " Houck says.
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