The American poor spread to suburbia, but we’re not ready

NextAmericanCity
Yonah Freemark // February 25, 2010

Let’s face it: American public policy has yet to respond to or even grasp the profound change in settlement patterns that has been gradually making its mark on the nation’s landscape over the past few decades.

Cities from Detroit to Des Moines have been pushing the gentrification of their downtowns, with generally positive results, and the results are well documented.

But more consequential to a far larger group is the mass out-migration of impoverished people from center cities into the suburbs, often in the same metropolitan areas. According to a recent Brookings Institute Study, the process is accelerating. Between 2000 and 2008, the percent of poor people living in the suburbs increased by 25%, compared to by 5.6% in central cities and 15.4% for the nation as a whole. More of the poor now live in the suburbs than in central cities: 12.5 million versus 11 million.

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Why Dallas's Streetcars Got the Feds' Transportation Funds, Not Fort Worth's

Dallas Observer

Robert Wilonsky // February 17, 2010

As mentioned below, the North Central Texas Council of Governments is indeed "seeking clarification" from the U.S. Department of Transportation concerning today's announcement that Dallas is getting $23 million to fund the downtown streetcar project. NCTCOG wants to know if Fort Worth is supposed to be getting a piece of that pie -- since, after all, NCTCOG made the request on behalf of both cities in its $96 million joint grant application.

Michael Morris is supposed to respond upon his return to the office, but Cathy St. Denis at the USDOT finally responded to Unfair Park's request for a clarification. In short, she says, "Fort Worth is not a part of this. The money is just for Dallas." And why's that?

"The typical awardee averaged about one-third of their request," St. Denis says. "So we couldn't completely fund the Dallas-Fort Worth streetcar project at the requested level. And, we were impressed by how well Dallas had lined up its local match and the other requirements necessary to get the project under way."

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Dallas CM Linda Koop shares thoughts on street car grant

Dallas Morning News

Rudolph Bush // February 17, 2010

Dallas council member Linda Koop, a key transportation advocate in North Texas, said she was "delightfully surprised" the city won a piece of the highly competitive TIGER grants.

The grant of $23 million was a little less than half the $48 million Dallas sought for its street cars, but it will go a long way toward helping plan construction of the city's first street car circulator.

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The First Urban Decade

New Urban News
Robert Steuteville

The last half of the 20th Century was dominated by suburbia, but cities made a comeback in the first decade of the new millennium.

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Downtown Dallas Plan Hinges on Public Space & Transportation

Dallas Morning News
Rudolph Bush // February 1, 2010

Theresa O'Donnell, director of Dallas' development department, said there's also focus on really capitalizing on Union Station, which she said could be a catalyst project for redevelopment.

The trick will be developing around rail stations and building up public spaces and public amenities or 'animating the public realm.'

The transportation element is major. DART's new lines are expected to work in concert with an as yet unfunded streetcar system.

In the long run, the most important transportation element, though, will be feet and how downtown accommodates them.

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Urban Core as Regional Economic Indicator

DC.StreetsBlog.org
Sarah Goodyear / January 25, 2010

The importance of core urban areas to a region's economy is the subject of a post today from the always thoughtful Aaron Renn, who blogs at The Urbanophile. Renn examines data that suggest job growth (or decline) in a metro region's core counties is a good indicator for the overall health of those regions. Renn argues that it's important to keep a close eye on what's happening in the urban core in order to forestall the kind of catastrophic decline we've seen in places like Detroit and Cleveland.

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The W Hollywood Hotel & Residences: An urban complexity

Not really a Texas mixed use deal, but I worked two years on this project -- so have to share news of the Grand Opening!!!

15-story, $600-million development combines on a single L-shaped site the W's hotel and condominium towers with a 375-unit apartment block called 1600 Vine.

The W Hollywood Hotel & Residences: An urban complexity

UNT Area plan approved by Dallas council

Dallas Morning News
Rudolph Bush // December 9, 2009

With little discussion, theDallas City Council has approved a development plan for a large swath of southern Dallas around the University of North Texas campus.

The plan is exciting to advocates of walkable and transit-oriented urban design.

It focuses on developing the area in human-scaled neighborhoods linked by rail and constructed with respect for the natural setting.

Mayor's 'coffee, deals and development'

Dallas Morning News
Sharon Grigsby // December 10, 2009

In case you missed this, check out Rudy Bush's report on the Dallas City Hall blog concerning the mayor's impressive outline for southern Dallas development, which he and others spoke about this morning.

Leppert's key points:

-- We all know there are challenges in southern Dallas, but what many people don't know are the many good things going on. We want to talk about that today.

-- Cited example of economic progress, including:

-- Tax base in southern Dallas has increased 75 percent, compared to citywide average of 50 percent.
-- A 586 percent increase in construction permits in southern Dallas since 2000.
-- Eleven TIF projects investing $135 million in southern Dallas.
-- Violent crime is down more than 20 percent; 80 new police officers in southern Dallas.
-- Code compliance complaints are down 20-30 percent.
-- DART to Pleasant Grove: "the largest investment in the nation in light rail."

-- Praised Methodist for investing $100 million in its facility, Allison at Baylor for partnering on diabetes with the city, Dallas Zoo for new management structure pointing it toward First Tier status, La Reunion tower expansion and improvements, etc.

-- Cited Allen's work on Dallas Logistical Hub.

-- UNT-Dallas, Paul Quinn - progress on both counts.

-- Pinnacle Park, Mountain Creek, Capella Park, renovation of Cliff Club at top of BofA, Lake June Plaza, El Rio Grande grocery, etc.

-- Seven million feet of new industrial space. "You'll see soon another big real estate development go public."

-- We're working on getting new, small banks to locate in southern Dallas; meanwhile Comerica and Wachovia have really stepped up....

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Southern Dallas ripe for private investors, mayor says

Dallas Morning News
Rudolph Bush // December 11, 2009

Southern Dallas is poised to grow, and the time has come for private investors to jump in, Mayor Tom Leppert told a crowd gathered at Gilley's on Thursday morning.

The tax base there has grown at a faster clip than the rest of the city, crime is down and public money is streaming in, he said.

"We all know there are challenges in the southern part of our city," he said. "But people understand this is the key to our success in this city, this region, this state," he said.

A who's who of southern Dallas showed up to hear Leppert, along with City Manager Mary Suhm, DART chief executive Gary Thomas, and University of North Texas vice chancellor John Ellis Price, among others.

They echoed a message of momentum for parts of the city that have stagnated so long that many Dallas residents have given up on seeing improvement.

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Why passing the UNT Dallas master plan this week is important

Dallas Morning News
December 4, 2009

On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council will consider the University of North Texas Dallas Area Plan, a 3,500-acre economic revitalization project for the city's southern portion. Passage is critical to supporting the nascent "town-gown" relationship developing between Dallas and its first public university.

The importance of this type of symbiotic relationship has been amply displayed in other urban centers around the country, such as Boston, Minneapolis, Denver and Seattle.

Universities are among these cities' largest employers, and they are long-term, place-bound investors in economic growth. When development around universities is planned appropriately, local economies benefit from steady streams of students and university workers who patronize area businesses. Universities also are typically partners in addressing problems such as crime and traffic.

If the UNT Dallas Area Plan is approved, these are the kind of benefits the city will experience. The plan calls for sustainable economic development around the campus. Mixed-use residential areas, retail zones and entertainment venues will infuse much-needed capital into the city. As the university grows, businesses around it will grow. This will produce tax revenue and, most importantly, long-term job growth.

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Revitalization in Dallas requires input from all sectors

From: Pegasus News
By; Michael Davis of Dallas Progress // September 30, 2009

Anything written by Rev. Gerald Britt will command my attention. He has been in the trenches, working on behalf of the community for decades. With that in mind, make sure you read his post on his Change the Wind blog.

Rev. Britt is right; a lot of people are working countless hours to improve the community in Dallas. In some areas, assistance is given by the city but we always need residents and interested citizens to fill the gap. We also need media to report the good and bad that is going on.

With respect to District Four, the philosophy is to "make it safe," and then businesses will return. I still remember three years ago when people were telling Dwaine Caraway that his campaign would go nowhere if he made public safety his number one issue. Well, as we continue to find innovative ways to reduce crime the investment is coming back slowly but surely.

Even within the City, we are not waiting for the Task Force to do the work for us. Crest Shopping Center in Oak Cliff is being revitalized, the 8th & Corinth/Fiji mixed-use transit-oriented development project will break ground shortly, and zoning is being reviewed on the eastern side of our district to ensure better uses for that area.

The convenience store initiative is now law, and the goal is for it to be expanded to car washes. The store ordinance requires videotaping of all areas of the premises, as well as all being part of DPD's criminal trespass program which allows police to effectively address loitering issues which foster drug dealing and other crimes.

The city has a role, the newspaper has a role, and the community has a role. Everyone has a part in the success.