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.
-- 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....
MORESouthern 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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Before the passage of yesterday's budget, leaders of Mayor Tom Leppert's Southern Dallas Task Force penned him a pretty pointed letter.
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