barrycb
11-19-2003, 02:40 PM
I don't believe in settling for second best, never have. I just don't believe in settling, period. Taxpayers, staff and council are all slipping further and further into the anesthetic euphoria of the results of "settling"- apathy. And it's starting to show, especially on Wednesdays.
There is a way to do things right, and a way not to do things right. This City and it's leaders need to learn the skills necessary to do things right because what we're doing now, we're not doing right.
Ever heard of "New Urbanism"?
It's not a bad thing; it's simply smart growth and sustainable development. All over the country there are pockets of smart growth communities, but they are small sections of large cities or they are small towns. Why can't we create a smart growth design and implement a strategy for the core of Dallas? We have the tools, we have some pretty smart people in this town and we have the resources. Now we must understand it and start working on it.
If we want to connect pertinent parts of "Downtown" to each other, like the CBD to the Farmers Market to Deep Ellum to Fair Park, the way not to do it right would be to add more lanes to the streets and take away the sidewalk, or to create "business parks" in between or purely upscale housing.
A way to do it right, a smart growth way, would be to incorporate a streetcar line because these areas aren't far enough away from one another to justify driving, finding and paying for parking, but they are far enough away from one another to preclude walking. LRV's are too big and fast, so the best "connection" for these points is a streetcar route, and it's way cheap.
So, we need warm bodies downtown? Why can't we make it affordable to people who earn $30,000 a year? Lots of downtown workers live in cheap $500 per month apartments in Garland and Irving, where they spend two hours a day commuting to and from, and their money that they earn in Dallas. Why can't we make it affordable to these people or to teachers and public servants?
They're good enough to work downtown, so why aren't they good enough to also live downtown? If you live and work in the same place, you're driving your car 80% less, or not at all. You really wouldn't need a car. Some folks in Uptown have sold their automobiles.
Warm bodies motivate retail. The smart growth benefits are cleaner air, bigger tax base, less auto traffic, more transit options. The list goes on and on. Why can't we mandate smart growth or at least offer incentives to companies and developers willing to invest in smart growth developments? Sprawl is the killer of urban downtowns across the country, and that's a fact.
Big sprawling apartment complexes are killers for competitive urban reinvestment all across the country. It's a fact, and we know it. So why don't we do something about it?
We will never get it right as long as we allow for only one type of housing to exist in a dense area. It's hard for some people to see, but it has worked and is working elsewhere in the country. Why can't we be smarter than we are and create a better Dallas? I want for people who live in other parts of the country who visit Dallas, going home saying, "Wow, that Dallas is a modern city. Did you see all the sidewalks and street cafes and transit options and the recreation? I didn't get to do all that I wanted to do in Dallas. Did you notice I could afford to live in a loft in downtown Dallas but could never in a million years do it in Boston?"
That's they way I want my city to be talked about. The Arts District alone won't do it, Fair Park alone won't do it, DART alone won't do it, luxury loft apartments in the Kirby alone won't do it. It has to be a well designed combination of all of the above and a change of our philosophy here that will get the ball rolling.
We move from the pension crisis, to police/firefighter pay, staff salaries, the Trinity River project and parks, roads and libraries. We're operating in crisis mode. We shouldn't be having these discussions at City Council meetings in the year 2003! Our agenda should be about how we can best preserve and exploit our assets, not fix them after they've broken, or ignore them to chase after a new sports facility.
Speaking of preserving and exploiting our assets, we have a great 7,000 acre forest 5 miles south of downtown. It contains historic assets, cultural assets, natural assets, recreational assets, development opportunities. There is a recognized National Audubon Society Bird Sanctuary area within the forest.
Dallas could really capitalize on this tremendous asset by designing an urban center, complete with viewing areas, a coffee stand, an interpretive center, a cafe or a diner, maybe even an overnight lodge for corporate retreats. (See the sustainably built Debs Park Audubon Center in Los Angeles for more information).
Most places experience positive economic development surrounding bird sanctuaries. What is Dallas afraid of? We have it all here.
We only need to give this Great Trinity Forest a big push in the right direction, and we can make Dallas a truly unique city -- one with the largest bottomland hardwood urban forest, one with smart growth communities surrounding the forest neighborhoods, with hiking, biking and equestrian trails through this forest, with a paddleboat lake, canoeing on the river, access to new sustainable economic development, well connected inner-city cores with a streetcar line.
We need to have this vision for Dallas, and we all need to march forward with it if we want to really do something grand and economically viable -- for Dallas for our kids and future generations to enjoy.
Just a thought.
:D
There is a way to do things right, and a way not to do things right. This City and it's leaders need to learn the skills necessary to do things right because what we're doing now, we're not doing right.
Ever heard of "New Urbanism"?
It's not a bad thing; it's simply smart growth and sustainable development. All over the country there are pockets of smart growth communities, but they are small sections of large cities or they are small towns. Why can't we create a smart growth design and implement a strategy for the core of Dallas? We have the tools, we have some pretty smart people in this town and we have the resources. Now we must understand it and start working on it.
If we want to connect pertinent parts of "Downtown" to each other, like the CBD to the Farmers Market to Deep Ellum to Fair Park, the way not to do it right would be to add more lanes to the streets and take away the sidewalk, or to create "business parks" in between or purely upscale housing.
A way to do it right, a smart growth way, would be to incorporate a streetcar line because these areas aren't far enough away from one another to justify driving, finding and paying for parking, but they are far enough away from one another to preclude walking. LRV's are too big and fast, so the best "connection" for these points is a streetcar route, and it's way cheap.
So, we need warm bodies downtown? Why can't we make it affordable to people who earn $30,000 a year? Lots of downtown workers live in cheap $500 per month apartments in Garland and Irving, where they spend two hours a day commuting to and from, and their money that they earn in Dallas. Why can't we make it affordable to these people or to teachers and public servants?
They're good enough to work downtown, so why aren't they good enough to also live downtown? If you live and work in the same place, you're driving your car 80% less, or not at all. You really wouldn't need a car. Some folks in Uptown have sold their automobiles.
Warm bodies motivate retail. The smart growth benefits are cleaner air, bigger tax base, less auto traffic, more transit options. The list goes on and on. Why can't we mandate smart growth or at least offer incentives to companies and developers willing to invest in smart growth developments? Sprawl is the killer of urban downtowns across the country, and that's a fact.
Big sprawling apartment complexes are killers for competitive urban reinvestment all across the country. It's a fact, and we know it. So why don't we do something about it?
We will never get it right as long as we allow for only one type of housing to exist in a dense area. It's hard for some people to see, but it has worked and is working elsewhere in the country. Why can't we be smarter than we are and create a better Dallas? I want for people who live in other parts of the country who visit Dallas, going home saying, "Wow, that Dallas is a modern city. Did you see all the sidewalks and street cafes and transit options and the recreation? I didn't get to do all that I wanted to do in Dallas. Did you notice I could afford to live in a loft in downtown Dallas but could never in a million years do it in Boston?"
That's they way I want my city to be talked about. The Arts District alone won't do it, Fair Park alone won't do it, DART alone won't do it, luxury loft apartments in the Kirby alone won't do it. It has to be a well designed combination of all of the above and a change of our philosophy here that will get the ball rolling.
We move from the pension crisis, to police/firefighter pay, staff salaries, the Trinity River project and parks, roads and libraries. We're operating in crisis mode. We shouldn't be having these discussions at City Council meetings in the year 2003! Our agenda should be about how we can best preserve and exploit our assets, not fix them after they've broken, or ignore them to chase after a new sports facility.
Speaking of preserving and exploiting our assets, we have a great 7,000 acre forest 5 miles south of downtown. It contains historic assets, cultural assets, natural assets, recreational assets, development opportunities. There is a recognized National Audubon Society Bird Sanctuary area within the forest.
Dallas could really capitalize on this tremendous asset by designing an urban center, complete with viewing areas, a coffee stand, an interpretive center, a cafe or a diner, maybe even an overnight lodge for corporate retreats. (See the sustainably built Debs Park Audubon Center in Los Angeles for more information).
Most places experience positive economic development surrounding bird sanctuaries. What is Dallas afraid of? We have it all here.
We only need to give this Great Trinity Forest a big push in the right direction, and we can make Dallas a truly unique city -- one with the largest bottomland hardwood urban forest, one with smart growth communities surrounding the forest neighborhoods, with hiking, biking and equestrian trails through this forest, with a paddleboat lake, canoeing on the river, access to new sustainable economic development, well connected inner-city cores with a streetcar line.
We need to have this vision for Dallas, and we all need to march forward with it if we want to really do something grand and economically viable -- for Dallas for our kids and future generations to enjoy.
Just a thought.
:D