D Magazine New Urbanism Issue

[exelone31]

Hey everyone, I saw this week that D Magazine has been posting stories from their new "Dallas and the New Urbanism" issue https://www.dmagazine.com/tag/dallas-and-the-new-urbanism/

I haven't gone through everything yet, but it seems like there's a lot of really solid content, so I figured I'd start a thread to discuss any particular topics from this issue. I feel like there's tons of overlap with a lot of the topics we chat about here on the forum.

[Warrior2015]

Hey everyone, I saw this week that D Magazine has been posting stories from their new "Dallas and the New Urbanism" issue https://www.dmagazine.com/tag/dallas-and-the-new-urbanism/

I haven't gone through everything yet, but it seems like there's a lot of really solid content, so I figured I'd start a thread to discuss any particular topics from this issue. I feel like there's tons of overlap with a lot of the topics we chat about here on the forum.

I read in the article it saying dallas is behind Houston in urban development, how is that true?

[DPatel304]

I know next to nothing about Houston development, but I'm pretty sure I've heard Houston CBD > Dallas CBD. In Dallas, most of our 'boom' has happened outside of the CBD (Uptown, Victory Park, West Dallas, etc..), whereas in Houston I think that's not the case?

[I45Tex]

There were a bunch of articles and you didn't link us to what you're referencing, but I do feel like Houston is a sidetrack from the potential of this thread.

Wednesday after next, on July 11th, there's a morning-long symposium on the New Dallas -- get tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dallas-and ... 6504598506

[hjkll]

It's a great issue. It really delves into a LOT and into really really specific minutia of urban planning.

The only thing I feel though is that it's still a little all talk no action. This issue is great and yes there is a symposium, but the average DFW resident isn't going to change overnight. People still love parking, strip malls, and developers love building cheap 5 story stucco donut buildings. Though there are seeds of change happening all across DFW, I still feel like the overall message of the issue will go over a lot of people's heads. As much as we cheerlead on this forum, it's almost shocking to go to other parts of the country and see how other cities are- even somewhat declining cities like St. Louis feel much more cohesive and real than Dallas, and besides Main Street it's almost shockingly awful how awful Downtown really is (let's be real).

For me the biggest problem with the future of Dallas is the southern part of Downtown, the Trinity River, and South Dallas. Besides a few pockets of development, Everything south of Commerce street is more likely or not, kind of terrible. As much ink and words have been spilt about Southern Dallas growing, it's still more realistic for Prosper to grow by 100 thousand residents in the next 5 years than it is for Southern Dallas to become a stable middle class area. Sometimes I feel like the problems are too entrenched, and too big to tackle in any relatively short period of time.

I was in Austin a few months ago and their Downtown is also just north of a river that runs east to west south of their Downtown. In Austin you immediately leave a vibrant Downtown and there is a great river people use constantly, as well as parks surrounding it were there were literally hundreds of joggers throughout. For Dallas, when you exit Downtown you enter a deserted landscape of nothingness, only to get to a 10 feet swampy trickle of water surrounded by unrelenting prairie. Besides the North Oak Cliff area, everything in South Dallas is basically irrelevant to the city.

I think the Dallas Smart District getting built, as well as massive improvements to the Trinity River, would be the best way to support the future of the city. In other parts of the city, the Urbanism issue argues oh this CVS is ugly or oh this street is one way but should be 2 way, but all those issues honestly pale in comparison to the fact that someone who works Downtown is more likely to commute an hour each way to Frisco than to live 5 minutes South in South Dallas. Gentrification is a dirty word but until there is a massive gentrification in South Dallas- I think that will be Dallas' real impediment for the future.

[hjkll]

I know I wrote a lot but just to add onto this, I think Dallas needs to realize what it's strength is- low cost of housing and people being able to relatively easy afford the American dream in a huge metro area. Besides downtown/uptown and a few other parts of the city, let's be real, people don't come here to live in apartments. I love density and it's certainly fun, but it's not realistic on a huge scale here. The same way in other parts of this forum people have talked about Museum Tower and Bleu Ciel being slow to sell- well because the market for condos in this city is probably quite shallow.

What Souther Dallas should do is create a massive rezoning to spur single family home construction for young millennial couples and families. Couples who can't afford to be in Dallas, and don't want to or can't afford to buy a McMansion in the suburbs. Southern Dallas should be completely rezoned for small single family home developments, by minimizing lot size, eliminating front lawns deeper than 10 feet, and encouraging for reasonable townhouse development. I think if people could live in brand new starter homes for less than a quarter of a million dollars 5 minutes from Downtown and still have a small back yard- they would do it. But it would need to be a tremendous amount of capital all flowing in at once. I don't know anyone by themselves who would take the plunge.

[exelone31]

What Souther Dallas should do is create a massive rezoning to spur single family home construction for young millennial couples and families. Couples who can't afford to be in Dallas, and don't want to or can't afford to buy a McMansion in the suburbs. Southern Dallas should be completely rezoned for small single family home developments, by minimizing lot size, eliminating front lawns deeper than 10 feet, and encouraging for reasonable townhouse development. I think if people could live in brand new starter homes for less than a quarter of a million dollars 5 minutes from Downtown and still have a small back yard- they would do it. But it would need to be a tremendous amount of capital all flowing in at once. I don't know anyone by themselves who would take the plunge.

Do you think the deck park over I-35 by the zoo could be something to spur on that change? I am very curious to see what the impact of that park will be, especially considering there is a pretty large chunk of property that can be accumulated near there. We've seen what Klyde Warren has done for that area, I think this part could easily have as big an impact, just in a different way.

[cowboyeagle05]

I just want to point out there is lots of inner city townhouse and condo construction already in motion. Look at East Dallas/Henderson where those projects get less focus on this forum because they aren't massive donut buildings. As one project finishes between Henderson and Fitzhugh another one starts it seems. We are talking about 10-5 units at a time which is not as many as can pack into a Dallas Apartment donut but it's not like a new homeowner driven product isn't being built in our closer in neighborhoods. Large amounts of property along Lemmon has transitioned this way as well in the last 20 years. Cedars/Lamar area has seen this as well. Also in West Dallas, there is some rather large townhomes construction going on right next to some Dallas apartment donuts. Townhomes don't get the marketing buzz on here because they aren't done by the companies that make sure they get featured for the marketing buzz they need to lease up. I would say condo towers is definitely what we are missing but I think since I am 31 I would rather buy a townhome and hope to see that construction continue for sure in inner-city districts.

[The_Overdog]

Besides downtown/uptown and a few other parts of the city, let's be real, people don't come here to live in apartments.

Maybe not, but Dallas is only 50% owner occupied single family, so it's right on par with major cities like NYC, LA, and Seattle, not up with the midwest where places are closer to 70% owner occupied. And south Dallas is mostly already filled with houses (and people) so some kind of rezoning would be no big deal, but redoing the infrastructure to support smaller lots would be. The lots are also already relatively small - most between .15-20 of an acre (smaller than your average single family in north Dallas at .25)- on par with Frisco, but the houses are smaller. Really the best a developer could do would be to fill in the gaps - ie mostly full neighborhoods have houses missing, no different from any other old downtown (like Plano for example).

[cowboyeagle05]

https://candysdirt.com/2018/07/02/north ... es-galore/

North Oak Cliff Development Update Part 3: Townhomes Galore

...There are demo’d vacant lots in the middle of neighborhoods all over North Oak Cliff’s most popular entertainment district. I’ve found three new ones within the last week. Here’s the skinny on the last 10 projects under construction now, for a grand total of 27 individual projects.

All-Developments-expanded3.jpg

[Tucy]

Hey everyone, I saw this week that D Magazine has been posting stories from their new "Dallas and the New Urbanism" issue https://www.dmagazine.com/tag/dallas-and-the-new-urbanism/

I haven't gone through everything yet, but it seems like there's a lot of really solid content, so I figured I'd start a thread to discuss any particular topics from this issue. I feel like there's tons of overlap with a lot of the topics we chat about here on the forum.

I read in the article it saying dallas is behind Houston in urban development, how is that true?

It looks like it's based on this study of Walkable Urban Places, in which Houston ranks #15 and Dallas #25 out of 30 cities: https://smartgrowthamerica.org/app/legacy/documents/foot-traffic-ahead.pdf

[I45Tex]

Thanks Tucy!

[muncien]

Unlike MT or Blue Ciel, Townhomes, and the relatively small stock of 'affordable' condos has been killin' it for the last several years in Dallas. As mentioned earlier, most of these are in the Oak Lawn, Knox/Henderson, and East Dallas areas. They have performed so well, that the townhomes in the Farmers Market are nowhere near affordable any more.
What we need are some developers to jump on that boat instead of the easy apartment project, or the overly ambitious 'luxury' condo.

[exelone31]

https://candysdirt.com/2018/07/02/north-oak-cliff-development-update-part-3-townhomes-galore/

North Oak Cliff Development Update Part 3: Townhomes Galore

...There are demo’d vacant lots in the middle of neighborhoods all over North Oak Cliff’s most popular entertainment district. I’ve found three new ones within the last week. Here’s the skinny on the last 10 projects under construction now, for a grand total of 27 individual projects.

All-Developments-expanded3.jpg

Wow! I didn't realize there were so many different little projects happening at once. I knew the Nazerian and Alamo Manhattan ones were big, but there seem to be quite a few. Huge changes ahead.

[Warrior2015]

Hey everyone, I saw this week that D Magazine has been posting stories from their new "Dallas and the New Urbanism" issue https://www.dmagazine.com/tag/dallas-and-the-new-urbanism/

I haven't gone through everything yet, but it seems like there's a lot of really solid content, so I figured I'd start a thread to discuss any particular topics from this issue. I feel like there's tons of overlap with a lot of the topics we chat about here on the forum.

I read in the article it saying dallas is behind Houston in urban development, how is that true?

It looks like it's based on this study of Walkable Urban Places, in which Houston ranks #15 and Dallas #25 out of 30 cities: https://smartgrowthamerica.org/app/legacy/documents/foot-traffic-ahead.pdf

Yeah I read it also in this urbanism article somewhere I forgot to copy and paste it. I know it's probably not a big deal,but I just don't see how Houston is ahead in urban development.Atlanta yes but Houston ? A lot of the areas in their core don't even have sidewalks last time I was there. Most of the high rises there are just high rises, not much mixed use like say the union or epic. The only advantage that I saw was in the green space department. Tons of green spaces and nice parks far better than dallas all within 10 minutes from downtown.

[The_Overdog]

I'm not sure all the Dallas ones are listed, so the data may be bad and by 'bad' my guess would be the ones in DFW are too new.

They list 9 for Dallas, with Uptown specifically being one - so just using named districts as approximations DFW has more than that. They also list Dallas proper as having 93% of the walkups in the DFW metro (similar to Houston), but that's not right either. Most major DFW suburbs have at least one WalkUp.

[Tucy]

I'm not sure all the Dallas ones are listed, so the data may be bad and by 'bad' my guess would be the ones in DFW are too new.

They list 9 for Dallas, with Uptown specifically being one - so just using named districts as approximations DFW has more than that. They also list Dallas proper as having 93% of the walkups in the DFW metro (similar to Houston), but that's not right either. Most major DFW suburbs have at least one WalkUp.

The same can be said about Houston. The key is to pay attention to the methodology. What they counted was "regionally significant walkable urban places". To define "regionally significant walkable urban places", they used Brookings Institution methodology as their guide. "Regionally significant walkable urban places" have (i) 1.4 million square feet or more of office space; (ii) 340,000 square feet or more of retail; and (iii) WALK SCORE: Value ≥ 70 at the 100 percent location of the WalkUP.

How many of Dallas' (or Houston's ) suburbs have areas that meet that definition?

[I45Tex]

Yes. "This."
For instance, CityLine and Galatyn Park both seem to have peak WalkScores below the cutoff, disqualifying them, while downtown Richardson's max walk score is high enough but its square footage disqualifies it.

I used to be able to use heatmaps on WalkScore.com but can't seem to find that function at the moment. That would let you narrow possibilities down rather quickly.

A more sophisticated study would assess "regional significance" differently, and maybe even determine whether this square-footage proxy had anything to do with livability; it would be nice to know, for instance, if more numerous "neighborhood centers" actually perform more of the heavy lifting for the general public (I suspect so) than do the superchunks Smart Growth America was looking for. But I don't blame them for having insufficient resources to drill down far enough to know.

Superchunk is a good band, by the way =)
Here's a little song that's got to do with real estate development:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqTafZvffZg

[The_Overdog]

How many of Dallas' (or Houston's ) suburbs have areas that meet that definition?

Possibly not that many, but that is because they are still significantly under construction. Cityline for example has a very low park score component of its Walkscore because the major park is still under construction (or was very recently dedicated, I can't remember which). But that's not even exactly true, there is a huge nature preserve connected by trails to CityLine, so their WalkScore park score component is just wrong.

Start with not great data, get not great results, but again that's probably because the area is so new it's score is probably mostly auto-generated.

[Tucy]

How many of Dallas' (or Houston's ) suburbs have areas that meet that definition?

Possibly not that many, but that is because they are still significantly under construction. Cityline for example has a very low park score component of its Walkscore because the major park is still under construction (or was very recently dedicated, I can't remember which). But that's not even exactly true, there is a huge nature preserve connected by trails to CityLine, so their WalkScore park score component is just wrong.

Start with not great data, get not great results, but again that's probably because the area is so new it's score is probably mostly auto-generated.

And most cities could probably come up with similar quibbles.

[The_Overdog]

And most cities could probably come up with similar quibbles.

Sure, I'd bet every city that is building some sort of 'walkable urbanism' where little existed before would have the same complaints - they are in a different game vs the ones that have a 50 year headstart.

[TNWE]

Unlike MT or Blue Ciel, Townhomes, and the relatively small stock of 'affordable' condos has been killin' it for the last several years in Dallas. As mentioned earlier, most of these are in the Oak Lawn, Knox/Henderson, and East Dallas areas. They have performed so well, that the townhomes in the Farmers Market are nowhere near affordable any more.
What we need are some developers to jump on that boat instead of the easy apartment project, or the overly ambitious 'luxury' condo.

Agreed on the shortage of low-amenity, low-HOA dues condos in Dallas. Seems like every place that's for sale is price competitive with renting from a P&I + escrow point of view, but once you add on the HOA dues that cover the mandatory valet parking, it prices a lot of people out (I've seen condos for sale downtown where the HOA is easily the same as the mortgage payment!)

Unfortunately, developers just can't resist building luxury units. Just like realtors, they'd rather sell something with premium finishes and keep the appreciation/markup for themselves, rather than sell a more basic/midrange finish and let a DIY-inclined homeowner realize the appreciation in value down the road.

[ContriveDallasite]

I wonder when the central Dallas market stock will mature in to something that allows families to stay in walkable neighborhoods. That will change the area from SMU Greek Row 2.0 to an actual living neighborhood. But I suppose a lot of that is riding on DISD fixing itself first.

[ericthegardener]

Has anybody hear actually bought this issue of D Magazine? I went to four places on their distributor's list this morning and couldn't find it anywhere.

[cowboyeagle05]

I have a copy it was delivered to a work friend but they didn't want it so I offered to take the print copy off their hands.

[exelone31]

Has anybody hear actually bought this issue of D Magazine? I went to four places on their distributor's list this morning and couldn't find it anywhere.

I bought one at the Tom Thumb near by house, they had plenty of copies there. I'm assuming most grocery stores that carry D Magazine are likely carrying it.

Just finished the paper issue yesterday. Pretty solid overall. Really liked the article listing out all the various improvements they're recommending to the city of Dallas (Chapter 8, I believe). I don't know if they'll post it online, but it's pretty detailed, which I think is great.

Similar to what someone noted earlier in the thread, I'm not sure how much impact this special edition will have to affect any real change, but it's cool that it's out there. I think it definitely appeals to the interests of the folks on this thread at least

[tamtagon]

I'm curious about these articles. I want to read them and all, but I have a feeling there's not much mentioned that hasn't already been more thoroughly discussed on this forum. Like, would my interest suffer during the read simply because it's a repeat?

[exelone31]

I'm curious about these articles. I want to read them and all, but I have a feeling there's not much mentioned that hasn't already been more thoroughly discussed on this forum. Like, would my interest suffer during the read simply because it's a repeat?

There are definitely certain things that have been talked about on the forum, but there are some neat elements brought in from other cities' successes and some talk around the future for certain areas.

Here's a good example of a piece that highlights specific areas that have done well with walkability/urbanization and others that are up-and-comers: https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2018/dallas-and-the-new-urbanism/north-texas-suburbs-become-towns-again/

There may not be any "whoa!" moments for you while going through the articles, but I think it was worthwhile to read.

[lakewoodhobo]

I've really enjoyed reading these stories, although most are painfully short essays that don't really go into a whole lot of detail. I know this was D Magazine's decision because, for example, Patrick Kennedy could write several dozen pages on any one topic. His story on replicating the Bishop Arts model to 9 buildings (why not 10?) could've gone a lot further:

https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/ ... velopment/

Then there's "Dallas, Don’t Screw Up This Park-Building Boom"
https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/ ... de-warren/

It was interesting to read about Klyde Warren, Main Street Garden and Thanks-Giving Square from an outsider's perspective.

[exelone31]

Is anyone going to the symposium on Wednesday (07/11)? It looks like it's sold out now, but would be interesting to attend.

[mdg109]

Yeah, I'll be there.

[exelone31]

Yeah, I'll be there.

How'd it go?

[mdg109]

It was good - really bare bones. Just a moderator and different panels for different topics with audience q&a after each panel discussion. There were no presentation visuals, or renderings. It was good to hear from people from the city and different neighborhood organizations like Patrick Kennedy with Dart, Chad West with the Dallas City Planning Commission (zoning and form-based codes); Mike Hoque (Smart District), Fair Park Neighborhood Assoc., and City Square, et al. I actually left feeling optimistic that there are a lot of people doing work behind the scenes and with influence to make the city better.

[exelone31]

That's awesome! I wish I had been able to make it, I liked the lineup that they had as I think those are a lot of plugged-in folks with great insight.

How was Downtown Dallas Inc? I feel I am really cynical about what they actually accomplish in terms of making progress for the city, but it's very possible that I'm either a) not trying very hard to seek out evidence of positive progress or b) misinterpreting their overall purpose.

[cowboyeagle05]

Downtown Dallas Inc is like 50% marketing, 45% lobbying organization, 5% they manage actual programs that help Downtown. Downtown Dallas Inc does manage the Downtown Dallas clean up crew that you may have seen. They roll around with mobile cleaning carts much like the staff of a hotel and sweep trash from the gutters, sidewalks etc. Uptown Dallas has this cleaning crew thing as well but that one is managed by the Uptown Dallas organization. Downtown Dallas also has the Downtown Safety Patrol under their control.

Also a few years ago the city agreed to give Downtown Dallas Inc management of Downtown parks. Don't get confused though "Parks for Downtown" is the organization building new parks building Pacific Plaza, West End Plaza, and Harwood Park. Downtown Dallas Inc is in charge of coordinating maintenance and other improvements like the recently planned modifications to Main Street Gardens. They also are allowed to book events in the parks. Downtown Dallas Inc has no management of Klyde Warren of course since it has its own management structure.

While all these things are important I think they spend more of their efforts on lobbying and marketing.

[exelone31]

Downtown Dallas Inc is like 50% marketing, 45% lobbying organization, 5% they manage actual programs that help Downtown. Downtown Dallas Inc does manage the Downtown Dallas clean up crew that you may have seen. They roll around with mobile cleaning carts much like the staff of a hotel and sweep trash from the gutters, sidewalks etc. Uptown Dallas has this cleaning crew thing as well but that one is managed by the Uptown Dallas organization. Downtown Dallas also has the Downtown Safety Patrol under their control.

Also a few years ago the city agreed to give Downtown Dallas Inc management of Downtown parks. Don't get confused though "Parks for Downtown" is the organization building new parks building Pacific Plaza, West End Plaza, and Harwood Park. Downtown Dallas Inc is in charge of coordinating maintenance and other improvements like the recently planned modifications to Main Street Gardens. They also are allowed to book events in the parks. Downtown Dallas Inc has no management of Klyde Warren of course since it has its own management structure.

While all these things are important I think they spend more of their efforts on lobbying and marketing.

Gotcha, thanks for that breakdown! It seemed that way from my outside perspective as well. They promote things but don't seem to have much of a hand in the inner workings.

[cowboyeagle05]

Keeping mind all my rambling is my version of what I have seen. I certainly have not seen their budget. I am sure some else may have a different understanding than mine.