Downtown Dallas could be getting a makeover in the coming years as local boosters and City leaders appear to be doubling down on an improvement plan.
An update to the “Downtown Dallas 360 Plan” was presented to the City Council’s Transportation & Infrastructure Committee on Monday. Leading the project is the non-profit booster organization Downtown Dallas Inc.
Two of its executives briefed the committee on changes to the plan, which called for leaning into public-private partnerships to transform Downtown Dallas into more of a residential community of sorts. Critical to the project is the development of a multi-faceted yet interconnected transportation network that connects to bordering neighborhoods.
“The vision is a complete and connected city center … trying to make sure that downtown is bringing connectivity to other parts of our city,” said Jennifer Scripps, president & CEO of Downtown Dallas Inc.
Some council members on the committee appeared pleased by the update.
“I trust their judgment and I know they are doing their homework. And I have the same vision in seeing that downtown is multi-modal, and we have different ways for transportation and we’re no longer relying solely on our car,” said City Council Member Jesse Moreno (D2), NBC 5 reported.
“We are working tirelessly to make Dallas a more walkable, pedestrian-friendly city,” Moreno added.
Council Member Tennell Atkins, however, pushed the executives on how much the project would ultimately cost City taxpayers.
Scripps said it would not be out of bounds for the final number to be around $200 million.
The plan laid out demographic changes in the downtown area in relation to office vacancies, noting that the residential population has increased significantly since 2011.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, the radical changes wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic — such as the shift toward remote work — allowed for a lot of office space to be converted into residential units.
“There’s tremendous opportunity in so many parts of downtown now to continue this positive momentum,” claimed Scripps, NBC 5 reported.
While boosters seem enthusiastic about the developments, the update at City Hall comes at a somewhat troubling time for Dallas.
The city has been steadily losing residents and missing out on the broader North Texas population boom, with a poll conducted by The Dallas Express suggesting it is at least in part due to the poor quality of the public school system — Dallas Independent School District.
Additionally, an analysis of crime data by the Metroplex Civic and Business Association found that downtown Dallas has a significantly higher crime rate than downtown Fort Worth, the second-biggest city in the metroplex, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.