Dallas To Host Sociable City Summit

Dallas is set to host next year’s Sociable City Summit, a hospitality industry event that draws business and city leaders from all over the country.

The annual event is organized by the Responsible Hospitality Institute, which bills itself as an organization that strives to “help cities plan safe and inclusive places to socialize by convening diverse stakeholders to achieve a common vision.”

“This is a fantastic opportunity for City of Dallas teams and local businesses to partner to learn best practices from Sociable Cities’ expertise,” said Assistant City Manager Carl Simpson, per a City press release. “Sociable Cities concepts and ideas will help elevate Dallas nighttime economy to the next level.”

The announcement comes on the heels of an especially violent first half of the year for Dallas. Murders were up more than 20% year over year during the first four months of 2023, the only stretch of time this year with crime statistics the Dallas Police Department (DPD) is willing to vouch for.

In the press release, the City also announced that it would be creating a new staffing position to oversee Dallas’ nightlife: “Night Manager and/or Office of Nightlife.”

“We commend the City of Dallas for recognizing the value of its nightlife and taking proactive measures to enhance it, while joining over 80 cities around the world with similar positions,” said Bryan Tony, a project manager for 24HourDallas’ Good Neighbor, according to the press release.

Downtown Dallas and neighboring entertainment district Deep Ellum have both seen alarming rates of crime in recent years, which spurred the development of a dedicated police unit to patrol the latter. Despite the efforts of DPD — which is currently experiencing a significant shortage of hundreds of officers — crime remains stubbornly high in the downtown area.

Dallas’ downtown area is also affected by the city’s serious homelessness and vagrancy problem, which City leaders have not been able to get a handle on. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the latest report by the Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness, Organizations, Policies, and Encampments evoked disappointment.

“The tardiness & opacity of the report notwithstanding, it still demonstrates the absolute failure of [City Manager T.C. Broadnax] and the City Council in battling this exponentially growing problem,” tweeted the organization Dallas Matters.