Once again downtown Dallas stands at a precipice. For the past few years it has gained momentum as a more active and residential city center, but market factors are now causing many businesses to close or move. Rumor has it that AT&T is ready to pull up stakes. This could lead to a doom loop: Less business means fewer people means less activity means less investment means less business. And repeat. Will downtown fall back to its previous era as a one-track work zone that becomes a ghost city after 5 p.m.? And — spoiler alert — a new convention center isn’t going to fix everything.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Many downtrodden downtowns — from Oklahoma City to Detroit — have been successfully revitalized before, and there’s a pattern. Actually, it’s more like a formula: Successful downtowns bring in residents, invest heavily in public spaces, shape culture with constant programming, make streets pedestrian-friendly, convert empty industrial space and build strong public-private partnerships.
What we want to do is create a virtuous cycle. We can start anywhere. Create more activity to bring in more people, which leads to more investment, which brings in businesses, which bring in more people. A successful downtown renaissance plan would ideally activate all of these factors at once. Let’s break it down.
Renovate and pedestrianize
All we hear about these days is Dallas’s lack of housing. The solution is obvious: transform vacant Class B and C office towers into apartments, lofts and startup incubators. Make them mixed-use with pop up markets, boutiques and retail. Incentivize developers with Tax Increment Financing, low-interest loans, historic preservation credits and property tax abatements.
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While we’re at it, let’s make downtown more pedestrian-friendly. That means misters and shade for the heat, street conversion through road diets, converting one-ways into two-way boulevards and more transportation options like a DART shuttle that circulates around the city.
Creative zoning
Downtown needs walkable, mixed-use developments near transit to blossom. That might mean cutting some corners with current zoning regulations. Make everything a Planned Unit Development or an overlay zone. All of it. Zoning codes should emphasize “form and function” rather than “use type.” We should also experiment with zoning in new ways — like temporarily. For instance, a street could function as a delivery zone in the morning, then change to a pedestrian-only plaza in the afternoon.
Culture and identity
When you think of downtown New Orleans, you think of culture, food and history. Austin has music. Fort Worth has the stockyards. But what do you think of when somebody says “downtown Dallas?” Maybe the cool, lit-up skyscape at night. But not something with a real presence or narrative.
Downtown needs an identity. Some of the pieces are in place, but they’re spread out and don’t run 24/7 as a real, bustling city does. In my opinion, Dallas should focus on its history of big business and development. An injection of culture would also help. Bring in mobile food vendors, have some festivals, throw a parade, celebrate heritage. And don’t pretend JFK wasn’t shot here.
Don’t we all want a vibrant, cool city we can be proud of? But Downtown Dallas Inc., City Hall and private enterprise can’t do it alone. Fully revitalizing downtown into a place you want to hang out in will require work and buy-in from everyone.
Above all, it’s going to require imagination. What are your ideas to fix up downtown?
Jason Nancarrow is a screenwriter and director whose film “Carousel” was filmed in downtown Dallas.