Chiessa, now an urban planner who teaches at the University of Texas at Arlington, didn\u2019t blame those community fears on the developers, economy or shifting demographics.<\/p>\n
Rather, he traced them to what he sees as a 20-year divestment in long-term city planning.<\/p>\n
Chiessa and three city planners with backgrounds within and outside Fort Worth\u2019s City Hall told the Fort Worth Report that the city is at an inflection point in forming a long-term strategy to manage fast growth and encourage revitalization of its urban core.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Thursday, some of these planning experts will discuss the current state of the city\u2019s long-term planning strategy and what\u2019s at stake for the future. The panel, \u201cUrban Design Talk: Beyond the Fort Worth Way,\u201d<\/a> features Chiessa, former Fort Worth City Council member Ann Zadeh and Gary Gaston, a Nashville city planner who leads community-driven design strategies.<\/p>\n If you go<\/p>\n What: \u201cUrban Design Talk: Beyond the Fort Worth Way<\/a>,\u201d featuring former Fort Worth City Council member Ann Zadeh, urban designer and UTA professor Dennis Antonio Chiessa and Nashville city planner Gary Gaston<\/p>\n When: Thursday, March 26, 6-8 p.m.<\/p>\n Where: Artes de La Rosa Cultural Center for the Arts; 1440 N. Main St., Fort Worth<\/p>\n Price: Free. Book a seat here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Their discussion comes as Fort Worth adds nearly 2,000 new residents a month<\/a> and eyes a spot in the country\u2019s top 10 largest cities<\/a>. Meanwhile, city leaders are developing a new comprehensive plan<\/a> and seeking a top city planner<\/a> \u2014 a position that has been practically nonexistent for nearly 20 years.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the role of the city government to make sure that all of the projects that are happening in the city are guided in some direction,\u201d said Chiessa, whose design studio has worked with the city several times for urban planning projects.<\/p>\n Fernando Costa, a former longtime assistant city manager<\/a>, said a city growing as fast as Fort Worth \u201ccannot afford to make disjointed decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n Costa led planning efforts in City Hall from 1998 until he retired in 2025 and has remained involved in revitalization and city planning efforts, including those in Northside, as a consultant and volunteer.<\/p>\n \u201cAll decisions should be coordinated and based upon how our actions today will affect our city in the future,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that applies to practically every city department.\u201d<\/p>\n Having \u2014 and sticking to \u2014 a long-term vision for Fort Worth is vital for sustainable development, Costa said. Without it, the city risks spreading tax-funded resources thin at the cost of the cultures and communities that make Cowtown unique.\u00a0<\/p>\n In recent years, Fort Worth has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into road<\/a> and water<\/a> improvements to serve its growing population in areas such as the far north\u2019s Bonds Ranch corridor and the western Walsh area.\u00a0<\/p>\n The city regularly enters<\/a> into agreements with developers to provide city services to future single-family subdivisions in former ranchland that\u2019s up to nearly 30 miles away from downtown.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of the $845 million on the ballot in the city\u2019s upcoming bond election<\/a>, $511.5 million is for road upgrades. Of that, a majority is dedicated to outside the 820 Loop that encompasses Fort Worth\u2019s urban core.<\/p>\n Sprawl is the result of disjointed planning, Costa said. A dollar invested in central city revitalization generates a better return for the city than \u201cone invested in chasing suburban sprawl,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cA low-density, single-family subdivision will not pay for itself,\u201d Costa said. \u201cIt will be a draw upon city resources and will prove to be costly in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n In contrast, high-density, mixed-use development<\/a> in the central city \u2014 although it takes careful, long-term planning \u2014 tends to produce more tax revenue than it consumes, he added.<\/p>\n Fort Worth\u2019s planning department takes different forms<\/p>\n Fort Worth is the largest Texas city to not have a designated planning department or a planning department merged with development.<\/p>\n From the 1960s to the mid-2000s, the city had a planning department responsible for historic preservation, analyzing census data as well as guiding how land should be used and efforts to redesign Fort Worth\u2019s urban core.<\/p>\n In 2006, Fort Worth leaders followed a consultant\u2019s recommendation and merged planning with the development department \u2014 which handled zoning and subdivision regulations, Assistant City Manager Dana Burghdoff said. Burghdoff was the planning department\u2019s assistant director at that time.<\/p>\n While the merged department initially worked as expected to streamline processes, it was quickly the victim of sweeping budget cuts amid the 2008 recession, said Costa, who was the first director of the planning and development department.<\/p>\n The planning-half of the department particularly fell victim to cuts, as the city had to prioritize its limited funds to essential and mandated services, Burghdoff said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Against public safety and development permitting, long-term planning was an easy place to trim.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were generally cuts across the board, but some of the deepest cuts were in that comprehensive planning, neighborhood planning team,\u201d Burghdoff recalled.<\/p>\n Randy Hutcheson, a former manager of Fort Worth\u2019s preservation and design division, said the merged departments dramatically shifted the culture around the city\u2019s long-term strategy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThose actions reflected the city\u2019s priorities: Improving the development process \u2014 which was needed \u2014 took center stage, while the capacity to coordinate long\u2011term planning was steadily diminished,\u201d Hutcheson said.<\/p>\n Zadeh, who became a council member in 2014 after six years as a zoning commissioner, said the planning team never quite recovered from the recession-era cuts. She said the city spent the next decade more focused on managing its fast growth and lowering the tax rate.<\/p>\n Over time, more positions previously under the planning department were relocated to other city departments.<\/p>\n In 2022, the now six-person planning team was again relocated into the city\u2019s budget department before being separated into the city manager\u2019s office to be overseen by Burghdoff in October.<\/p>\n City, nonprofits look to strategically invest in urban core\u00a0<\/p>\n In July, the city launched a nationwide search for a chief planning officer<\/a> to lead the team and coordinate comprehensive planning. Burghdoff said Fort Worth hasn\u2019t had such a leader since Costa.<\/p>\n The planning officer will be vital in coordinating with each city department to ensure all are pulling in the same direction. This is a perspective the city\u2019s current structure lacks, the planning experts said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to say that (city staff) don\u2019t have a corporate mindset when they\u2019re working in their departments,\u201d Burghdoff said. \u201cIt\u2019s just it\u2019s easier if you\u2019ve got someone who\u2019s facilitating those conversations and helping.\u201d<\/p>\n City staff\u2019s bandwidth often is limited, she added, so being reactive to issues that arise sometimes erases time to be proactive.<\/p>\n Costa said intentional city planning could bring more urban core revitalization projects like that of the West 7th district<\/a>, which is anchored by the repurposed Montgomery Plaza, and the Clearfork neighborhood<\/a>, which has populated once vacant areas along the Trinity River with housing, businesses and cultural events.<\/p>\n Fort Worth has launched several efforts to encourage investment into its urban core and communities, including the Neighborhood Improvement Program<\/a>, which streams a few million dollars into a select few neighborhoods over multiple years.<\/p>\n The city has relied on nonprofits such as Near Southside Inc.<\/a>, Downtown Fort Worth Inc.<\/a>, and Community Design Fort Worth<\/a>, of which Zadeh is the executive director, to coordinate targeted, big-picture planning.<\/p>\n However, such partnerships should not fully replace long-term planning within City Hall, said Chiessa, the UTA professor who has been heavily involved in the Northside Main Street America Program<\/a> that aims to revitalize and preserve the neighborhood\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n The 2050 Comprehensive Plan<\/a> is on track to be finalized in 2028.<\/p>\n Fort Worth most recently adopted an updated comprehensive plan<\/a> in 2023. These updates build on a plan that Costa led the creation of in 2000.\u00a0<\/p>\n Costa said the document should be a guide for every facet of Fort Worth \u2014 from land use to water infrastructure to streets to zoning \u2014 in how leaders allocate the city\u2019s limited resources and design infrastructure.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to make choices,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n And somehow, those choices need to keep up with infrastructure, address the sprawl and revitalize the city\u2019s urban core without causing displacement \u2014 all while remaining community-driven by public engagement.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a dilemma,\u201d Costa said. \u201cI\u2019m not suggesting that there are easy solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Costa and others told the Report, those solutions can\u2019t be found if Fort Worth isn\u2019t looking for them.<\/p>\n Drew Shaw is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org<\/a>or @shawlings601<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Goss-BondRanchRoad-05-1024x683.jpg\")
Cars drive on West Bonds Ranch Road on June 20, 2025, in Fort Worth. (Mary Abby Goss | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/city-manager_CamiloDiaz-2-1024x646.jpg\")
Then-Assistant City Manager Fernando Costa attends a council work session on May 21, 2024, at City Hall. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n![\"Ann](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Open-Forum-16-1024x819.jpg\")
Ann Zadeh, pictured in April 2021, represented District 9 on Fort Worth City Council for seven years. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Goss-6-17-CityCouncil-01-1024x683.jpg\")
Assistant City Manager Dana Burghdoff, left, chats with her colleagues June 17, 2025, before a City Council work session at Fort Worth City Hall. (Mary Abby Goss | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n