Currently the Downtown Dallas 360 action plan is being formulated with wide-ranging ideas about how to make downtown more vibrant. Rather than dissect the released parts of the plan before it can even be presented, I'll just say that there are things that I like in the plan and some things I do not.
Here are some ideas that would help to make downtown vibrant seven days a week:
1) Kill the concept of valets being allowed to use all of the on-street spaces. Valets should only be allowed to use parking lots and decks to park cars. I hear from countless friends and associates how much they resent being forced to use a valet that charges $10 to park their car in front of the restaurant. Valets also need to be monitored for their driving safety. Raise your hand if you've seen the light-running and near-misses by downtown valets rushing to return a car.
2) Better manage the on-street spaces through efficient meters that accept multiple methods of payment (this is already in process).
3) Close Main Street from time to time for weekend street fairs and other events. The costs would be nominal other than some barricades and maybe OT for an officer or two.
4) Move buses off of Main Street. If you don't think this is necessary, come downtown anytime after 3pm during the week. The bus/valet combo brings Main Street to a standstill.
5) Stop letting outside forces dictate (READ: stifle) opportunities for street food carts to be downtown. Food trucks enhance downtown, and do not hurt the business of restaurants. Already, moves are being made to bring food trucks to the Arts District, so why not in the center of downtown? Besides, this is Dallas and we pride ourselves on being entrepreneurial. Which brings me to:
6)Mobile Food trucks. If this food truck (shown above) can draw 500 people in 45 minutes to the deBoulle parking lot on Preston Road, surely such trucks can work downtown.
6) Find a piece small of land on the outskirts (maybe near the Farmers Market) and create a Rucker Park/West 4th Street (Greenwich Village) style basketball court or two. This type of place attracts people at little cost. Basketball courts don't have to be mowed, and there are sources of funding for such places from various foundations and institutions.
These are just random things. Some of these ideas are ones that I have seen other places, but put into practice could make Downtown Dallas a more viable place.
The marketing of the events that occur downtown also leaves something to be desired. Events downtown should be publicized throughout the city, to let people know that there are a lot of cool things happening downtown and that this area should be on their radar when looking to move.
Two other significant events are happening which will help to increase foot traffic during nighttime hours. The first is the opening of the Convention Center Hotel. This will bring a large group of people downtown on hundreds of nights per year. The second is the discussed plans to renovate the Convention Center Arena. If you bring 9-10,000 people to downtown 100-150 nights per year, businesses will follow.
4) Move buses off of Main Street. If you don't think this is necessary, come downtown anytime after 3pm during the week. The bus/valet combo brings Main Street to a standstill.
5) Stop letting outside forces dictate (READ: stifle) opportunities for street food carts to be downtown. Food trucks enhance downtown, and do not hurt the business of restaurants. Already, moves are being made to bring food trucks to the Arts District, so why not in the center of downtown? Besides, this is Dallas and we pride ourselves on being entrepreneurial. Which brings me to:
6)Mobile Food trucks. If this food truck (shown above) can draw 500 people in 45 minutes to the deBoulle parking lot on Preston Road, surely such trucks can work downtown.
6) Find a piece small of land on the outskirts (maybe near the Farmers Market) and create a Rucker Park/West 4th Street (Greenwich Village) style basketball court or two. This type of place attracts people at little cost. Basketball courts don't have to be mowed, and there are sources of funding for such places from various foundations and institutions.
These are just random things. Some of these ideas are ones that I have seen other places, but put into practice could make Downtown Dallas a more viable place.
The marketing of the events that occur downtown also leaves something to be desired. Events downtown should be publicized throughout the city, to let people know that there are a lot of cool things happening downtown and that this area should be on their radar when looking to move.
Two other significant events are happening which will help to increase foot traffic during nighttime hours. The first is the opening of the Convention Center Hotel. This will bring a large group of people downtown on hundreds of nights per year. The second is the discussed plans to renovate the Convention Center Arena. If you bring 9-10,000 people to downtown 100-150 nights per year, businesses will follow.
People constantly ask why can't Downtown Dallas be like Sundance Square in Fort Worth. One of the main reasons Fort Worth is farther along is that a lot of the support functions are subsidized by the wealth of the billionaire Bass family. This includes security, free parking, and they have also donated to build the performance hall. It's also much smaller than any sector of Downtown Dallas. It will take time, but we will get there and pass them. We just have to make smart moves about Downtown Dallas' future.
