A Quick Look at The “Quick Win Priorities” Offered By the Downtown Dallas 360 Plan

First thing this morning, the “final draft” of the Downtown Dallas 360 plan appeared in the Unfair Park inbox, replacing the version sent out a few days back in advance of Wednesday’s council meeting, at which point the city will officially adopt a resolution that “directs the City Manager to consider and consult the
recommendations of this plan, in conjunction with other adopted plans, for all future
actions affecting the Downtown Dallas 360 study area.” The agenda item also notes that the plan includes “67 prioritized actions to focus efforts over the next ten
years,” many of which are anywhere from 12 months to a decade down the road to reality and most of which cost a great deal of money, sources for which are not often identified.

Ah, but what about those “quick wins” Downtown Dallas President and CEO John Crawford recently mentioned? There are 16 of those, ranging from “short-term
alternatives to streetcar
implementation” to making it easy for street vendors to peddle their wares to the creation of a “Parking Management Collaborative.” On the other side you’ll find the whole list of suggestions, along with the such details as how long consultants MIG expect them to take to implement, who’s going to be in charge of leading the effort … and how much each one’s expected to cost and who’s expected to foot the bill, if that info’s available. And much of the time, it’s not. Jump, but don’t forget to feed the meter.

Explore short-term
alternatives to streetcar
implementation including DART rail
fare-free zone, flat cab rates within
Downtown, and/or shuttle services
between major destinations (e.g.
Convention Center Hotel and the
West End).
Timeframe: 0-12 months
Order-of-magnitude
cost: N/A
Lead
Responsibility/
Support: Partnership of City
of Dallas, DDI,
DART
Funding
Resources: Public-private
partnerships,
NCTCOG grants,
RTR funds

Modify street vending
ordinance consistent with DDI
recommendations to support
increased vending opportunities
including kiosks, carts and temporary
vendors
Timeframe: 0-12 months
Order-of-magnitude cost: Administrative
action by staff
Lead
Responsibility/Support: City of Dallas/DDI
Funding Resource: N/A

Use cross-section prototypes
detailed in Chapter IV for guidelines
on street improvements to correspond
to new street classifications (until new
standards are adopted – [see item above])
Timeframe: 0-12 months
Order-of-magnitude
cost: Administrative
action by staff
Lead
Responsibility/Support: City of Dallas
Funding Resource: N/A

Revise sidewalk dining
regulations to permit
recommendations outlined in Chapter
IV
Timeframe: 0-12 months
Order-of-magnitude cost: Administrative
action by staff
Lead
Responsibility/Support: City of Dallas/DDI
Funding Resource: N/A

Establish peer review
committee made up of City of Dallas
staff/CityDesign Studio, DDI, and
respected local architects and
developers to review all public
projects and private projects receiving
public incentives, as well as to perform
voluntary design critique of all
Downtown development projects
Timeframe: 0-12 months
Order-of-magnitude cost: Administrative
action by staff
Lead
Responsibility/Support: DDI/City of Dallas/CityDesign Studio
Funding Resource: N/A

Require design review based on
the urban design guidelines in
Chapter IV for properties that:
a. Are within 300 feet of an existing
or planned fixed-rail transit station;
b. Face an existing or proposed
park, plaza or other open space;
c. Are located along a Streetcar
Boulevard, regardless of station
location;
d. Are in Zone C as outlined in the
Main Street Retail Activation
Strategy; and/or
e. Receive public funds.
Timeframe: 0-12 months
Order-of-magnitude cost: Administrative
action by staff
Lead
Responsibility/Support: DDI/City of Dallas/CityDesign Studio
Funding Resource: N/A

Build on existing policies to
create an Affordable Housing
Development Strategy for Downtown
Timeframe: 0-12 months
Order-of-magnitude cost: N/A
Lead
Responsibility/Support: DDI Housing Task
Force/City of
Dallas
Funding Resource: N/A

Create a new Parking
Management Collaborative. Focus on
parking by recruiting and hiring a
program director. The new parking
management organization must be
“vertically integrated” (i.e., that one
entity is managing and coordinating onstreet
parking, parking enforcement,
off-street parking and parking planning
at a minimum)
Timeline: 0 – 12 months
Order of
Magnitude Cost: $250,000 (including
salaries)
Lead
Responsibility/Support: DDI/City of Dallas
Funding
Resources: DDI, TIF
budgets

Enhance parking planning.
Develop new parking planning tools
(e.g. new parking demand model).
Develop/adopt new parking facility
design review processes and parking
facility design guidelines. Tie these
design guidelines to the overall
Downtown design guidelines and
review process
Timeframe: 0-6 months
Order-of-magnitude cost: $5,000-$25,000
Lead Responsibility/Support: City of Dallas/DDI
Funding Resources: N/A

Enhance program branding and
communications. Create a new parking
program brand development
incorporated with new public parking
signage and wayfinding program.
These action items are closely linked to
the “Parking Management
Collaborative” organizational concept
that is detailed within the parking
strategic plan
Timeframe: 0-6 months
Order-of-
Magnitude Cost: $5,000-$25,000
Lead Responsibility/Support: DDI
Funding Resources: N/A

For Farmers Market: Create a development plan,
conduct feasibility analysis, issue an
RFP and require design review for
catalytic site bounded by Canton,
Cesar Chavez, Marilla and Harwood
(as illustrated in Chapter V)
Timeframe: 0-12 months
Order-of-magnitude cost: $100,000
Lead Responsibility/Support: DDI/City of Dallas
Funding Resources: TIF

In Lamar Corridor: Complete Project Paseo which
will result in improved sidewalks,
landscaping and burying electrical
systems along Lamar between IH-30
and Wood Street and streetscaping
for the new Omni Hotel
Timeframe: 1-2 years
Order-of-magnitude cost: $2.7 million
Lead Responsibility/Support: NCTCOG, City of
Dallas/Matthews
Southwest
Funding Resources: Funded

In Main Street District Retail Activation Area: Adopt design standards as
specified in the Main Street District
Retail Activation Strategy
Timeframe: 0-12 months
Order-of-magnitude cost: Administrative
action by staff
Lead
Responsibility/Support: City of Dallas/DDI
Funding Resources: N/A

In Main Street District Retail Activation Area: Establish new district brand and
identity and wayfinding micro-system
Timeframe: 0-12 months
Order-of-magnitude cost: $75,000
Lead Responsibility/Support: DDI
Funding Resources: DDI

For the Arts District: Require design review by Peer
Review Committee for all
development in the focus area,
including the Spire development site
and Crozier Tech site to ensure TOD
principles and urban design goals are
met near the Pearl DART station
Timeframe: 0-12 months
Order-of-magnitude cost: Administrative
action by staff
Lead
Responsibility/Support: City of Dallas
Funding Resources: N/A

Around Union Station: Swap publicly- and privatelyowned
land to consolidate ownership
and catalyze development
Timeframe: 1-2 years
Order-of-magnitude cost: N/A
Lead
Responsibility/Support: City of Dallas
Funding Resources: N/A