Improve Dallas: Two Civic-Minded Events You Should Attend

Now one of the country’s most unique parks, I first learned about the High Line as a dopey out-of-towner, visiting New York’s MOMA on Free Day. They had an installation piece, a model of the project and short video work detailing how the city would reclaim the abandoned train tracks, and coax their revegetation until they served a new purpose as city hiking trails. Even the model was beautiful. Now that the park is in use, it leads us to wonder what other ways we could re-shape our deadzones and polish up our communities while still honoring our past. There are few things lovelier than trees and wildflowers reaching through train tracks.

If you’re interested in exploring our community’s options, there are two tickets that you need to pick up today; one is free, the other will cost you. The pricier option is for tomorrow night’s speaking engagement with New York’s Uran Planner Amanda Burden at the Nasher. She was one of the big brains/hearts/mouths behind the High Line project — you could say transformation is sort of her thing. She was also active in giving design aid to the Midtown Community Court project. She turned bars into clear, calming doors so that prisoners would feel more tranquil and appear less frazzled when they approached judgement. She gave the building a visible sense of pride, one that was felt by all who entered it. She also brought the prisoners into the community for their civic duty. Pruning trees, painting fences — these things became the new normal and citizens soon took note by speaking to the prisoners and thanking them for their efforts. End result? She helped give them back a bit of humanity.

Amanda Burden gets stuff done and she does it with a strong focus on design. She’ll speak at 8 p.m. as part of the NasherSalon series in the museum’s auditorium. Tickets range $50 to $65.

The other not-to-be-missed event is scheduled for June 6 and is completely Dallas-centric. This year’s Design Week was unfortunately planned for the same week as the Dallas Art Fair and the Dallas International Film Festival, so we didn’t hear much about it. What did grow from the the Think Tank fest was a group sponsored by Good Magazine, called Good Designs for Cities. Our local problem solvers have spent the last five weeks identifying urban problems that could be remedied through re-design. This same project has happened in other cities, ending in things as simple as improving the fonts and brands of signage in troubled parts of town, or more labor-demanding ideas like installing bicycle lanes and trails.

Our crew’s presentation is still a surprise, but it will present its hard work at Lakewood Theater on June 6th to local city officials and you, the public. Tickets are free. See what problems have been identified and then get involved from the ground floor when the Good Ideas for Cities team makes its pitch. Be there at 6 p.m. for meet and greet, 7 p.m. for refreshments. Get free tickets right here.