Take a Train Lesson from Dallas, Of All Places
Op-ed in the Hartford Courant, December 15, 2000
by
Director, Connecticut Transportation Institute
University of Connecticut
Union Station, Dallas
Dallas, Texas, which in many people’s minds defines the term ‘automobile city’, has developed and implemented perhaps the most inspired and visionary plan in the country for using transit as a tool for economic growth and community development. The record of achievement in Dallas is astounding and can serve as a blueprint not just for Connecticut but for almost any place in the country.
When the DART light rail rapid transit opened for business in Dallas in June 1996, few outside of Texas took much note. In retrospect, however, I feel it represents an important milestone, since for the first time in history, a city that grew up with the automobile has embraced transit as an integral part of its future.
Dallas was the proverbial canary in the mine, symbolizing for all of America the inherent flaws of an over reliance on the automobile for transportation. It is true that Dallas built its prosperity on automobile travel, with great manmade rivers of traffic linking opulent islands of mega-malls to equally opulent residential enclaves. However, Dallas is also bedeviled by sprawl, congestion and air pollution. Worse, it absolutely lacks any sense of place – it has none of the charm or sophistication of older urban centers such as Chicago, Washington or Boston.
Given the extent to which Dallas embraced the automobile culture, it is no wonder that it is one of the first cities to awaken to its shortcomings. By building DART, Dallas is not rejecting the automobile, but it is simply saying that a balanced transportation portfolio is needed to sustain prosperity, while developing a desirable quality of community life.
Dallas, in the heartland of America, is helping to destroy the long held myth that transit is somehow un-American. Last year 75% of voters in 13 Dallas area cities and towns approved new funds to double the size of the DART system.
The reason for this overwhelming show of support is obvious. DART is an overnight success, transforming both urban and suburban sites into vibrant and livable communities. Today, DART carries over 40,000 passengers on its 20 miles of track and is credited with increasing retail business in some downtown neighborhoods by 30 percent.
But the genius in DART’s vision is the recognition that their train system is not just about moving people or about reducing congestion on the freeways. It is clear that they are using transit as a way of re-inventing Dallas – to give the area the urbane style that has so far eluded it. In Dallas, they also recognize that to succeed they need carefully crafted plans, expert design and a pro-active economic collaboration between the public and private sectors.
For example, DART embraces exquisite and imaginative design of all elements of the system – from the trains to the stations to the informational. The overall effect is stunning – a walk along the DART’s downtown transit mall evokes the atmosphere of a much more urbane city such as Boston or Zurich. Much of the rest of downtown, of course, is still a bleak no man’s land with little semblance of street life. Dallas is banking on the idea that this will change as the new culture takes hold.
The system is aggressively marketed on billboards, posters and media using the most sophisticated methods possible. Also DART works with developers to ensure that the development around their stations are pedestrian and transit friendly.
The south end of Dallas is an area very much like the northern fringes of downtown Hartford – a wasteland abandoned years ago because it was severed from the rest of downtown by a freeway. DART is breathing new life into this area. The most striking example is the renovation of the long derelict Sears Catalog Center as a mixed-use facility housing internet startups, retail and loft apartments renting for up to $3,000.
Overall, some $1b of private monies has been attracted to develop transit-oriented developments around DART stations. More remarkable, given the history of Dallas, these are mixed use, pedestrian friendly urban centers – more like West Hartford Center rather than Buckland Hills.
Connecticut, unlike Dallas, is fortunate in not having to re-invent itself. In spite of a half century of neglect, fueled by our own flirtation with automobile culture, Connecticut cities and towns contains many of the basic elements that make for sophisticated, livable communities. But there is much to learn from the remarkable experiment in Dallas as we try to restore balance to our transportation infrastructure and reinvigorate our innate New England style.
Unchecked suburban sprawl goes against the grain for New England and is ultimately unsustainable, especially in a small state like Connecticut. Transportation is the key here. In Portland, Oregon, which is now going into a second decade under a transit driven, smart growth plan, it takes 4 acres of virgin land to support each 100-person increase in population. In comparison, an auto-dependent city like Atlanta requires TEN times as much land for a similar population increase. This is ultimately what scared Dallas into developing DART and what is prompting the development of similar systems in equally unlikely places such as Phoenix and Silicon Valley.
Perhaps the greatest lesson we can learn from Dallas is that fixing the current land use and transportation mess is not simply a question of throwing money at the problem – in fact a poorly crafted plan could acerbate the problem. Dallas demonstrates the importance of having a clear vision for coordinated transportation and land-use planning that supports economic development and promotes the quality of life.
While we continue to pour money into the quick-fix schemes such as Adriaen’s Landing and the New Haven Mall, neighboring cities such as Portland, Maine and Providence are showing us how to move forward by getting the details right. Closer to home, West Hartford is using similar tactics to re-invent itself as an urban oasis. We need to be vigilant in ensuring that the transportation bill that emerges from the legislature next spring is not just a spending bill. It must instead be a blueprint with a vision for ensuring that transportation investment is an engine for economic development and for enhancing our New England quality of life.
DART's Transit Mall, Downtown Dallas
Renovated Sears Building at Cedar Station, So. Dallas
Cedar Station, So. Dallas