Sustainable Land Development Today - February 2008 - (Page 22) TRANSPORTATION Aerial view towards Downtown Dallas Creating a Sense of Place and Community Through Transit Urban infill developments integrated with transit, designed to meet urban revitalization, mobility, and economic development goals View from project towards downtown Dallas By W. Brian Keith, AICP, AIA bility issues through smart growth and proximity to public transportation. And it enhances economic development, providing a robust environment for retail and commercial businesses and generating increased tax revenues. When it meets the fundamental tenets of retail/commercial development — that is, the right location, visibility, population demographics, and a critical mass to support such ventures — a rail transit stop can serve as the ideal catalyst for such urban revitalization. an area of deteriorating former manufacturing facilities. As designed by James, Harwick + Parnters, Inc. (JH+P), Cityville SWMD features an urban retail plaza across from the upcoming DART station as the “entrance” to a new community, serving as a center of activity linking the public with residents. The highest density retail/residential development is comprised of above ground apartments and groundfloor retail space — designed primarily for restaurants, entertainment venues and service businesses — in four- and five-story building configurations at Motor Street. As one moves farther away from the DART station along Bengal Street, the density transitions to twostory town homes, which lie along the urban edge and southern periphery of the development. Along Motor Street, wide sidewalks with distinctive paving patterns, building setbacks, and extensive landscaping provide an ideal environment for pedestrian traffic, outdoor cafes and other gathering spaces. Short-term, on-street parking accommodates shoppers and diners. This wide section of Motor Street is being transformed into a tree-lined boulevard landscaped median. The site features a slip road of retail parking along with a long-term structured parking, short-term on-street parking, and graceful sidewalks. The synergy created by private initiative and public participation is a key to the success of an urban mixed-use/infill development. Two new mixed-use infill transit-oriented developments (TODs) in Texas, one recently completed and the other in the planning and design phase, illustrates a growing interest among developers, municipalities and communities in the economic and quality-of-life benefits associated with creating a new “sense of place” around rail-transit stations. Cityville Southwestern Medical District (SWMD), Dallas, is a mixed-use infill development, which is in the first phase, comprised of 265 units, 15 town homes, and 40,000 square feet of retail space on a 5.7-acre parcel of land bordering Parkland Hospital and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. The first of several phases of a complete urban renewal of a greyfield site, it was comprised of decapitated factories and outdated warehouses. It is adjacent to a new Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) line and station and across the street from the site of the hospital’s future expansion. Crestview Station, located about eight miles north of downtown Austin at an upcoming multimodal transit station, is an 80-acre development comprised of approximately 200-300 homes, 700-800 residential units and 60,000 square feet of commercial retail and office space. Why the growing interest in a mixeduse infill approach to urban revitalization? When this type of development is the result of effective planning and urban design, it facilitates urban revitalization in several important ways. It creates a cohesive sense of place for residents, business patrons, and commuters. It addresses mo22 February 2008 Sustainable Land Development Today Cityville SWMD: Private Initiative, Public Support SWMD comprises a number of major academic and community healthcare facilities, including Parkland Hospital, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas. There are more than 20,000 people employed in the district and some 4,000 students in the medical and allied health care professions. An extension of the DART line through the district and an associated transit station are scheduled to be in operation in 2010. Parkland Hospital is in the process of an expansion program in fulfillment of its master plan. The growth of SWMD as a healthcare service destination and the extension of DART through the district made this a promising site for a mixed-use development. The 15-acre site purchased for the Cityville project by this lead developer, Inland American Communities and its retail partner, Greenway Investment Co., was
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.