 the offical newsletter of DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT - DART 25th Anniversary 2008 |
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Car-free is carefree
"We definitely wanted the urban lifestyle," says Jose Alfaro.
"We love being near the museums and restaurants and
it's really exciting to see the
urban environment taking shape before our eyes."
"We love being near the museums and restaurants and
it's really exciting to see the
urban environment taking shape before our eyes."
As gas prices soar, commuters are grounding the car and flying DART.
More than the high price of gas, you could say the ancient Chinese meditative exercise tai chi led Tonya McMillion to the transit lifestyle.
While driving from her home in Plano to her job at Richland College in Northeast Dallas earlier this year, Tonya noticed a man in a nearby park practicing the graceful, dance-like poses of tai chi, often described as "meditation in motion."
"He looked so calm and peaceful," she recalls, "that I kind of got transfixed on him."
Crash! McMillion probably should have been paying attention to that red light instead of the tai chi fellow, but she kept on going – "straight into a two-ton pickup truck," she recalls. As soon as she got the news that her car was totaled ("it was toast"), she resolved that her mornings from now on would be kinder, gentler and stress-free.
And no, tai chi wasn't part of the program. "I decided I wouldn't get another car," she says.
 Tonya McMillion commutes using three modes: bus, DART Rail and her trusty two-wheeler. |
So how does her new commute compare to going by car? "I love it," she states unequivocally. "No car, no stress. It takes me about 45 minutes total, and I feel healthier, happier and more relaxed – I arrive at work with a smile on my face."
Maybe the best part: For the price of a week's commute, McMillion can ride DART all month long.
Some people tell McMillion she's nuts, but she's looking more and more like a trendsetter as other area commuters make the decision to ditch their cars. "Go green and save some green," is how she puts it.
Why drive when you can DART?
Downtown resident Bill McKnight is thinking along the same lines as McMillion. These days, he's getting around town using a combination of DART, shoe leather, and the occasional ride in a car he's labeled "lame duck." When his auto lease runs out - just days before the initial opening of DART's new Green Line next fall - he's letting go of the steering wheel.
"The way gas prices are going, it's becoming impractical to own a car; one of the major benefits of living downtown is that I can easily do without one. And that's exactly what I plan to do," McKnight says. "Most everything I need is a short walk away, and I already take DART Rail to places like NorthPark and Target on the weekends. When Baylor Medical Center Station opens on the new Green Line - just a few blocks from my job - that'll really complete the picture."
McKnight is enthusiastic when he talks about the prospect of ditching his car. And with experts predicting no relief at the pumps, he just may be on to something. Who knows, from his perch high on the 10th floor of 1505 Elm, maybe Bill McKnight can see the future.
Delivering a new urban lifestyle
In a city known for its pioneers, Dallas' most recent mavericks are moving back to where the city started.
During the last decade, downtown's population has ballooned from a few hundred residents to more than 5,000, and city planners expect that to double in the next couple of years. Observers agree that DART has helped deliver a new lease on life to the city's center. The latest wave of "urban pioneers" includes prosperous young professionals, empty nesters and others who seek urban living close to a host of amenities, including transit.
It's a big-city lifestyle that appeals to husband and wife Jose Alfaro and Som Kitiyamongkol. In fact, they're raising their 19-month-old son Leo at the Metropolitan in the very heart of downtown. "He was the first little one in the building," Som says, "but he's not the only one anymore."
The couple moved from deepest suburbia about a year ago, and they haven't looked back. "We definitely wanted the urban lifestyle," Alfaro says. "We love being near the museums and restaurants and it's really exciting to see the urban environment taking shape before our eyes."
Their apartment commands sweeping views of Main Street, once again bustling after decades of decay. Alfaro and Kitiyamongkol, an architect and a financial forecaster, both work downtown and walk to their jobs. The couple has a car, but they say DART Rail and the McKinney Avenue Trolley are their rides of choice for leisure pursuits.
"DART makes so many things accessible to us," says Kitiyamongkol. "I love the convenience of living downtown, and DART Rail is a big part of that."
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