 the offical newsletter of DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT - Spring 2009 |
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The American Dream is changing. No longer is it about owning a suburban home with a big backyard and one or two cars in the garage. Increasingly it's about living close to a rail station or transit center in a multi-use community where life's essentials are just steps from the front door and a wealth of cultural and entertainment options are just a short walk, train or bus ride away.
As DART expands its light rail system, transit villages are emerging around current and future stations, signaling the advent of a new urban lifestyle that reduces the need for vehicle trips on already crowded thoroughfares. The National Association of Realtors predicts the Dallas area will add more than 260,000 housing units within a half-mile of rail stations by 2025. It's the biggest trend in real estate today, and it's changing the way people live and transforming the urban landscape.
Some of the biggest transformations are taking shape at the north end of the Green Line.
"Farmers Branch has never had a traditional downtown, but the DART Station has given us an opportunity to create a much-needed urban center, which is serving as a focal point for development in our city," says Mayor Tim O'Hare. "A true downtown is a critical part of the future we envision for Farmers Branch, and the DART Station will help make it a reality."
Just to the north, Carrollton has a long history of drawing economic strength from trains and rail systems, and that's happening again in a big way.
"We are once again relying upon them, via the three Carrollton Green Line DART stations, to revitalize some of our aging infrastructure, stimulate our economy, and to share with the world what a tremendous resource we are from both business and quality-of-life standpoints," says Mayor Ronald F. Branson. "When the first trains roll into our new DART stations, Carrollton will have embarked on a new era. Whatever your goals, you can connect them here."
West Village at Cityplace Station has turned the once-decaying McKinney Ave./Lemmon Ave. crossroads into a lively urban village with shops, restaurants, a movie house and the nostalgic M-Line Trolley.
Brick Row is a 30-acre infill development at Spring Valley Station with 1,000 residential units and 60,000 square feet of retail, office and restaurant space.
While not TOD by definition, Downtown Dallas is no less a growing "transit village" with thousands of apartments and condos in historic office towers and plenty of dining and shops, all near Pearl, St. Paul, Akard, West End and Union stations.
Eastside in Richardson marks the transformation of an existing office building and parking lot into 14.8 acres of apartments, shops and restaurants near Arapaho Center Station.
Eastside Village at Downtown Plano Station brought rail-side living and new vitality to the heart of this once-little farming community.
Park Lane has been described as "TOD on steroids." Residents began moving into the $750-million, 33.5-acre development in late 2008, and the first retail tenants opened in March. A pedestrian bridge will make it an easy walk from Park Lane Station.
Galatyn Park is anchored by the Renaissance Hotel and Eisemann Center for Performing Arts, with more restaurants and shops coming soon within walking distance of Galatyn Park Station.
South Side on Lamar at Cedars Station shows what can happen when vision and history combine. The former Sears Catalog warehouse has spurred redevelopment of the South Lamar neighborhood.
Mockingbird Station is the portal to the namesake Mockingbird Station development, Dallas' first TOD project and the one that developers from North Texas and around the globe visit to see what works and what doesn't.
Lake Highlands Town Center is an ambitious new project with retail, office space and upscale residential units anchored by Lake Highlands Station, DART's first infill station on an existing rail line.
5th Street Crossing is under construction with street-level retail and residential units near Downtown Garland Station and a new campus of the Dallas County Community College District.
Victory Park is a glitzy city-within-a-city featuring American Airlines Center, the W Hotel and Victory Station served by DART Rail and the Trinity Railway Express.
Las Colinas Urban Center will feature Water Street, a mix of retail, apartments, hotel and office space at Lake Carolyn Station, and a new convention center and entertainment district near North Las Colinas Station.
Carrollton has big plans for its three Green Line stations, including Downtown Carrollton Station, with master plans developed by High Street Residential.
An urban-style mixed-use neighborhood is being developed around the Farmers Branch Station.
Baylor University Medical Center has been a fixture in East Dallas for more than 100 years, and the Baylor University Medical Center Station is attracting new development nearby including The Ambrose with apartments above ground-floor retail.
Cityville at Southwestern Medical District/Parkland Station has 300 apartments and 43,000 square feet of retail, while another 7.6-acre project is going up across the street.
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