Coalition for a New Dallas

The Coronavirus has made an indelible impact on our daily lives and significantly altered the way our society operates. As an organization, our main priority remains ensuring the health and safety of our employees and our community. Additionally, as mentioned in our previous communication with you, we have found additional ways to lend our knowledge, skills and network to the County’s effort to combat the spread of the virus. We remain committed to doing our part in ensuring that we all can get back to a normal life as soon as possible.

With this said, that return to normalcy will continue to find us at a place of urban planning reckoning. And though our governing institutions have shifted their main focus to addressing COVID-19, the daily wheels of government still roll on. Because of this, as much as we can, we aim to keep you informed and engaged on the policy issues of our day. That’s why today, we are happy to announce the launch of “The Way Forward”, an ongoing series of virtual discussions where we’ll explore innovative policy concepts making their way through local governments while keeping you up-to-date on the day-to-day business of our jurisdictions. We’re calling the first discussion of this series “The Politics of Parking” and we would love for you to join

Today, Dallas is a car-centric city. But, it wasn’t always that way and it doesn’t have to be. In fact, it can’t due to the overwhelming maintenance burden of car-based infrastructure as well as the cost of car-dependence places on many of our residents.  Much like other large urban cities, Dallas’ 20th century urban planning approach revolved around how best to move people in and out of the city. This process often left consideration of the experience of city residents on the back burner leading to numerous ill-effects. An often overlooked cause of many of the central issues Dallas faces is due to arbitrary and antiquated parking policies.

Mandatory minimum parking requirements are an indirect subsidy for driving. Parking policy expert Donald Shoup has noted that “parking requirements increase traffic congestion, pollute the air, encourage sprawl, raise housing costs, degrade urban design, prevent walkability, damage the economy, and penalize everyone who cannot afford a car. Everyone wants to park free, and most people consider parking a personal issue, not a policy problem. Rational people quickly become emotional about parking, and staunch conservatives turn into ardent communists.

So what is the actual parking code in Dallas, where does it go wrong, and what can we do to fix it? Dallas City Councilman Chad West has recently suggested that change could be on the way and is actively working to convince others.

On April 27th from 5:30 to 6:30 pm, the Coalition for a New Dallas will host “The Politics of Parking” to better understand why we park the way we do and how a new approach might change our lives for the better. Joining Councilman West are Travis Liska from the North Texas Council of Governments and Katy Slade from Mintwood Real Estate who both have extensive experience studying and struggling with the parking code. Moderating the discussion will be Coalition co-founder and urban planner Patrick Kennedy.

You can save your seat for our inaugural episode by signing up at this link. We hope you’ll join us. Until then, stay home and stay safe.