Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

With talk of HQ2 and the Dallas Smart District potentially bringing thousands of new jobs and residents to this side of downtown, it's impossible to ignore the design failures of City Hall Plaza. I know there have been numerous improvement proposals thrown out there, but to my knowledge none of them address the fact that Pioneer Plaza is a huge tourist attraction and that the solution to City Hall Plaza should be to connect the two parks physically and aesthetically.



This plan would involve closing Marilla St. from Young to S Akard to connect the cemetery to the Dallas Police Memorial. Next would be to extend the design features of Pioneer Plaza (trail, stream, topography) to S Akard and create a mid-block pedestrian crosswalk near City Hall. Finally I would turn the concrete plaza and fountain into a natural-looking pond and waterfall with the design features that make Pioneer so popular.

I don't care how cheese those longhorns look. People love them and they need to be everywhere.

Those are all good suggestions... I also think a more coheasive series of paths need to be built to connect the various sections of the park(s). Too much of pioneer is trampled turf, while too much of city hall plaza is concrete wasteland.

Closing down Marilla St seems like a no-brainer to me. I'd be happy to see these changes actually happen, but seeing as how the city is still trying to start on the other four proposed Downtown pocket parks, I'm not really expecting too much from City Hall Plaza in the near future.

I love this idea. I was surprised at how many people were at Pioneer Plaza during the winter and drizzly weather. At the very least, the pond should be kept clean and the landscaping maintained.

Young St. Is so nasty. That stupid crater going underground infront of the library is so unnecessary. That street is so wide, 6 lanes, why not incorporate some bike Lanes to Farmers market? Connect them to the Houston st. Viaduct bike track. This whole area has a Cold War Soviet Union like hostility towards pedestrians.

Another suggestion..Make the sidewalks wider and above all...ADD TREES! We need to Copy what's been done in West End over here. City Hall and KBH are killing this side of downtown.

A natural-feeling swimming hole with facilities would be great in this space. Or a lazy river. Imagine selling the amenity to young professionals working downtown, you can go swimming on your lunch break! Our city's answer to aquatics seems to be "here's a rectangular pool in a random, far out, run down suburban neighborhood. Go swim in it. Or don't. We don't care." Look at how Austin does the polar opposite.

Bring back Beach day.
https://www.dallasnews.com/life/life/20 ... l-fountain

This feature is so well suited to public use, that its almost torturing to say that it cannot be used. And the problem of 'too much use will make it nasty' is such an easy one to fix. Simply lay down some basic rules on a plaque around the feature that says usage is only available between noon and 5pm daily when the temperature is over 80 degrees, and is not to exceed 20 mins per person. Nothing more is needed. I too used to take my dog over there to swim while I stuck my feet in. When I eventually saw someone heading my way, I casually got up and we walked off. No harm done. The same people can do the same thing going forward... no citations.
I actually think a low key approach would be better than a special day, or grand opening, or anything like that. Just change policy, add a plaque, and dont make a big deal out of it...