How To Add Value To Dallas Real Estate: Make Sure It Has Walkability
Walkability raises home values in cities — not too surprising for any of us who have lived in a large metropolis — for me Chicago and New York. It gives you an instant understanding of the value of location when you are mere blocks from work, a market, a decent coffee shop and entertainment. So I was surprised to read this paper to find out that walkability adds value to almost every major market with the exception of Las Vegas and Bakersfield, CA. The Dallas plus surprised me, because I still think of us as a car-centric city:
“Interestingly, walkability was positively correlated with prices both in metropolitan areas with relatively high levels of walkability and those with relatively low levels of walkability. For example, Walk Scores had a positive impact on values in Jacksonville and Dallas (median Walk Scores for the metro area of 35 and 46 respectively) and also in Seattle and Austin (median Walk Scores 68 and 62). Walkability has a larger impact on housing values in more populous, denser metropolitan areas and those with larger transit systems.”
Walkability is going to be an even bigger factor, I think, with an aging population. Can you just imagine what is going to happen when someone tells the Baby Boomers they can no longer drive? Will they sit patiently and wait for the children they once schlepped to load them up into the Volvo station wagon and buckle up for bingo? I doubt it. As their kids had fake ID’s, Boomers will probably cook up fake driver’s licenses, anything to keep their wheels. (I have no idea how my darling late uncle managed it, but he had a license until he was 97 in DuPage County, Ill.) I’ve just skimmed this piece but find it interesting, and hopeful: maybe those downtown condos will be moving once we no longer are.
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I couldn’t agree more. We have got to make Dallas more walkable/bikeable to make it a more sustainable and enjoyable city to live in.
Our City is working to accomplish this in two ways. One, we’re beginning a plan for “complete streets” in Dallas — streets that accommodate not only cars, but pedestrians, cyclists, the elderly, and the disabled.
When I lamented Dallas’ enormous multi-lane streets with an urban planner from Portland, she pointed out that these wide rights-of-way are actually assets, because we can take a lane or two of traffic and rebalance the street with wider sidewalks and bike paths. That’s not possible in some cities (particularly the Northeast) where the narrow streets preclude adapting them to a complete streets model. Our complete streets project will identify streets that are appropriate for this transformation, and fund these changes in the next bond program.
Two, Councilmember Kadane and I are leading the effort to update the city’s outdated bike plan (which hasn’t been updated in a quarter century). We’ve secured funds from the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and early next year, we’ll be putting together a community advisory committee and hiring a consultant for an 18-month engagement.
Our new bike plan must go beyond a simple map of on-street bike routes or painted bike lanes. We need to create a blueprint for creating a bike transportation SYSTEM that connects off-street trails to on-street bike paths protected from car traffic to DART light rail stations to schools/major venues and shopping/work centers.
We can make these necessary, important infrastructure changes, even in our car-centric city. The fact that we are so dependent on cars, that our air quality is so poor, and that our city is among the most “obese” in the nation is all the more reason to seek smarter transportation alternatives. But the idea that we are just “too car-centric” to change our ways is belied by the experiences of other cities that have sought to become more pedestrian- and bike-friendly. A 2006 documentary, “Contested Streets,” showcases the efforts of Copenhagen, London, Paris, and NYC to become more walkable and bikeable. None of them had an intrinsic culture that demanded pedestrianism; each city faced significant objections and skepticism in their work to create wider sidewalks, pedestrian-only streets, and protected bike paths. But decades after implementing these changes, these cities have been tremendously successful and have become healthier and more livable. We can do the same thing in Dallas.
Although I didn’t take full advantage of it, walkability is definitely one reason why my Travis/Blackburn condo sold so quickly. Being able to walk out your door and to the tennis courts, to vote, to get pizza or yogurt or your groove on, was a great benefit. BUT: you have to feel safe. That’s why I felt perfectly fine walking around that area, but NOT when I walk out of my office downtown.
Wait, what do you mean? We just moved into our new offices downtown and we have been told downtown is very safe if you keep your druthers about you…
The LEED for Homes Rating System Section LL5 awards points based on the location of the home relative to public transportation and community resources (defined as grocery store, post office, restaurant, convenience stores, etc). The LEED/Green perspective: if you’re close enough to walk to these amenities you might just walk rather than drive your exhaust-emitting car.