D Magazine: These Are Dallas’ Next Great Neighborhoods

There are anchors of activity in every city. When successful, they stimulate the neighborhood. Where people can safely walk and bike, storefronts and coffee shops become more attractive. The city gets a higher return on its infrastructure investments. Developers win by delivering the amenities people need: housing, office, retail, restaurants.

…So expectations may be high for a superficially similar deck park proposed in Oak Cliff, this one 6 acres spanning I-35E between Marsalis and Ewing avenues, connecting the Dallas Zoo on the east side to Jefferson Boulevard in the revitalizing North Oak Cliff. The deck park is wrapped into the building of the Southern Gateway, a $666 million state reconstruction project of I-35E and State Highway 67 expected to be finished by the end of 2021. The park already has about $40 million in public funding—a little more than $7 million covered in the city’s 2017 bond package, the rest coming from the North Central Texas Council of Governments. And, as with Klyde Warren, supporters of the Oak Cliff deck park are seeking deep-pocketed donors and grants to fill out the rest of an estimated $80 million price tag.