Dallas Breaks Ground on Yet Another Downtown Park

Construction of Pacific Plaza, a 3.4 acre park on what is currently a parking lot begins this month, reports the Dallas Morning News.

It's the fourth new downtown-area park built since 2009, and the first of four new parks to be built in the next five years.

Dallas has assumed a "transitional mood" in the last several years, and has become a somewhat unexpected leader of progressive urban investment. In addition to a massive spending on parks, the city has prioritized walkability and connectivity, opened a streetcar line with plans to expand and add a subway, launched a popular (if flawed) bikeshare program, is considering a formerly controversial plan to bury a highway, and killed a decades-old plan for a major new toll road.

Half the funding for the new parks comes from a private organization called Parks for Downtown Dallas, which will be selling naming rights to Pacific Plaza and Hardwood Park, as well as naming rights to a number of features inside the parks.

The Morning News article provides summaries and renderings on all four designs.