A case study of Dallas development and planning politics.
Sharon Grigsby, columnist for the Dallas Morning News, reports on the plans for Bonton Village, a 12-acre development in the Lake Highlands neighborhoods of Dallas that will "include a 4-acre urban farm and farmer’s market alongside 120 tiny homes for some of District 10′s most vulnerable homeless neighbors. Also on the site will be a café, coffee shop, co-working space and workforce training center."
According to Grigsby, the plans for the site have been the source of controversy in recent months. A previous plan to develop a homeless housing project on the site met opposition from local residents and local Councilmember Adam McGough. Those opponents were called NIMBYs, according to Grigsby, who argues that McGough had a better plan all along.
"Earlier this month, the City Council’s Economic Development Committee greenlighted a key next step for McGough’s transformative project, Bonton Village @ Lake Highlands. The proposal for 12000 Greenville not only provides housing for the homeless, but jobs, commercial opportunities and neighborhood assets -- everything the original plan lacked," according to Grigsby. The proposal also allows a chance for Benton Farms, currently located in South Dallas as showcased in the video above, to expand its model for urban farming to the Lake Highlands neighborhood as a launching pad for national attention.
The source article includes more details of the remaining obstacles for the project to reach approval.
FULL STORY: Critics cried NIMBY when Lake Highlands rejected homeless housing, but Bonton Village plan looks like a win
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Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research