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Natural Awakenings Dallas -Fort Worth Metroplex Edition

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DART Recipe For Livable Growth

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) mixes the ingredients that make a transit-oriented lifestyle possible, that is destinations accessible by light rail along with businesses and amenities.

Over the past decade, much has changed in and near downtown, including a residential boom in uptown, redevelopment of several abandoned historic hotel properties, the ATT corporate campus and the East Quarter project that connects the Farmers’ Market District with City Center. This is all creating a livable/walkable space where people are not paying a premium to live, work and play. Thousands still commute daily, but the growing amenities and connectivity is creating a vibrant situation all over North Texas.

Light rail mass transit is one component that differentiates a livable community, and its real value is  what exists alongside it. As these fixed systems expand, the rail network is compressing the pedestrian distance between places. Almost all DART service area cities are creating master plans and implementing land development regulations to promote reuse of former building sites that create more walkable, transit-oriented neighborhoods where people can live, work and play. Rowlett and Garland are already in the process of restoring their downtowns and Cityline, in Richardson, is beginning to boom because of their proximity to light rail.

DART is leading the way in helping to increase awareness and its ridership with a number of relevant resources including a mobile app that provides travel and ticketing information and DARTables—destinations best reached or a distance best traversed by riding a train or bus. The name is meant to encourage people to travel throughout North Texas by public transportation because DART makes it easy to get there. As a result, DART becomes a trusted guide about where to go and new places to explore as it empowers a transit-oriented lifestyle.

The public is invited to submit new DARTable gems at any time. Riders can discover North Texas gems from Dallas Bishop Arts, the Zoo and Arts District, to those in Las Colinas, Fort Worth, Irving, Rowlett and Carrollton.

For more information, visit DART.org/dartable and DART.org/about/publications.asp.