Austin Real Estate Blog

More than thirty years after the first big environmental movement began, big cities are finally starting to smarten up about sustainable and ecologically friendly improvements in services, construction, and planning. Austin is usually the model city held up to these standards, but other cities are starting to gain ground in the green movement. Notable among these cities is Dallas.

Once known as the worse offender of urban sprawl, Dallas city officials have stepped forward with a bold plan to engage the residents in revisiting city planning, revitalization, transportation, and housing. Called forward Dallas!, the city council has adopted a comprehensive plan to address issues of sprawl, pollution, crime, and land use.

The plan calls for stabilizing residential neighborhoods, while addressing growth and increasing housing needs. Public transportation is an issue as gas prices rise and congestion on existing infrastructure becomes a concern. Development around DART stations is supported as well as small business development, retail growth, and other business recruitment and retention. City officials are actively seeking public input on these issues through workshops held around the city. Participants are invited to share ideas about where growth should occur, what areas should be left as open space, where to make improvements on roads and transportation, as well as myriad other urban concerns.

Dallas has also adopted the ambitious Green Dallas Program, aiming for a goal of obtaining 40 percent of its energy from renewable sources in 2008. City government passed an ordinance in spring 2008 mandating green-building standards for new construction and improvements in energy efficiency for existing buildings. Dallas had an existing green standard for city-owned building under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver standard; this ordinance adds private developments and residential properties to the standard.