From Parking Lots to Parks: Downtown Dallas’ Urban Renewal

If you visited downtown Dallas 20-years ago after 5pm, you would have found yourself in the middle of a dead zone. But over the next two decades, downtown Dallas added 20+ acres of parks, a feat no other downtown can match. Four priority parks are the centerpiece of this effort: West End Square, Pacific Plaza, Harwood Park and Carpenter Park, which celebrates its grand opening this week. In this episode of Y’all-itics, Jason Whitely and fellow Dallas resident and WFAA anchor Chris Lawrence have a conversation with Amy Meadows, the CEO of Parks for Downtown Dallas, the driving force behind the greening of Dallas. Amy says the effort has made downtown Dallas the envy of the nation and she shares a cold one with Jason and Chris in the middle of the all of the action and growth. And we learned Carpenter Park added a feature that’s never been downtown before. We think you’ll be as stunned as we were when you hear what it is.GuestAmy Meadows, CEO/Parks for Downtown Dallas