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Sorry, but I can't afford to pay $200/SF for a house in Highland Park therefore I choose to live in the suburbs. And that's fine by me.
The answer is bigger/wider roads. Each interstate should be 6-8 lanes on each side minimum (that's 635, I-20, I-30, I-35, etc.). We shouldn't expand the roads to meet the needs we have NOW, we should expand to meet the needs for the next 50 years. I've never heard anyone complain about "too much road" or "too many lanes".
Luckily, with such great advancements like Skype, Gotomeeting, Dropbox, and virtual software, it's easier and easier to telecommute and office out of the home even if for a few days a week.
Just wondering since I'm going to be new to Dallas in a few months... whats wrong with commuting if you choose to do it? Sometimes living near work is not the best option if the area where your job is located is not suitable to your personal lifestyle... Sure its great to value your time with family but if you live far from all the other things you want in life (i.e. good schools if your a parent or in my case city amenities, although my husband will be working in the suburbs) then maybe commuting is the best option for some people
The point is, there are so many good options in the entire Dallas metroplex that one really does not NEED to commute more than an hour each way IF they opened up to all the options that are much closer to their work. Yes, for a two income family where both adults work and jobs are in opposite directions it can make it more difficult. But there are options. While some people put down inner ring Dallas or the older outer ring suburbs for being "older" or think they are "bad"..... even the "new" suburbs have older areas that are home to people on a lower income level. The "old" or "lower income" is not immune to the outer ring burbs that have been growing more in the last few years. Many times on these threads newcomers or soon to move here transplants inquire wanting these: large lots, no more than a 30 min commute, mature trees, parks, etc. Then when given the options that those that live here are all familiar with that meet those criteria they opt not to because they "heard that was a bad area". Not all of Dallas is "bad". They then start inquiring about all these newer areas that have really small lots, no mature trees or very little and more than an hours commute. I actually find it amusing.
Anyway, back to your post . If I were going to be working downtown and the significant other in a suburb I'd look at a few different options since you want city amenities. If the working burb was to the north I'd look in say Richardson or Garland (both have very good schools) depending upon where the job was OR in Dallas somewhere like Lake Highlands that is closer to the downtown job and a reverse commute for the one going the furthest to the burb job. This would give the one going downtown a much better commute w/ several options, close to all city amenities and the reverse commute for the burb job.
Sometimes the suburb IS closer to ones work. As I said before, we live in a suburb and our job is IN this same suburb. I want to live, work, kids attend school, participate all in the same community. It does give more a sense of community when one can/is involved in the community at many different levels.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lakewooder
I don't know it only takes a couple of commuting disasters to convince me that I couldn't do it - last night there was a wreck on the tollway at LBJ - total disaster on all surrounding roads as well (and after 7 pm). Then a couple of weeks ago I had to go from that area home and the tollway was a parking lot so I went over to Central, which was worse. Neither had hit the traffic reports. Silly me, I should have just gone down Hillcrest as I would have normally done. But who knows, it was probably bad also - like Inwood and Preston. I lived in Houston for a couple of years and did the commuting thing. That took years off my life!
There was one night about 2 weeks ago on a weeknight about 5:00 that traffic was AWFUL!!!! IN ALL DIRECTIONS! We were headed to the AAC for a hockey game and even 75 southbound was creeping. Northbound was at a standstill all the way from downtown to 190 (glad we were not going THAT way ). Checked traffic thinking MAYBE hop over to DNT or surface streets. On my traffic map even all the possible side streets were solid red including DNT in both directions. Friends coming in from Rockwall were even in a total traffic nightmare. I don't know what was going on that night but I've never seen anything like it. It took us about an hour to get downtown and this was OPPOSITE what the "rush hour" traffic would be going. Can't imagine how long it took those going from downtown to far flung burbs that night to get home. YIKES!
Quote:
Originally Posted by longhornswin
Sorry, but I can't afford to pay $200/SF for a house in Highland Park therefore I choose to live in the suburbs. And that's fine by me.
The answer is bigger/wider roads. Each interstate should be 6-8 lanes on each side minimum (that's 635, I-20, I-30, I-35, etc.). We shouldn't expand the roads to meet the needs we have NOW, we should expand to meet the needs for the next 50 years. I've never heard anyone complain about "too much road" or "too many lanes".
Luckily, with such great advancements like Skype, Gotomeeting, Dropbox, and virtual software, it's easier and easier to telecommute and office out of the home even if for a few days a week.
You don't have to spend $200 SF to buy a house in Dallas in a nice area w/ good schools. That is the thing. Not everyone has to live in the Park Cities to be in a nice area. There are many nice areas in Dallas.
We can't pave everything. Sure it would be nice to be able to predict the future and know that we would need 10 lanes in each direction in 30 years but it is not always feasible.
FYI, not all jobs can get done by telecommuting. Most can't and the person actually physically has to be at their place of employment.
Sorry, but I can't afford to pay $200/SF for a house in Highland Park therefore I choose to live in the suburbs. And that's fine by me.
The answer is bigger/wider roads. Each interstate should be 6-8 lanes on each side minimum (that's 635, I-20, I-30, I-35, etc.). We shouldn't expand the roads to meet the needs we have NOW, we should expand to meet the needs for the next 50 years. I've never heard anyone complain about "too much road" or "too many lanes".
Luckily, with such great advancements like Skype, Gotomeeting, Dropbox, and virtual software, it's easier and easier to telecommute and office out of the home even if for a few days a week.
If you can find a house in HP for $200/sf, then jump on it. Once done, flip it and make some money because that's way below the average price/sf in HP.
Regarding road expansion, I respectfully disagree. It's just doing more of what we've been doing for decades and we can't afford it anyway. How expensive would it be to acquire all of the right of way necessary to expand all of those freeways? The DFW region is growing so fast that 8 lane freeways could be obsolete by the time the work was finished. And, what if we were able to afford that and then telecommuting did become the norm for most jobs? What a waste of money that would have been.
What we need is a change in mindset. Public transportation has to become more accepted here. DART has done a good job of spreading its tentacles in many directions. Eventually many more of those DART stations are going to become transit oriented developments which offer residential, retail & office space similar to some of the TOD's along the Red Line that parallels US-75. TOD's will stimulate ridership. The region will never be as easy to get around as say, NYC, because DFW is too spread out. However, if the regional population continues to boom, then it is going to be necessary for people to get onboard light rail much more than they do now to save their own sanity. DART.org - DART Rail System Map
I don't know it only takes a couple of commuting disasters to convince me that I couldn't do it - last night there was a wreck on the tollway at LBJ - total disaster on all surrounding roads as well (and after 7 pm). Then a couple of weeks ago I had to go from that area home and the tollway was a parking lot so I went over to Central, which was worse. Neither had hit the traffic reports. Silly me, I should have just gone down Hillcrest as I would have normally done. But who knows, it was probably bad also - like Inwood and Preston. I lived in Houston for a couple of years and did the commuting thing. That took years off my life!
There definitely was something going on, on Central last night. I was trying to get down to Mollie McGuires for a Christmas light ride through Lakewood, and it just was NOT going to happen if I stayed on Central. Bailed after taking 15 minutes to get from Spring Valley to LBJ. Took LBJ over to Greenville and then south all the way to Mockingbird, to Skillman and then to Live Oak - just in time for a 7:00 start. 30 minute drive time from Coit & Campbell. Isn't going south supposed to be against traffic?
Wider and longer roads just contribute to more suburban and exurban sprawl which in turn contributes to more traffic congestion, time wasted, pollution, energy costs, etc. Even if we could afford that (TXDOT is broke) how would you ever get ahead of all that? Southern California is a good example of people just giving up and accepting that they may be on the roads three hours a day. They actually have some natural boundaries which should have concentrated things to some degree. We certainly don't want to follow the California example with government and Real Estate!
Wider and better roads are what the D/FW area needs. Public transportation will never replace the car culture down here. The problem is that when they upgrade roads, they upgrade them to handle current traffic volumes, and by the time the construction is complete, it's outdated.
Wider and longer roads just contribute to more suburban and exurban sprawl which in turn contributes to more traffic congestion, time wasted, pollution, energy costs, etc. Even if we could afford that (TXDOT is broke) how would you ever get ahead of all that? Southern California is a good example of people just giving up and accepting that they may be on the roads three hours a day. They actually have some natural boundaries which should have concentrated things to some degree. We certainly don't want to follow the California example with government and Real Estate!
People can post stuff like this all they want, but you're not going to make people live in TODs if they don't want to. The majority of people moving into DFW are still going to choose suburban style living over any TOD development. Therefore, the roads still need to be widened and improved, but you also still need to increase transit and TODs for those that will move into those. You can't just stop building/expanding roads because the people will still move here. You'll just create more congestion. It's a never ending process until DFW stops growing.
Yes they will probably do that - but then they can't complain about the traffic when they move 35 miles out and commute downtown. The city of Dallas will probably remain mostly suburban in nature but we really need more density around rail stations. That's probably the only place it's going to happen - the single family Dallas neighborhoods are not going to go multi-family. What will happen is a lot of teardowns both in single family and older apartment complexes. What replaces them will probably be larger in most cases - the apartments being taller with more units. That's what the Forward Dallas plan is all about.
Maybe once gas is five dollars a gallon and people have to drive three or four hours per day the mindset will change.
Road proponents - how for instance would you widen the North Dallas Tollway from Downtown to Northwest Highway? How about a freeway up Preston or Hillcrest? Do you really think that would ever happen?
Maybe once gas is five dollars a gallon and people have to drive three or four hours per day the mindset will change.
Gee, where have I heard that song before? Wake me when it actually happens.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lakewooder
Road proponents - how for instance would you widen the North Dallas Tollway from Downtown to Northwest Highway? How about a freeway up Preston or Hillcrest? Do you really think that would ever happen?
I don't think you can widen the Tollway there. In some places, it's simply not possible. I think the best answer is the proposed plan for 635, over and under freeways. However, I doubt that would get approved in that neighborhood.
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. If I were going to be working downtown and the significant other in a suburb I'd look at a few different options since you want city amenities. If the working burb was to the north I'd look in say Richardson or Garland (both have very good schools) depending upon where the job was OR in Dallas somewhere like Lake Highlands that is closer to the downtown job and a reverse commute for the one going the furthest to the burb job. This would give the one going downtown a much better commute w/ several options, close to all city amenities and the reverse commute for the burb job. 
). Checked traffic thinking MAYBE hop over to DNT or surface streets. On my traffic map even all the possible side streets were solid red including DNT in both directions. Friends coming in from Rockwall were even in a total traffic nightmare. I don't know what was going on that night but I've never seen anything like it. It took us about an hour to get downtown and this was OPPOSITE what the "rush hour" traffic would be going. Can't imagine how long it took those going from downtown to far flung burbs that night to get home. YIKES!
. Once done, flip it and make some money because that's way below the average price/sf in HP. 
