Saturday, June 13, 2009

Re:Vision Dallas FAQ 6/4/09, Part III

The last of the FAQs, talking about how many new jobs will be created and if anybody is against the project:


2. How will this affect Dallas economically? Will new jobs be created with the building of this project? If so, how many and what types?

New jobs will be created, both during construction and afterwards. I can't tell you exactly how many yet, but they will include not only the usual construction jobs but as well jobs related to renewable energy production--"Green Jobs". Once it’s operating, the project will create the usual jobs related to operating rental housing, and in addition small businesses, maintenance of the renewable energy and even a little bit of urban farming will create more jobs. Once we determine which of the winning designs will get built then we will be able to quantify the number of jobs created, but it will be more the CityWalk project we are just completing downtown and the number should be significant.
The greatest economic impact will come from rebuilding a long neglected part of downtown. There are probably an additional half dozen underutilized blocks in the area of the project, and once we prove up the viability of rebuilding the south central part of Downtown Dallas, I think all those blocks will also be revitalized. What I would love to see is an entire section of downtown notable for innovative, sustainable design--an attraction in the southern part of downtown balancing the Arts District in the northern part of downtown. There are already some interesting, green projects in The Cedars immediately to the south of downtown. a sustainable district that extends from downtown all the way into The Cedars neighborhood is a very reasonable possibility.

3. Has there been any resistance, from the Dallas community, to the building of this block and if so how is the city handling it?

So far we haven't had any resistance whatsoever to Re:Vision Dallas. Instead we've seen a lot of enthusiasm and a great desire to get involved. I think as the project gets better known and closer to completion that that enthusiasm will continue to grow. Dallas is a city that likes big ideas and believes that with commitment and hard work anything is possible. People here, from the Mayor on down, don't see any reason why in ten years Dallas shouldn't be one of the world's centers of sustainable technology.


That’s it for these basic questions. I hope if anybody thinks of something else that needs to be added to these FAQs that you’ll let me know. We’ve only got eight of them, and my ordered mind thinks that we really should have exactly ten—so I’m looking for two more basic questions to add to these. Thank you.

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