In Oak Cliff, Reclaiming Seventh Street?

• You might go to Google Map and view the homes along seventh street from the 800 block to 100 block and then you may want to have the city repave or widen the sidewalks rather than the 4 foot wide currently used. I would want 6 ft. to 8 ft. with handicap curb cuts at each intersection. If every one eats out some restaurants should close at least one day a week so their employees could eat out. This would prolong the length of time between the restaurant folding due to the overabundance of restaurants.

• I think you need a critical mass of residents for a pedestrian mall to be successful. If I'm not mistaken, Las Vegas tried it on Fremont Street and no new casinos have popped up along there since. For downtown, let's focus on streetcars and bike lanes first, then worry about pedestrian malls.

• "pedestrian malls don't have any support because they were tried in many cities in the 70's and 80's, and were almost universally failures....Even so-called urban planners have given up on them." While I agree that there were multiple failures in the US when attempts were made to pedestrianize downtowns, I don't agree that all were failures or that the model has been abandoned overall. Probably the most notable, and successful pedestrian mall was developed this year when New York City officially turned Times Square into the unthinkable...a car free zone: http://gothamist.com/2009/05/26/breaking_in_pedestrian_plazad_times.php Other examples of extremely popular US ped malls are Boulder's Pearl Street, Burlington's Church Street, Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California, Ithaca Commons in Ithaca, and New York State Street in Madison, Wisconsin. I think you hit the nail on the head when you stated they "usually hastened the deterioration", and though cutting off vehicle traffic may have sped up the process, these cities were dying on their own due to social movements away from urban centers and more toward collar suburbs. The pedestrian mall movement was a last ditch effort to try and stop the bleeding. If we analyze where the ped malls did work, you see the majority were in college towns, which was filled with a population that was not moving and was less reliant on automobile ownership. I also agree that it wouldn't work for Dallas currently. Several things could expedite the process for a future eventuality, including greater density, buildout of the UNT Law School, attracting other schools like the Savannah School for the Arts which was planned but removed after the down economy, and a series of arts and entertainment options. Charlottesville, Virginia's Main Street ped mall was fairly glum until an ice rink and mutli-plex was built. An opportunity that exists currently are more small alley way ped developments like Stone Street Gardens.

• <i>Oak Cliff teenagers drive without any rules of order or sense of well being toward anyone</i> I'm curious. How can you tell if a teenager who is driving is from Oak Cliff? How can you tell where ANY driver comes from?

• Jason: You are very knowledgeable about what they should be; however, the Oak Cliff teenagers drive without any rules of order or sense of well being toward anyone. It requires good decent folk up and down the corridor. I often pray that we can depend upon each other and that good will win. Thanks for you well designed comments and they I think they will prevail.

• &#64;john k. Bicycle/Pedestrian Boulevards don't preclude vehicle travel, they prioritize pedestrians/bicycle traffic, which is ideal on Seventh as it's a residential street. This is also different from a "pedestrian plaza", which only allows people. Residents/restaurant goers are still able to park, cars can still drive down it, and trash/utility service is still able to use the street. The only difference is that the stop signs are turned so that bicycles can have unimpeded flow, small traffic circles are installed to lower vehicle speeds at intersections, signage is implemented to note the street is a bike/ped thoroughfare...all of which is done to make the street less used for through traffic. Through traffic will continue to be prioritized on the parallel arterial, which is where the business front exists currently.

• Yes, Best of Luck! This sounds like a great idea!

• Skateboarders downtown on Saturday and Sunday occupy most of the sidewalks except at West End where most pedestrians are awaitin bus of lt.Rail transporatation. Downtown is dead except for Uptown which thrives with activity. People don't have the means to eat out everyday at these high end resturants,or shop at the quaint shops. Oak Cliff wnt to hell when they voted dry and it may never come back as it was. I love Dallas and the Cliff but the Fiesta Grocery is the only madhouse in old Oak Cliff. It is where money is and money is spent.

• No, Tom, pedestrian malls don't have any support because they were tried in many cities in the 70's and 80's, and were almost universally failures. They usually hastened the deterioration of the downtowns they were supposed to "save". Even so-called urban planners have given up on them.

• The twice a week and once a month trash trucks pick up on the street side and not the alley on seventh street. This does not offer a one way solution. The streetcars that once went down 7th street were two way and not one. The Bishop Arts District has had a number of restaurant openings and closures in it's brief history. Any additional restaurants would exasperate the number of closings. I have often heard it said that there are two kinds of restaurants in Dallas,those that are broke and those that are going broke. Where will their patrons park? That's why they are championing streetcars. To pay for streetcars the government would have to subsidize each rider about $3 per ride, give or take $2 more.

• Don't forget the possibility of returning streetcars to the route! Though the rails would be tricky to cross on a bike, I think pedestrians, bicycles, and streetcars would be a great combination on the street -- which is clearly not designed as an automobile thoroughfare in the first place.

• Good luck. Downtown could be revitalized by turning Main Street into a pedestrian walkway. That would connect Downtown, Deep Ellum, and Fair Park, and would help enliven all three. No cars need to go through downtown. They should go to downtown or around downtown. This pedestrian road, would give Dallas a San Antonio like 'river walk', overnight. It would help all businesses along the route and give Dallas a place to assemble and have fun. Sadly it doesn't have any support because no single developer is behind it. It favors too much of the city!

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