Dear Friends,
In case you have been out of the country or in a coma for the last few years, the area that the Oak Cliff Chamber serves continues to be the center of economic growth in the DFW area. From West Dallas to Mountain Creek to Paul Quinn College, there continues to be signs of economic resurgence. Allow me to review some of the progress:
First, Mayor Rawlings recently unveiled his comprehensive "Growth South" plan that recognizes the potential of our area. His plan has many facets:
- a private equity fund of $20 million
- a marketing effort for Southern Dallas
- creating more grass-root neighborhood organizations
- focusing the City's limited funds on our high growth areas:
- North Oak Cliff / Bishop Arts / Jefferson Blvd.
- Pinnacle Park
- UNT Dallas / Paul Quinn
- Lancaster Blvd.
- West Dallas
- Executive Airport / SW Center Mall
- DART Green Line corridor
- The Cedars
Next came the opening of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, the City's newest landmark. Although the festivities were incredible with parades, fireworks and celebrities, the real hope is that the bridge will focus investor interest on the possibilities of West Dallas. With the announcement of a "restaurant incubator" to be built in the near future, folks will start going to West Dallas much as they have come to Bishop Arts.
The list does not end here. Consider these other new projects in various stages of development:
- Zang Triangle - an urban-designed apartment complex at Colorado & Zang
- The Collective - a mixed-use development on Ft. Worth Ave.
- Alta West Dallas - 100% market rate apartments on Davis
- The Canyon - 240 acres of retail / office / multifamily on I-30 at Westmoreland
- Lancaster Urban Village and Veterans Place - mixed-use complexes by VA Hospital
In addition, we are still on track (pun intended) for the new streetcar with efforts being made to ensure that it extends to Bishop Arts from Downtown.
To make sure that these, and many other projects, are successful, this Chamber has been focusing much of its efforts on ensuring that the fabric of this community is strong. That fabric includes our transportation infrastructure, schools, health care systems, housing stock and more. To keep updated on where Oak Cliff and all of Dallas stand on these many issues, please keep track of our upcoming events where we are bringing in the top experts in each field.
Last month we hosted an in-depth look at the state of the national economy and where Dallas and Oak Cliff are in that mix. To do this, we brought in two of the top economists in the nation, Dr. Bud Weinstein, Professor of Economics at SMU, and Dr. Mine Yucel, Senior Economist for the Federal Reserve Bank.
Next, we will be looking at the state of health care in North Texas and Dallas with the help of Laura Irvine, President of Methodist Dallas, Steve Love, President & CEO of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Hospital Council, and Scott Albosta, Divisional Vice President of Network Performance Management at Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The discussion is sure to include subjects such as the impact of the national health care debate on local businesses, changes being made to Parkland facilities/operations, and where southern Dallas stands with respect to public health care.
Lastly, a quick reminder that this Chamber continues to offer to its members many other opportunities to improve their businesses: free consultations with small business experts, free exposure on our website (which had over 120,000 hits last month), networking opportunities, preferential pricing on Chamber events, discounts from other members, and much more. Please consider joining our other members who support our work in the community and are working to make their business more profitable.
Sincerely,
