Dallas, TX
Dallas sidewalks are by the people, for the people
A couple of summers ago, Dallas resident Melody Townsel swerved around a sign left in the middle of a sidewalk in her neighborhood of the Cedars.
“My wheels went off the wheelchair. I fell into the fence, and ended up badly injured — broke a pair of glasses, I separated my shoulder, and I’m still feeling the aftereffects of that,” Townsel said. “And there’s no one to blame, nothing to do.”
In Dallas, it can take people stumbling upon unsafe and hazardous conditions to alert the city to its sidewalk problems. Since October 2020, residents have reported more than 5,000 hazardous sidewalk conditions citywide to Dallas’ 311 system.
“I think unless you walk with me on a sidewalk, you don’t realize how completely impassable they are,” Townsel said. “It’s everywhere, all the time.”
Sidewalk obstructions like overgrown bushes and utility poles often block Townsel’s path as she makes her way through the city, sometimes forcing her to use her wheelchair in the street. Dallas relies on residents to report obstructions like these through its 311 program.
“Dallas is not a proactive city,” said Uptown resident Alex Stine. “It is a reactive city, and a poorly reactive city at that.”
As a business-to-business salesperson and Uber driver, Richardson resident Adam Sharkey spends hours on Dallas roads each week. He’s filed more than 1,000 311 requests in the last six months, ranging from pothole repairs to reports of unsafe sidewalk conditions.
Once he sends in a request, Sharkey said, he receives email updates from various city agencies as they work to solve the problem. The updates have given him insight into the way the city operates.
Replacement is residents’ responsibility
“What a lot of people don’t realize,” Sharkey said, “is that in Dallas, the responsibility of the sidewalk falls to the property owner, not the city.”
City ordinance states that property owners are responsible for repairing hazardous conditions or replacing damaged sidewalks on their property. Recently, Sharkey reported a section of the sidewalk by Greenville Avenue and SMU Boulevard that had completely caved in, in the hope that the Code Compliance department would reach out to the adjacent apartment complex and have them fix it.
Instead, what followed was a chain of emails from the Code Compliance and Transportation and Public Works departments debating who was responsible for the sidewalk. Code Compliance had determined that the sidewalk was beyond the apartment’s property line, Sharkey said, which placed the sidewalk under the care of Transportation and Public Works.
“But then public works kicked it back to code enforcement and said, ‘Well, even if it’s not on their property, they’re still the benefiting party because they’re the closest property, and therefore it’s still their legal responsibility.’” Sharkey explained. “They’ve actually been kicking that back and forth for weeks.”
One reason damaged sidewalks might go unrepaired, Sharkey said, is because people don’t want to pay to fix something they are not sure they are required to. And even if code enforcement wanted to proactively make all property owners fix their sidewalks, he added, they don’t have the resources for the required enforcement and follow-up. This can get expensive, depending on the scale of the project.
“If somebody’s got a home that’s worth, you know, $220,000 and you ask them to spend eight grand to fix the sidewalk in front of their house, that’s 4% of the value of their home,” Sharkey said. “Now, that same size lot in Lower Greenville, the house is probably worth $1.7 million. To ask somebody with a home worth $1.7 million to go find eight grand to fix the sidewalk — they might be able to get that cash by refinancing their mortgage if they don’t have it.”
Owners of single-family homes, including condos, townhomes and single-family rentals, can split the cost of replacing their sidewalks with the city through Dallas’ Sidewalk Replacement Program.
City programs relieve some financial pressure
For program participants, the city secures all necessary permits for replacement, with all workmanship guaranteed for one year, according to the Transportation and Public Works department. Assessment and cost estimation can take up to three months. After payment is received, it can take another three to nine months for the replacement to be completed, according to the city.
Not all residents who apply to the Sidewalk Replacement Program end up moving forward, which contributes to the program’s low completion rates. Residents may end up declining participation in the program, the city said, or choose to use a private contractor to complete their work. One reason for this may be that, even with the cost sharing program, sidewalk replacements can still be prohibitively expensive.
In 2021, the city completed the Sidewalk Master Plan, a comprehensive proposal to improve Dallas’ sidewalks. After attending the council briefing on the plan, City Council member Jesse Moreno posted on Facebook that “the biggest takeaway from everyone is we can’t keep the 50%-50% responsibility on sidewalks,” referencing the city’s Sidewalk Replacement Program. “That has to change if we want our city to be more equitable.”
“Realistically,” said mobility advocate Heather McNair, president of BikeDFW, “the people that can afford to do the 50-50 split, generally speaking, are not the people that are the most impacted when the sidewalks are not traversable.”
These kinds of projects, McNair said, are most needed in areas with higher concentrations of seniors or people with disabilities. These are often people on fixed incomes that might not be able to shoulder the cost of a replacement. Dallas has worked toward a solution: about a third of all sidewalk replacements completed last year were funded by the city through a program specifically for low-income senior citizens.
Still, what has puzzled McNair about the city’s approach to sidewalk maintenance is asking individual residents to cover half the price of something that is “really public property.”
“I would argue — I can’t go out and block a sidewalk with my car or with a piece of furniture,” she said. “I can’t fence in a sidewalk. So if I can’t do these things, then is it really a part of my private property?”
Ideally, McNair said, sidewalks would be treated like streets, with the financial responsibility for taking care of them borne by the city and distributed among all residents who benefit from them.
“When we have areas that are public access,” she said, “that’s generally something that we anticipate is going to be maintained by those that are putting it in.”
But this approach would require billions of dollars in funding that the city doesn’t have. Finding the budget for this, McNair said, is likely where the city will hit a wall.
In the meantime, she said, increasing transparency can help show residents that the city is making progress despite bumps in the road.
A sidewalk ‘pizza tracker’?
Daisy Fast, the director of 311, said the main complaint she gets from residents is that the city doesn’t seem to be taking any action on their requests. One of her main goals has been to build what she calls a “pizza tracker” for 311 users.
Whether they submit requests over the phone, the app or online, 311 users can opt in to receive updates at every step of the way — like Domino’s does with its pizza tracking system. Right now, the system requires that users register to receive these updates, which can pose a problem to residents who may prefer to remain anonymous.
“Fear of retaliation is a reality, you know. Especially here in the Hispanic population,” Fast said, “there’s fear that, you know, if I submit a service request that, like, somehow the city’s going to, you know, find out my identity, or whoever I’m complaining on is going to, you know, find out.”
Another issue Fast noted is that 311 fields complaints that are immediately solvable by city employees, such as requests for temporary repairs, right alongside requests that take more time, like sidewalk replacements.
Fast considered only allowing residents to submit requests that city officials were confident would be completed within, for example, a two-week span. This would mean residents would no longer be able to submit long-term requests, but would gain confidence in the city’s ability to complete requests quickly.
“The negative side of that,” Fast said, “is, well, then we’re not going to have the data that [the Transportation and Public Works department] needs to build out their bond program.”
Data is what allows the city to understand where to funnel its resources, showing it what’s succeeding and what’s not.
In June 2025, the city exhausted available funds for the Sidewalk Replacement Program due to higher demand than anticipated. The city said it anticipates council action early next year to resume the program. In the meantime, property owners can still submit 311 requests to have temporary repairs made to their sidewalks.
Since the program went on pause, about 270 residents have asked to be added to the waitlist.
Sunday was another frustrating game for Dallas Cowboys fans who had to watch the secondary miss one tackle after another against the New York Giants.
In addition to the poor angles and inability to wrap up, the defensive backs couldn’t consistently stop an aerial attack that was without their top two players. That sums up the season for the Dallas defense, which is why Matt Eberflus being relieved of his duties feels like a foregone conclusion.
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From there, the question turns to who will replace Eberflus. While there’s no shortage of options available, here’s a look at some of the top candidates if Dallas made fixing the secondary their primary goal.
Daniel Bullocks, DB Coach/Pass Game Specialist, San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers have one of the most impressive coaching trees. While Robert Saleh didn’t excel as a head coach, he returned to his role as defensive coordinator and continued to excel. They’ve also seen DeMeco Ryans do an extraordinary job in Houston as a head coach, with a staff loaded with former 49ers assistants.
That’s why looking at their staff is a wise move. One name to consider is Daniel Bullocks, who has been an assistant with San Francisco since 2017. He currently serves as the safeties coach and pass game specialist. While they haven’t been elite this year, his unit is usually among the best in the NFL.
Aubrey Pleasant, Assistant Head Coach/Pass Game Coordinator, Los Angeles Rams
Aubrey Pleasant has been a name to watch for years, even interviewing for multiple defensive coordinator vacancies. He’s been with the Los Angeles Rams since 2023, and was promoted to assistant head coach in 2024.
Cory Undlin, Pass Game Coordinator, Houston Texans
DeMeco Ryans was mentioned earlier as a great coach to come out of San Francisco. One assistant he brought along with him is Cory Undlin, who has been a pass game specialist for the 49ers (2021-2022) and now the Houston Texans (2023-present).
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Houston has a vicious defense led by hard-hitting safeties and physical cornerbacks. Undlin deserves credit for helping develop their young talent and could help Dallas get back on track in the secondary.
Al Harris, Pass Game Coordinator/DB Coach, Chicago Bears
Everyone who follows the Cowboys knows, and loves, Al Harris. He was part of Dan Quinn’s defensive staff and was credited for developing ballhawks such as Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland.
Harris left this offseason and while the Cowboys fell apart, the Chicago Bears began to generate turnovers at a high rate. We’ve seen enough to know Harris should have been kept.
Raheem Morris, Head Coach, Atlanta Falcons
Raheem Morris was fired after two seasons as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad coach. Morris remains one of the more well-respected defensive minds in the NFL, even winning the Super Bowl in 2021 as the Rams’ defensive coordinator. That was his second Super Bowl ring, as Morris earned one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following the 2002 season. That year, he was a defensive quality control coach for Jon Gruden.
Morris excels at coaching defensive backs and brings extensive experience to the table. He may be exactly the kind of hire Jerry Jones would feel comfortable making, and one Cowboys fans could believe in.
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The Dallas Cowboys wrapped up their 2025 season on Sunday and will now turn all of their attention to offseason work in the name of not finding themselves out of the playoffs this time next year. Obviously that is much easier said than done.
This upcoming offseason is one of the most important and critical in recent Cowboys history as they have multiple first-round draft picks for the first time since 2008. With the Cowboys now officially done for the season, we know where they will be picking come the 2026 NFL Draft.
Updated 2026 NFL Draft order
Here are the first 12 picks of the draft, through the Cowboys selection at number 12 overall, courtesy of Tankathon.
If all of this sounds familiar it is because it is… the Cowboys held the 12th overall pick last year and used it to select Tyler Booker. They also used it in 2021 to select Micah Parsons, more on him in a moment, although they picked it up after trading back two spots. For what it’s worth the Detroit Lions held the pick in consecutive seasons beginning the year after and landed Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs, so hopefully that type of success is what the Cowboys find.
While we know where the Cowboys are picking, it is still unknown exactly where their other first-round pick will land. Dallas holds Green Bay’s selection in the 2026 NFL Draft and the Packers are currently set to visit the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card Round which means we are all rooting for Chicago to take care of business.
Updated rundown of Cowboys Draft Picks
Keep in mind that Dallas has also already dealt away 2026 draft capital as well.
The Cowboys are projected to receive a couple of compensatory picks as well, potentially in the fifth-round, but those are not fully known at this time.
It seems like a match made in urban planning heaven. Most metro areas have an abundance of underperforming retail property, such as half-vacant shopping centers, and a shortage of housing that average Texans can afford. Turn that retail into housing, and voila, two problems solved at once.
But no complicated problem has such an easy fix. The North Texas growth juggernaut means that burgeoning exurbs need additional retail space even as dilapidated strip centers plague core cities and older suburbs. Some homeowners may fear and fight plans for new, higher-density housing near them, even when it replaces obsolete shopping centers.
Yet reinvigorating or repurposing underused commercial property can improve a neighborhood’s quality of life while also adding value to a city’s property tax base. That new revenue is especially important because state lawmakers have been keen to limit homeowners’ property taxes. Responsible city leaders need to grow other parts of the tax base just to keep up with the increasing cost of providing public services and maintaining aging infrastructure.
What North Texas needs is a variety of tactics to address these related issues: streamlined rezoning, public incentives to redevelop infrastructure, increased public education about budget issues, and a greater tolerance for change. Fading retail centers can be revitalized in ways that preserve their original use or transform them into something totally different, such as housing. It just takes determination, money and imagination.
Retail abundance
Dallas-Fort Worth has about 200 million square feet of retail space, and it’s about 95% to 97% occupied, said Steve Zimmerman, managing director of the brokerage group at The Retail Connection. Colliers, a real estate services and investment management firm, reported in August that retail rents here have been rising about 4% annually. Those statistics suggest that retail space isn’t severely overbuilt.
But not all retail centers are full of high-performing, high-value businesses. Aging strip centers tend to attract vape shops, nail salons, pay-day lenders, check-cashers, doughnut shops and vacancies; their capacious parking lots remain mostly empty. Those underutilized properties don’t enhance nearby neighborhoods or the tax base as much as busy, attractive retail centers would.
Last year, the Texas Legislature created a new tool to help redevelop commercial properties. Known as Senate Bill 840, the law forces large cities in urban counties to allow multifamily and mixed-use residential development on commercial, office, warehouse or retail property without a zoning change.
SB 840 is meant to encourage developers to transform bleak, underperforming retail spaces into badly needed housing. For example, it might have prevented the fight over Pepper Square in Far North Dallas.
That shopping center languished while the developer and nearby residents sparred in a bitter and protracted rezoning dispute. It is a prime example of how local government processes and NIMBYism make it hard to redevelop in Dallas.
But implementing the new law has been more complicated than we’d hoped. For starters, some North Texas suburbs reworked their zoning code to try to sidestep the new rules.
Irving, for example, set an eight-story minimum height requirement for new multifamily or mixed-use residential development — much taller than what’s typical in the area. Frisco pulled a different trick. Senate Bill 840 exempts industrial areas, so Frisco changed its zoning code to permit heavy industry in commercial zones.
Market conditions also may be slowing commercial-to-residential redevelopment. Our newsroom colleague, Nick Wooten, reported in November that there is a temporary over-supply of apartments in Dallas, fueled by a construction boom and a stream of remote workers in the post-COVID years.
(Unfortunately, that oversupply hasn’t made rent much cheaper. Even if a lease is relatively inexpensive, there are plenty of added costs, like electricity and Wi-Fi. Plus, building managers often nickel-and-dime residents with mandatory fees for trash collection, parking lot security gates, parcel lockers, pets and on and on.)
The temporary situation doesn’t erase the region’s long-term shortage of lower-cost homes. We need SB 840 to work because we need a larger, more diverse stock of housing, including multifamily and townhomes, across the entire region. With a more generous supply of all types of homes, both rental and owned, housing costs should eventually decline.
More options for faded retail
Senate Bill 840 is only one strategy for remaking forlorn retail properties into something more useful and valuable. Some creative owners, managers and public officials have found ways to maintain a property’s retail orientation while adding unique experiences and features.
Carrollton updated design standards and established a “Retail Rehabilitation Performance Grant Program” to encourage property owners to reinvest in underutilized retail centers. One notable success: Carrollton Town Center, where occupancy had dipped to 20% more than a decade ago, according to a story in PM Magazine. Now it is a bustling, walkable, Asian-focused retail and restaurant destination.
Hillcrest Village in Far North Dallas is part of an entire block of aging retail along Arapaho Road. A public-private partnership transformed a parking lot into the “Hillcrest Village Green,” a 1.5-acre expanse of turf with a playground at one end. Restaurants with oversize patios overlook the city-owned greenspace.
Local developer Monte Anderson, a champion of “incremental redevelopment,” is remaking the Wheatland Plaza shopping center in Duncanville. He’s reworking interior spaces and reclaiming some of the parking lot for food trucks, new landscaping, and eventually, a dozen for-sale townhomes built with Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity.
Cities can speed retail redevelopment with small and large incentive programs. Retail properties typically don’t have the utility infrastructure needed for housing; grants and revolving, low-interest loan funds can help residential developers keep costs down so their end product is more affordable. Elected officials need to help constituents understand why most cities need denser, higher-value redevelopment to keep tax rates lower.
D-FW has matured into a metropolis with a vibrant, diversified economy. To accommodate population growth, cities can’t ignore languishing commercial property, or allow only one type of new housing, or permit property tax bases to stagnate. By tackling all three issues at once, they can lay the foundation for a more prosperous future.
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