More remarkable, given the history of Dallas, these are mixed use, pedestrian friendly urban centers more like West Hartford Center rather than Buckland Hills. Connecticut, unlike Dallas, is fortunate in not having to re-invent itself. In spite of a half century of neglect, fueled by our own flirtation with automobile culture, Connecticut cities and towns contains many of the basic elements that make for sophisticated, livable communities. But there is much to learn from the remarkable experiment in Dallas as we try to restore balance to our transportation infrastructure and reinvigorate our innate New England style. Unchecked suburban sprawl goes against the grain for New England and is ultimately unsustainable, especially in a small state like Connecticut.
Transportation is the key here.
In Portland, Oregon, which is now going into a second decade under a transit driven, smart growth plan, it takes 4 acres of virgin land to support each 100-person increase in population. In comparison, an auto-dependent city like Atlanta requires TEN times as much land for a similar population increase. This is ultimately what scared Dallas into developing DART and what is prompting the development of similar systems in equally unlikely places such as Phoenix and Silicon Valley. Perhaps the greatest lesson we can learn from Dallas is that fixing the current land use and transportation mess is not simply a question of throwing money at the problem in fact a poorly crafted plan could acerbate the problem. Dallas demonstrates the importance of having a clear vision for coordinated transportation and land-use planning that supports economic development and promotes the quality of life.