Beige Book: Dallas District Sees Increase in Home Sales

Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts indicated that economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace, though some Districts noted mixed or weakening activity. The St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco Districts all reported either modest or slight expansion. 

Residential real estate activity remained weak overall, although a few Districts noted some slight improvements. Contacts in the Boston, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Dallas Districts reported an increase in home sales over the previous year's weak levels; however, the uptick in the Atlanta District was concentrated mainly in Florida. The remaining Districts all reported stable or slower sales from the previous survey period, with several citing greater economic uncertainty as the primary cause. 

Both the New York and Philadelphia Districts reported that a growing backlog of foreclosures in New Jersey continued to weigh down the housing market. Home construction was down or stagnant in most Districts, with the exception of Minneapolis and Kansas City. However, several Districts indicated an improvement in home remodeling activity, and the New York, Philadelphia, and Cleveland Districts reported increased demand for multi-family housing projects. 

Home prices were flat to slightly down in several Districts, although New York said prices in many areas edged higher but remained below year-ago levels. Contacts in the Boston District reported competitive pricing by sellers with even lower prices negotiated by buyers, but in the Cleveland District many builders have shifted away from discounting. Inventories were elevated or rising in the Boston, Atlanta, and Kansas City Districts, particularly for existing homes, and demand for apartment rental space increased in the San Francisco and Dallas Districts.

Commercial real estate conditions remained weak or little changed in most Districts, although some improvements were noted by New York, Minneapolis, and Dallas. Commercial real estate activity was sluggish in the Boston, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Kansas City, and San Francisco Districts. 

However, San Francisco noted some areas have benefited from technology sector growth, and Boston noted investor demand for prime office buildings remained strong. New York said office vacancy rates declined noticeably in the Buffalo and Rochester metro areas and modestly in Manhattan and Long Island. Lower commercial rents helped push down vacancy rates in the Kansas City District, and the Dallas District noted strong demand for leased space in Houston due to solid energy activity. 

Commercial construction was characterized as weak or limited by Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, and Kansas City, although Atlanta noted some strength in the healthcare sector. St. Louis described conditions as mixed, with some improvement in education and energy-related construction, while Minneapolis District contacts reported an increase in small retrofitting projects and rebuilding in flood-damaged areas. The Chicago District noted continued strength in industrial construction, particularly in the automotive sector. Credit for commercial development remained an obstacle for small retailers in the Richmond District, although Boston said aggressive competition among lenders led to reduced borrowing rates.

New Trolley Turnabout Coming to West Village

PCC Car in San Francisco

A new turnabout in West Village will allow the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority to begin running PCC cars from Toronto. Currently only double-ended cars run on the line connecting the Art Museum with the West Village. The turntable also is being constructed adjacent to m DART’s Cityplace West subway entrance. It's expected to be a tourist attraction, as well as a practical tool to re-orient the streetcars. A recent article in the Dallas Morning News compared it to Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco. Efforts are also under way to loop the streetcars through the Dallas Arts District.

The PCC name comes from the design committee formed in 1929 representing the Presidents of various electric street railways. The Electric Railway Presidents’ Conference Committee, or ERPCC, was tasked with producing a new type of streetcar that would help fend off competition from buses and automobiles. It hasn't quite lived up to that task, but is currently helping provide alternatives to automobile use. 

Studies have shown a positive impact on real estate values from streetcar systems.

Suburban Philadelphia Trolleys (PA) (Images of Rail)
Pittsburgh Streamlined Trolleys (PA) (Images of Rail)
San Francisco's Market Street Railway (CA) (Images of Rail)

IN-N-OUT Burger Invading DFW

IN-N-OUT Under Construction in Fort Worth

Several IN-N-OUT Burger locations are opening Dallas. If you live in the metroplex, you've probably already heard about the madness. I have eaten at IN-N-OUT in the San Francisco Bay area. While I am not as enthusiastic as others (Krispy Kreme never really caught on with me either), I think there are more burger chains in DFW that anywhere I've lived previously. I expect IN-N-OUT will do quite well.

DFW LOCATIONS INCLUDE:
7940 N. Central Exwy.
7909 Lyndon B Johnson Fwy.
Westin Park Central
and also in Fort Worth, Irving, Arlington, Midvale and San Carlos

So, What's Wrong with Lemmon Avenue?

Removing San Francisco's Central Freeway

To the average observer, it would seem to be very hard to divert the auto traffic enough to make Lemmon Avenue a pleasant thoroughfare for pedestrians. To the average drive, any attempt to do so would impede the flow of traffic and make it take longer to cut across town. Yet both have been convinced in other situations that it can be done.

During the years I spent in San Francisco I saw two major pedestrian improvements, neither which seems to have done much to impede traffic flow and made a world of difference for pedestrians and neighborhoods.

The first was the replacement of the double tiered Embarcaderro Freeway with The Embarcaderro, a lively bicycle, walking and pedestrian street that extends from the Ferry Building at Market Street to Fisherman's Wharf. Soon after the Market Street Railway tracks were extended from the Ferry Building, along the Embarcaderro to Fisherman's Wharf. That's right, two layers of freeway were successfully replaced with a boulevard without resulting auto traffic jams.

The second was the replacement of the Central Freeway with Octavia Boulevard, which now includes lanes for bikes and pedestrians, and yes, cars.

Before Octavia Boulevard, the Central Freeway emptied directly onto a San Francisco neighborhood busy with pedestrians.

Car-Free on New York's Park Avenue

Of the two, Lemmon Avenue is probably closer to the example of Octavia Boulevard, although may be ahead of the game because there is no freeway on ramp leading directly onto it. According to the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, the Octavia Boulevard project has delivered a transportation facility that provides neighborhood access to a regional freeway while providing an attractive public space.

The biggest difference may be a large amount of retail along Lemmon Avenue. That however brings more pedestrians, which makes the improvements all the more critical. Part of those improvements will be to begin to rebuild the retail into sidewalk-oriented storefronts with parking more condensed or in the rear of buildings to limit auto traffic turning on and off of Lemmon Avenue.

The short of what's wrong with Lemmon Avenue is that it's unfriendly, unattractive and worse, dangerous. As it exists, it's the result of years of misguided traffic planning that focused on the movement of cars, in some cases completely disregarding the existence of pedestrians. It's the result of suburban traffic planners who thought not of living in Dallas neighborhoods, but of making it easy to drive through them. It's also obvious not one ounce of thought was given to building a thoroughfare that added to the attractiveness of its location.

Today more than at anytime in recent memory, Dallas is a place where demand for housing is increasing. There will still be a need for others to pass through, but not at the expense of safety or aesthetics to the residents. Today we understand that a great city must have arteries that take into consideration a variety of transportation forms including bicycles, foot traffic, buses and automobiles. The businesses along those routes must also consider multiple routes of pedestrian entity.

Experience shows, it won't stop traffic. New York City is a prime example. Multiple acres of roadway have recently been completely closed off to traffic, including areas of Times Square without much impact on traffic flow. It's made New York a better place to live.

Let's try it. Close Lemmon Avenue for a car-free day and see what happens. It may just turn out to be no big deal. Cars will find alternative routes and patterns will change without much prodding (Hey, it worked on Park Avenue). In the long-run, closing it off to traffic won't be necessary. Auto traffic is part of the urban mix, but so are parking bump outs, safety barriers, bike lanes and wider sidewalks.

Rethinking and Rebuilding Lemmon Avenue will help do the same for Dallas.