Halperin Park - parking issues and heat island? just my thoughts.

Posted by esotika@reddit | Dallas | View on Reddit | 30 comments

I live in Oak Cliff not far at all from Halperin Park and I decided to visit Monday afternoon. First off! I want to say I love getting new public parks and community spaces, I absolutely am all for new spaces for people to enjoy and hang out. HOWEVER, two things I thought:

- The park is 80% concrete. The area it's in is already classified as a heat island and the park, even with the water features, is going to become unusable come June/July, which doesn't really help a lot of the residents in Oak Cliff who have young children out of school. Granted this can just be argued that no one goes to the park anyway when it's 102 out, but it was only in the 70s on Monday and that concrete became hot fast.

-My biggest concern is the parking situation. Right now there's street parking in front of apartments, and that very obviously will not last long. There is an empty lot just a minute walk away but I believe that's privately owned so people are getting towed. I know there's the zoo parking lot but my point of concern is that if you have to pay for parking or worry about towing, then it's not a public park, or at least it very much defeats the purpose of a public park. I feel like this was an afterthought or just something the city didn't care to factor in.

I don't want to be negative! Trust me, I love that Oak Cliff isn't getting ignored for new public infrastructure for once but those two things feel like they kind of defeat the purpose. I see a lot of positive potential for this park and I'm glad to see the community come out to support it, especially with the food trucks and a lot of local small businesses can really grow here! I just wanted to voice my observations on this and see if anyone else might've thought the same. I know Klyde Warren was the first urban park 'experiment' and it's pretty popular but it also being in the middle of downtown aids in high foot traffic vs. this new one that doesn't have that, and Klyde Warren still bars a lot of people from going due to the paid parking situation in downtown.

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stoic_spaghetti@reddit

100% Dallas cannot conceive of a park without turning it into a cash hand-out for the concrete industry.

Because of the summer heats, our parks would benefit people A LOT more if they relied on tree canopies, shade, biodiversity etc.

It would require a lot more maintenance and staffing expenses and insurance, but it's what we need instead of just pouring concrete on everything and calling it a solution

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Eggman87@reddit

I always tell my wife the concrete industry must be greasing the skids of local politicians and leaders. It is insane the amount of concrete that exists here.

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esotika@reddit (OP)

I saw someone on FB say that the city was having to work around the lack of biodiversity thus why it's over a freeway but I feel like there still could've been incentive to help with the shading. I know at the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge-park there's shading along it and I'm kind of confused why that wasn't also implemented on the ramp/deck overlooking the freeway.

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yolatrendoid@reddit

What I'm not getting is why merely planting trees & shrubs is somehow a problem over I-35 if it's not one over Woodall Rodgers. If it's either a budgetary or logistics issue, there are numerous forms of shading they could use for it (e.g. parasol-type shades, which I assume are far cheaper than large trees), plus I'm curious why they don't have stuff like splash pads that are a great way for kids to cool down in the summer.

As for parking, one of the Dallas Zoo's outermost parking lots is directly across the access road from Halperin Park, so I was assuming folks could park there (but there's also quite a bit of street parking in the neighborhoods on both sides of the freeway). Finding parking near Klyde Warren Park on a nice day can be a major PITA, as I was reminded during my first visit of the season a couple weeks back.

I do wish it had better DART connections though. You can admittedly take the Red Line to the Dallas Zoo stop, but that's a bit of a walk, plus Ewing & Marsalis aren't exactly ideal places for a leisurely stroll.

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YaGetSkeeted0n@reddit

hell just look at the god damn City Hall plaza, I know it's hotter nowadays but Texas was hardly San Diego back in the 70s. how did those eggheads not think to make it less of an open-air frying pan

No-Cucumber1458@reddit

The park is only half built. The other half will have a lawn like KWP and more trees. You’re right though, it’s more of a plaza than a park currently. The first phase was intentionally built to generate revenue for the 2nd phase.

Hozay_La15@reddit

I feel the same. I live just a few minutes away driving and have a toddler but they dropped the ball on parking. “There’s limited street parking and but can park at the zoo for $14” 🤦🏽‍♂️

That empty lot owner should turn that into a parking lot and charge just a few bucks 🤷🏽‍♂️

OddS0cks@reddit

I think the park is a more build and and they will come mentality. I’m sure that whole area will be different in the coming years with more development but agree about lack of shade, though probably because the trees are new and not mature right now

TheWizard@reddit

Parking solution would address it. Otherwise it wont be as popular.

yep, the area to the west is slated for a rezoning

https://dallascityhall.com/departments/pnv/Documents/AH%20Memos/Z212-%20309%20West%20Southern%20Gateway%20Authorization%20Memo%204-6-2022.pdf

MickeyDog77@reddit

Never happy. Never enough for some people.

Jernbek35@reddit

You’re not wrong about the cement, and I wish there were more trees, but Dallas was built on a prairie whose trees are not as tall and are more sparse, unlike many places on the east coast. So my guess is they’re just building with what they got. This whole city becomes a heat island come summer.

hodor137@reddit

I mean it's built over a freeway... there's no prairie involved lol

baphometsbike@reddit

I haven’t been there yet but I’m assuming there are young trees planted? They will grow in the coming years, full grown trees are very expensive.

DecentPrintworks@reddit

Yes they have a ton of trees planted but it will obviously take time to grow them. This shit was JUST built.

Dallas2houston120@reddit

Full grown trees also have a way higher failure rate when transplanted

You can park free at the elementary school that is a block away during non-school hours.

4ofheartz@reddit

You’re not wrong about all that cement. It will be a big oven in the summer.

I don’t go to Klyde park bc parking is bonkers. I’ve only been once.

cam1911@reddit

You got the M Line trolley, but also walking from Dart Train station to the park isn’t bad.

But tbh it’s not a worthwhile visit unless you have kids that want to play in the park

Not everyone wants or can walk, especially in the Texas heat.

i rarely go if ever because of the parking situation, and that's exactly my point. it works because it's surrounded by a lot of foot traffic already. bishop arts is still a few blocks and out of the way from the park so it's not exactly the easiest walk to-and-from there.

the-BBC-news@reddit

I felt the exact same way when Klyde Warren Park opened…like all that publicity for “this”?!🤦‍♀️ But it’s a physical bridge between uptown downtown the way Halperin is a physical bridge between North Oak Cliff and Oak Cliff. And it’s a community event space.

Just try not thinking of it as an actual “park” helps!

Texas_Redditor@reddit

We drove around yesterday and this was our parking report:

-pay by app lot on Ewing had lots of parking. Seemed like around 5 bucks -free street parking along Ewing, Lancaster, and 11th, but some of it seems sketchy -Oak Cliff Government Center had a free public garage. Lots of signs that say free public parking. Nothing explicit about having to visit the government center. -free street parking on Jefferson -paid zoo parking garage at the Dart station, must expensive option

We ended up finding street parking on Ewing.

Agreeable_Gap_1641@reddit

I find so many of the parks in the area are this way. Concrete and lacking shade. Makes the playgrounds unusable in the summer.

BamaPhils@reddit

Regarding parking, there’s a DART station literally a quarter mile away. Yes it could be more pedestrian-friendly between there and the park but that likely won’t improve unless people start using it. Day pass is $6 and that’s a 5 minute walk to the station

sportsarestressful@reddit

It's also becoming more pedestrian friendly. Ewing is being redesigned to allow for wider sidewalks and bike lanes, and there is a project to create a better gateway from the zoo parking lot to the park. The park has an agreement with the zoo for parking so it shouldn't be a concern to park in that lot.

Icuras1701@reddit

What station is it? Im not from Dallas do don't know the exact location of the park

Dallas Zoo train station is two blocks down off Ewing. Granted yes, people should use DART if they can more but there are a lot people who will still use their car so this still leaves the parking situation in limbo.

Zoo station

vegancreampies@reddit

Public transportation is good for things like this. Especially if you already live in the area. We really shouldn’t be planning around cars anymore, especially that close to downtown. As for the heat, everywhere outside will be miserable this summer.

Concrete definitely will not help the heat, but parks are open all year so there will be plenty of other opportunities to take advantage of the space.