City Hall completely failed Downtown Dallas
Posted by ozmox@reddit | Dallas | View on Reddit | 100 comments
We need to stop pretending everything is fine in the urban core. The double-whammy announcements of AT&T abandoning its downtown headquarters and the Mavericks officially picking Valley View for their next arena project aren't just isolated business decisions—they are a staggering, systemic indictment of Dallas City Hall's total failure to manage the Central Business District (CBD).
The Mavs are moving to North Dallas. But losing them and the Stars (who are actively looking to follow suit) means the complete death of Victory Park as an entertainment hub by 2031. Combined with AT&T’s flight to Plano by 2028, the downtown core is facing an unprecedented economic cliff.
If you want to know why our roads are crumbling and our city services are stretched thin, look directly at the economic destruction unfolding downtown right now.
While Uptown is booming with shiny new Class A high-rises commanding $60+ per square foot, the historical CBD is rotting from the inside out. As of Q1 2026, downtown office vacancy has climbed to a staggering 33%. City Hall sat on its hands for a decade, failing to incentivize adaptive reuse (like converting these vacant towers to residential spaces) before the commercial real estate market completely tanked.
When AT&T announced they were packing up for a horizontal campus on Legacy Drive in Plano, it wasn't just a blow to city pride—it was a fiscal catastrophe. According to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study commissioned by Downtown Dallas Inc.:
- Downtown property values are projected to plummet by 30%, wiping out $2.7 billion from the city’s property tax base.
- The city loses $62 million annually in property tax revenue directly tied to this decline.
The BCG report explicitly warned city leadership years ago that corporate anchors would flee if street-level homelessness and public safety issues weren't aggressively managed. City Hall’s response? A reactionary, last-minute surge in policing that brought downtown violent crime numbers down slightly in late 2025 (197 incidents vs 230 in late 2024)—but it was still higher than 2023 levels.
The bottom line, City Hall has structurally hollowed out the center of our city through a toxic mix of complacency, poor urban planning, and slow deployment of public safety resources. They treated massive corporate and sports anchors as guaranteed fixtures rather than assets they needed to actively retain.
When our property taxes skyrocket over the next five years to cover the $62 million annual shortfall, remember that this wasn’t an accident. It was a direct result of the policy choices made by the current City Council.
What is their plan to pivot? Because right now, "wait and see" isn't working.
Such-Professor6271@reddit
Downtown needs more than just office buildings and homeless folks
OutlawSundown@reddit
Realistically yeah and ultimately it’s shifting more residential. The other problem is companies simply don’t have an interest in trying to adapt office buildings that went up in the 80s or earlier and there’s not a ton of land left to build on.
Zander_T4@reddit
There’s plenty of land left to build on, 27% of the CBD is off-street parking lots. Those parking lots just sit there and appreciate in value while the landowners reap profit from what is essentially a glorified vacant lot. #1 thing I’d do is incentivize building housing and retail on those.
OutlawSundown@reddit
There is for sure but comes down to whoever is holding those properties etc. Like the land Reunion Arena stood on and the land around it has been held by the Hunts. It’s been incumbent on them to develop it or sell it to be developed.
Zander_T4@reddit
There are definitely things City Hall could be passing to disincentivize the ridiculous amount of speculation the Hunts and others have been doing, I agree. Holding on to such valuable urban land for so long and doing absolutely nothing with it or just doing the bare minimum like a parking lot should be taxed at 100% or more via a land value tax.
OutlawSundown@reddit
Rub is those same wealthy interests practically cherrypick a bunch of the Council and Mayor/
ihatedisney@reddit
Its got a Hooters and a Perot Museum lol.
I hate driving to downtown Dallas. It’s poorly planned and there’s nothing left but office buildings and a few restaurants. Sundance Square is way better. Downtown Dallas needs an overhaul
Kinda glad the Mavs are moving North.
extraordinaryevents@reddit
Driving downtown is an absolute nightmare. Stoplights turn green for 10 seconds then turn red. No flow to them either. A light will turn green then you’ll immediately hit a green turning to red 100 yards later
krollAY@reddit
If only there was a mode of travel that existed outside of personal vehicles
extraordinaryevents@reddit
Well not really an option when I’m driving from my office to my gym on the other side of town
DependentLoan6179@reddit
Not sure where you're driving but I can catch every green if traffic doesn't hinder me
Such-Professor6271@reddit
not to mention having to pay to park
TeamImpossible4333@reddit
Unless you are in small town’s “downtown,” where you are not paying to park in any major/medium size city’s downtown…?
Such-Professor6271@reddit
it's a waste of money and a rip off like mandatory valet. If yall wanna waste your money on parking, go ahead, not me! Looks like from the downvotes, yall are fine with wasting money lol
OutrageousForm2486@reddit
Paid parking prevents me from going and spending hundreds at local shops. And I know I'm not the only one. I just can't take the nickel and diming.
TeamImpossible4333@reddit
I know what you mean. It is definitely getting out of hand.
Such-Professor6271@reddit
I don't spend hundreds at the local shops, i'm not rich lol especially in this economy
OutrageousForm2486@reddit
I got ya, I'm just saying paying for parking is preventing me from spending money at businesses. And I would often be spending much more than the $5 or $10 it takes to park.
TeamImpossible4333@reddit
I just take the train when I go in lmao
iheartbeto@reddit
Paying for parking for what though? An old hooters?
TeamImpossible4333@reddit
I go to the Meyerson and Performing Arts Center a few times a year for each venue.
TheBuzzTrack@reddit
As long as Hooters doesn't catch on fire again and burn to the ground, we should be good. Right?
msondo@reddit
I think it's precisely the office buildings that hurt downtown. Think of any adjacent area that has been successful... the West End during its heyday, Deep Ellum, Uptown, Cedars, Lower Greenville... heck even the Ron Kirk Bridge area, which is always popping on the weekends.
The CBD is not very human friendly. Sure, there are a few pockets like Main by Neimans and the Discovery District, but I went to school there and worked there for quite some time and always felt like it was a bunch of very big buildings and parking garages/lots with very little for pedestrians. It has never been a very inviting place to just walk around and is very car centric despite the density. It makes sense to be there if you work there or if you are going to a very specific place like the Majestic or the Aquarium, but otherwise it's more of a place you only go to if you need to be there.
Uptown, Deep Ellum, etc., on the contrary, feel more like European cities. The buildings are smaller and the sidewalks are very broad and it's easy to move around. Uptown, especially, has the Katy Trail and the Trolley which are both very inviting for people on foot. They are more "human-centric" areas. While I think the buildings in the CBD are pretty at night, that area just doesn't really invite people to be there unless they are going to work or visiting something very specific.
BlueHorse_22@reddit
The Trump Slump is greatly exacerbating what little weekend and nightlife downtown ever had.
James-the-Bond-one@reddit
You need to visit Washington DC to observe people safely enjoying their parks in the spring for the first time in years, now that Trump runs it.
Fit_Smile1146@reddit
City hall has to address the homeless issue. We have to find ways to secure housing for them. 🙏🏾❤️
Powerful_Length7870@reddit
Some of them don’t want housing
Stevoman@reddit
It’s impossible to have this conversation because we’re not allowed to talk about the issue causing it.
The root cause problem is that the city of Dallas has completely failed to maintain public order in downtown for close to a decade now. There are many reasons why this is and everyone is going to want a point fingers at their favorite bogeyman. But where fault lies is irrelevant. Nobody wants to live or do life down there because they don’t feel safe after dark.
That is the simple inescapable fact and until it’s fixed downtown will never be vibrant
ice-eight@reddit
You’re being downvoted but this is absolutely the reason nobody wants to live in downtown or take the DART. They’ve been doing a better job lately. Not sure if that’s just housing or shooing the homeless somewhere else. Obviously there are systemic issues that cause and exacerbate the homelessness, and it’s a very tiny percentage causing problems, but nobody wants being screamed at and followed, sharing a train car with someone who hasn’t bathed in months, or being forced to see a man’s penis to be part of their daily lives.
Volcacius@reddit
I got to see a naked man get ready to jump off an overpass onto i-30 on my drive home. We are really failing our honless and those with mental illnesses.
hearmeout29@reddit
The homeless. You can say it.
ReefLedger@reddit
Replace nobody with you.
Stevoman@reddit
Joke all you like - the vacancy numbers don't lie.
ReefLedger@reddit
I just call out when people seem to think they speak for everyone when they don't. Was no joke.
allthestars93@reddit
Baffled at why you’re getting downvoted for this. It’s 100% true. DART used to be awesome, but as a woman and mother who was once chased off of the train and through two buildings by an armed, mentally unwell individual, I would never step foot on it now, alone or with my kids.
Upstairs_Balance_464@reddit
I know this seems like a crisis but anyone who has lived in Dallas (like… Dallas… not Plano) for a long time knows that downtown is far better than it was in the 90s and 2000s. The sky is falling stuff is ridiculous, and I think mostly driven by the oligarchs that want to knock down City Hall.
Powerful_Length7870@reddit
sAVe daLlAS ciTY hAll!!!!!!
Additional-Sky-7436@reddit
City and State leadership has intentionally kneecapped downtown for decades. It's not a recent problem.
And Dallas can't fix our homeless problems by ourselves. It's a regional problem, but we get no regional help with it. And the state actively works against helping us.
And most conservative literally just want to illegalize homelessness and just throw the homeless in jail for life.
James-the-Bond-one@reddit
Yeah... No. Some suburbs did a great job of cleaning up without needing any state or federal funding. It's a matter of political will, not more funding for the ~~grifters~~ NGOs.
Kurtzopher@reddit
They’re going to be practically giving away some really cool condos in Downtown pretty soon.
stoweker@reddit
People like to shit on SF and LA for quality of life issues downtown - and while we aren’t that bad - downtown Dallas is sketchy. That 711 gas station by the aquarium feels dangerous 24/7.
Ultimately tho there isn’t the money in Texas to clean this stuff up - we never took Medicaid expansion money, and even for what’s available the unhoused are functionally excluded from accessing that money. That leaves us with a system where to pay for services for the homeless - be it serious mental illness, drug addiction, or in many cases both - we need to self fund it at the city level thru allocation and non-profits raising money. If you look at the landscape for that you’re left functionally with the 24 hour club up on Ross which can only service like 75 people maximum and runs a waitlist, or the big shelter down by farmers market. That’s just - not enough.
I don’t mean to be negative but I honestly don’t see how that cleans up in our lifetimes unless Texas starts spending money on mental health resources for the homeless; policing isn’t going to cut it because people will just keep coming back yo the streets without basic resources.
Anyways my $0.002.
And victory park is tragic, took 20 years for it to become a thing and now it’ll lose the main demand driver. Maybe Goldman Sachs gets enough traffic to make it viable. Maybe. I guess that’s the silver lining. But I also see a world in which victory park ends up looking like it did 15 years ago with empty store fronts and sketchy shit everywhere. Sad.
Snobolski@reddit
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
The money is there, the will to spend it on this is not there. Why make downtown better when you can give the money to billionaires?
stoweker@reddit
Totally fair - the money is there, the political will to spend it on human service is not there.
not_limburger@reddit
I recently moved here. In this context, what is Goldman Sachs? Offices for the company? An event center for which they have naming rights?
stoweker@reddit
They tore down 18 acres of really old apartment buildings next to the Perot museum and are building a 5,000 employee “HQ2”. It’s the giant construction site at the corner of Nowitzki Way and N Field St
010Horns@reddit
That’s not how those public health services are funded. I get a massive tax bill every year from the county to fund Parkland.
stoweker@reddit
Yea, that’s our public hospital and money goes to that. The prop tax still isn’t enough to fund it. Would argue as welll that Parkland is the literally highest cost setting one could be in for basic care - we functionally don’t have options for physical or mental health care for the poor in low cost outpatient settings, so rather than a $200 outpatient visit to see a doctor we get jammed with $10k ER bills because there’s no where else to go.
And Medicaid is absurd, the eligibility rules are so onerous unless you’re a child or a woman with a child making under $5k/yr sorry no insurance for you.
Think of the ACA what you will but it exists, it isn’t going away, and so long as it’s there and we pay into it off our federal taxes it makes no sense to take a principaled stance and NOT take the expansion money. Ship out tax dollars to like, Massachusetts so they can have the best health system in the country. Thanks Obama (/s)
010Horns@reddit
Right, I’m just saying that the city isn’t really funding much in the way of homeless health services. That’s coming from the county.
James-the-Bond-one@reddit
Exactly. I'm here in the suburbs paying for the mismanagement of Dallas City Hall. My money goes to fund NGOs and pay for the high salaries of their professional managers and directors. There's a whole industry that thrives on homelessness and is always demanding more funds.
Such-Professor6271@reddit
Greg Abbott loves to brag about the multi-billion dollar surplus we have though. We have the money, they just refuse to spend it on Texans especially in democrat cities. Hell he probably wants Dallas to look crazy and dangerous just so he can blame i on democrats.
stoweker@reddit
I mean it’s not just dem cities. To get Medicaid in Texas as an adult you need (1) to have a child (2) make ~15% or less of the federal poverty line - like $4,500/year.
That also hoses people in the country too, but that presupposes they even have access to rural healthcare.
2nd largest state, 49th in healthcare spending. Go Texas.
Such-Professor6271@reddit
yep and the obamacare is way higher here too. I paid $48 a month for my obamacare in Arkansas and it covered everything even my tubal. I move here and it's $200 a month and it doesn't cover hsit
James-the-Bond-one@reddit
That could be because you're making more now.
Additional-Sky-7436@reddit
Victory Park is the reason why the city should never again invest in a sports stadium.
No city should. Ever again.
TheBuzzTrack@reddit
Remember when our Mayor decided to switch political parties because he proclaimed to favor fiscal conservatism like the Republicans do? Well, how's that working out for the city of Dallas since the old switcheroo occurred?
James-the-Bond-one@reddit
Better than staying the course, we could argue. But that would be impossible to prove, since that never happened, so we can't compare outcomes.
SadatayAllDamnDay@reddit
They didn't lose AT&T because of mismanagement. They lost AT&T because AT&T is going to make a lot of money moving to Plano off tax breaks. And you know what...in a decade, Plano is going to lose AT&T to some other city that gives them a ton of money to move there.
thephotoman@reddit
AT&T wouldn’t be moving if it weren’t for the broader mismanagement of downtown. They’ll likely spend more on moving than they will get back in tax breaks.
The problem is that the City of Dallas has not done a great job of cleaning up its subprime office space. This could either take the form of retrofitting those buildings for other uses (though repurposing for residential use specifically is a tall order, and it may be cheaper to demolish and replace it) or demolishing and replacing them.
The City of Dallas has also done a poor job with transit services. DART is institutionally incapable of running an effective transit service, as they have to compete with NTTA offering high speed toll roads that beat DART in terms of convenience, ease of use, and speed. NTTA was a mistake, and the sooner we agree to disband them, the better.
And they’ve done jack all to try to keep the Mavs and Stars downtown. The Mavs and Stars see the money that the Rangers and Cowboys are making by charging for parking and actively want a slice of that pie. Was the city trying to negotiate? Nah, they didn’t care.
These are all Dallas’s failures.
Sufficient-Sir-7912@reddit
DART is not run by the City of Dallas. It is its own entity with a board and CEO/President.
thephotoman@reddit
I am aware.
But also, DART is still mostly the Dallas Transit Authority, except now it gets used as a weapon in fights between Dallas (which wants more busses) and the suburbs (which want more trains).
Additional-Sky-7436@reddit
Exactly. ATT moved to Dallas for Tax abatements. Now that those abatements have ended they are now moving to Plano for abatements.
In 20 years they will move to OKC.
TopNeighborhood2694@reddit
Good luck to them getting the skilled staff they need in OKC.
Additional-Sky-7436@reddit
I'm sure they will manage to find white collar paper pushers.
BamaPhils@reddit
Exactly. AT&T moved because Plano offered them basically a blank check and they wanted a more horizontal suburban campus. Downtown Dallas literally can’t provide those no matter how great city council is. Not to mention Goldman Sachs will move into their campus before AT&T or the Mavs or the Stars (?) are gone and there’s time to continue developing/redeveloping downtown to prepare for that. Side note, I have a major pet peeve with people citing uptown as part of “downtown” in the loss of things but never when things move there. AT&T is a downtown loss, full stop. But the Mavs/Stars (?) aren’t technically downtown. If you want to make that claim, you’ll need to include the brand new GS campus, new Scotiabank presence in victory park, Klyde Warren expansion and the new BOA tower going up there as well.
datdupe@reddit
Everyone was so against them potentially tearing down the old city hall because it was historic. Well here you go I hope you're happy
Powerful_Length7870@reddit
sAVe dALLaS cITY hALL!!!!!!! Hope everyone enjoys the higher taxes to pay for that albatross while downtown dies. hIStOrICaL prEsErVaTIon FTW!!!?!!!!!!
gayitaliandallas92@reddit
I love living in Downtown but Downtown’s biggest issue is by FAR the fact that it banked on the suburb model being here to stay. Uptown is proving that wrong. Yes, young families are still moving to the suburbs and everything BUT a lot of retired or empty nesters from the suburbs are moving down to uptown since their 10K sq foot house is too big for just them 2. So you have uptown just BOOMING residentially and not to mention commercially too. Here is what you do, and it sounds harsh but it needs to be done. 24/7 security at all parks and key choke points in the city where there are a large homeless presence (like DART stations.) Cleaning the city, fully, once a week (if Central Chicago can do it, why not us?) A true investment in making downtown Dallas a destination, not just a fresh coat of paint.
James-the-Bond-one@reddit
You're going against the grifters, my friend. There's a monetary reason that hasn't been done yet, and Spencer Pratt in LA is doing a great job of exposing the corrupt system that profits from the status quo.
Jernbek35@reddit
Downtown Dallas is dead after 5pm, it’s a place people work then go home to the suburbs. It’s not like DC, NY or even Baltimore which is more lively than Dallas. It has nothing going for it and more fans will likely attend games if they’re located in the burbs
ChicagoRay312@reddit
I used to believe that until I moved downtown three years ago. It’s certainly not a world class downtown but it’s far from dead. I can hear the people and cars even from the 20th story each night.
OutlawSundown@reddit
Yeah it’s definitely not like it was a decade ago.
James-the-Bond-one@reddit
Or 30 years ago, when only a handful of people lived there.
Such-Professor6271@reddit
I'm personally down for a casino and some nightlife in downtown. When I went to Vegas, I was amazed at how alive at was no matter the time. Music loud in the streets, restaurants, bars, dispensaries, clubs, casinos!
Current_Wrongdoer513@reddit
I’ve been looking for a reason to leave Dallas. Casinos just might do it.
Such-Professor6271@reddit
It's just.....colorful slot machines that are optional.....not everyone is uptight and boring
de-gustibus@reddit
Miriam Adelson will use the proceeds to fund fascism and genocide but okay
Such-Professor6271@reddit
Good thing she isn't the only one who owns casinos
photog_prince@reddit
This towns finished.
South-Succotash-6368@reddit
You can thank the liberal leadership of Dallas for failing everything in regards to safety and creating a thriving city. Because it clearly isn't thriving like it use to
AvonBarksdale_@reddit
Did Claude write this? be honest
TrashOfOil@reddit
Absolutely written by AI. People can’t think for theirselves anymore
allthestars93@reddit
Very clearly yes.
mllllllln@reddit
100% yes, pretty obvious
argonautserious@reddit
Add Neiman Marcus to the growing list
hearmeout29@reddit
Yep just saw the news that they are closing. Fifth third also ditched the downtown Comerica building as well.
No_Host_8024@reddit
Your mistake is assuming that the city government has the power to "manage" the central business district. It doesn't. Not legally. Not practically.
The two specific moves you mention are because of market forces simply out of the city's control: namely, big companies want large acreages to build huge, amazing, wall-off campuses. They don't want their employees interacting with homeless people, sure. But they also don't really want them interacting with normal random people on the street. They want to control the entire environment. So AT&T is moving onto 54 acres, an area that would be about 20 full blocks of downtown Dallas. The owners of the Mavericks are buying 104 acres and intend to own the entire "entertainment district" that surrounds their new stadium.
That's after all the law firms and similar businesses all moved to uptown. Why? Because there was land to develop new, amazing office towers. There was room to put in new restaurants and bars and hotels. A different kind of walled garden--one built on the fact that while you can't keep everyone out, you can essentially make it unpleasant for anyone who can't afford a $10 coffee or a $50 lunch to be there. So that's what they did.
These are forces that that the city government really can't counter. People who want a thriving downtown Dallas wouldn't want these kinds of projects there anyhow. What no one is figured out is who wants to live or work in what's left? If the City has any specific issue and potential solutions, it will be in figuring out how to have a vibrant downtown with large, rich, anchor tenants. It will be because they can make it attractive to smaller businesses to occupy the space, for people to move and live, etc. And I honestly don't know how you do that either people don't move to Dallas to live that way, the young professionals who might otherwise be inclined to that style of living prefer uptown or the Village anyhow, etc.
NonFungibleTokenism@reddit
What did you want city hall to do? Offer AT&T and the mavs hundreds of millions of dollars as a blank check to stay?
shedinja292@reddit
FYI Victory Park isn’t considered part of Downtown. It can be considered part of Oak Lawn which in general is doing very well.
I personally believe if you’re going to criticize something you should do it, but come with an idea for a solution. The unfortunate truth is that no single large project will make a large difference, there needs to be a lot of small and medium projects that improve things over time. Parts of downtown are better than they used to be due to investments in trees, awnings, nicer sidewalks, public art, cleaning crews, and more residential. Parts are worse because they’ve been left to degrade, they need more investment.
intransigent_bunny@reddit
Are these your own thoughts or did you just have an LLM spit this out?
Tralliz@reddit
Let downtown dallas die
hearmeout29@reddit
You forgot to mention that fifth third bank also abandoned downtown as well. It's in a decline and the only thing that can revitalize the area is Yall street.
TexasRanger11GTE@reddit
IMO Dallas has to do whatever it can now to keep the Stars in Victory Park or in the core somehow. I know it’s likely they’ll move out of the AAC but this seems like an all hands on deck situation. Downtown Dallas will have to be looked at as a neighbor going forward and not primarily a place to work. Safety, walkability/public transit, and empty parking lots should’ve been address yesterday but here we are. I’m hoping Y’all St has enough of an impact to bring in more development and investment.
blahblahtx@reddit
Comerica bank also announced they were leaving downtown too. IMO things were never great downtown but covid destroyed it and it never came back. Safety is now a big issue. Had the merger not happened, I’d be willing to bet they would have not renewed their lease for that reason.
scubasteve0921@reddit
I wish my property taxes were going down too
BlazinAzn38@reddit
It just needs to be a place that people actually live. It’s an area that isn’t occupied two days a week and the majority is empty after 6 PM.
camp1728@reddit
I live in victory park and in my 3 years of living here, I’ve gone into actual downtown a grand total of like 4 times. The reason for this is much more than ‘crumbling roads’. Downtown , in my opinion, is dead, nothing to do, and infested with lowlifes. You can disagree all you want but I know many many others who share this point of view. I can’t think of a single thing I would even want to do there, it’s not as though there is some restaurant or entertainment venue that is drawing me in.
Despite my comments, I really wish it wasn’t that way. I love the high rises and wish there was more going on. Not sure what the solution is but unfortunately it feels like the city hasn’t positioned downtown for ongoing success.
I’d have these same thoughts regardless of what the Mavs and/or stars are doing.
Powerful_Length7870@reddit
You can thank the Save Dallas City Hall people for this. They have saddled Dallas taxpayers with an ugly practically unusable building for years to come. You will be paying while downtown continues to wither into nothing. Remember that group caused all of this when you receive your tax bills.
gearpitch@reddit
I think you aren't paying attention, there's been visible conversations about this for a long time, downtown improvement plans, different approaches to safety, and one of the biggest markets for office to residential conversions in the country. I think you're just looking to rant, rather than stay informed.
A city council can't force companies to stay in downtown. And they can't force land owners to do things with their property. Unless you think the city should seize property and actively develop it, the best they can do is create tax incentives, which hollow out the tax base and leads to the crumbling roads you hate.
I agree that downtown has lots of problems, and there's serious disinvestment in it, leaving vacant parking lots and sketchy areas. But billionaire owners wanting to own all the property around an arena isn't something city hall can compete with. What inventive on a silver platter could they have given the adelsons to gift the mavs the land around city hall? Vs a clean slate, ready to develop property where valley view was? Downtown needs to focus on creating an urban residential neighborhood, instead of a 9-5 office park with companies that will ultimately leave. Build more housing and better street life, but that's mostly in the hands of developers and property owners, not city planners.
Fiercededede@reddit
This
Sideview_play@reddit
They wouldn't keep the sports without huge tax incentives and cities shouldn't be doing that. The rest of it ? It's the economy. The economy is shit and that will lead to more crime and homelessness.