Study Architecture 
ProPEL 
Author(s): Hyesun Jeong
The idea of a contemporary “Main Street” that draws on the traditional typology of historic cities and towns is a recognized model for urban economic development (Talen and Jeong 2019; Duany, Plater- Zyberk, and Speck 2000; Llewelyn-Davies 2007; Mehta and Bosson 2010). Centrally located between Dallas and Fort Worth, Arlington is home to major sports stadiums, theme parks, the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) airport, and the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). However, despite the city’s rapid population growth, downtown Arlington lacks local development that would balance that large-scale planning. Still, a recent infrastructure investment along Abram Streets suggests that the development of a Main Street is possible. According to U.S. Census data from 2008– 2012, 92% of employees in Arlington commute by driving, while downtown and the university’s campus are categorized as food deserts. Drawing from the principles of New Urbanism and successful examples of Main Streets in Dallas and Fort Worth, we propose urban design and planning images for placemaking in downtown Arlington to promote local business, food, retail, and transit alternatives for active walking, bicycling, and use of public transit. Our study on Main Streets will be used to achieve two goals: one, an assessment of the feasibility of creating a Main Street in downtown Arlington, and two, a study that will expand the current literature on placemaking to the context of postwar Sunbelt cities, a topic that has not received much attention. We suggest that the built infrastructure of 1920s streetcar corridors can be reused as a new foundation for walkable Main Streets and targets for planning initiatives to anchor sustainable urban redevelopment. We expect the project to both have local impact and make an important contribution to the scholarly literature on sustainable urban development in a post-sprawl context.
https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.110.87
Volume Editors
Robert Gonzalez, Milton Curry & Monica Ponce de Leon
ISBN
978-1-944214-40-1
