A Master Plan for Dallas, Texas, Report 10: Housing Page: 31
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Only by adopting and carefully following a plan over a period of many
years can substantial improvement be effected. The procedure outlined
below is suggested as a future program for Dallas.
l Estimate of total population growth for 25 to 30 years.
The Population Report, already completed and issued as the third
of the series of City Plan reports, made a thorough examination of the
characteristics of population growth and distribution, as well as an
estimate of amount of distribution of future growth. These studies should
serve as a basis for all future development0
2. Establish unified control of total potential urban area based
on a plan for the most practical distribution and density of population.
Preceding portions of this report have indicated the close inter-
relationships between all parts of the urban area. Housing developments
on the outskirts affect housing conditions in the central part of the city.
The balanced development of the entire urban area in a reasonable pattern
,is the first requisite of any housing program There must be unified control
of the entire urban area. There is little question but that, today, more
slums areas are being created on the outskirts of Dallas through substandard
subdivision development than are being created in the central areas of the
city through obsolescence and abandonment0 To rebuild a "downtown" slum
is meaningless if, at the same time, an even larger one is developing just
outside the city limits. An overall community approach to the problem is
imperative. The sooner it is undertaken the less will be the difficulties
and the less will be the ultimate cost. Inadequate planning and land use
control in the areas beyond the city limits is now needlessly creating
serious problems of considerable magnitude, Measures should be taken as
soon as possible to bring all of the future urban area under one control so
that the following measures for improvement and protection of housing condi-
tions can be applied to the entire urban area0
3. Divide future residential areas into neighborhoods,
The importance of creating and preserving good residential environ-
ment has been emphasized throughout this report, This cannot be done by
an individual or a small group of property owners working alone0 One of
the principal deterrents to the maintenance of satisfactory environment in
the past has been the inability of the individual to cope with initial blight
created by the intrusion of inappropriate use or the failure of a few owners
to maintain their property. As a result, all property owners become
discouraged and seek escape; the processes of depreciation become progressive.
Some means must be made available to combat these conditions, to insure the
permanency of each individual neighborhood
One means of doing this is through the organization of neighbor-
hood protective and improvement associations in all residential sections of
the city.
There are numerous voluntary neighborhood improvement organizations
in sections of Dallas, They are ineffective in dealing with problems here
discussed because of lack of authority and too loose organization The
proposed form of neighborhood association is somewhat similar to these groups
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Harland Bartholomew and Associates. A Master Plan for Dallas, Texas, Report 10: Housing, report, December 1944; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth803915/m1/63/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Municipal Archives.