In one of the more unlikely design stories of the past decade, Dallas has become a national model of urban park building. The centerpiece of that narrative is Klyde Warren Park, which demonstrated how decking over a highway could suture neighborhoods while creating a popular new public amenity. That project was followed by four new downtown parks (Pacific Plaza, West End, Carpenter and Harwood) created by the nonprofit Parks for Downtown Dallas.
Even with those additions, Dallas remains squarely in the middle of the pack among major American cities when it comes to the quantity, quality and accessibility of its parks, according to the Trust for Public Land.
The good news is that a group of significant new parks are in development in communities across the city, including the recently introduced Dallas Water Commons. Together, they just might nudge Dallas up the national rankings, and they will certainly make life more appealing for residents when they are complete.
Here’s what we know about each one:
Community Park at Fair Park
Designed by Los Angeles-based landscape architects Studio-MLA, the 18-acre Community Park will finally bring some fairness to Fair Park, offering the long-neglected surrounding community an accessible, attractive space for play and gathering.
Budget: $80 million; projected opening: 2026
Dallas Water Commons
Designed by Studio Outside, the 17-acre park and wetlands education center in the Cedars will remediate some 650 million gallons of stormwater annually, putting it through a circuit of cleansing pools before it is pumped into the Trinity floodway.
Budget: $44 million-$55 million; Projected opening: 2026-27
Southern Gateway Park
The deck park over Interstate 35E will link Oak Cliff with the Dallas Zoo, serving long-neglected communities in southern Dallas. Amenities will include lawns, play areas for children, a performance pavilion, water features and flexible spaces. The design is by architects HKS and landscape architects SWA.
Budget: $82 million (Phase I); projected opening: 2026
Harold Simmons Park
The great Trinity park we’ve all been waiting for was supposed to go between the levees. Last year, a new plan for the park put it mostly outside the levees in West Dallas. Designed by landscape architects MVVA with architecture by Lake Flato, it will be an amenity-fueled park with playgrounds, water features, skating spaces and event pavilions and cafes. The centerpiece will be a 1,000-foot reclaimed industrial shed running down the spine of its principal space.
Budget: $325 million; projected opening: 2027 (Phase I)
The Loop Dallas
Less a park than a landscaped ribbon, the Loop Dallas is a 50-mile trail that fully circumnavigates the city, connecting neighborhood to neighborhood while providing commuting and recreational mobility. Already substantially built, the most recent link in the chain, the mile-long Hi Line Connector opens this month, joining the Katy Trail to the Trinity Strand Trail through the Design District and Victory Park.
Budget: $135 million; projected opening: 2027
CORRECTION, 3:15 p.m., March 6, 2024: An earlier version of this story misstated the budget for the new Trinity park. It is $325 million, not $325.
