Southlake faced a challenge in the late nineties. How to create a “village center” on 130 acres sandwiched between SH 114 and Southlake Boulevard? At the time. few had attempted, much less succeeded, at such a goal in a deeply suburban location.
But leaders, developers, and involved citizens in Southlake dedicated themselves to creating the feel of a Texas courthouse town in the midst of their suburban sprawl, said Jay Narayana, in an article on Southlake Town Square for the Project for Public Places.
Southlake Town Square is primarily accessed by car, but visitors park once and walk to enjoy the project's tree-lined sidewalks and parks.
The plan worked, Naragana said, in part because of the traditions embodied in the “project’s historic downtown grid pattern.”
“An interconnected network of streets, short blocks, and buildings at the sidewalk all create a compact, pedestrian-scaled public realm,” said Narayana, who worked for six years for the City of Southlake creating regulations and design guidelines to facilitate development of Southlake Town Square.
The contrast between the historic grid and the numbing Post-World-War-II pattern around it could not be more stark.
“Interior streets are designed as traditional downtown shopping streets, with on-street parking and pedestrian amenities. Public squares, plazas, and parks are located to add value to development and create a sense of place.”
“To this end,” she emphasized, “Southlake Town Square includes a fountain, pond, pavilion and park that provide various public gathering spaces. Each of these public spaces contributes to the personality of the downtown.”
Part of its success owes to its visibility along State Highway 114 and Southlake Boulevard, where its distinctive nature shines.
So how has Southlake Town Square fulfilled the mission of creating a center or gathering place?
Access and linkages While primarily accessible by car, new residential properties now underway will give its residents to the chance to access uses by foot. For those traveling by car, however, it is a “park-and-walk” destination. The streetscape welcomes pedestrians with tree-lined sidewalks.
Comfort and security An island of public spaces amidst concrete sprawl, Southlake Town Square succeeds in attracting all ages, day and night. In part they are attracted by the security and comfort it offers, and in turn, those people add to the safety of the place.
Uses and activities Narayana pointed out that even when no festival or special event is scheduled, Southlake Town Square remains full of shoppers and diners, children playing, teens gathering, mothers strolling, and seniors people-watching from benches and cafes.
While the specifics of Southlake Town Square are unlikely to be duplicated in Flower Mound, the project has proven that a third-tier suburban community dedicated to place-making principles can provide a welcome refuge from rapid expansion and the “placelessness” that pervades suburbia.
In a future article, we will explore the benefits that have accrued, and may still yet accrue, to Southlake as a result of this development.
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(Note: As part of Scott Polikov’s Gateway Planning team in 2007 and 2008, Narayana applied her talents to plans for Lakeside DFW to illustrate the intricacies of the Flower Mound Mixed Use Ordinance for the Mixed Use Stakeholders’ Committee and Town Council. )
