District 1
District 1 is home to many of Denton’s most treasured amenities. Consider just some of them…
- The most diverse community in Denton
- The Courthouse square
- Downtown A-Train station
- Music, cultural, and artistic venues
- The best authentic Mexican, BBQ, and Soul Food in town
- Quakertown and Civic Center Park
- Emily Fowler Library
- The City Pool
- MLK Center
- Several parks and recreational facilities
- TWU
- City Hall and the Civic Center
- Loop 288 Business District
- Historic Neighborhoods
- Active Neighborhoods – Southeast Denton and Township II as great examples
- Models of successful mixed use neighborhoods
Despite all this, voter participation in this District is lower than any other part of Denton. Only about 250 people from District 1 vote in city and school board elections in any given year. What that means is that the future of our community is more influenced by people in other parts of town than it is by our residents. We need a more engaged District in order to better direct the future of this marvelous section of Denton.
The coming of the DCTA A-Train opens up new possibilities for investment in previously neglected areas of town. While most of the focus of consultants, city and business leaders has been to the West of the Downtown Transit Station and toward the square, the location of the train stop provides the possibility for a new vision of connecting our charming downtown with what I see as the emerging cultural district of Southeast Denton. Though home to some of the closest neighborhoods to downtown, families West of the railroad tracks have for too long been physically separated from our town center by a busy and pedestrian-unfriendly Bell Ave. This should be changed with new walkable infrastructure – not only for those residents, but so that visitors to our downtown area can easily visit the growing number of one-of-a-kind restaurants and funky business start-ups along McKinney and within the neighborhoods. And beyond the benefit to Southeast Denton businesses, imagine the renewed interest in new families moving into the beautiful neighborhoods to the West of the A-Train station.
And there are many other wonderful neighborhoods within walking or biking distance from the square that could stand to use some attention and cherishing (Locust and Austin Street areas, TWU neighborhoods, the area SW of the square, Oak and Hickory Street neighborhoods to the West of Carroll, and the PECAN area). Focusing on the downtown area apart from thinking through how to better connect it with these surrounding historic neighborhoods has resulted in the mistake of seeking our square as merely a destination for others, instead of a place around which many of our citizens already live.
Finally, it is my goal to increase citizen participation in this District. There are already encouraging pockets of this residing in our neighborhoods – these should be recognized, built upon, and learned from. Take Township II, for instance. with its thriving Denton Watch Group and contribution to city life. We could also learn from the sense of community, organization, and friendliness from Southeast Denton. I want to work with these groups, business leaders, and even area children to develop regular town hall meetings for the purpose of giving them a seat at the table of city governance.