RE: Civic Garden, a park located at 1014 Main St, Dallas, TX 75202

⚠️ Maintaining Civic Garden is a daily battle for police, safety patrol, and the clean team.

The most troubling spot is the table area – a hot bed of public urination, drugs, and all-hours camping.

• ⅔ of residents feel unsafe in the table area according to a poll of 51 people who live next to the park conducted in Sep. 2023.

The table area is blocked off by a limestone wall on the east and large areas of planting on the west. Tall shade trees limit visibility from above. It has 11 tables and 1 bench.

• These physical features encourage behaviors such as public urination, camping, and drug use.
• Many residents, workers, and tourists avoid the area.

To improve safety in Civic Garden, we suggest adjusting the table area.

Imagine keeping a few tables close to Main St and repurposing the remaining space as a:

1. Dog park, or
2. A passive pathway for convention guests, residents, and workers

Either of these would improve public safety in the entire park by putting more eyes on the ground.

• Such adjustments would be economical to implement.

Civic Garden was created in 2012 as a reflective space. But it’s hard to reflect while looking over your shoulder.

Civic Garden needs better safety so it can be the park it was meant to be. Improving safety starts with improving the table area.