D Magazine: The End of the West End As You’ve Known It

The End of the West End As You’ve Known It

Julia Bunch, D Magazine | January 2018

In July 2015, the West End Marketplace—a former cracker and candy factory turned shopping mall and movie theater turned eyesore in Dallas’ West End Historic District—had sat empty for a decade. When the property came up for sale, it caught interest from local investors who came out to kick the tires. But it was a tough sell. The property had great bones, sat in one of Dallas’ few truly walkable neighborhoods, and had a compelling history. But historic renovations like West End Marketplace present a lot of unknowns. To make the deal pencil, the new owner would need to get cozy with the city and historical organizations to capitalize on tax credits and incentives.

Then Granite Properties, a developer that was better known locally for its suburban office parks—such as Plano’s Granite Park and Addison’s Spectrum Center—purchased the property from ECOM Real Estate Management. And, within the next 18 months, most of the West End’s office properties also would trade hands, going from family-style ownership to institutional landlords who promised renovations, better property management—and steeper rents. “Every developer in town was looking for the next infill location,” Granite Properties CIO Bill Brown says. “If West End was ever going to be turned around, now was its time.”

For the last 120 years, the West End has been scarred by a number of people who underestimate the district, and helped by handfuls who see opportunity. As former owners like ECOM and Owen Hannay’s Five Smooth Stones began selling their properties, institutional landlords like Granite, Crescent Real Estate, Lincoln Property Co., and Spear Street Capital stepped forward. And now, as the first wave of the new ownership’s renovations come to fruition and new developments break ground, the next chapter of the storied district is unfolding. But not everyone is thrilled with the results.

Renewed Purpose

In the recent past, the West End had been a mix of mom-and-pop-style landlords who charged modest rents and kept buildings reasonably full, and neglected properties that sat in some form of transition or disrepair.

RECENT PAST

July 2015
Granite Properties purchases the West End Marketplace from ECOM.

December 2015
Spear Street Capital buys Landmark Center from Foundry Capital Partners and Argosy Real Estate.

Crescent Real Estate buys three properties—501 Elm, 211 Record, and 800 Jackson—from Five Smooth Stones.

March 2016
Crescent buys three more West End properties—208 Market St. and two parking lots—from Hannay.

December 2016
Lincoln Property Co. buys Market-Ross Place from ECOM.

September 2017
Crescent buys Corgan’s headquarters and adjacent land for an office development.

October 2017
Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum breaks ground.

November 2017
Granite reopens the former West End Marketplace as Factory Six03.

Crescent breaks ground on The Luminary office building.

Dallas residents approve a $1.05 billion bond, including funds for a new West End park.

Mesirow Financial buys 555 Ross Avenue apartments from Fairfield Residential.

When Granite entered the neighborhood, the West End—roughly bounded by Woodall Rodgers, Interstate 35, Lamar Street, and Jackson Street—wasn’t solely untapped potential, of course. Much of it had already been realized. Owners like Five Smooth Stones, longtime restaurants like The Palm, and newer innovators like the Dallas Entrepreneur Center had already become cheerleaders for one of the oldest districts in Dallas. Such stakeholders, primarily through the neighborhood advocacy group called the West End Association, were improving the neighborhood. But when Granite purchased the West End Marketplace with plans to redevelop it into an old-meets-new office space dubbed Factory Six03, the ears of every major landlord in town pricked up.

A few months later, in late 2015, Spear Street Capital, a national landlord known for owning and operating tech-related real estate, purchased Landmark Center at 1801 Lamar St.

Around the same time, Crescent and private equity firm Long Wharf Real Estate Partners snapped up Five Smooth Stones’ West End portfolio—which included 208 Market St., 800 Jackson St., 501 Elm St., 211 Record St., and two parking lots—in an off-market deal. More recently, Crescent bought 401 Houston St. and the adjacent parcel of land, on which it will construct an expansion of Corgan’s architecture firm and about 80,000 square feet of speculative office space in its new building called The Luminary. In December 2016, ECOM sold Market-Ross Place, the 1905-era three-building complex, to yet another well-known owner, Lincoln Property Co.

Each landlord claimed nearly identical reasons for buying. The neighborhood’s brick-and-timber real estate is arguably the most unique in the city, they knew. Every DART rail line runs through the West End Station. The walkable neighborhood has over a century of history. Adjoining neighborhoods, such as Victory Park and the Arts District, were going through renaissances of their own. The Dallas Holocaust Museum, the Sixth Floor Museum, and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center keep a steady flow of tourists—over 7 million annually—coming to the West End.

Owen Hannay’s Five Smooth Stones bought the empty and dilapidated Awalt Building in November 2000.

But these landlords also saw a good business opportunity. “The previous owners were not putting a lot of capital into their buildings, not giving much [tenant improvements], and therefore weren’t pushing rates,” Granite COO and president Greg Fuller says. “We will put all the capital we need to into this building, and I think the Crescents and Lincolns saw that and felt they could do the same.”

Several of the new landlords who owned similar spaces in different cities knew creative-type tenants would pay a premium to office in such cool spaces. New owners could increase rents, after various upgrades to the building and improved property management, and still keep rates at a discount to Uptown. As a result, the exodus of previous landlords also meant the exit of many tenants unable or unwilling to pay higher rents.

Highs and Lows

Throughout the West End’s 120-year history, the neighborhood has slipped in and out of prominence, seeming to often take two steps forward and one step back.

In the early 1900s, the neighborhood became a thriving manufacturing hub, serving as a crown jewel for Dallas’ budding economy. On a November afternoon in 1963, President John F. Kennedy took some of his last breaths in the West End’s Dealey Plaza before being shot and rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital. The country’s mourning, however, brought a subsequent boost in tourism as people flocked to the Sixth Floor Museum and surrounding area. As tourism surged, many warehouses fell into disarray.

In 1975, the Dallas City Council, “concerned with the gradual decline and decay of the area,” unanimously approved plans to create the West End Historic District. Over the next decade, investors started staking claim on the neighborhood. Entertainment tenants like Planet Hollywood brought locals back to the West End, making it something of a tourist haven by day and a local watering hole by night. But by the end of the 1980s, many of the area’s most notorious bars and restaurants—like the drug-fueled Starck Club—had closed up shop. Around the same time, rowdy club goers, in part, caused the neighborhood to become known as unsafe, a label the West End Association has been trying to reconcile.

“If the West End was ever going to be turned around, now was its time.”

BILL BROWN, GRANITE PROPERTIES

The FBI moved into Landmark Center on Lamar Street in 1980, making it one of the largest tenants in the neighborhood, with more than 130,000 square feet. But after the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11, the agency moved into a more secluded division headquarters, citing “rigorous security standards needed for the 21st century.”

Ellen’s Southern Kitchen opened a 55-seat restaurant in 2012, and quickly reached capacity. By 2016, owner Joe Groves opened a bigger restaurant just across the street from Ellen’s original concept. A year later, and with only a month’s notice to longtime customers, The Palm, a 33-year restaurant veteran of the West End, closed its doors, citing safety concerns. When pressed, The Palm declined to disclose specific safety incidences, frustrating neighbors trying to combat the West End’s reputation as a dangerous spot, which had been caused in part by the number of homeless and panhandlers in the area.

In June 2016, Trey Bowles’ and Jennifer Sanders’ Dallas Innovation Alliance unveiled plans to create a “smart city living lab” within the West End, generating buzz from movers and shakers in the innovation space. Days later, the world watched in horror as the Dallas police shootings ended in a gun battle at the West End’s El Centro College, where the shooter was finally killed by a robot-delivered bomb.

Days apart from each other in fall 2017, Crescent’s The Luminary, and the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, broke ground on new buildings. Further marking the West End’s upswing, Dallas residents voted yes in November to a $1.05 billion bond, effectively paving (or un-paving, as it were) the way for a park to be created in place of the parking lot between Market-Ross and Spaghetti Warehouse.

Realities of Progress

When Crescent bought 208 N. Market St., one of the larger buildings in its West End portfolio at 62,000 square feet, the rents were $17 per square foot, plus electric costs. Now, rents there range from $17 to $21 per square foot triple net, according to CoStar. (In triple net leases, a landlord’s property taxes, insurance, and maintenance are passed on to tenants.)

“We always thought rents were artificially low there, because owners were not investing in those buildings. But now that people are, you will see a significant increase in rent,” Granite’s Fuller says. “But there’s a significant increase in cost too, so it’s not like you’re making a killing.”

Artificially low or not, pushing up rents was not a priority of previous-generation West End owners like Hannay. “My primarily objective was to keep [the buildings] full,” Hannay says. “The new buyers believe they can move rents pretty significantly. They’ve got deeper pockets and can take time to get the best rate … I hope they get their asking price.”

Five Smooth Stones sold its West End portfolio, including the Awalt Building, to Crescent Real Estate in 2015 and 2016.

But that increase in cost varies widely by property. Granite took an empty building in disrepair, spent $77 million flipping it, and has been quoting leases at $35 per square foot, with a $8.26 Common Area Maintenance (CAM) expense that makes it the most expensive in the neighborhood—and a rival to some Uptown buildings. Other properties, such as 501 Elm St. and Landmark Center, were decently updated and occupied when they traded.

Several tenants have already exited the neighborhood, mainly blaming rising rents for their exodus. And Crescent Vice President Stephen Luik and Lincoln Property Executive Vice President Matt Craft agree that tenants will continue to leave, as more and more leases come up for renewal.
“[Previous to Crescent’s ownership,] you weren’t getting premium rents,” Luik says. “We noticed that issue, and thought we could come in and re-tenant the buildings. We did that with the understanding that we were going to lose customers, but we would backfill it.”

Co-working concept The Grove was one such tenant that moved out of the neighborhood after Crescent bought its building. Justin Nygren and Ken Janke opened The Grove in one of Hannay’s buildings in 2013. Like many landlords, Nygren saw the value in the neighborhood. “The West End is where the city started,” he says. “It has a pioneering and innovative spirit. We felt like we had an opportunity to tap back into that with The Grove.”

The Grove entered the neighborhood under Hannay’s objective to keep his buildings full, but closed up shop in August 2017, after Crescent bought the building. When The Grove closed after failing to come to a rental agreement with Crescent, Nygren said there was a spirit of frustration in the neighborhood, with a handful of tenants who had exited or planned to exit the West End because of rapidly rising rents.

Part of Crescent’s higher rents are due to expensive building systems that were updated, with the likes of new roofs and fire life systems, and on-site management and security, Luik says.

Lincoln is in a similar situation. “We don’t want to lose any [tenants], but people have to make financial decisions,” Craft says.

Lincoln has nearly doubled rents, according to CoStar, without yet starting several million dollars in planned renovations on the three-building office complex with ground-floor retail known as Market-Ross.

Regardless of owner, the West End struggled to maintain its approximate threshold of 170 tenants in 2016 and 2017. “Net absorption in the West End office market was basically zero in 2016 and is positive by 60,000 square feet so far” in 2017, as of mid-November, CoStar Senior Market Analyst David Kahn says. “Retail net absorption was around 10,000 square feet in 2016, but negligible in 2017.”

Rising Tide

As for reconciling the two perspectives—a business owner whose rent has just doubled, and a landlord who sees a business opportunity—Lincoln’s Craft says that is commonplace in an evolving submarket. He compares the office gentrification in the West End to Uptown a few years ago: “Some tenants paid, and others went up Central Expressway. That helped Central. I think it can be positive.”

From a business perspective, that’s true. As tenants leave the West End, the rest of downtown, the Cedars, and the Design District benefit.

And, that “rising tide lifts all boats” mentality is one the West End Association appreciates. As apartments bring in more residents, restaurants get more customers. As offices tighten up on security, the whole neighborhood gets safer. As Victory Park becomes a hot destination, that vivacity spills over Woodall Rogers.

“We don’t want to lose any [tenants], but people have to make financial decisions.”

MATT CRAFT, LINCOLN PROPERTY CO.

But Crescent’s Luik, who is also president of the West End Association, admits the perception of the West End is lagging reality. “There’s still this perception that it’s not a vibrant district,” he says. “But if you talk to retailers, they’ll tell you their sales are as strong as they’ve [ever] been …”
It takes work to change perceptions, though. And the West End Association is doing the work. Luik details four distinct goals for his tenure as president of the WEA: Increase security, create and refine programming and events, better market the neighborhood, and light Market Street (to be reminiscent of Highland Park Village’s wrapped trees). The association has committees for each objective, and says it’s making progress on all four.

At Factory Six03, Granite scored a big win when Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas leased about 30,000 square feet for its C1 Innovation lab. But leasing has otherwise been a little sluggish, because it’s tough to sell tenants on a space when it’s still under construction. “It has been such a war zone that it’s difficult to show the space and have people get it,” Granite’s Fuller says. That logic could be applied to the whole neighborhood: it’s hard to say just how much better the area has become until stakeholders have a little hindsight.

“I do see a renewed sense of purpose for the West End,” Fuller says. “But the proof will be when more occupants are down there.”

DIA Job Posting: Program Manager

SMART CITIES PROGRAM MANAGER

Overall Description of Work:

The Program Coordinator (PC) will perform intermediate professional level work on a variety of projects that help move forward the Dallas Innovation Alliance mission. The employee will coordinate and support execution of smart city and community programs, principles, and practices. All work will be performed under the direct supervision of Executive Director Jennifer Sanders and Cofounder Trey Bowles. This is a great opportunity for a driven and motivated person to be a part of the early stages of the growth and success of the Dallas Innovation Alliance where they will play a key role in the strategy and implementation of the Smart Cities Living Lab pilot project taking place in Dallas’ West End Historic District.

Key Areas of Responsibilities:

·       Assist the organization in the overall coordination and administration of Dallas Innovation Alliance current projects in the Smart Cities Living Lab, as well as strategic planning for future projects.

·       Support data gathering and resulting analysis, measurement and reporting.

·       Assist the organization in events with coordination, communications, outreach, logistics, planning and execution.

·       Manage the implementation and ongoing maintenance of a database for contacts and network members. Ensure integration into website and social media output;

·       Support maintenance and updates of website and social media;

·       Support the planning and implementation of community, education, outreach and training events.

·       Performs applied research duties in support of programming;

·       Oversee, monitor and report grant related activities, including local and national foundations, state and federal grant opportunities. Ensure that the Executive Director is kept abreast of progress and key decision points;

·       Interface with key local, national and global partners who are a part of the Dallas Innovation Alliance membership network; and

·       Other duties may include database entry and administrative tasks.

Qualifications and Requirements:

·       3-5 years of related project management or organizational experience preferred;

·       Bachelor’s Degree preferred, but not required;

·       Excellent organizational skills combined with the ability to work well under pressure;

·       Strong time management skills with the ability to prioritize work and meet deadlines;

·       Proven ability to execute and meet deliverables and timelines;

·       Excellent communication and writing skills;

·       Self-motivated, creative, self-directed, and responsible;

·       Comfortable multi-tasking, as well as working independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment;

·       Strong, proven project management skills;

·       Ability to support several small to medium-sized projects in addition to working on long-term projects;

·       Experience in community relations, including light event planning;

·       Good knowledge of Microsoft Office, Squarespace, Mailchimp and social media tools and programs;

·       Strong database management/CRM and operation skills preferred;

·       Experience in basic graphic design preferred;

·       Interest in urban innovation and smart cities is a plus.

The Dallas Innovation Alliance is committed to workplace diversity and inclusion. We are equal opportunity employers and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. We offer competitive salaries and a pleasant working environment. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and commensurate with experience.

To apply, please email info@dallasinnovationalliance.com your resume and cover letter with the subject line referencing this job posting. Initial application period will close on November 30th. Please no phone calls, emails, faxes or in-person resume drop-offs. Please reference where you saw this posting. Dallas Innovation Alliance is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Xconomy: Five Questions For … Chelsea Collier, Smart Cities Advocate in Austin

Xconomy: Five Questions For … Chelsea Collier, Smart Cities Advocate in Austin

Angela Shah - Xconomy, October 20, 2017

Austin—Call her the accidental innovator.

Chelsea Collier didn’t set out to be part of Austin’s innovation ecosystem, she says, adding that “it just sort of evolved over time through a sense of curiosity.”

After working in a variety of marketing roles, including a job with the Office of the Governor for the State of Texas, Collier served as executive director of Texas for Economic Progress until 2015. It was then that she became a co-founder of Impact Hub, an Austin-based branch of Impact Hub International, which is a social venture incubator and co-working space.

“Innovation and technology is just a way to optimize our current experience,” Collier explains. “We are at this time when technology can be leveraged to help humanity. It’s the people part that fuels my interest.”

Today, after having spent a year as an Eisenhower Fellow, Collier is involved in the Smart Cities movement. An effort she’s following is in Dallas, which is working on an intelligent light project that enables environmental sensors to measure pollutants, humidity, allergen levels, and other factors, among other projects.

Last spring, the Dallas Innovation Alliance launched a “Living Lab” in the city’s West End district along with telecom giant AT&T. The plan is that all of the data collected, which is owned by the city of Dallas, will be crunched to see how effectively the city operates.

“The more people that are innovating on top of the data that’s being derived from these sensors—will then come jobs, will then come investment, will then come an increase in GDP,” said Mike Zeto, general manager of AT&T Smart Cities in a Dallas Business Journal article last March.

In this week’s “Five Questions For …,” Collier speaks about the importance of female role models in the professional world, her focus on optimizing rather than perfection, and the joy of running in the woods with friends. Here is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation.

Xconomy: Tell me about your early influences.

Chelsea Collier: My early influences, the people that I really look to and sought examples from were women in the professional world—my mom being one of them; my aunt being one of them. I always looked around for other professional women. Unfortunately, a lot of the time where I found them was in the media, on TV. I watched very carefully how they represented themselves, how they created their own space, like Susan Dey in “LA Law.” I had no intention of being a lawyer but I looked at how she could command a space and said, ‘One day I want to do that.’

I don’t think it was a conscious choice [to seek out female role models.] I knew what I gravitated toward and what I thought was interesting. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to create something. Just being able to navigate your life and not have to follow rules set in places, by society or tradition. I certainly wasn’t a rebel, but is there another way other than just what I see everybody doing each day?

X: What’s your favorite book? Or maybe one you’ve read recently?

CC: My favorite book of all time is “Everything Belongs” by Richard Rohr. He’s a Catholic writer. The religious part isn’t really the important part for me. He’s very inclusive, and has an appreciation for all of the different religious traditions. It’s the personal development piece that’s interesting to me. There is no good or bad; it’s being able to appreciate the way that things are and understand they have a purpose and always something that can be learned or that you can teach others. It does a beautiful job making even painful things OK.

I’m just so conditioned to optimize things. I’m always looking at ways that I can improve something. It’s this notion of perfection either within ourselves or in the environment around us that can be a bit of a trap, the pursuit of making things idealized. We miss the best part, which is sometimes messy and sometimes difficult. We need to just understand that sometimes it’s the messiness that is really the beautiful part.

X: What’s your blind spot?

CC: In business, my blind spot is definitely finance. That to me is a language that I just never learned. My motto is, Do what you do best and then link to the rest. I’m always looking for folks who really enjoy finance and have that specialty and can help navigate that piece of things.

On the personal side, I am a very trusting person, and someone where I literally leap before I look in terms of diving into relationships. I’m wanting to be supportive and helpful without always understanding [that] sometimes it’s OK to go slow and honor the process.

X: How do you relax outside of work when you want to tune out the noise?

CC: Trail running. I was introduced to trail running just a few years ago from my really dear friend, Robyn Metcalfe. It’s just the notion of running through the woods with your friends, even if it’s for many, many miles is just so liberating and so fun. You’re out in nature and exercising, and feeling strong and just seeing things you can’t see any other way other than on foot.

X: Where do you think your drive comes from?

CC: I think it just goes back to that need to optimize things. I certainly saw it and had a beautiful example from my mom, who is always creating a program or a partnership or some way to help others and create a healthier world. I’m certain that’s a huge part of it. Even though we exercise [that drive] in very different ways [she’s a psychotherapist], she’s a strong influence for me. The rest of it, I think, is just being a type A Scorpio with Irish blood and fire in the belly. That part of it is just in the DNA.

DIA Live at Itron Utility Week!

DIA had the great opportunity to visit our sister city Houston for Itron Utility Week, and discuss the power of partnerships with Envision Charlotte and Cleantech San Diego. While we were there, were we able to share some of the Dallas story with Engerati!

Business Insider: The 25 most high-tech cities in the world (Dallas #11)

The 25 most high-tech cities in the world

Chris Weller, Business Insider

Cities are the way of the future.

In less than 35 years, the World Health Organization estimates that two-thirds of the world population will be living in urban areas. That's an additional 2.5 billion people. The cities that will flourish the most are those that rely on cutting-edge technologies and create opportunities for people to develop new ones.

To get a sense of which cities do that the best, Business Insider consulted 2thinknow, a research firm that specializes in analyzing innovative cities, to rank the most high-tech cities in the world.

The firm chose 10 factors related to technological advancement — including the number of patents filed per capita, startups, tech venture capitalists, ranking in other innovation datasets, and level of smartphone use— weighted them, and ranked a list of 85 cities accordingly.

If you want to know what the future will look like, these are the cities to keep an eye on. [Please visit link for the full list]

11. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

Just within the last couple years, Dallas has established itself as a startup hub.

In 2thinknow's analysis, the Texas city climbed from 28th in 2016 to just outside the top 10 because of its rapid growth in the number of venture capitalists and integration of technology into the city landscape.

Texas CEO - Jennifer Sanders: A Smart Woman In A Smart City

Texas CEO - Jennifer Sanders: A Smart Woman In A Smart City

Jennifer Sanders has a job almost no one else has done, working on a pilot concept only a limited number of people — mostly techies — really understand. And the future of Dallas as a diverse international city with a high quality of life for all its residents is at stake.

Sanders is the executive director and co-founder of the Dallas Innovation Alliance — the DIA for short. Her assignment is to develop a public-private partnership smart city strategy for Dallas. The clock on the one-year project in the West End of the city started in March 2017, and Sanders’ full report is due to Mayor Mike Rawlings in the first quarter of 2018.

What Are Smart Cities?

 According to the Smart Cities Council, there isn’t yet an agreed upon definition of a smart city. In essence, smart cities collect, communicate and crunch a lot of information. Then again, so do businesses and universities, so that’s not a lot of insight.

Dr. Peter Williams works at IBM and teaches about smart cities at Stanford — he says smart cities employ the Internet of Things to improve the economic vitality, safety, environmental footprint and quality of life for a community. Better.

The TechTarget website defines a smart city as a municipality that uses technology to increase operational efficiency, share information with the public and improve the quality of government services. Still better.

For Dallas, Sanders’ mission is much more specific: determine what the intersection of technology, data and community initiatives looks like to improve economic development, resource efficiency and the quality of life for Dallas citizens.

The West End Project

In 2006, Dallas’ West End was being written off. Its once vibrant Shops at West End Marketplace closed, as did Planet Hollywood, the Cowboys Store and a large movie theater. Victory Park was the new place to be in Dallas.

Today, the 67 acres making up the West End is Sanders’ living lab – it’s part of the Dallas Innovation District where the smart city pilot project has taken root.

The Technology Of Smart Cities

Cities provide business and residents the infrastructure of services like public safety (police, fire and EMS departments), street lighting, water, electricity, traffic control, public transportation, parking and permitting. To determine what each department offered in resources and strengths, Sanders began by asset mapping. As sometimes happens between departments in any organization, Sanders found some communication silos.

“Seven projects already going on and the various departments didn’t know what each other was working on,” she said.

Allocating resources starts with identifying the problems.

“It’s so important to identify the problem you’re trying to solve up front,” Sanders said. “It would be so easy for a city to attach itself to the technology first and figure out the problem later.”

Technology lays the groundwork for smart city infrastructure. Over the last decade, IoT sensors have better enabled the collection of data and the analytics that goes with it, allowing cities to make better decisions about where to put their resources.

The Public-Private Partnership And Data Collection

The DIA has 30 public-private partners in their smart city project, and the lead partner is Dallas-based AT&T. In 2015, the DIA began talking to AT&T about being part of the company’s SpotlightCities Initiative, and shortly thereafter, Dallas became one of the first cities to join.

Sanders says she believes in the public-private model. “It brings all the stakeholders to the table early,” she said, “to talk about common problems, share use cases and identify what’s most necessary to the region, allowing us to move quickly.”

Along with AT&T, the network of partners includes Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, AECOM, ParkHub, GE, CIVIQ Smartscapes and the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. The partners work together with an integrated approach, and most of the companies involved in the alliance have already done expansive projects in Europe and Asia. Barcelona, Copenhagen, Vienna and Singapore are several years ahead of their US smart city counterparts.

That prior experience within the alliance is allowing the DIA to move quickly. With projects identified and the tech support and sensors in place, the data has started to roll in. The group is already collecting data on the assigned projects and their corresponding KPIs, and soon the public will have access to the datasets, as well. “Everything that can possibly be shared — within the limits of privacy — will be on the Dallas Open Data Portal along with the analytics and visualization that corresponds to what we’re looking to solve in this first phase,” said Sanders. Public access to the integrated analytics platform is expected to go online before the end of 2017.

DIA is delivering the pilot report to the City of Dallas at no cost —the partners are funding almost the entire pilot through in-kind contributions. A grant from the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas — the first of its kind — is covering the operational costs, along with some private-sector support.

The Challenges To Becoming A Smart City

Sanders notes three primary challenges to Dallas becoming a smart city: financing, procurement and policy.

While there will always be financial challenges, if Sanders’ team can demonstrate and prove cost savings, some of that challenge will disappear and make way for new investments.

The task of procurement — getting the city’s procurement department to move in a timely way — has killed momentum on a number of projects. Sanders illustrated her point by sharing the story another city’s smart parking RFP. It took two years for the proposal to go through procurement. Once it was adopted, the technology had gone through two new iterations, and because of the way the RFP was written, the city could no longer make the purchase.

“The city had to scrap the project they had invested three years in,” observed Sanders. “Procurement reform needs to happen.”

One idea is to have collaboration between municipalities and move procurement to a regional versus local play for more negotiating strength.

One of the policy challenges cities face is adoption of autonomous vehicles (AV), because there are no standards yet for their use. Coincidentally, the US Department of Transportation has designated Texas as an AV Proving Ground test site. The one-year pilot is being coordinated by TXDOT in conjunction with Texas A&M, the University of Texas at Austin and the Southwest Research Institute.

The Long-Term Benefits

As a smart city, Dallas will see benefits like increased safety, better traffic flow, better management and conservation of electricity and water, and declining CO2 emissions. What’s more, a smarter Dallas can use the money it saves to allocate resources into other areas. Plus, the newly rejuvenated and technically upgraded West End is now an attractive place for millennials to live, providing Dallas employers a new pool of prospective workers.

When the DIA pilot is done and Sanders delivers her final report to the city, she will share the overall case study and results. As part of the report, she will share a sustainable financial model for how these projects can scale.

In the past, property tax increases and bond programs have paid for the new assets. Some cities have adopted performance-based contracts, where the projects stand alone in silos and savings pay for each. Right now, Sanders is leaning toward a recommendation to take a portfolio approach, where the money earned or saved from one project is invested in the next smart city project.

“If we were to do a network of connected street lights with sensors and cameras and kiosks and Wi-Fi, there would be a new revenue stream where everything would pay for itself,” she stated, “and increased parking revenue from camera analytics will pay for the kiosk that will pay for the Wi-Fi . . . and you create a portfolio approach

D Magazine: A West End Transformation Story

A West End Transformation Story

The once lively neighborhood is seeing renewed interest as it becomes a breeding ground for innovation.

BY JUSTIN KEANE

 COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE JULY 27, 2017

It’s not crystal clear. You still have to squint to see it, but with a little imagination you can see an organically engineered innovation district blossoming in the heart of Dallas. The West End, or Historic West End as it is often identified, is the site of the would-be transformation. It is certainly historic and a common stopping ground on weekends for camera toting tourists, fresh off a jaunt back in time at the Grassy Knoll and Sixth Floor Museum (Book Depository). However, it long ago quit being a destination for local Dallas residents. Historic buildings that once housed restaurants and night life slowly started going dark. The buildings were shuttered and patios that were once filled with memories of OU/TX weekends, and concerts in the plaza outside of Dallas Alley, became a block of abandoned but beautiful buildings living out their accelerated half-life.

Some new-found momentum and life in the West End is looking to change all that. The Dallas Entrepreneur Center (The DEC) has found a creative way to facilitate growth of new companies into future contributors to Dallas’ overall economy. Factory Six03 is renovating the iconic property at 603 Munger Ave. into a 215,000-square-foot modern, co-working space. Built in 1903, the building is most commonly recognized as the West End Marketplace building, but was originally the Brown Cracker and Candy Company.

Within the same building, the Blue Cross Blue Shield C1 Innovation Lab is about ready to open its doors. The company’s fresh, collaborative approach towards analyzing healthcare and its processes is thinking outside the box for the industry. Kevin Cassidy, president for Health Care Service Corp. which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Texas, is enthused about the location of their new facility. “We chose Dallas because the city is a thriving, innovative hub for healthcare entrepreneurs who share our goal of finding solutions that make our healthcare system more efficient, affordable, and effective. This project emphasizes our commitment to Dallas and we are excited to be a part of the West End redevelopment. The West End is especially accessible for our customers and the building provided a blank canvas to create a space focused on collaboration. We are on schedule to open the C1 Innovation Lab in August.”

Innovation is not being ignored at the street level either. The Dallas Innovation Alliance launched the first phase of its Smart Cities Living Lab back in March of this year. The project brings interconnectivity and intelligence to city infrastructure. With features like smart LED lighting and environmental sensors, the Lab can allow cities to learn and adapt in real time through a future forward application. It’s street presence is through a kiosk that helps locals and visitors handle more daily tasks, such as maneuvering around the city or utilizing the kiosk’s free USB charging ports.

For anyone who can remember back to a time when the West End was a lively gathering spot for locals and tourists alike, the thought of one of Dallas’ treasures re-emerging as an innovation district is sure to inspire some enthusiasm. And, for quite some time now, our Historic West End has needed some enthusiasm.

Justin Keane is principal at Wynmark Commercial.

Dallas Innovation Alliance Welcomes Dallas-based Cybersecurity Partner entegra technologies

Dallas Innovation Alliance Welcomes Dallas-based Cybersecurity Partner entegra technologies

DALLAS, TX, August 15, 2017 — Today, the Dallas Innovation Alliance (DIA), a 501c(3) Public/Private Partnership dedicated to the design and execution of a multi-phased smart city strategy for Dallas, announced entegra technologies inc. as the newest partner, focused on smart infrastructure cybersecurity. The DIA will leverage entegra’s expertise, and use the unique EntegraBLU™ cyber security solution to help support the DIA's efforts and maximize the impact of ongoing and future projects in the smart cities initiative. Establishing cybersecurity design and infrastructure is an essential component in implementing Internet of Things networks and capabilities.

"We at entegra technologies are honored to be chosen as part of DIA's Smart City initiative," said Nancy Shemwell, Chief Executive Officer for entegra technologies. "The power of this Public/Private Partnership shows real vision, creating value for Dallas and North Texas, and serves as a model for other cities across the country.  With our EntegraBLU™ solution we are dedicated to providing leading edge technology solving the cyber security issues with industrial controls systems and the associated IoT elements, key components throughout the cities infrastructure.”

The DIA seeks to address key challenges faced by Dallas, and cities around the world, around aging infrastructure, strained natural and fiscal resources, and increased density in the urban core, while providing the technology, data, and connectivity needed to power the future for all Dallasites. The DIA operates from the definition that a smart city is one where technological and social infrastructures accelerate economic development, increase resource efficiency, and most importantly, improve quality of life. Through the support and collaboration of its members like entegra technologies, inc., the DIA is committed to advancing transformative change in the city of Dallas while increasing the domestic and global profile of the great innovators and ideas that reside in Dallas.

“Cybersecurity is a critical and integral component in establishing smart infrastructure and Internet of Things (IoT) networks,” commented Jennifer Sanders, Executive Director of the Dallas Innovation Alliance. “As uncharted territory for many cities, having the proven expertise of companies like entegra technologies is essential in the design of these next-generation projects that can bring enormous benefit to infrastructure and service delivery. After we were introduced to entegra’s work by our partners, we were thrilled to welcome another home-grown company to the DIA as we continue our work to build smart cities in Dallas.”

About the Dallas Innovation Alliance (DIA)

The Dallas Innovation Alliance (DIA) is a public-private partnership dedicated to the design and execution of a smart cities plan for the City of Dallas, leveraging social, data and technological infrastructures to accelerate sustainable economic growth, resource efficiency, and importantly, improve quality of life for citizens. Its mission is to develop a scalable smart cities model for the City of Dallas that leaves a legacy of innovation, sustainability and collaboration for future generations. DIA support is led by Foundational Partner AT&T, Pivotal Partner Cisco, Lead Partners Gardere and Current, Powered by GE; Partners AECOM, IBM and Universal Mind, and Lead Community Partner United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. Members of the Dallas Innovation Alliance include: City of Dallas, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), VisitDallas, Dallas Entrepreneur Center (DEC), Dallas County, Dallas Regional Chamber, Downtown Dallas Inc., The Real Estate Council (TREC), Texas Research Alliance, CIVIQ Streetscapes, EB Systems, Ericsson, IBM, Microsoft, Park Hub, Philips and Schneider Electric. For more information, please visit www.DallasInnovationAlliance.com.

About entegra technologies, inc.

entegra technologies inc. is a cyber security technology and managed services company based in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area. Offering a fully integrated portfolio of cyber security solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT) and edge devices and utilizing patented, ultra-configurable mobile computing designs and proven cyber security software. entegra technologies inc. delivers a TPM 2.0 service, the highest level of cyber security rating available.

In Forbes - Do Or Die: Cities Face Falling Behind If They Don't Implement Digital Infrastructure

Do Or Die: Cities Face Falling Behind If They Don't Implement Digital Infrastructure

Julie Littman, Bisnow via Forbes

Smart technology is changing how cities are run, how residents live and how businesses attract employees. For the last decade, cities have been building high-speed internet and using digital technology to expand city services. Pixabay Cities implementing these changes will improve the lives of residents, be more attractive to employers, increase real estate values and stand out within the international marketplace. “Smart cities are much more livable, safer and vibrant and have more economic opportunities and workability,” Smart Cities Council Chairman Jesse Berst said. “It’s really essential for cities that want to compete in the global economy and want to attract jobs and talent.” Cities that do not make these changes are at risk of falling behind. Even cities in the beating heart of the tech industry, such as San Jose, are running up against the challenge of a city hall with out-of-date technology. But implementation does not happen overnight and takes years of planning and significant financial resources. How can budget-strapped cities provide much-needed digital infrastructure without the proper funds to do so?

Enter public-private partnerships backing smart technology. Without these partnerships, cities run the risk of losing out in the smart city technology race. Julia Bunch / Bisnow Dallas' West End Dallas’ West End is one U.S. city using public-private partnerships to get smarter. LED street lamps send notifications when bulbs are out. Interactive kiosks provide passers-by with city information and a place to charge phones. In the coming months, the neighborhood will have public WiFi, smart parking where people can reserve spots, trash cans with sensors that monitor capacity and better water management systems. “Cities that approach this [technology] five to 10 years before they are forced to will really reap dramatic benefits and economic development,” Dallas Innovation Alliance Executive Director Jennifer Sanders said.

The Dallas Innovation Alliance, a public-private partnership among 30 organizations, is leading the implementation of smart technology. The DIA also is testing environmental sensors that can provide granular data on particulate matter in the air, according to Sanders. This data can be used to provide allergen alerts so citizens can adjust their days and lessen allergy symptoms. The organization wants to tackle food deserts and find ways to bring healthy food to more people, such as through on-demand food trucks serving healthy food. Dallas is not alone in its endeavor to become a smart city. New York, Chicago, San Francisco, San Jose, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., are among U.S. cities actively pursuing smart city technology.

Many more cities around the world are integrating digital infrastructure. While each city is doing things differently, they are all implementing high-speed broadband internet and improving city services. Jose Mª Izquierdo Galiot / Flickr Barcelona, Spain The U.S. has a lot of catching up to do. Current efforts are years away from full implementation. Smart Cities Council's Berst said the whole process is a 20- to 30-year journey. U.S. cities are years behind Singapore, Spain, Dubai, Copenhagen, Vienna and several cities in China. Spain’s first smart city, Barcelona, is among the smartest European cities. It has been building dozens of smart systems, including a smart irrigation system that collects data such as humidity, temperature and sunlight, which allow city landscapers to figure out a water schedule that does not lead to overwatering. Annual water savings is expected to be $555K each year. Barcelona, which began implementation of its smart city initiatives in the early 2000s, also has one of Europe’s best and cleanest public transit systems with bus stops powered via solar energy, a significant bike-sharing system with at least 6,000 bikes, a trash system that sucks trash below ground, smart lighting and a plethora of apps residents and visitors can use to help them get around.

Smart cities start with digital technology to improve urban life, according to Berst. This typically means creating a high-speed broadband or fiber network. Demand for internet will increase, and cities need to find better ways to provide internet for citizens and businesses. The number of people using the internet reached 88% in 2016 compared to 76% in 2010 and 52% in 2000, according to Pew Research Center. Broadband use has skyrocketed within the last decade and nearly three-quarters of Americans have broadband internet.

“People are very mobile today and move to cities that give more economic activity,” Berst said. Collecting, communicating and computing data are key elements to the deployment of smart city technology. Sensors typically collect data, which is then communicated to the citywide network. Computing uses situational awareness to figure out conditions in a city, such as whether a street is congested. Predictive analytics can determine service schedules. Instead of sending out maintenance every six months to check a power transformer, for example, the system can predict which piece of equipment is most likely to fail and when. This technology improves services for cash-strapped city budgets.

Many of the smart cities are working on better websites and applications where citizens can access city services on a 24/7 basis. Smart cities create an environment that attracts young professionals who prefer to live and work in technologically integrated neighborhoods and keeps residents who benefit from the healthier environment and green technologies.

How Can Property Owners Benefit?

 Even though Phase 1 is in the early stages, building owners in Dallas’ West End are already experiencing economic benefits. Sanders said the smart city initiatives are becoming talking points for landlords and rents are increasing.

Crescent Real Estate Vice President of Acquisitions Stephen W. Luik said the smart city initiatives in Dallas’ West End have added to desirability as the developer attracts new prospects into the area. “Technology continues to play a major role in companies’ office location decisions,” Luik said. “Districts that implement the smart city initiatives will greatly benefit in desirability, and ultimately occupancy and rental rate growth.”

Granite Properties Leasing Manager Burson Homlan said the smart city initiatives have helped attract prospective tenants from the technology industry. BCBS Innovation Labs was the first office tenant to lease at Factory Six03, which is in the West End. “[Smart city technology] is great for every stakeholder in the area: residents, owners, restaurants and the city,” Holman said.

22 City Link is planning a high-tech, 2.5M SF development in Washington, D.C.’s Gramercy District. In New York, Related Cos. and Oxford Properties’ 28-acre Hudson Yards development is sustainable and resilient with decreased electricity costs and improved efficiencies. In Denver, Panasonic and L.C. Fulenwider are partnering with the city to create a large mixed-use development chock full of smart technology as well. “Smart grids and buildings save an enormous amount of money,” the Smart Cities Council’s Berst said. He said building owners who install new thermostats or LED lights to reduce energy costs pay themselves back over 10 to 15 years. Investing in conveniences like smart parking and personalized climate controls increases the value of real estate and tenants end up paying more for these additional amenities, he said. Building owners save money by using renewable energy, according to Berst. Microgrids also make buildings and neighborhoods more resilient during a natural disaster. These grids can still run power even if the rest of the city’s power goes out. Improving City Services

Cities are looking for ways to increase access to services while saving time and money. Smart Cities Council is working on improving digital city services so citizens can access city services 24/7 via a smartphone. Offering self-service is far cheaper and saves city resources. Berst said when Albuquerque launched its open data portal for city services, call volume to the 311 system dropped by half a million calls per year.   In San Jose, the population is expected to grow 40% by 2040 and have an additional 470,000 residents, according to San Jose Chief Innovation Officer Shireen Santosham. This type of growth will stretch city services to the limit. “We simply are not going to be able to keep up with that growth without taking innovative steps to the way we work,” Santosham said. San Jose is known as the capital of Silicon Valley, but its city hall has been using outdated technology and computers, making it more difficult for residents to navigate city services. San Jose is beta testing a new app that will allow residents to take a picture of a pothole or abandoned vehicle and send the picture to the city, according to Santosham. Then, crews can be deployed more quickly instead of residents calling in and sitting on hold for an extended period of time.    “We would really like to have the city feel like the center of Silicon Valley when you arrive,” Santosham said.

San Jose’s airport has robots that help incoming travelers, and the city recently launched efforts to have companies pitch autonomous vehicle technology. The transit corridor from the airport to Diridon Station is expected to become one of the largest hubs west of the Mississippi, which makes this tech even more of a priority. Google’s proposed massive 6M SF to 8M SF campus also could drive more visitors and workers into this section of the city. The development of autonomous vehicles can help change commuting behaviors and move toward shared electric vehicles that can share data. The end goal would be to have a system of cars that talk to each other and to the traffic lights and help with traffic flow.

“Ultimately, we’ll have to find these solutions at a regional level,” Santosham said. “Traffic is not a city problem. It is a regional problem.” New York also is using technology to improve city services. It is working to improve its 311 system and with IBM Watson, according to New York Chief Technology Officer Miguel Gamino. The installation of an affordable high-speed internet infrastructure is key. Without access to internet, residents and visitors would not be able to access city applications. Having this technology also allows New Yorkers across the spectrum of incomes to participate in the future tech economy by promoting skill development. “Most people I talk to in the industry rank talent at the top two or three in terms of priorities and the things they need to grow their business,” Gamino said. “Talent is a tremendous asset that New York has already and is investing in.” Gamino has been working on interconnectivity of various agency efforts to make sure different agency systems are sharing data.

Implementation Challenges?

Jennifer Sanders The success of smart city initiatives will rely heavily on private investment. A lot of the technology can carry a hefty price tag and city resources are very limited. As a public-private partnership, the DIA is a freestanding entity that can move more quickly and does not use up city resources, according to Sanders. “We’re going to continue to see the growth of public-private partnerships take different forms that will be really advantageous to getting this [technology] done across broadband and roadways,” Sanders said. Because technology moves so quickly and construction of parking structures and other buildings does not, some cities may run into a problem with deploying a technology that is already outdated, according to Sanders. She said one city developed a smart parking request for proposals, but it took them 18 months to procure the technology. By the time it was deployed, the technology was two versions behind and the city could not buy the new tech due to contractual obligations.

“Technology is moving toward open source and software platforms with contracts written to include tech updates,” Sanders said. With so many devices expected to be interconnected, issues of privacy and cybersecurity also are on the minds of city staff and smart city organizations. San Jose recently passed its first cyber security safeguards for the city, according to Santosham.

New York is taking cybersecurity and the Internet of Things seriously and incorporating it into the design of its systems as well. San Jose is using the tech talent within its backyard to find better ways to provide smart technologies. The city is partnering with Facebook to test and deploy wireless internet to provide a free gigabit of speed in downtown and other parts of the city, according to Santosham.

Other partnerships with local tech companies will be considered, especially since public-private partnerships will help the city save money. “We have been very successful in creating innovative public-private partnerships,” Santosham said. “It gives us a little bit more flexibility to test pre-tech and allows companies to donate equipment and use the city as a platform.” Courtesy of San Jose San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo San Jose is openly engaging with tech and encouraging entrepreneurs to use San Jose as a test ground. “We are being very intentional in using our city as a laboratory for innovators who want to test their latest tech or demonstrate it to the rest of the world,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said. “We know we need to be extroverts in how we engage with companies.” The city began an Unleash Your Geek initiative to challenge students and tinkerers to help solve urban challenges. One challenge was how best to deal with graffiti under freeway overpasses, which usually costs about $60K to get a worker with a truck to clean it up. A better way of doing that could be a drone or mechanized robot to clean up. The city challenged teams to create a prototype that can do this job instead. “We want to encourage a relationship between the innovators and public sector in a new way,” Liccardo said.
 

Smart Cities Connect 2017: A First Look from Austin

Smart Cities Connect 2017: A First Look from Austin

By Emily Routman, DIA Summer Associate, University of Richmond

As I embarked on my journey to Austin, I didn’t realize that what I knew about the concept of Smart Cities would be forever changed. Not only had I never been to Austin before, but I had also never attended a conference, especially one like Smart Cities Connect. Reflecting on it afterwards, I could not believe the diversity of the people attending, as well as the topics discussed in the many sessions.

I arrived at the Austin Convention Center with a pen and notebook, not really sure what to expect. I was handed a nametag--feeling very official--and a program book with all of the different sessions available to me throughout the three-day conference. To my surprise, there were five or six sessions going on simultaneously, all dealing with different facets of the ‘Smart City,’ such as data, energy, mobility, infrastructure and citizen life. My first task was to choose what session to go to during each time slot.

Upon entering my first session, “Urban Mobility: Transforming Smart Cities,” I was instantly filled with excitement in seeing all the movers and shakers in the chairs alongside me. In this half-hour timeslot, I learned more than I could wrap my head around. The speaker, Rahul Gupta of Price Waterhouse Coopers, spoke about the megatrends that were contributing to a “new paradigm” of transportation: demographic shifts, economic power shifts, technological breakthroughs, urbanization, and climate change. He revealed that traffic congestion was prolonging travel time in cities by 30% or more, and that building more roads was not solving this issue. An “avalanche” of automotive innovation would solve these issues eventually, Gupta explained, mentioning unfamiliar concepts: powertrain electrification, connectivity demand, functional system convergence. However, I did comprehend what the outcomes of this innovation could be. As Gupta proposed, a “smart” mobility future had promise of safety improvements, reduced congestion, more access to jobs and services, reduced emissions, reduced transportation costs, and an increase in accessibility and mobility.

Another session I went to about mobility was “Urban Mobility on Demand,” which explored the world of autonomous vehicles. This was where I first heard about the “first mile, last mile” issue and saw the need for these small, low-speed vehicles. The issue is that getting to and from the public transit stops may be too far from someone’s start or end point, so they are deterred from using public transit. To solve this, Polaris showed a demo of their GEM, an autonomous, golf-cart-looking vehicle taking picking up and dropping off people. I really didn’t even know the technology existed yet!

I also got to attend a session where my boss, Jennifer Sanders, was on the panel! She teamed up with Jori Mendel and Tim Fleming of AT&T, and Clint Madsen of Ericsson to speak about Dallas as a case study for our technology and alliance structure. It was so exciting to see how many people showed up to use Dallas Innovation Alliance’s story to set an example for Smart Cities everywhere. The Living Lab was the topic of discussion, including the projects like smart lighting and the kiosk which have already been installed, and the future projects like smart parking and smart irrigation. Although I already knew about the initiatives, everyone in the room was hearing first-hand how Dallas Innovation Alliance was at the forefront of ingenuity alongside AT&T and Ericsson.

On the other side of Smart Cities from the technology aspect is the cities themselves. I attended “City Spotlights: Citizen Life and Governance,” which included CTOs and CIOs from all around the country, including Austin, Albuquerque, San Antonio, Seattle, and Washington DC. These inspiring city executives made me realize I could see myself having a future in city government. They spoke about the challenges and solutions in technology and governance, including many things I hadn’t even thought about as an issue. For instance, my understanding was that the rapid adoption of technologies for city services had no barriers; I forgot that not everyone in every city has access to a smartphone or internet. The issue of digital inclusion and inequity was mentioned by many of the panelists, as well as the idea of coming together to promote digital literacy throughout cities. Another heavily-discussed topic was the use of data for hackathons, for city-as-a-service, and for partnership access to city data. Finally, these city employees talked about the importance of breaking the barriers to awareness of different projects, and not working in silos in order to get things done. For example, many of DC’s departments came together to make a “SmarterDC” vision, heavily reliant on collaboration between the city’s agencies.

Not only did I get to sit in on these panels and presentations, but I got to see technology demos presented by different universities. I was so impressed with the virtual reality field trip presented by University of Louisiana at Lafayette. And the see-through technology for autonomous vehicles from University of Tennessee Chattanooga was so interesting--it showed how in the future, autonomous vehicles could see what the vehicle ahead of it sees, increasing its intelligence on the road. Finally, Wayne State University’s robot that detected all objects around it, used for real-time safety mapping for the campus police.

Along with people from the educational sector, there were so many other types of attendees at the Smart Cities Connect conference. Technology people, from companies as large as AT&T and as small as a startup; city mayors, CIOs, and other city employees; from initiatives like Austin CityUP and Dallas Innovation Alliance; representatives from industries like automobiles, parking, and environmental sustainability.

However, I seemed to be the youngest person there. I definitely believe that educating the college-age community about Smart Cities could have a huge effect on the future generation of our communities. I don’t think enough people my age know about what Smart Cities are and  don’t know how to get involved. Hopefully, students getting informed about these initiatives will bring another category of people to conferences like these.

I am so grateful for my opportunity to go to the Smart Cities Connect Conference! I can tell that the ideas I heard, the demos I saw, and the people I met will be influential as I follow and get more involved in the world of Smart Cities for years to come.

Emily Routman

DIA Summer Associate

University of Richmond