The Dallas Morning News
It Worked for New York: Institute could steer Dallas in right direction
Ideas can be powerful catalysts for change. For instance, a single essay from the internationally renowned Manhattan Institute inspired innovative urban policies that jump-started New York City's reduction in street crime.
The secret to that success story? Nonconventional thinking and, equally important, the will to convert those innovative ideas into effective public policy.
This newspaper hopes that what worked in New York can work in Dallas, this time through the leadership of the J. McDonald Williams Institute.
The Williams Institute, within the Foundation for Community Empowerment's research section, promises to deliver what Dallas badly needs – a strategic direction. In several special reports called "Dallas at the Tipping Point," this newspaper has called over the last 18 months for City Hall to consciously develop a strategic approach to problems. So far, the city hasn't done so.
The Williams Institute can help fix that shortcoming. It promises to do more than gather statistics for reports that will collect dust on a shelf; it envisions elevating Dallas' public policy discussions beyond recriminations and toward solutions. And like the Manhattan Institute, the Williams Institute promises to add intellectual rigor and direction to urban planning debates.
Most of us recognize that violent crime is rampant in some Dallas neighborhoods and almost nonexistent in others. We also know that schools are excellent in some parts of the city, substandard elsewhere. Significant disparities exist in health care, household income and housing across the city. But just recognizing that inequity doesn't help attack the problem.
So, as its first step, the institute plans to measure the quality of life across Dallas neighborhoods, issue an annual report card on progress in closing the gaps and assist policymakers in shaping effective public policy. And like most think tanks, the group will publish scholarly journal-length pieces to further stimulate urban revitalization discussions.
New ideas changed New York. They could do the same for Dallas.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
The Foundation for Community Empowerment will introduce the J. McDonald Williams Institute at a daylong conference tomorrow at the Westin Galleria. About 300 civic and community participants will exchange thoughts on how to correct social, economic, housing and other disparities among Dallas neighborhoods. For more information, go to the Foundation for Community Empowerment's Web site, http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-williams_26edi.ART.State.Edition1.734fc2a.html#.