DALLAS — The City of Dallas has spent the past few decades rolling the dice. Now, though, city leaders want to play chess.
That was the message from John Crawford, the CEO of Downtown Dallas Inc., who helped kick off Dallas Startup Week on Monday as entrepreneurs, investors, community-builders come together this week in Big D for five days of free activities designed to build awareness and support for the startup community.
The event, organized by UP Global and sponsored by Chase, will feature more than 100 events in downtown Dallas — an area that hasn’t exactly been the best place to live, work, and play over the past few decades.
Crawford explained how his non-profit organization, with a movement called Downtown Dallas 360, is trying to shift downtown Dallas from what’s traditionally been referred to as a “central business district” to a “multi-dimensional environment” that offers more than just a place to go to work.
“We’ve always had a passion for business here,” he said. “But now I would suggest to you that innovation is fast becoming a major driver of the future success of downtown.”
Crawford noted how back in the 1980s, downtown Dallas was thriving. But more recently, many companies left the area as building after building became vacant.
“We had a philosophy that we had a goose who could lay multiple golden eggs,” Crawford said. “We eventually woke up and decided that was not necessarily the case. We need to integrate more things to get what needs to be done moving forward, particularly as we get into the innovation side of the equation.”
In the last decade, Crawford said “we tried a lot of stuff” that resulted in Dallas “playing catch up” with other big, fast-growing cities across the country.
“Now, we’re in a different position,” he said. “Instead of rolling dice, it’s kind of like chess. Every move is strategic when you’re playing chess. That is really our philosophy now and has taken us from dark to daylight in terms of getting other things done.”
With a recent focus on the residential and retail aspects of downtown Dallas, Crawford was bullish on how the region can become a place for innovators and entrepreneurs to both live and work.
“We took a run back in the 80s, but we certainly didn’t have all the added convention of what y’all are bringing to the table now,” Crawford told entrepreneurs and investors in the room. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of that process.”
We’ll be reporting from the ground here in Dallas this week. For a primer on the startup scene here, check out our preview story here.
Editor’s Note: GeekWire has partnered with UP Global and Chase to cover four Startup Week events around the country, starting with Tampa Bay earlier this month, Phoenix from Feb. 23 to 27, and Dallas this week. Tune in to GeekWire for more stories about the activities, and to learn more about these emerging startup hubs.
