Planning for Nightlife in Texas Cities

Planning for Nightlife in Texas Cities

Nightlife, entertainment, arts, culture and live music help make cities unique and authentic, attract companies and tourism, celebrate local culture, build community and are often multi-billion dollar economic impact engines for cities, but most of our policy and planning considers only what happens during the day. 

The needs of nightlife, from patrons and performers to workers and business owners, are an after-thought left to be inserted into pre-determined and already developed plans and layered on after the fact. This leads to public dialogue being focused on restricting things we don’t want (noise, traffic, safety, nuisances etc) instead of celebrating and encouraging the vibrant nightlife that we do want (walkable, diverse, unique, culturally rich, 24/7 entertainment areas).

While the critical intersection of nightlife and planning has not received much attention, in recent years a growing international network of nightlife advocates, economic development professionals, and more recently, city staff in US cities dedicated to nighttime planning and management, have begun developing innovative strategies for planning and policymaking to support the vitality of nightlife and culture in cities.

This session is an opportunity to start the discussion in the planning field about the importance of planning for nightlife. Effective planning and management of nightlife in collaboration with planners will allow cities to encourage and celebrate the vibrant and diverse nightlife that they want, instead of reacting to the conflicts that inevitably arise from a lack of planning.

If we want to accomplish long-term vibrancy and sustainability of our nightlife and entertainment establishments and districts, we need to focus proactively on nightlife planning and management. There is no magic here or silver bullet. It takes organizing and coalitions and sustained work from both inside and outside local government. What we propose is a not just a participatory approach, but a framework based on a true partnership with dedicated nighttime champions both inside and outside city government.

Inside city government is a staff person or office focused on nighttime planning and management. They serve as a liaison between external stakeholders and city departments, coordinate plans, provide support, identify and solve problems, raise awareness within city government, ensure fair and balanced regulations for nightlife, and raise awareness about the nighttime perspective in all city policy discussions. 

Outside city government is a civic organization or alliance made up of and representing the diverse stakeholders in the nighttime economy. Serving as a coalition builder and voice for the community, a champion for nightlife and an advocate that ensures the needs of the nighttime stakeholders are highlighted and addressed, and that they are involved in and collaborate on policy and decision making.  

This session will:
•Introduce the City of Austin’s Entertainment Services Group the first-ever city staff team in Texas dedicated to nightlife planning, policy and management, and 24HourDallas, the first-ever civic organization in Texas dedicated to a safe, creative and diverse nighttime economy.

•Share examples of how a lack of effective planning contributes to conflicts and leads to reactive policy-making related to nightlife and entertainment.

•Explore how innovative approaches to planning, zoning, policy-making, and community partnerships can support nightlife in cities.

•Highlight a range of innovative strategies currently being applied or explored to improve nightlife planning and management in Austin and Dallas including sound management policies tailored for entertainment, entertainment district planning, policies that address compatibility between entertainment establishments and residential, an accreditation program that models excellence nightlife establishment operating standards, and an ambassador program that provides support to patrons in nightlife districts.