Dallas is gearing up for a neighborhood-by-neighborhood argument over what gets built, where it gets built and who can still afford to live there. The Dallas Housing Coalition has launched its “Be My Neighbor” campaign as the city prepares to rewrite a zoning code that has largely stood since the 1980s.
The campaign is designed to pull residents into the process before the proposal reaches the City Plan Commission and Dallas City Council. At the launch, participants attended a workshop, discussed possible zoning changes and watched a documentary about Dallas’ housing and zoning history, according to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth.
Bryan Tony, the coalition’s executive director, said the goal is to make room for housing that fits different stages of life, from first-time buyers to seniors downsizing and workers who want to live closer to their jobs. Supporters say the rewrite could allow more duplexes, townhomes, condominiums, smaller homes and neighborhood businesses across Dallas.
What Dallas’ Zoning Rewrite Could Change
Zoning rules determine more than whether a lot gets a house or an apartment. They also govern building height, setbacks, parking, lot size, permitted businesses and how residential areas transition into commercial corridors.
The city’s Dallas Zoning Reform project describes the effort as an attempt to make development rules simpler, clearer and more adaptable to a growing city. Its stated goals include expanding housing options, improving development predictability and modernizing rules that officials say have become difficult to navigate.
The Dallas Housing Coalition is advocating for more homes to be allowed “by right,” along with smaller minimum lots, accessory dwelling units, mixed-use areas, live-work districts and broader opportunities for missing-middle housing. The coalition also wants the updated code to include affordable-housing incentives and remove outdated Jim Crow-era deed restriction references, according to its zoning reform platform.
Housing Shortage Raises The Stakes
The push comes as Dallas faces a significant shortage of affordable housing, particularly for lower-income renters. A 2025 assessment from the Child Poverty Action Lab found the city is short about 46,000 rental homes affordable to households earning up to half of the area median income, while half of Dallas renters are cost-burdened.
Changing zoning will not automatically make every new home affordable, and the coalition’s proposals are likely to draw competing views about density, neighborhood character, infrastructure and displacement. But the fight over the code could determine whether Dallas can build a wider range of homes without requiring every project to survive a custom zoning battle.
Public Review Expected Before City Council Vote
The city is expected to release an initial draft of the new zoning code in October, giving residents a chance to weigh in before formal consideration. As NBC 5 reports, the proposal would then move through the City Plan Commission and ultimately the City Council.
That makes the coalition’s campaign less like a single launch event and more like an effort to build a resident network before the technical documents arrive. For Dallas neighbors, the next round of zoning jargon may have very practical consequences: whether a second home can fit on a lot, whether a corner store can open nearby or whether a family has more than one kind of housing to choose from.
