Dallas City Council Votes on the Skybridge Wednesday
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Thank God for Wylie H. Dallas. If you don’t know him, he’s a — secret. He is also “erudite and omnipresent.” D Magazine puts it this way:
Wherever a post or news article about city affairs appears online, Wylie is sure to show up in the comments, sometimes simply to quip, sometimes to offer other investigative avenues that it seems only an insider would be familiar with. Jim Schutze at the Dallas Observer has gone half-insane trying to sleuth out Wylie’s real identity. He thinks Wylie works at City Hall. We’re not so sure. And we pray the mystery remains.
Whenever I try to explain Wylie to agents or friends, they look at me as if I’m crazy: whaddaya mean the guy doesn’t exist? How could he sign a contract?
Well, he does exist, he just conceals his identity super well. I have no idea who he is, but we had him on the Great Western Mortgage Real Estate Happy Hour — Wylie disguised his voice. Wylie first came to life during the days of Mike Snyder and the Museum Tower Nasher fracas which I hope is near settled — sales at Museum Tower are brisk. Basically, the former KXAS anchorman, as a publicist, posted blog comments under a fake name supportive of Museum Tower. The Dallas Morning News found out by checking IP addresses, and shortly thereafter Mike retired to spend more time with his family and do Indian Princesses. Wylie Dallas had a lot of good virtual word wars with Mike, I mean, with the characters he made up: Barry Schwartz of St. Louis and Brandon Eley of the Bronx.
Wylie’s kind of like a political Superman: he wants to defend the City of Dallas from stupidity and bullshit.
Monday he did me a huge favor: he started writing about the Preston Center sky bridge that Trammell Crow wants to build to connect the second floor of that old parking garage with the top floor of what used to be Sanger Harris: you know the area. I have been trying to write that story for weeks, I am behind on so much dirt. The vote goes to the Dallas City Council on Wednesday. Already I am squirreling my Xanax and Tylenol for the ensuing headaches of listening to the skybridge “discussions” down on Marilla.
Wylie’s question: what the hell is so wrong with it?
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I’d never heard of Wylie before this posting and now I feel jilted because he/she has never commented on one of my posts. I go to bed sad…
It is a mystery to me how/why citizens defer to the hysterics of Laura Miller on this issue; her arguments against the bridge are weak and illogical. As Wylie points out, the concessions made by Crow make opposition to the plan a stretch at best. Are we at the point where the only way for meaningful progress at Preston Center is to condemn the entire place (any creative attorneys or environmentalists out there?) and turn it over to a thoughtful and visionary developer? And no, we don’t need another cheesy strip mall full of big box stores……shopping bimbos can go elsewhere for that.
That’s the interesting question. What does Preston Center want to be when it grows up? High-end retail will be difficult to muster given the proximity to North Park and Highland Park Village. No retailer in either location will want another location ~2 miles away. What’s been happening lately is an influx of restaurants on both sides of Preston Road. But I don’t think an oversize food court has staying-power. The fragmented property ownership in Preston Center has resulted in what we have today. The results of “too many cooks” compared to single-owner sites is obvious.
I’m with you on that first sentence in particular… why does ONE (albeit very vocal) resident hold so much sway? Or even two or three for that matter? Leaving the place as it is does not equate to the “highest and best use” of the land by any stretch. So in the end, everybody loses. My prediction is nothing will get accomplished due to the fragmented ownership and everyone having a different vision for the place.
Preston Center has the same problems as Lover’s Lane (also once known as miracle mile) and Snider Plaza. Too many owners and no decisions for improvements. A very low death for businesses without improvements to the facilities , parking, and traffic flow.
Great point. Yet the one stronghold is the pavilion Briggs Freeman calls home, then across by the theater. But that strip on the north side is just so sad.
I meant to say SLOW death for business
not low death
Probably a slow AND low (sales) death…