Why We Should Care About Fair Park: Because Dallas is Losing
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Nothing says it better than a fact chart of how Dallas, our precious city, is withering away as it ages. Dallas is no different than other maturing U.S. cities, all of whom have problems along the same lines: declining job market, median household incomes dropping, diminishing credit rates, diminishing home ownership, difficulty attracting Millennials, increase in poverty and income inequality, unsustainable infrastructure, plummeting park scores and an unbalanced tax base. Yet Dallas is unique in that it sits in a geographic area where growth is booming around us. Plano, Frisco and Fort Worth are killing it, and we are three hour drive from the most booming city in the world, Austin.
Why is our core deteriorating? And why is Fair Park so vital to it?
We have convened a blue ribbon panel of speakers to help us find the answers: Don Williams, Byron Carlock, Angela Hunt, and our own Jon Anderson. Join us this Thursday, 7:00 to 9:00 pm, in the Founders Hall at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, 9800 Preston Road. Seating is limited, so RSVP today!
Yes, since the City of Dallas abandoned the overarching Goals For Dallas, established by former Mayor Erik Jonnson after gaining the personal input of over 100,000 Dallasites, things have deteriorated.
During the years that Goals For Dallas was the key management tool for the City of Dallas, it was considered the most effectively managed municipality on the globe.
http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/goals-for-dallas-or-a-look-back-at-when-a-mayor-dreamed-the-possible-dreams-7105770
Anyhow, things are destined to change. A piece in last Sunday’s New York Times indicates that Dallas will have
more days over 100 degrees than Phoenix does now by the end of this century. Oh, yes, Phoenix does not have to tolerate the higher humidity that Dallas does.
Improving the tree shade in the city is one means of mitigating the urban heat sink phenomena.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/20/sunday-review/climate-change-hot-future.html
When you hear Don Williams advocate that Dallas retain the Manhattan Institute to replicate the transformation of NYC that they accomplished back in the 90s, I recommend paying heed. The Manhattan institute identified the root causes of the dire problems in NYC, which was in far worst shape than Dallas is now.
They can correct Dallas’ problems.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory
J Erik Jonnson as mayor of Dallas was responsible for the redesign of city hall (terrible from an architecture perspective), the convention center (terrible from a economical perspective), and mayor when many of the highway projects starting carving out the existing city (ie: 635 construction) and was instrumental in developing the DFW international airport, which further damaged the city of Dallas in favor of nearby suburbs.
He wasn’t creating prosperity, he was exporting it away from Dallas. In short, the guy should be sent to the dustbin of history where he belongs.
Your blog post says the Fair Park event will be at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, while the Event Brite line places it at King of Glory Lutheran Church. Which is it?
King of Glory Lutheran Church 6411 LBJ Freeway. North access road in between Hillcrest & Preston. I had a contract with my church, but at 9 am this morning they pulled it. Stay tuned, stay very tuned.