Flyover Country

Here is a video showing the park being built over a highway that divides the Arts District in Dallas from uptown. Looks great, but notice all the parking lots durning the flyover at the beginning. Lots more work to do!

Forever Young Records

This isn't located in Dallas proper, but since every good city needs a good record store, I need a good record store to think well of my city. I think probably the standard store I compare all others to is San Francisco's Amoeba Music, which bills itself as "The World's Largest Independently Owned Record Store." I took out the exclamation point; if you feel a statement like that needs one, feel free to put it back.

I won't try to make a side-by-side comparison, but Forever Young seems nearly as large and carries music in a variety of mediums including 8-tracks, cassettes, vinyl and CDs. There seems to be a wide selection of jazz and easy listening to suite my tastes, but there didn't seem to be any classical. Upon asking we were directed to a special stach behind a door and while small, the selection was well-culled. 

I came home with three vinyl records and one cd. One of the vinyl records was brand-new, which at $35 may make it worth every penny given the crackling in one of the 1960s-era discs I am currently playing. It's also interesting to note the new disc is quite thick and of higher quality than the records from the 1970s and early 1980s. 

Forever Young also has a selection of turntables and memorabilia and carries turntable needles. Unfortunately it doesn't appear you can get there using public transit. 

Forever Young Records
2955 South Highway 360
Grand Prairie, Texas 75052

Green Papaya on Oak Lawn

3211 Oak Lawn Ave Dallas, TX 75219

It was actually the fun look of the restaurant next door that brought me to the corner of Hall and Oak Lawn in Dallas. Cyclone Anaya's Mexican Kitchen has an attractive outdoor seating area lit by flame.  

Moving through the revolving door, the atmosphere seemed just as fun inside, but it was just too loud. I understand it's that way on Friday and Saturday, so we decided to come back on a week night.

A second option was only steps away at Green Papaya, and it actually had a better rating on Urban Spoon. We both had noodle dishes, one pho, and the other with charcoal chicken. Both satisfied. The egg rolls were also exceptional. This will be a frequent stop.

I also want to add that this is one of the great things about urban neighborhoods. If one restaurant has an issue or another--and you know the more people you bring along, the more likely it is that someone will just not cooperate-- then there's no need to get back in the car. This area has a significant density of restaurants, enough that it can be a destination even without a particular eatery in mind.  

Korean Barbecue Tacos-In Dallas

They're all the rage in New York and Los Angeles, and available too in Dallas. Goghee on Inwood Road serves up that cultural mix known as the Korean Taco. I happened to stop by on their 100th day of operation and received a free chicken taco. Luckily here in Dallas we always know where to find Korean Tacos. Los Angeles residents are faced with running down the Kogi taco truck.

2222 Inwood Road
Dallas, TX

The McKinney Avenue Streetcar

Streetcar in Philadelphia

You don't hear Dallas often referenced among cities with streetcars. New Orleans and Memphis come to mind, as does San Francisco. Philadelphia put a streetcar back into service, and San Jose has one that makes a loop. The word "streetcar" can also refer to modern light-rail vehicles, but in this grouping I'm referring to traditional streetcars- one car that traverses a given route and meant for short trips.

Having spent a handful of years in San Francisco, I spent a lot of time on the "F-Line," which runs from the Castro District to the Ferry Building, and now along the Embarcadero- the boulevard that replaced a major freeway in the city. I used to make trips back to Pittsburgh and would hear a "ding" from my friends apartment- it sounded as if I was at home and near the F-Line. It was actually an air-operated bell at a Burger King drive-thru, however. Unfortunately Pittsburgh removed its last streetcars in the 1980s.

Streetcar in San Francisco

So here I am a decade later in Dallas and once again enjoying the streetcar, which travels from Uptown  to Downtown along McKinney Avenue. Apparently this is a historic route and one of the cars is the oldest operating streetcars in the United States. Take that New Orleans, Memphis and San Francisco!

It was in Pittsburgh some time ago that I overheard a conversation among some elderly gentlemen about streetcars. They saw them as traffic impediments and were glad they were gone. Things seem to have come full circle. It seems obvious to me how a streetcar makes a city better. 

Rosie, 122 was built to a standard American design by the J. G. Brill and Company of Philadelphia in 190 and is similar to early streetcars that once operated in Dallas. Rosie is currently the oldest streetcar in daily service in North America.

Still others complain about the noise, especially living in close proximity. Yet visiting a unit that had a view of the streetcar, I longed to be able to hear the rumble and clang of the streetcar going by. It's not noisy. Far from it, the streetcars are charming- romantic even. And how nice it is to walk outside and ride for a few blocks, never have to worry about finding a parking place or having change for the meter.

While Dallas is looking to expand its streetcar line, other cities are looking to add streetcars, both historic and modern. Increasing numbers or residents in Downtown Dallas, in Uptown and along the streetcar line will certainly come to know these cars for their charm as well as convenience. In fact, I would go so far as to say, the McKinney Transit Authority is a major part of what makes these neighborhoods attractive as places to live. 

Robert E. Lee in Dallas

Lee Park celebrated it's 100th Birthday this year. The Lee is Lee Park isn't Sara or Kathy, it is of course Robert E. Lee who I captured here last evening below a moon-lit sky. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicated this monument in 1936 when the name was officially changed from Oak Lawn Park to Robert E. Lee Park. The young aide, also on horseback, represents all the soldiers who fought under Lee's command.  The statue was the work of noted sculptor A. Phemister Proctor. 

The Urban Neighborhoods of Dallas

Victorian-Era Home in Dallas

Dallas has a history stretching back to the mid- 19th Century, but the boom of the 1980s seems to have changed it forever. The metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. It's also the core of the largest inland metropolitan area in the United States that lacks any navigable link to the sea.

Given its also located on a prairie without geographic confines or natural barriers, its a wonder there are any skyscrapers ar anything that grew to reflect in some way the typical notion of a city with a downtown core surrounded by neighborhoods. But its my understanding that has been the criticism of Dallas, that there's no downtown. It's also one the city is working hard to overcome. 

The area is undergoing a transition as dozens of residential conversions and new high rise condos bring more permanent residents downtown. The number of residents downtown has doubled in the last decade to reach just shy of 30,000. Moreover the nearby neighborhood of Oak Lawn has had a ten percent increase in population since 2000 and has about 40,000 residents. 

Buildings in Downtown Dallas

An improvement over Oak Lawn is an area on the opposite side of Turtle Creek/Katy Trail known as Uptown. The number of vacant lots here is far fewer and the neighborhood is both more walkable, without the pedestrian threats of busy streets such as Lemmon and Oak Lawn Avenue which cut through the neighborhood of Oak Lawn. 

Most of the buildings in downtown Dallas and the surrounding neighborhoods are from the past 40 years. It's also apparent from the buildings the area has become more dense over time. In the example of Oak Lawn, there are scattered single-family homes from the period of 1910-1930 around on large lots. One can assume the area was once primarily filled with these "streetcar suburb" type homes. As they have been demolished, apartment and condominium complexes have been filled in, in many cases without much thought towards planning. Instead of facing the street, many are lined along a narrow alleyway and sit four deep on the lot. 

I've long been an advocate of an organic building process that lets structures be replace piecemeal slowly, but the two neighborhoods give me pause. It seems clear that in the uptown area, structures have been cleared and replaced in large sections. The result is a better consistency and street scape. Of course this would not be the case if the structures had been replaced with the same type of structures, or at least the same orientation.

The other interesting neighborhood is known as State Thomas, which according to Wikipedia contains the largest collection of Victorian-era homes remaining in Dallas. These are mixed in with a variety of very attractive newer condominium buildings, with commercial uses such as restaurants mixed in. 

Another neighborhood that has been brought to my attention is known as Oak Cliff. It seems to have a number of advocates out there. I paid a visit myself and from my initial inspection, I can say with relative certainty the Wikipedia statement about State Thomas is not at all accurate. Perhaps it would be true should you add the word "restored" before "Victorian-era." 

From what I know, these neighborhoods, plus downtown are the most urban neighborhoods in the city. With a little luck, one of them will soon be home.