This time of year has always been a favorite of mine because of the colorful lights, decorations and festive spirit that is displayed not just around me but world-wide. The latest example of that was an image seen on a live image feed of the Bandaranaike/Colombo International Airport in Sri Lanka. A woman was standing in one concourse dressed in her Burqa in front of a 9-foot Christmas tree with packages underneath the poinsettia-laced tree and decorations. A very beautiful tree half-way around the world.
Ft. Worth, is outstanding for bringing it's Sundance Square Christmas tree, a 58-foot blue spruce, from the northern part of the lower peninsular of Michigan. That area has some of the best Christmas tree farms in the nation. There has always been a bit of competition between Ft. Worth and Dallas except for the joint venture with the DFW International Airport. Otherwise, it's been a "you build a bridge, I'll build a bridge" type competition. While both cities contribute to the overall quality of life in the Metroplex, it gets to be somewhat funny watching the cities trying to outdo each other. Dallas has taken on the largest urban development project ever undertaken by a city with the Trinity Corridor Project. They are making remarkable progress, too.
Sorry to say, however, the Trinity flows south and I am afraid that the development moving toward south Dallas is happening as a result of the Trinity and not totally for south Dallas as a community. I hope that I am wrong. Dwaine Caraway, councilman, is absolutely the leader that needs to be there for the south Dallas community. He is fair. He is honest. He does care about Dallas and about south Dallas. The PGA Golf Course and the Horse Park can be an economic engine for south Dallas if it isn't caught up in a political eddy of the Trinity Corridor.
This past Sunday I walked the Arts District for the first time in many months. Seeing the Museum Towers finished,the success of Klyde Warren Park, the nearly finished outside skin of the new Hall Financial Group's tower across the street from the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, continues to add to Dallas as a first class city. The new building is the first new office building in downtown in nearly 10 years. Although it is not the only new building, it is the first new office-type. At any given point along the new Skyline Trail, at least 6 crane-towers can be seen in the midst of construction projects, not counting the additional 6 or 7 that are being used in the new Horseshoe I-30/I-35E construction. Most of the literature and listings note that the Hall Financial will soon get a new neighbor much like the Museum Tower completed last year.
Now, the sound off.
Consider it a Blue, Green, Red, White, Orange Light on a Fake Christmas Tree.
Most people that have settled in Dallas do not understand that the city is laid out on a NS/EW grid until you get to the area of Thanksgiving Square. There, the grid changes into a triangle headed NE/SW. I don't fully understand the why of those generations-old decisions, nor does it matter that much. The no new high rise rule by the FAA is cruel for development. I have been on the 42nd floor of City Place and have watched planes take off from Love Field, climbing as they come directly at City Place. There is no sound reasoning to restrict building in downtown Dallas other than to restrict high rise development politically. The 5-mile rule is unnecessary. I know that the Park Cities ruffled their feathers when Love Field started landing more commercial flights on 13L 31R as a result of the terminal expansion at Love Field.
The Dallas City Hall, while designed by a world-class architect named I.M. Pei, I'm pretty sure that there was some order and thought given to why the city hall was located where it currently sits. The open-style plaza is a plus for the city. The reviewing stands for the end of the Christmas Parade has ended there the past couple of years.
Main Street Park seems to be the focal point now for the placement of the city's Christmas tree. While the park is nice, the plastic and fake Christmas tree that represents the city is a dud. A sad dud at that. Klyde Warren has a much better tree that represents the city. Still, it isn't a live tree and it isn't a citizen's tree of distinction.
Frankly, the plaza in front of city hall would be a more symbolic place to display the city tree and decorations. It's almost like the city government is ashamed to have a tree at city hall. There could even be somewhere in the council minutes a resolution or ordinance that was at issue with members-past. I don't know. Checking it out isn't part of this sound off. Past mistakes by council are history. What is part of this is that Ft. Worth has won the battle of the city Christmas tree. Dallas, you loose this one big time! What a shame. The big red balls are nice but they just don't cut it as a replacement for a true Christmas tree like Ft. Worth's. Even the Winspear's ornament is a "non-conform" to the red balls around the city.Dallas should pass an ordinance that from Thanksgiving until New Years Eve that any outdoor tree in downtown over 10 feet must be a live tree cut for that period. There! Ft. Worth, you still won this one!!
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| The new Hall Financial Group Tower as seen from the promenade outside the Winspear Opera House. Note the gold ball on Flora Street. |
