In Search Of A 2-Year Old Lead

It has now been just over two years since I got a lead on an outdoor activity that is tied to a couple of sports. However, confirming it has been something of a treasure hunt. Yesterday, was a day that could be spent on following up on where we left off  the last time. The end result was about the same, although, we did see a picture that the lead is more actual than rumor. So, although we didn't get a resolution on this trip, we feel like we are getting closer. We will keep you posted.

One thing we did notice yesterday was the fact that some of the mileage covered an area where we have shot some pretty interesting coverage before. So, overlap has occurred  But, the area has changed drastically with growth and expansion. Some of the scenic pastures have now become shopping centers, with nearby developments of  hundreds of new rooftops and even a hospital on one hillside. This much I know:  It ain't gonna stop there!  There were signs of future expansion all along the way.

At one time not so far in the past, driving from an urban area into the more rural and countryside was measured by not time or miles but in number of tracks on a CD. Now, it's measured in the number of CD before a traditional rural setting can be spotted.. However, keep in mind, I don't drive the tollways or expressways on the route circuit. If I did, all I would see is semi-trailers and McDonald signs! So it's surface streets and roadways and some county roads.

 With increasing traffic and  spotting  not one or two out of state license plates but 7 or 8 on an average trip, adds new meaning to the old car vacation game of calling out state's names. The number of new plates is,without doubt, growing. So, with camera riding shotgun, here is a couple of roadside pastures we passed.

A real live Texas Long Horn with a nice span of horn.

Even animals like to be close to the road

I Love Scenes Like This.

Ronnie Houses (and I don't mean Ronald McDonald near hospitals)

At first the concept seemed to me like a great idea. That is to say, putting a modern nice 5-bedroom home in an old established neighborhood. You have fully mature trees, it just seems like it should be there. It would be, or though it seems, the perfect ideal situation as so many of the suburban neighborhood developments are bare of old growth trees---just sticks with wires holding them upright. It is going to take 25 years to have those trees higher than the house tops in those new developments.

We have all seen that situation. So, I was pretty much in favor of the zoning changes that permitted custom home developers to come into a mature and seasoned neighbor, buy up a house here and there and quietly, tear them down and clear the lot. Then one day the workers show up and start digging the foundation. Then, the framers begin the hammering and sawing. Then the roofers are climbing on the steep pitch and lofty roofs that are in the canopies of the trees. You get the picture. Then, Voila!  There is this McMansion that is sitting on your neighbors lot so out of place in your neighborhood. Then, one of your neighbors is talking to you about the one that is farther down your street that has an open house sign out in front. Then you begin to feel squeezed as more and more houses are torn down and McMansions appear one by one. Then one day, you are the only house left and instead of these McMansions increasing your neighborhoods value that includes your property, it is now driving your property value into the ground as their values increase and the guy from the street corner sign or major artery street billboard says they will buy your ugly looking home. What pressure!

It's happened all over Dallas. My mom's old neighborhood that was long and sprawling 3-bedroom ranch-style homes are now pretty much gone. So much, I hardly recognize the neighborhood any longer and if I didn't see the old street signs, I'd swear that I wasn't in the old neighborhood.  One street that I travel on my route is now constructing  the Last  of the Mohicans. I use the James Fenimore Cooper narrative of the second book of the Leather Stocking Tales as a historical reference only. I counted the number of houses since the first one appeared  on the street and the total is 34 homes. Now, an adjoining street has its first anchor on the corner ready to bulldoze more of the homes from when that neighborhood  was new construction.

Calling these houses McMansions just do not even pay justice to the underscore of what is happening. In several cases---what has happened. Therefore, I have begun calling them Ronnie Houses. "There's another Ronnie House!"

A Ronnie House

A Ronnie House next to what the neighborhood once was. To me, it's forced upon those that worked hard to have a nice home only to sacrifice it for those who want your trees that are fully grown and have their Ronnie House too! Every one is impatient---the developers to make more money and the homeowner who just can't wait 30-years for the neighborhood to mature. What pressure.

It Has Become A Cliche.....

From the lower walk looking upward

Free Wheelin by LaPaso

The lawn amphitheater.

The City of Dallas has three sculptures in the park. These signs from the Office of Cultural Affairs identifies the work and the artist. 

From the bridge at the Lake Highland Dart Station looking south. The walk connects both sections. The visible bridge is Walnut Hill Lane

A Dart Rail Train can be seen in the background. Next stop: White Rock Lake Station. 

But it's true in this case. "if you build it, they will come."












About three years ago,maybe four, the bulldozers arrived and started tearing down a large apartment complex that had been built sometime in the late 60's or early 70's. Then the heavy equipment arrived and started digging down and down and down along a creek that  ran through the property. Slowly,the site was transformed into an amazing walkway along the creek with high stone walls, beautifully crafted steel ornamental fence work, lights,water fountains, drinking fountains, benches,overlooks,a split-level lake with individual fountains and a rock-boulder dam separating the two.

There are two stairways that take you upward to a  more grade level-street level that is also landscaped with fountains, and  a lawn amphitheater.

Least anyone forget, this is a residential and retail development. What has made this so different is that the park setting was created first, then allowed to sit and settle before the first builders showed up.  But, as was said in a movie filmed in an Iowa corn field: "If you build it, they will come." These are a few shots of the new Lake Highland Center.

The Last to Go for Buckingham

This is immediately behind the former city of Buckingham marker.

Normally the trees marked to be cut is an orange ribbon. Don't know if the pink means the same--however, all the trees are marked with pink so they will probably all go or all remain. Stay tuned for the update.

The thick brush in front of the truck is next to the Walgreen's. To the right goes toward the Kroger store and the gated soccer fields.

The old Texas city of Buckingham was annexed into the city of Richardson more than a few years ago. The area has developed very well. There are a few empty lots left here and there but one large track of 7 acres was spread out between the Walgreen's and the Kroger store and was always interesting to watch red-tailed hawks and a pair of peregrine falcon feed on the pigeons that hang out in the little shopping center around the Kroger store. It also abuts the actual marker that marked the official city of Buckingham before the annexation.

The brush and the trees that were around when the main part of Buckingham existed were always enjoyable for people to walk their dogs and people who liked to watch the animals and birds that existed. Several weeks ago a sign went up that the track was up for sale and it was only a matter of time before the last large track of land with old generation trees existed in the area would go the way that all the other land had meet the same fate at the hands of developers.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not a total tree hugger. I understand development. The overall process, when you put the money factor in a separate basket for discussion, actually is what makes a city grow. It is also one of the freedoms we enjoy and  selling land, for what ever reason, is still one of the great freedoms we enjoy in this country. As an urban photographer, it is of interest to me to document what was before no one remembers what was!

There were two surveyors out today marking trees and sticking flags so work will be starting soon. My concern about that is that my shortcut to the pharmacy and the grocery store will be disrupted for about fourteen months, or so.  

New on the Geo.Bush Turnpike.

Went out to an insurance agents office today because of a change in medical plans this year. Two years ago, the stretch along the George Bush Turnpike was open fields. Today, it is development  and money and development and more money as fast as the pneumatic hammers can spit nails. The sad part is that its close to my brothers and I liked at one time driving out there. Truth be known, I still like going out to see my brother, it's just not as fun getting there today! Some guy passed me on the service road going faster than the traffic on the turnpike. A block the other way sat two Plano motorcycle cops enjoying this 75* weather a week before Christmas. It all goes with growth and development.Or so I'm told.

New Construction now is  filling in the open fields in Plano.

Along the Coit to Alma Section of the Geo. Bush Turnpike.

 

More Trinity Development Evident

Looking East up Singleton Blvd toward downtown



The Sylvan Avenue Bridge Project Is Underway

The stainless Steel tanks would suggest a micro brewery--maybe?

Since the  opening of the new Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, the area West of the bridge along Singleton Boulevard has increased its development. The new Trinity Commons Project is already showing new stonework,sidewalks and even something that looks like a new micro brewery. This area is getting ready to pop economically and commands watching closely.