Waiting for Superman
In 2004, I attended an early meeting of the Fort Worth Avenue Development group. In the meeting strong neighborhood leaders stood up and passionately discussed why we should organize and start asking the city to re-analyze the corridor and help create a more walkable, livable street. Since its inception, the group has done incredible work at changing development codes, promoting the street as a boulevard, pushing through TIF’s, and bringing awareness to the need for redeveloping form. Renderings of redesigned streetscapes have been made, national urban design experts have been brought to the corridor to discuss next steps, developers have laid out water color visions of West Village like buildings, and planning charrettes involving the community have been carried out in earnest.
Community Planning Charrette in West Dallas.
Given the above, it’s no surprise that Andrew and others would be speechless to find out that the small walkable village they envisioned would become a standard auto-centric, suburban formed grocery store.
So what was the problem? Two things: Lengthy Planning, and Waiting for Superman.
The Better Block projects we first created were our attempts at doing away with both of those elements. I’d sit in community meetings and hear neighbors stand up and say, “We need a Whole Foods!” or “We need a Starbucks!”, and then try and work to entice these groups into the area. They worked for years to change zoning, clear restrictive ordinances, and move derelict businesses out of the area. But still, no heroes came to save the day and build what everyone wanted. Countless fundraisers occurred, beautification initatives were launched, and city leaders expressed their desire to help. In the meantime, on a few streets to the South, a curious thing happened…a group of neighbors banded together and decided to form their own food co-op. They drove out to the countryside on weekends, gathered up veggies, breads, and eggs, then brought them back to the community on their own. They stopped waiting for Superman and became the super heroes themselves. Do they have everything you can find a large national organic chain? No. But they have quite a bit, they’re local, and they care about the community. Plus, they’ve created a “Third Place”…or a community gathering space. On any given day, you’ll see locals sitting on the raw wood benches at the store’s entrance while they casually talk about the weather, community issues, and more.
In our first Better Block, friends who had a small art gallery on Tyler Street talked about the lack of people on their street, vacant storefronts next door, and fast dangerous streets surrounding their doors. The historical approach would have been to develop photoshopped renderings of the area, head to City Hall and fight for form changes and zoning remediations, and start an active campaign of wooing developers/businesses to the area from far away places. The problem is that the energy and money it takes to maintain this type of campaign takes years, and it’s hard to sustain momentum as people’s interest changes, political winds shift, and various leaders move away. The better option is much more accessible. Simply roll up our sleeves, redesign the street ourselves, setup businesses with our friends (several of whom are unemployed and could use the work), and make the kind of block filled with the kind of businesses that we always dreamed of. No more waiting, no more debating, no more charrettes, and no more lengthy planning processes. We all know what’s broken in our communities…no one needs an international urban planner to tell you that “your street needs more trees, more sidewalks, more small businesses, more public spaces, less focus on automobiles, a greater sense of community”.
So after all of this time, was the the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group consulted on this new development? No. When I think back to the meeting I attended seven years ago, someone from the group said their vision was to one day ”walk out the door over to Ft. Worth Ave., find a place to sit down and order a cup of coffee and read the New York Times.” Knowing what we do now about how development can disregard years worth of work, we should have spent our time more productively…
…we should have built a coffee shop.
Well said Jason. The great work that the Fort Worth Avenue Development group has done cannot be ignored. Zoning is now in place that will encourage more walkable developments. Unfortunately, market forces and City leaders that don’t necessarily have their constituent’s best interest at heart can override these efforts. I’m willing to bet that Walmart plans to build in their usual auto-oriented fasion. A sea of parking lining the street with little consideration to walkability is probably in the works. It is the community’s job to apply pressure to ensure that the zoning will not be changed to allow this.
I’m genuinely confused by these reactions. In the Observer comments, the Facebook comments, etc people talk about how much they wanted a Whole Foods, a Sprouts, a Newflower Market, a Trader Joe’s, etc. These are the same store format as the proposed WalMart. That sounds like WalMart snobbery to me (not that I’m defending them – I make a point of shopping anywhere but WalMart).
I do share your concerns about the construction of a big box retail location because they almost never go away and they basically have no other economical use as a neighborhood changes. I think you’ve done a better job than most in making sure we highlight the real tragedy in this situation, and it has nothing to do with what brand name is on the store. I just hope someone gets to the bottom of whether our tax dollars are subsidizing this new development.
Great article! This is exactly why we didn’t move to the burbs. Boo to Wal-mart.
Urban Dictionary definition for Wal-Mart:
A large, parasitic corporation who moves like a plague, eating up all business in it’s wake, and leaving a large, gray store with cheap, plastic crap.
They take jobs, and then screw over their employees by destroying any union they come up with, or fireing them, or making them work in the childrens section.
People can “want” all they want. The fact was none of those prefered stores wanted much to do with OC. The best of the bunch, Trader Joes, doesn’t even include Texas in it’s plans.
I am glad to see development in that area of OC. This Neighborhood Market certainly isn’t my first choice, but mom+pop stores can not spur growth and development, they just don’t have the dollars to fund such a far-reaching mission. That doesn’t mean they should not co-exist. There are plenty of storefronts along Davis to transform.
I don’t know what’s worse, a Walmart grocery Store or a SUPERCENTER. The Supercenters have a tendency to put all “mom-n-pop” stores out of business, making the community rely on Walmart, even more. Especially in Minority communities. I’m surprised that Walmart didn’t do this sooner. Is this Leppert’s way of showing the City of Dallas “the finger”, on his way out?
My frustration is less with the development of a Wal-Mart…we all know the pros and cons here…it’s simply about the planning process. If a neighborhood decides to gather together and create a walkable vision for an area that is shaped over nearly a decade, then a development gets placed on the ground that is counter to everything everyone worked hard to plan for…then what’s the point?
We need to start a call to action…if we want organic grocers with a pedestrian form, then let’s gather the community and build one. If we want cafes, organize friends and family members and launch a cafe.
We have 12% unemployment in our area. I can guarantee that there are plenty of skilled accountants, managers, clerks, designers and more among that lot. The energy it takes to create a “vision” should be redirected into creating a reality.
I’m going to have to agree with JF – asking for a Whole Foods or Starbucks is just as bad as getting a Wal-Mart; same boxed up, template of a franchise, just a different brand. I applaud this article, however, for pointing out that, yes, an easier (and likely more productive) option would have been for some entrepreneur to actually open up a functional (non-franchised) coffee house and set in motion their vision for the area and see if it went anywhere.
That being said, I believe that much of the vision for the area is rapidly degrading into a (and I hate to use this word, but it fits) gentrification of an area that has neither the demographic nor the geography to support such a culturally distanced concept. The sad realty is that the majority of the population in the area under discussion has no desire to see their landscape transformed by a group of outsiders who moved into the area and now consider themselves “neighborhood leaders” after having lived in Oak Cliff for 1-5 years. I seriously doubt anyone living south of the Kessler Park area (aka, south of Jefferson, maybe even Davis) give a crap about going to Ft.Worth Ave. to “find a place to sit down and order a cup of coffee and read the New York Times.” Most of these people are too busy securing funds to feed their family for the next month by means of the “unsightly” businesses that are being targeted for demolition so that the New Oak Cliff yuppies can have that cup of organically-grown-in-a-south-american-country-by-small-brown-hands-and-shipped-to-you at-a-ridiculous-cost-to-the-environment coffee.
I agree with JF. The way Whole Foods opens a store is no different than the way Wal-Mart does their supermarkets. Big box in the back, lots of parking in the front. Look at Lakewood, look at Lemmon Avenue, or Preston Hollow. There’s ABSOLUTELY no difference other than the merchandise inside.
It would be different if the criticism were directed more at Wal-Mart’s business practices. I’m no great fan of them myself. However, that’s not what’s being questioned here. The criticism about its actual footprint can be applied to any grocery store, even the beloved Whole Foods.
With the changes that we have voted for and changes we have put into place, we must realize that we have made a desirable area. Period.
Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Starbucks and the like, don’t make mistakes. They have lots of people who watch trends and areas to see what direction that they are going.
A Wal-Mart Neighborhood Store is really just a grocery store no better or worse than the Tom Thumb. Just because you find the brand of Wal-Mart undesirable doesn’t mean it isn’t exactly what you asked for.
Did people not ask for more places to grocery shop? Did people not vote out the ‘Dry Laws’ in order to get them? Did people not say ‘we need more jobs here’?
Downtown would kill to have a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Store to facilitate the downtown living they are trying to build. East Dallas is saturated with grocery stores and battles over the subsequent construction of town homes and apartments. We are surrounded by areas that have problems we can learn from that can also be allies in a greater vision.
You can still support your local shops and co-ops and buy your toilet paper at a normal store. It’s ok.
If you want a silver lining just look at is as, a really big corporation believes in what you are doing and believes you can do it.
If you want a lesson, remember to think long term and multifaceted at who and what you may attract in your plans. Desirable area = big money, big money = big companies, big companies = loss of power for local communities.
We don’t have the ‘City’ behind us so much that they will snub big money from coming into the city. This is not people’s fantasy of Portland, and never will be. It is our own city, with our own benefits and challenges.
It’s all about the form. Regardless of the name on the front of the store (WalMart, Sunflower, etc.), if the building footprint itself breaks the pedestrian form, then everyone loses. Here’s an example of a Sunflower that kept a pedestrian form:
http://www.specialtyfood.com/news-trends/featured-articles/retail-operations/sunflower-markettaking-the-bite-out-of-organics/
When we deviate from this pattern (which is thousands of years old and proven), walking, biking, sitting, lingering, et al, become untenable. When you remove the ability for these actions, you create real harm that effects everything from childhood obesity and carbon emissions, to long term economic vitality, sociability and safety. All of these things hurt us regardless of age, race, ethnicity, or socio-economic status.
Everyone should be guaranteed the right to have communities that they can safely walk throughout with their children or grandparents. This is possible regardless of ‘dry laws’, WalMarts, or area desirability. For seven years, a neighborhood organized for that very reason…instead, they were given more of the exact same.
It may be true that Fort Worth Avenue is used primarily by lower income people who care more about cheap supplies than getting coffee and a NY Times, but that demographic can be seen in significant numbers WALKING along Fort Worth every day. They deserve a walkable livable community whether they’re going to Wal Mart or Starbucks or the bus stop even if it’s primarily their more affluent neighbors who have the time and energy to pursue it.
I’m not trying to be flippant, but did anyone get the owners of the property on Fort Worth Ave to buy into these ideas? And I appreciate that all it takes is a grass roots effort to make change, but are the people who own the cute little shops willing to take discounted rent to help businesses become established?
I appreciate the efforts to turning the community around, but am pragmatic enough to know that money will be the bottom line.
I want a Wal-Mart live above the shop where we can all live in a high-rise above the walmart at night and be greeters by day. Mixed-use!
Jason,
Has anyone from the FWAD attempted to contact Wal-Mart? Is it possible they could be impressed with all the work you all have already done concerning this area and eagerly – or at least seemingly – want to incorporate any/some/all of your ideas into their plans?
I’m not suggesting they’ll want to be dictated to but, face it, they don’t always get a warm welcome when they set up shop and it may be attractive to them to be seen to be working with a neighborhood group when they come in rather than just “those damn politicians”.
I don’t know how any of this works but it sounds like you all have been able to get some meetings with pretty high-up people; is possible to do the same with Wal-Mart? Is it possible the watercolor painting could hold up with a Wal-Mart sign in it, or would it just wash out? They also have a foundation for orgs in the area they’re in; maybe it’s possible to get them to preemptively lend their $upport to another project – or just more trees, benches – that’ll compliment your vision.
I’m really impressed with what you’ve been up to there and try and keep up with it from out here. Good job.
I wholeheartedly agree with Jason on this. Its not necessarily about the name, although the stigma is large and unavoidable, it is ultimately about the form.
FW Ave. and Hampton, is one of the largest, most unwalkable corridors in our whole neighborhood.
A group of neighbors bound together to try and fix this and now its at risk because a VERY powerful corporation has stepped in. The city will undoubtedly bow to their wishes if Walmart wishes to not adhere to the zoning standards that were changed.
I also agree with Tracy. This is not about making it safer and better for one demographic, its about ALL demographics.
But maybe this argument goes way beyond Walmart? Maybe this argues for better streetscaping and more navigable sidewalks?
The sad reality is that with available space, Walmart is going to be hard-pressed to design an urban store. Additionally, this intersection now has a wealth of grocery stores. There is little diversity in services. It gives nearby residents, no choice but to hop in their cars.
This breaks my heart! Fort Worth avenue has one of the last remaining unobstructed views of downtown. I had hopes of a Bishop Arts type atmosphere with specialty shops, bookstore, coffee house, artist studio/galleries, unique restaurants and housing with downtown views. I feel that by allowing the walmart to build is keeping the area repressed!! I wish i had some deep pockets………
I think Alberto B is totally onto something. You guys should try & contact Walmart. It could be really good PR for them if they try to incorporate the community’s wishes on design, etc.
Alberto,
I agree that our best opportunity at this point is to try and have them develop the form that fits with the vision that has been mapped out over the last 7 years.
Starbucks and Whole Foods won’t touch Oak Cliff until we can afford to keep them in business.
Wal-Mart is, ironically, part of what you get when you want to live in an affordable neighborhood that is filled with varying classes of minorities and socio-economic groups. I’m not a fan of Wal-Mart, per se, but I’m pretty sure that it will succeed in Oak Cliff.
How many business have come and gone in less than 6 months in North Oak Cliff? Everyone wants to come here, but many of the businesses can’t afford to stay because very few businesses can be sustained by Oak Cliff residents alone.
So many of our shops and restaurants offer high-end merchandise and quality food, but how many times have I read an online review about an OC resident that complains about the price and even worse, make nasty remarks about how they will go out of business?
If you want independent businesses, you HAVE to be willing to pay for it. It’s introductory economics and our mom&pop shops don’t enjoy the economies of scale that Wal-Mart does. You have to patronize businesses when they aren’t having specials. Don’t go on discount night! You have to buy merchandise when it’s not on sale. Oak Cliffers are hypocritical cheapskates. You want independently-owned, hip, cool shops and “lower prices”? (“Lower prices” is a motto of Wal-Mart, no?) They just don’t go together.
You can shop at Nordstrom or you can shop at Indigo when they are not having a sale. You can eat sushi from Kona or you can eat at Zen Sushi on a Friday. You can drink in Uptown or you can drink at Nova. You order your e-books from Amazon or you can keep Cliff Notes in business. You can buy dog food from PetsMart or buy them from GreenPet. You can eat your steaks at Outback or sit at Tillmans and enjoy Sarah Tillman’s wit. But don’t complain about the high prices of your merchants and then complain about Wal-Mart!
Jason and friends of Go Oak Cliff: how about investigating co-ops that Brooklynites and NYers enjoy? You have to donate your time: work a set amount of hours to enjoy the low-cost groceries a grocery co-op offers. (This means that you also have to have people police the hours and track membership. It’s a problem that co-ops struggle with)
Jason, please consider Alberto’s suggestion. Wal-Mart might customize their shop to coincide with your efforts. (Did you know that an all-green McDonalds is located in Irving? Equipped with a solar-energy roof and a rain-water recycling system – another large corporation and just 15 minutes away from Oak Cliff)
I am just asking questions not taking shots at those who have a vision for what should be .
How did this WAL*MART deal happen with out you folks being made aware of it ?
I mean you set yourselves up PUBLICLY “FWAD” as the folks who are the movers and shakers and someone “SLIPS a WAL*MART right in the center of the Crown Jewel of the area ?
Add to that the idea that you folks of the FWAD were not included in discussions /consulted on the folks being moved into the Cliff Manor .
You really need to ask yourselves Are you really players or have you really been played ?
Thanks to some people We now have a lot of open land headed into Downtown….
What is really in store for that area and which you folks Just don’t know about……..
YET ?
There are already two grocery stores at Hampton & Ft. Worth. The Minyards and Cost Plus seem to stay busy and serve the community just fine. Why do we need another grocery store in this area?
It should also be noted that the Hampton/Ft Worth Avenue is a different kind of animal than the area around Bishop Arts. If you have ever lived in that area, and specifically closer to Vilbig and Montclair, then you will know what is is like to have the crappiest selection of grocery stores in Dallas. As well, any “mom and pop” stores were long gone way before any of the current opponents of growth in the area even dared travel into that part of Oak Cliff. One Walmart neighborhood market is not going to kill the area. it probably wrankles the Kessler Park crowd, but frankly, who cares? They have lived on the cusp of the poverty and squalor of others for so long without improving the plight of their neighbors, it shouldn’t even matter.
Furthermore, Ft. Worth Avenue is not exactly walkable and until more development happens, you won’t find anyone going for a stroll between the bridge to downtown and Hampton. BTW, has anyone asked the people who live around that area? What about the folks who live by the auto pound? Did anyone ask them if they wanted coffee shops, art galleries and “specialty stores” or would they rather have another choice when it comes to buying the basics needed for day to day survival?
I say there are more important fights and better ways to improve the area. Fighting with Walmart bleeds time and resources better spent with other improvement projects.
EM, thank you for saying what I was thinking while reading this article. Though I am a resident of South Dallas(the Cedars), I no longer live in OC.
I appreciate the need/want for more & new development in OC and SD as a whole, but I don’t think trying to lure national chains like Whole Foods, Sbux, etc. is the way to go necessarily. Will they bring people to the area? Sure. Will they spur more growth? Sure. But, before you know it, FW Ave. might as well be Belt Line Rd – who’ll be able to tell anyway?
I appreciate the ideas and enthusiasm of the so-called “bikos” who’ve moved into OC in recent years – surely we need more of that south of downtown/I-30/the Trinity – but the last thing I would EVER want to see is my “real” (read: un-gentrified, scrappy, working-class, etc.) neighborhood turned into a southside copy of The West Village, or worse – Addison.
I’d sooner stick with flop houses and vacant lots – and yes, I mean that. If I wanted to live amongst a Neighborhood Market, Whole Foods, and Starbucks, I never would have moved out of Oak Lawn.
The Bronco Bowl is now a freaking Home Depot, in case anyone’s forgotten. I rest my case. Maybe next someone can come over here and tear down Lee Harvey’s to put in a Chipotle! Progress – yum!
I agree with much of the frustration expressed above, but i also think WF and CM or Starbucks are not that much better, even though it would be nice to have them instead. On the positive side, this could be a good thing in that it may convince other retailers, that many would prefer instead, to move down here. As far as the pedestrian friendly aspect to this, i think Ft. Worth Ave is somewhat of a waste of energy, not as far as redevelopment, but as far as the expectations of what type of retailers will consider that area. It is too large and too busy and too long to ever be a S. Congress type of thoroughfare. Because of its set up, it will mainly attract bigger retailers. I say keep the big box retailers over there and leave the small local places to the Davis and Zang/Beckely area. As far as having more walking, biking, people, and mom and pop stores, the focus needs to stay on Davis, Tyler area, and the methodist Zang/Beckely area. This is the best way to go. (And i know that there has been much focus on those areas already which has been great for the area, thanks to all who have done that). Sorry Stevens Park, but every little area in Oak Cliff can’t be like Davis. I live in Elmwood and would love to see the Edgefield business district take off like Davis, and while we do have a few good things down here, it won’t be like Davis until Davis is built out and new dollars seek out new areas of opportunity. I’ve been here 10yrs and have seen the Bishop and Davis area suck all the redevelopment energy, and i think that it is totally warranted. They have the best shot at becoming what many of us moved here for and what many of us want to see happen in N. Oak Cliff. You have a beautiful area there in Stevens Park, but you can’t have it all. I’m not saying give up on advocating for something better, but you need to be realistic. There are only so many local redevelopment dollars to go around.
What should outrage us is not so much Wal-Mart’s apparent disregard for what Jason calls “a pedestrian form,” but instead the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group’s blatant disregard for the residents of the Colorado Place apartments. When the apartments were torn down (at the urging of the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group), Scott Griggs (of the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group) declared that it marked a “great opportunity to bring something new.” Many people would like to think that the “something new” only involves walkability, organic grocery stores, and coffee shops, but in fact the “something new” unfortunately also involves the replacement of working class black and brown people with affluent white people who “read the New York Times.”
We should be less interested in an appeal to what Jason calls the “thousands of years” of history that have supposedly “proven” the “pedestrian model” than in an appeal to the twentieth-century history of Fort Worth Avenue. The cheap motels and apartments on Fort Worth Avenue (like Colorado Place) may be what some call “eyesores,” and they may not make us feel like we’re living in Portland, but they have also made possible the social and economic mobility of immigrants and working class people in Dallas. Or at least they have functioned as affordable places for people to live.
Dallas has a long history of so-called urban development that involves displacing working class people of color to make room for playgrounds for people who “read the New York Times” (for example, the West Village). If this is the same vision of the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group–and it is–they should start being honest about it, and stop pretending that it’s somehow part of a progressive community politics, which it just isn’t. (Remember their opposition last year to the Cliff Manor zoning issue.) A progressive community politics would be less interested in what Jason calls the “right” to “walk” to coffee shops, and more interested in people’s right to live where they currently live and have equal access city services which are rightfully theirs (such as pools, policing, and public transportation).
I actually don’t disagree with you on this. My best friend fled New Orleans after Katrina with his family and moved to the Virginia Manor apartments and was displaced due to the demolition. My other friend, Pete Simek, also lived there with his wife and children and had to leave. He wrote the infamous “Appletini” article in CliffDweller that talked about the gentrification of the area. The apartments had an amazing form and were an asset that should have never been leveled….I said that from the beginning.
What I’m referring to, again, is a walkable form…exactly like Jefferson Boulevard. In fact, the only thing wrong with Jefferson is the lack of parking for merchants, and non-local property owners. I know this because I headed up the Texas Theatre for a year and watched businesses open and close every six months.
Creating a form that allows easy access for people to walk is as much a right as city services…the alternative marginalizes children, seniors, the ill, the poor and more.
@Jason: a couple of points of clarification. Virginia Manor still stands, and it wasn’t demolition that drove me (or your NOLA-hating buddy) out, but the change in ownership. It was an INCAP acquisition, and once management changed, so did the complex. Lots of problems not worth getting into here, but it became less about managing apartment homes and more about keeping occupancy stable and costs low (a friend who stayed in VM longer than I could relate the maintenance horror stories). That’s one of the big problems facing denser living in Dallas: the real estate culture (in general) sees two “products”: flophouses and Uptown. My “appletini” piece (infamous? really?) lamented the loss of multi-ethnic, economically diverse housing, where prices were kept down by a landlord who took pride in the community he stewarded (as well as the historic property), and neighborly civility was ensured not by price point but by smart leasing.
I think what hasn’t been brought up yet in this conversation is the real estate angle. The reason the faux-French village concept (gag!) that was in the works for the former home of the Colorado Place apartments was scrapped was because, if I read the leasing sign swaps correctly, the original developer (the one with the town center idea) was foreclosed on, the bank took over, we’re in a recession, and the bank cut its losses by selling to Wal-Mart for a song, allowing them to afford to build on the spot. Frankly, and while Minyards does pack some killer produce prices, the residents of Ft. W. Ave will be greatly served by something like the Wal-Mart market that’s off Hall (notice the positioning of that store, straddling, uh, young urban professionals and a neighborhood – across central – that is largely HUD housing).
Other thoughts:
@Tracy: Good point. The walkers in this city are most often not those who are fighting for walkable neighborhoods, but those who are just walking as part of their daily necessity to move, use public transportation, etc. The crime is how awful the “pedestrian facilities” are, as anyone who takes the bus on a regular basis to get around this place has surely noticed — i.e. simple sidewalks or the lack their of, pedestrian connections between destinations that force walkers to traverse parking lots. It’s not just inconvenient, it’s demeaning (and very often dangerous). It’s reason for those who are fighting for pedestrian accessibility to keep fighting.
@Alberto B: Wholeheartedly agree about reaching out to Wal-Mart. When the company was planning their supercenter on the fringes of Lake Highlands, the neighbors revolted. In the end they only really succeeded in getting a cheesy “town center” façade smacked on the front of a supercenter, but it showed that they are willing to listen. Sell them on the fact that many of their customers at the FTW Ave. location are going to be elderly walking from the nearby housing tower and the new residences across from Home Depot and they may design in some decent sidewalks, put parking in the back. You never know.
@Travis Rex: Good points, and that’s what has always bothered me about FWAD from the get go – it always seemed like an organization set up to help make large scale “from the dirt” development on that street palatable to the neighborhoods. The fact is, given the geography, the land lots, the existing structures, the traffic, etc., FTW Ave. is the kind of area that gets developed with strip malls or apartment complexes. Sure, the West Village showed that this kind of development could be (sort of) okay if designed (sort of) with people in mind. But it is not most optimal place in Oak Cliff to grab a coffee and the Times. Why redevelop a former thoroughfare as a quaint, walkable urban street when Jefferson Ave. is sitting there – infrastructure in place – waiting for love? It is because it is difficult to amass large parcels of contiguous land on Jefferson. Developers prefer the simple development model – build, lease up, flip — and not the much more slow going, hard working, truly neighborhood revolutionizing efforts that people like David Spence have achieved without the help of TIFs, development groups, and the rest (though a community block grant now and again goes some ways). Again, with Good Space, like with Virginia Manor, so much of the ‘making’ part of making the neighborhood you want to live in comes down to smart leasing. That takes patience, creativity, and guts. Those are the resources always most in need, but luckily in the Cliff we have them in greater quantities than in other places. So, like Jason said, screw Superman. We have enough Avengers to take care of things on our own, thank you very much.
My complaint with Walmart is that there’s a store a mile away. We lost the Bronco Bowl to Home Depot, which we needed, then a Lowe’s was built a mile away. This kind of corporate marketing may work in strip-mall-laden North Dallas, but it’s not what we want or need in Oak Cliff. We have the opportunity to do something different.
If we must have another Walmart, let’s hold it to a higher standard. We should have a “green” Walmart like the one in North Dallas. Mandate community standards that would require trees to be planted in the parking lot.
How about a Walmart “Market,” like the one at the intersection of Lemmon and Central Expressway? That might be a good fit for the neighborhood, especially if it had a coffee shop with outdoor seating and was located near a bus stop. Let people who want to buy tires, diapers and potting soil in one visit go to the Cockrell Hill store. We just need a grocery and a coffee shop with bike racks.
Frankly, I think Walmart has the money to do what it wants. What it lacks is ideas. Our neighborhood needs to set the standards. Let’s help Walmart do the right thing, go “green” and be a leader in our community!
@Megahertz – It is a Walmart Market that is planned, exactly like what is at Lemmon & Central Expressway.
Walmart is a predatory company. The problem isn’t that they’re going to open. I can decide not to shop there. The problem is that they work very hard to put everyone else out of business with predatory pricing. Then there is no choice of other places to shop.