07/22/04  What can I do?

Like you, I am also a native Dallasite, who was born at Parkland Hospital and raised in South Oak Cliff.  For the past 22 years, I have watched  the apathy, greed and vice that has gone on in my city and seen how powerless the police and firefighters really are to stop any of these things.

I work right in the heart of Downtown, and it never fails.  The same bums ask me for money all the time.  The lovely scent of the Trinity River on a hot July afternoon, and our former mayor and some councilmembers had the chutzpah to actually want to bring the Olympics here at one point?

This city is not even fit to hold a gorilla in the zoo, much less over a bazillion athletes from around the world.

Most people I talk with who come here to live from somewhere else say this place is a toilet.  Dallas keeps trying to emulate other cities, with no identity of it's own.  Heck, we don't even have a decent nickname, except for "Big D".

What are we going to start calling ourselves next, "The City the Mayor Forgot", "Wannabe Town"?  

I'm sick of people talking about how it stinks here, and how it's ugly here. And the people here seem to be doing nothing about it.

I'm on the DART, and some young guys are on there talking loudly, a curse word out of their mouths every second, and beating on the windows as if they were at home. Just the other day, this old guy got into a fight with a young girl and ripped out the emergency cover and stopped the train at the Convention Center. All because they were having a fight.

Still, I want to see my hometown prosper and flourish. I know Dallas has the potential to be a city of Dreams. I'm so sick of every one talking about "Houston, Atlanta, New York, Fort Worth, Plugerville!" (where is that?)

Obviously, we can't count on the city council to do it.  They're too busy wondering what bridges to put up and what other stupid deals to send up. We have empty office building downtown, nothing but plenty of spaces, and these guys want to build a new stadium in the most apathetic (and ironically, nicest, at the same time) part of town.

You can't even go to the State Fair without there being a fight. I was almost trampled one year because of it.

I want to do something about it. I don't want to sit on the sidelines.  I don't care how much trouble I get into.  I'm tired of having my town look like a waste bin.

Take a walk from Akard Station to the Library for a glimpse of what I mean. You probably do already.

Let's not forget about city hall, and the homeless camp they've built in front of it.  I know people can fall on hard times, and I've got nothing against homeless people, but they need to find somewhere else to crash. Let's get them some jobs sweeping the streets or cleaning up buildings in exchange for a place to stay.

Sorry this is so long, but my emotions have kind of run high.

I want to do something and don't know what would be most effective.  I have even thought about putting on the Dallas badge, and right now they need more officers more than ever.  I see their advertisements on the bus.

Please, help me out. I can volunteer to do something or whatever. I just don't know where to start.

I love my city.  When I get people to get here, I want them to love it, too. I get so excited when I show them around my town, and then I am sad and hurt when they yawn or bored to death, or when they have to walk a lot of miles just to get from one place to another.  Then they say, "Thanks, but, your city reaks, man."

What can I say to them?

I would like to help make my city better. If you have any ideas, I'm all ears.