04/29/02  When in doubt -- forget reality!

We don't have the resources to keep our surface streets paved, so Our Downtown Betters have decided we should take roads to Downtown underground which will costs millions -- no billions -- more than the cost of repairing every surface street in Dallas.  

You know the theory, spend your way out of poverty to bankruptcy.

For the past 15 years, we have invested millions of public money trying to revitalize Downtown Dallas.  We have built pocket parks and block parks.  We have put designs in the middle of the streets and banners on light poles.  We have had some artist paint aquatic murals on the empty storefront windows in the Mercantile Bank Building.  We have even built an arena when we already had one.

After all that effort and money, some people are moving into lofts, but the streets look bare at night and the retail store fronts are barred and empty.  Nothing we have done has restored Downtown to its glory days of the 40-50-60's or even early 70's.

Downtown's downfall was not caused by hi-flying overpasses.  It was those ugly sky bridges and tunnel systems that did in Downtown.  Before we commit billions constructing a lid for Woodall Rogers or any other near-Downtown artery, we need to follow Attorney Susan Mead's suggestions and tear down those sky bridges and close those tunnels.  She suggested using the tunnels for parking facilities.  That would help, but we need to get people back on the surface streets.

When lots of pedestrians were on Downtown sidewalks, we had lots of retail and places to eat.  The retail and restaurants helped make Downtown a fun place to work.  You could run out on your lunch hour and do your shopping, even at Christmas.  When the sky bridges went up and the tunnels opened up, retail business Downtown shut down.

The same ODB crowd who are promoting this new excuse to waste our tax dollars were the people behind the sky bridges and tunnels.  They did not know what they were doing in the 70's and 80's when they killed Downtown, and they don't know the consequences of what they are proposing in 2002.

One television station reported that Mayor Miller and some council members are going over to talk with Ft. Worth's Mayor and others about what Ft. Worth did to restore their Downtown.  Here's a clue -- they did not stick a bunch of garish Pegasus's all over the place.  Ft. Worth did not build a new arena.  

The most important factor?  Ft. Worth had a rich family that put their own money into restoring Downtown rather than extorting it from City Hall.  We have plenty of mega rich families -- but ours are all robber barons -- like Ross Perot and his son or Tom Hicks or Ray Hunt and his brothers.  They only take.

It is time for the city to prioritize.  Downtown is a small part of the entire city.  It is an important part, but only one part of many significant sections of Dallas.  There are more businesses located away from Downtown than in the Central Business District (CBD).  There are thousands more people living in Oak Lawn than there are living Downtown.

If companies like TU Electric or TU Gas were to invest in Downtown to a level that would be 1% of what the Bass Family did for Ft. Worth, there would be a huge impact.  If Tom Hicks or a Perot (Sr. or  Jr.) were to do even 1% for Downtown of what the Bass Family did for Ft. Worth,  we could have a vibrant Downtown.

The reason Ft. Worth has a better Downtown that we do is quite simple.  Their rich families give back to the community.  Our rich families use their power and leverage to  extort (and/or bribe) millions from city officials.

We were promised smooth streets, green parks and fair pay for cops and firefighters.  Mayor Miller will have a tough time delivering on any of those if billions are diverted to entombing existing or future Downtown freeways and connectors.

I fought hard to get DART's light rail underground in  a deep tunnel under Central.  It was more sensible than double decking Central or even building a monorail.  It was actually necessary.  Erecting a lid on Woodall Rogers is not necessary -- only to greedy developers.

With the threats of terrorists  and today's financial reality, digging tunnels all over the place makes no sense.   With so many of our surface streets in disrepair, digging tunnels makes no sense.  The cost of maintenance and risk of disaster is beyond calculation.  If they could take down that Oklahoma City building with one truck, think what a loaded truck and a suicide bomber could do to a tunnel filled with rush hour traffic.  

I am not the only skeptic.  Apparently, our ODB and city officials attended the same "municipal" conference as the folks in Miami.  Stan Aten found this story on a tunnel being proposed by their Mayor but being opposed by the Florida DOT.  

Digging tunnels for light rail with no access from private vehicles is much less risky than underground freeways.  These are the 90's -- not 1950 when everything was "perfect".

When we have our surface streets, parks and other public buildings in decent shape, we can consider some new place to waste our money.  

There is a bottom to money well -- and we are very close to it.  That's something the ODB just cannot comprehend -- after all, it's not their money they want to waste.