At Downtown Library, the City Council Is Learning How to Build a More Civilized Dallas

From the big seminar at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library today: City council is hearing experts from Canada and Virginia tell them how to do civilized development. The big question, of course: Why would we want to be civilized?One irony: The Canadian guy told them Vancouver has no freeways...

By Jim Schutze

January 21, 2009

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From the big seminar at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library today: City council is hearing experts from Canada and Virginia tell them how to do civilized development. The big question, of course: Why would we want to be civilized?

One irony: The Canadian guy told them Vancouver has no freeways at all leading into the central city and enforces a permanent ban on any new highways or street widenings in the city. Today's event is being co-sponsored by the Trinity Trust, a private group whose big accomplishment so far was helping get a freeway built next to the river in the middle of what was supposed to have been a great urban park.

Mayor Tom Leppert, to his credit, is taking copious notes, as evidenced by the photo above. Either that, or he's working on his autobiography. Can't tell which from where I'm sitting.

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Jim Schutze has been the city columnist for the Dallas Observer since 1998. He has been a recipient of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies’ national award for best commentary and Lincoln University’s national Unity Award for writing on civil rights and racial issues. In 2011 he was admitted to the Texas Institute of Letters.

Contact: Jim Schutze