If you need Schutze today, he'll be with Mayor Tom at the Adam's Mark Hotel, where the Williams Institute is holding its third annual conference. Jim's moderating a crime panel this afternoon -- and, says the latest Wholeness Index, crime in Dallas is the worst in northwest Dallas, "mostly west of I-35E, from TX-356 to I-635." (For the record, I believe Jim's panel is titled "The Impact of High Crime Rates on Quality of Life & Neighborhood Wellbeing.")
As for the Wholeness Index itself, which will be presented during the conference, crime's down in the southern sector, but graduation rates are up, taking South Dallas out of the "worst" category and putting it more in line with the rest of the city. But The Dallas Morning News actually puts it pretty well this morning: The city's "wholeness score" is 66.79 -- but, like, what does it mean, anyway, since no other city in the world uses a "wholeness score" with which to grade the city's health? "A score of 0 represents how whole the city would be if all neighborhoods were as different as possible,' says the report, "while a score of 100 represents how whole the city would be if all neighborhoods were as similar as possible." Which means if every neighborhood had high crime or low school attendance rates, the score would be closer to 100. Which is good. No, wait, that'd be bad. No, wait. Um. --Robert Wilonsky
