Economic Issues

The Number of Poor People in Dallas Suburbs Keeps Going Up

The suburbs stir up a lot of associations in the popular imagination. It covers territory as diverse as Leave It to Beaver and Blue Velvet. What the 'burbs don't usually evoke is poverty. For decades the war on poverty has been fought mostly in urban centers, but according to a new study out today f ... More >>

Public Hearing on Farmers Market Privatization Decides Fate of the Market Tomorrow

City Hall will meet tomorrow to decide on a number of factors governing the privatization of the Dallas Farmers Market. Items for consideration include rezoning and expansion of the area surrounding the market, and the sale of public land for private development. The decisions up for vote during tom ... More >>

A $12 Minimum Hourly Wage: Trading Cheap Happy Meals for a Happier Future

All right, I've got my lanyard whistle around my neck, and I'm set for a session here. Let's hustle up out there, Lawners. Time for today's knee-jerk calisthenics. Remember our interim motto: A knee-jerk reaction is better than not being able to feel your feet. (I'm working on shortening that.) I ... More >>

The Schutze-Notes Version of James Galbraith's Latest Book: We're Screwed

James Galbraith has a new book out, Inequality and Instability, arguing that ... well, you know he's an economist at the LBJ School at UT Austin, so it's pretty complicated ... I'm trying to boil down what I got out of it ... I need to put this into Get-Off-My-Lawn language ... so let's imagine its ... More >>

City Looking to Kick In $2 Million Toward Development Around Walmart on Ledbetter

​Word of warning: This won't be the sole Unfair Park item of the day to feature the word "Walmart." Patience, patience. But, to begin: Remember that Walmart going in at Ledbetter and R.L. Thornton? Right, that one. Gave us the phrase "Trees do not vote" during the contentious discussion about how ... More >>

On Site of Old Herrera's on Maple, the New Home of Omni Hotels' Parent Company

That big muddy patch seen outside the bossman's window will be TRT Holdings' HQ at some point.​Someone asked yesterday if and when Omni's going to move its HQ to the city of Dallas. Well ... if you'll look at the council's agenda for today, it's right there: items No. 54 and 55. The first one's fo ... More >>

City Council Delays Giving DISD Rezoning It Wants in Jubilee Park, Pending Trustees' Vote on School Closures Tomorrow Night

​Best I can tell using our half-baked search engine, we began writing about Jubilee Park-ers' battle with the Dallas Independent School District over a new-and-improved O.M. Roberts in April 2010, when residents told Dallas County commissioners they were terrified of losing their homes in an emine ... More >>

City Hopes $13 Mil in HUD Block Grants Will Jumpstart Lake Highlands Town Center

​For those wondering whatever become of the stagnating Lake Highlands Town Center, a ray of hope appears on the council's Economic Development Committee's agenda for Monday: "Community Development Block Grant Section 108 Guaranteed Loan Application for the Lake Highlands Town Center." I'll post th ... More >>

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Except For the 30 Percent of Dallas County Children Living Below the Poverty Line

​Shortly before Thanksgiving 2007, Timothy Bray and co-author Nathan Berg of the University of Texas at Dallas issued a report that hasn't aged a day since its initial publication: Access to Grocery Stores and Food Security in Dallas, which began the ongoing conversation concerning the so-called " ... More >>

Two Years After Addison-Based Debt Relief USA Went Bankrupt, the Feds Take an Interest

​No doubt you heard the radio spots in which they promised to "settle your credit card debt for pennies on the dollar without filing for bankruptcy"; no doubt you saw the TV ads in which they claimed you would "truly be debt free in less than 36 months." From 2005 till '09, Addison-based Debt Reli ... More >>

Dallas County Now Under 90-Day Burn Ban

​No doubt you're aware: This is fast becoming one of the worst droughts in state history -- No. 3 so far, at a cost of billions to farmers and ranchers. And save for this tease of "dissipating thunderstorms" moving in, or not, from Oklahoma, it ain't gonna get any better any time soon. Which is wh ... More >>

Before Council Votes to Up Lake Highlands Town Center TIF Dough to $40 Mil, a History

What one corner of Walnut Hill and Skillman was supposed to look like by now​Twice now, following a weekend excursion to the scenic, dancing-watered parkingscape known as Lake Highlands Town Center, we've checked in on the city's efforts to back-on-track that stalled-out mixed-use development. Goo ... More >>

City to Kick In Millions More in TIF Dough to Get Lake Highlands Town Center Back on Track

​After last week's accidental tour of the Lake Highlands Town Center, or what there is of it, we discovered: Prescott Realty and the city's Office of Economic Development are hustling to get that long-dormant development off the ground years after that big-deal groundbreaking was buried in the eco ... More >>

QR Signs of the Times, Part II: CityDesign Studio's Virtual Look at Dallas' "Public Realm"

​I saw one of these signs on a Bishop Arts sidewalk over the weekend and thought nothing of it -- that is till today, when I was looking for something unrelated on the Dallas CityDesign Studio, which led me to its Facebook page, which led me to this: Urban Design Matters, a just-launched website r ... More >>

What Qualifies As "a Relatively Small Public Investment"? Let's Take a Look Downtown.

400 N. Akard​This morning, the council's Economic Development Committee will take up whether or not to give Dean Foods a $250,000 economic development grant (and $1,673,964 in tax abatements) for that new factory in the southern sector, which Ron Natinsky mentioned last week.At the same time, the ... More >>

Head of Economic Development Explains $2 Million Grant Proposed for North Oak Cliff

Click to embiggen the map of the area that would be impacted by the proposed $2 million economic development grant.​On Friday we sneak-peeked that proposed $2-million economic development grant proposal intended to "support emerging development opportunities in North Oak Cliff." Before Wednesday's ... More >>

Council to Consider Doling Out $2 Million In GrantBond Money to North Oak Cliff Developers

​So much for North Oak Cliff not needing City Hall ...On Monday, the council's Economic Development Committee will discuss an "economic development grant proposal to support emerging development opportunities in North Oak Cliff." Which is kinda vague till you look at the corresponding item (No. 57 ... More >>

How Much Money is MoneyGram Getting to Move From Minnesota to 2828 N. Harwood?

​A couple of weeks ago, MoneyGram announced it was moving its HQ from Minnesota to Dallas -- you remember that, right? And at the time, City Hall said the move involved "a public incentive package" that the city council had to approve -- oh, like it wouldn't. Anyway. Some Friends wondered how much ... More >>

This Week in Dallas Music History: This Recession's Killing the Music Scene.

​Perhaps this is a bit presumptuous of me, but we could be on the rebound from the recession that started on 2008. If nothing else, though, we're a great deal away from the 1992 recession, which, turns out, kinda dogged the DFW live music scene pretty hard.The April 2, 1992 edition of the Observer ... More >>

This Just in From the Office of Ironic Developments at Dallas City Hall ...

​I've been meaning to get to this for hours and was otherwise occupied -- drinking, of course, in anticipation of tomorrow's big day. Schutze's bestest bud, Frank Librio at Dallas City Hall, sent to us media types a press release announcing that the city's Office of Economic Development Web site h ... More >>

Q&A: Dave Wakeling of The English Beat On Punks, Mixing Races and the Circular Nature of Music.

Dave Wakeling​Even three decades after the fact, the music of The English Beat still retains the fresh edge that distinguished it back in 1978. Beginning with the "Mirror in the Bathroom" and "Save it For Later" singles, The Beat (as it was then called and is still referred to in its native Englan ... More >>

Dallas County Commissioners Decide to Leave Security Issues With County Administrator

Photos by Kimberly ThorpeThe Dallas County Commissioners Court at today's meeting​So, yes, the Dallas County Commissioners Court did discuss privatizing security at all Dallas County courthouses and other county-owned-and-operated buildings. Problem was, the commissioners couldn't agree on what to ... More >>

More About City's Plans to "Rent" JCPenney at Southwest Center Mall, With Option to Buy

Sam MertenThe vacant JCPenney building at Southwest Center Mall in South Dallas.​Karl Zavitkovsky, head of the city's Office of Economic Development, just called back to explain why the city's moving forward with plans to purchase the JCPenney's space at Southwest Center Mall, which the chain aban ... More >>

No Justice: We've Bailed Out the Banks. When Do We Go After the Crooks Behind Our Financial Collapse?

Steer Clear of the Crescent on Monday

Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk at the U.S.-Africa Business Summit in D.C. earlier this month​That is, unless you have business with former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who, in his position as U.S. Trade Representative, will be holed up at the hotel Monday talking North American Free Trade Agreement. But, ... More >>

It's Official: The Trinty Trust Gives $2 Million to Set Up "CityDesign Studio" in Dallas City Hall

Speaking of the Trinity Trust, they've still got those T-shirts available.​The suspense is over. (See what I did there?) Following up its September 24 announcement concerning $10 mil going toward turning the Continental Avenue Bridge into a pedestrian pathway-n-park, the Trinity Trust this morning ... More >>

When Deloitte Did the Math, It Needed $2 Mil From Dallas, Or Else It Was Going to Irving

​Earlier this year, Deloitte LLP went down to Dallas City Hall and said it was thinking of consolidating its Dallas and Irving operations under one roof ... in Irving. The accounting firm had crunched the numbers, and "there was a multi-million dollar cost advantage to Deloitte LLP if it chose an ... More >>

You Think the Recession Blows? Well, Sure. But Try Living On One Dollar a Day.

"Andrea," who received $1,500 from the Chiapas Project to become a farmer in Mexico, where she support four generations of family​Sure, our economy's grim, but consider this: In Haiti, 80 percent of the population lives under the poverty line and two-thirds lack formal jobs. Altering such circumst ... More >>

What's it Worth to Move 200 Hilton Jobs to Dallas From Farmers Branch? Dunno Yet.

​Says this sneak preview of the city council's Economic Development Committee agenda next week, Dallas is considering forking over an economic development grant to Hilton Hotels, which is looking to relocate a regional headquarters to Dallas. Office of Economic Development head Karl Zavitkovsky, a ... More >>

Old Red Bird Mall's About to Get a Fresh Look from the Urban Land Institute

View Larger MapMoments ago, the Dallas City Council approved spending $120,000 in economic development grant money so the Urban Land Institute can "assess redevelopment options" at Southwest Center Mall. As we noted earlier this week, the council's Economic Development Committee took a peek at the p ... More >>

Red Bird Singing in the Dead of Night, Take These Broken Wings and Learn to Fly

View Larger MapSpeaking, as we were late last week, of deserted area malls, today comes word that the city council's trying to figure out what to do with the Shopping Center Formerly Known as Red Bird. Otherwise called Southwest Center Mall, the joint was once a jam-packed jewel upon its grand openi ... More >>

What Remains of Federal Funds Intended for Motorsports Museum Will Now Go Toward MLK Boulevard "Revitalization Program"

View Larger MapBeen a loooong time since we've written about Derrick Mitchem and his proposed Motorsports Museum across from Fair Park, in the old Bama Pie building. Been no reason to: Last I looked, oh, three weeks ago, the place looked just as it has for years and as you see above -- more or less ... More >>

Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher Is, Seriously, a Shanghai Surprise

Uncle Milty Gets Down with Dallas Fed

Don't Mound If You Do

We Now Officially Have Those Trinity River Blues

Vox Populi

Wait a minute...There's democracy in Dallas?

Don Hill's Faith-Based Plan For...Crime-Fighting?

Fear-Mongering Amongst the Mayoral Candidates. And Don Hill Has a Economic Plan. Didn't Say it Was a Good One.

Pie in the Sky

Veni, Vidi, Vici Venice

The Venice Biennale offers a slice of art life in the age of globalization

P.U.!

Who made a stink at City Hall?

Waging Battle

Proponents of a living-wage ordinance snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

Make 'em pay

Dallas activists fight
for a living wage from city contractors

No class

New York-based Edison Schools flunked out with trying to privatize Sherman's public schools. Why should things be any different in Dallas?

The fix is in

Plans for a giant market in an Old East Dallas neighborhood speed ahead despite protests by neighbors

Spinning wheels

Fahim Minkah cleared one set of hurdles to build a South Dallas skating rink, only to have the city put more in front of him

Rumors of war

A fight over rezoning has some northeast Dallas homeowners talking recall

A Dream Deferred

Former Black Panther Fahim Minkah seeks redemption for a drug-infested neighborhood, but the Southern Dallas Development Corporation turns its back

Soul Power

The city's future is in the hooves of a winged horse--and in the New Age musings of the Dallas Institute of Humanities.