Midtown in Dallas Finally Moving Foward (Frisco, Greenville: neighbourhoods, buying, tenant)

[hbdwihdh378y9]

Originally Posted by turf3

Well, it's a stupid name.


Dallas isn't Manhattan, in case anyone's not clear on that. Trying to grab a little faux-urban-coolness by using names of NYC neighborhoods for cachet is stupid - although, maybe not that stupid, given how fast the millennials have glommed onto "Uptown". There's even a development called "West Village" in "Uptown", which has the minor issue that there's no Greenwich Village or East Village for it to be West of - but who cares! It's marketeering! Words no longer have meanings!

Well, to be fair, Dallas's "West Village" is west of something, even if it's just Highway 75 or the west curb of McKinney.

I lived in Greenwich Village for a while, and I can tell you that the name "East Village" was a marketing ploy of its own. However, I agree that naming something "Midtown" when it is not between downtown and "Uptown" is pretty silly.

[Treasurevalley92]

Originally Posted by turf3

Well, it's a stupid name.


Dallas isn't Manhattan, in case anyone's not clear on that. Trying to grab a little faux-urban-coolness by using names of NYC neighborhoods for cachet is stupid - although, maybe not that stupid, given how fast the millennials have glommed onto "Uptown". There's even a development called "West Village" in "Uptown", which has the minor issue that there's no Greenwich Village or East Village for it to be West of - but who cares! It's marketeering! Words no longer have meanings!


"When I use a word," Humpty Marketeer said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less." "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things." "The question is," said Humpty Marketeer, "which is to be master—that's all."

The Uptown name makes perfect sense though. All the goofy old people who think Uptown and Oak Lawn should all still by Oak Lawn miss the fact that they are 2 distinct neighbourhoods at this point as it is no longer 1986.

The West Village is west of 75. Also, the OG Dallas Village is east of 75. I agree it's a little silly.

This isn't anything new though. Plenty of areas of Chicago have names like "Hills" or "Gardens" that were selected by developers even though Chicago has no hills.

This is nothing new. Winnetka Heights doesn't actually sit on any heights. Greenland Hills has 0 hills. Saying Bluffview has views of bluffs would be a massive exaggeration. Preston Hollow isn't in what I would call a real Hollow, I mean not really.

Anyway, this isn't the end of the world people name things for marketing and even if it is a little silly it isn't the end of the world. You can name places whatever you want to call them.

[hbdwihdh378y9]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

Isn’t Vickery Meadows close to NorthPark and is miles away, or is "Vickery" a much larger area?

I wonder exactly how much retail that it will have. There’s a mall three blocks away, five miles away, and ten miles away. I doubt they need too much traditional retail. They should have just stuck with apartments and office space.

Dallas has two Vickeries. Vickery Place and Vickery Meadow.

Turf3 will be amused (or annoyed) to see that the Wiki entry for Vickery Meadow has been revised throughout to use the term Vickery Midtown instead of Vickery Meadow.

[hbdwihdh378y9]

Originally Posted by Treasurevalley92

The Uptown name makes perfect sense though. All the goofy old people who think Uptown and Oak Lawn should all still by Oak Lawn miss the fact that they are 2 distinct neighbourhoods at this point as it is no longer 1986.

The West Village is west of 75. Also, the OG Dallas Village is east of 75. I agree it's a little silly.

This isn't anything new though. Plenty of areas of Chicago have names like "Hills" or "Gardens" that were selected by developers even though Chicago has no hills.

This is nothing new. Winnetka Heights doesn't actually sit on any heights. Greenland Hills has 0 hills. Saying Bluffview has views of bluffs would be a massive exaggeration.

Bluffview doesn't have views of a bluff; it has views from a bluff (or at least a few houses do). But the bluff is real, and the name is fitting.

[Treasurevalley92]

Originally Posted by hbdwihdh378y9

Bluffview doesn't have views of a bluff; it has views from a bluff (or at least a few houses do). But the bluff is real, and the name is fitting.

Sort of...but even then, the exception proves my point.

[hbdwihdh378y9]

I'm not disagreeing with your general point. It's just that Bluffview is not a good illustration.

[Cd225]

Preston Hollow isn't in the hollow. The hollow was (or I suppose you could say is) in the former city and the current larger area now known as Preston Hollow. The hollow is on the west side of Preston Road.

[TurtleCreek80]

The name isn’t great (I believe it is supposed to be the “Midtown” between downtown Dallas and the burbs) but I sure am glad to see progress being made on this giant eyesore since it’s relatively close to where I live. I thought it would be a great Amazon site and still believe it’s an A+ office location for companies who want the Dallas address but not a horrific commute for employees who live in the burbs. Great location with easy access to 635, tollroad, & 75.

My gut says this one is going to be like Victory Park as far as timing the economy badly, but at least from what I’ve heard, Scott Beck isn’t making the same mistake of going 100% luxury like Victory Park’s original tenant roster. I think JCPenney is part of the MidPark and I know the movie theater is rebuilding there.

[turf3]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

The name isn’t great (I believe it is supposed to be the “Midtown” between downtown Dallas and the burbs) but I sure am glad to see progress being made on this giant eyesore since it’s relatively close to where I live. I thought it would be a great Amazon site and still believe it’s an A+ office location for companies who want the Dallas address but not a horrific commute for employees who live in the burbs. Great location with easy access to 635, tollroad, & 75.

My gut says this one is going to be like Victory Park as far as timing the economy badly, but at least from what I’ve heard, Scott Beck isn’t making the same mistake of going 100% luxury like Victory Park’s original tenant roster. I think JCPenney is part of the MidPark and I know the movie theater is rebuilding there.

So, leaving aside the name, the one thing that will need to be addressed (and probably won't) is the traffic. It's already bad around there without adding more. Just like the near surroundings of Northpark are an "avoid at all costs" area at certain times of the day and certain times of the year, I'm afraid the Valley View area will be like that too. The only thing making that area passable currently is the fact that the mall site is dead.


Certainly if it's done well, it could be a real shot in the arm for that corner of town.

[turf3]

Originally Posted by Cd225

Preston Hollow isn't in the hollow. The hollow was (or I suppose you could say is) in the former city and the current larger area now known as Preston Hollow. The hollow is on the west side of Preston Road.

Yes, I remember when the creek went through there just south of Royal Lane.


My point was not just that marketeers name things according to a desire to appeal, but rather that the constant attempt to use New York City designations in an attempt to gain some kind of urban-chic credibility is pathetic and unbefitting for a city that has its own perfectly good identity. Names like Preston Hollow, Bluffview, Oak Cliff, Lakewood, Casa Linda, Pleasant Grove, Bent Tree, etc., are advertising, sure, but they aren't trying to say "look - it's a pale imitation of New York, so come spend your money here!" (Actually I guess you could rename Pleasant Grove "South Bronx"...)


Same thing as trying to convert the Trinity River into a whitewater kayaking attraction, or building fake suspension bridges with huge towers and cables while the roadway is supported by piers the whole way - because there is no canyon to span, just the usual river bottom of a meandering river on the Great Plains of the US.