Why aren't there more hotels and restaurants in South Dallas? (Plano: good hotels, lawyers)

[Refugee56]

I was looking at the map of restaurants and hotels in the Dallas Metroplex and noticed almost every nice restaurant and hotel is in North Dallas? Why is this the case? Where do all the nice folks in South Dallas eat?

Is South Dallas poverty stricken and full of Latino gangs?

[aceplace]

Actually, you should be careful of your terminology. "South Dallas" is actually a specific neighborhood north of the Trinity River. The parts of Dallas south of the Trinity River are usually generalized as "Oak Cliff".

Much of Oak Cliff is actually pretty posh looking. The Kessler Park and Stevens Park neighborhoods are pretty upscale, and the terrain is very hilly, large changes in elevation, etc. The neighborhoods southeast of the Tyler-Vernon DART station are, in my experience, as upscale as similar areas in North Dallas. There may be other upscale neighborhoods that I do not know.

It is trus, however, that the vast majority of the "upscale economy" has taken place in the northern neighborhoods. Well, all generalizations are false (except for this one), and there is a lot of poverty in North Dallas as well. We should say that the wealth is concentrated in the central parts of North Dallas, with increasing loss of wealth to the east and west of the central axis.

What caused this pattern of development? In my opinion, it was the existence of Highland and University Park as independent municipal governments, that were able to cater to the desires and whims of the rich. Normal municipal governments somehow can only address the economic benefit of the poor and destitute, or at least pretend to, but the Park Cities are unabashedly defenders of the rich and powerful. If you were a billionaire, what would you prefer? The Park Cities were like magnets that attracted other wealthy and semi-wealthy people to their periphery in the north, to neighborhoods actually in the city of Dallas, like Preston Hollow and Greenway Park, and eventually to more remote suburbs such as Plano and Frisco.

The emergence of Uptown Dallas as a wealthy, albeit dense inner-city neighborhood, was enabled by its siting between the Park Cities and downtown.

[rosscountry]

to be continued.........


The city is trying to change that as we type..

Get involved or stay tuned..

Here is a few links that may give you answers to your question

Dallas Progress: The Lack of Grocery Stores in Southern Dallas


Shawn Williams: If they build it in southern Dallas, make sure you come | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Opinion: Viewpoints (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-williams_20edi.ART.State.Edition1.37306ac.html - broken link)

Nathan Berg: It shouldn't take a road trip to shop | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Opinion: Viewpoints (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-berg_15edi.ART.State.Edition1.369033a.html - broken link)


Read this one

DALLAS AT THE TIPPING POINT (http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/2004/dallas/sdallastoday2.html - broken link)

also read this. It is one of the mayor's top goals. South Dallas's development is instrumental in the cities overall success and future growth in his vision.

Mayor Tom Leppert | Closing the Gap between North and South Dallas (http://tomleppert.com/index.php?id=41 - broken link)

[aceplace]

Another attraction of the Park Cities for the rich and powerful is the relatively low property tax rate. Generally, governments tax the rich because they're the only ones with enough money to make a difference. And in most municipalities, there is a scarcity of rich property tax donors, so the actual property tax rates are set very high for the rich to make up for their underrepresentation in the population.

But what if everyone in the municipality was wealthy? Since there are so many more millionaires, the relative contribution of each one of them to the tax rolls is lower than it would be in places like Dallas. The more cows you have, the less milk you have to squeeze out of each one to make up a gallon. Yes, it is true that the municipality probably has a higher level of expenditure for public works like parks and decorated streets, but the overall per capita share of the budget for a Highland Park millionaire is lower than it would be for a Dallas millionaire, if only because millionaires are common in Highland Park, but rare and exploitable in Dallas.

[WillysB]

Let's just say that the 'latitudes' of south Dallas are lower than those of north Dallas.

[aceplace]

Maybe there is a better metaphor for the ability of the Park Cities, as legally independent municipal governments, to channel the upper middle class districts to the north side of Dallas.

Think about using a file to smooth out an iron bar. You get many flakes of iron, called iron filings. Now if you want to pick them up and clean out your workshop, you could use a broom, but it's easier to use a magnet. The filings are attracted to the magnet, and you can easily pick them up off the ground.

Essentially, the Park Cities are a magnet for people. What kind of people? Well, the ultra-wealthy live inside the Park Cities. And there's only so much room, so many people wou would like to be there are unable to bid their way in. So what do they do?

Just as iron filings are attracted to a magnet, the near-rich are attracted to spaces near those occupied by the wealthy swells, as if propinquity to those in power made you richer. And maybe it does. In the case of iron filings, the big magnet will actually magnetize a little piece of iron, make it into a smaller, less powerful, magnet. In the case of human interaction, being physically close to the rich and powerful may also have an effect. In order to suck up to the boss and maybe marry his daughter, you have to be in his orbit, close enough to matter. And maybe he becomes your boss by meeting you in the same gym, or shopping mall, or church.

In practice, the upper middle class world of mid-level lawyers, professionals of different stripes, key salesmen, etc., derive their wealth by serving the ultra-rich. The best way to become a millionaire is with the support of a billionaire. And physical propinquity eases that access.

So that's why Dallas' most affluent districts are toward the north.

[txstate]

And so continues the never ending saga Dallas keeps South Dallas(oak Cliff) down and out, gotta go to the North.

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by txstate

And so continues the never ending saga Dallas keeps South Dallas(oak Cliff) down and out, gotta go to the North.

No, not Dallas. Highland and University Park are doing it.

[billdfw]

Originally Posted by Refugee56

I was looking at the map of restaurants and hotels in the Dallas Metroplex and noticed almost every nice restaurant and hotel is in North Dallas? Why is this the case? Where do all the nice folks in South Dallas eat?

Is South Dallas poverty stricken and full of Latino gangs?

There are no good hotels and restaurants down there because south of 30 is generall bad area and no one wants to go there, with a possible exception of the three block area called "Bishop Arts".

If you were to open a nice hotel and restautrants, no one would go there.

[billdfw]

Originally Posted by aceplace

No, not Dallas. Highland and University Park are doing it.

That's absurd.

No one is "keeping Oak Cliff down" except for maybe the people that live there.