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Michael Ennis covers a lot of ground in this Texas Monthly story about Dallas’ plan to redevelop West Dallas, taking us all the way back to 1912 and George Kessler’s efforts here, which, Ennis says, inadvertently sent the city down a misguided path to our current future. Ennis asks, “[I]s it just possible that a city whose official slogan is ‘Live Large. Think Big’ is on the verge of fundamentally rethinking itself?” [spoiler alert!] He concludes on this hopeful note: “As our state and nation only become more urban (already nine out of ten Texans live in metro areas) and more diverse (nine out of ten new Texans in the past decade were non-Anglo), then Dallas could well win a race to the future that few other American cities even realize they’ve entered.”

Recommended.

What’s past is prologue, as the Bard instructs us. This photo comes courtesy of the Bryan Adams class of ’66, whose pictorial collection is worth visiting.

Our friends in Plano live longer, grabbing the No. 12 spot in the nation. According to the stats in The Daily Beast, the West Coast dominates. San Jose takes the No. 1 spot. Bridgeport, CT, not exactly paradise, ranks 4. If there is a lesson here, it eludes me.

Aren’t public spaces fun? Finally, Dallas builds a worthwhile one, one that actually gets the people of this city to use it and spend time in it, and what happens? Our prissy side comes out. The side of Dallas that says, “Sweep it up, and keep it clean.”  The side of Dallas that buries pedestrian ways and tries to segregate foot and vehicular traffic. The side of Dallas that reminds us that, at heart, Dallas is a valet town.

Let’s put it this way. Remember when you were about 7 or 8 years old, and your mom or dad’s old friend from college — let’s call him Burt — well, Burt came to visit? And your mom or dad said, “Hey, this is ‘Uncle Burt.’” And you thought, “Burt is not my uncle.” And Burt smelled, and Burt had real weird teeth, and he drank too much, and he laughed from his diaphragm and kept asking you to sit on his lap? Remember how afraid you were of Burt? Then what happened?

Well, for one. Burt went away because he was only visiting. And then, what happened when he came the next time? Well, Burt wasn’t as scary because you remembered him. Burt still wasn’t fun to be around, but you could handle him a little better. You went to your room after dinner. You knew how to half smile and how to take a step away from him so he wouldn’t get too friendly. You pretended you were a little more shy than you actually were. And then Burt, who really just wanted to drink with your dad and talk about the good old days, left you alone. And you, well, you just walked away. And then, when you grew up, you found out Burt had studied all sorts of crazy things — like mirco-ecologies of algae in the Great Barrier Reef — and you found out that Burt was kind of cool in his own odd way.

Well, you see, the homeless guys at Main Street Garden — they’re Burt. Your big papa, Dallas, has been friends with them for a long, long time. I know, it’s the first time you’ve had to actually spend some time in the living room with all these Burts, but don’t worry, you’ll figure it out. You’ll learn how to brush him off, or engage in brief, polite chatter. Maybe he’ll make you laugh because, you know, he’s actually kind of funny. Maybe someday you’ll find out what Burt likes to eat or dreams about while sleeping on that park bench. Or maybe you’ll just get by by figuring out how to give Burt the polite cold shoulder. Either way, it’s going to be okay. You’ll get it. I know. It takes time.

Now jump to watch the first 10 minutes of the documentary Dark Dayz, which you all must now rent. Don’t worry, Premiere Video has it. That’s in a strip center. There’s usually ample parking.

Maybe it was the scorching, high-90s heat. Or the four bicycle cops jawboning on the sidewalk outside the Lily Pad Cafe. But, for whatever reason, the homeless people at downtown’s Main Street Garden at noon today were in no mood to discuss Angela Hunt’s “anti-bums-in-the-park” tweets.

One of them, a middle-aged woman on a shaded bench, said she’d already talked to a reporter, yesterday. Another, a young guy sitting under a tree, said as long as there are no walls or fences around Main Street Garden, it wouldn’t be fair–or legal–to keep anyone out. “Who is the owner of the park?” he asked indignantly, adding that he didn’t want to give his name. “If it’s the city or the United States of America, everyone has the right.”

Actually, the city does own the $17.5 million park. Businessman Mark Noble, who co-chaired Main Street’s founding committee, said problems like the one Hunt referenced should ease over time as the park–the first of several planned by the city–matures and attracts more activity. Main Street Garden is “really the first rattle out of the bag,” said Noble, who’s no longer associated with the park.

This week, thanks to Hunt, the rattle was making a pretty loud racket.

As Tim said, Twitter is pretty powerful. Take, for example, Angela Hunt’s weekend tweets about the “bums” in Main Street Garden. Based on what she had to say, it looks like some changes may be coming to Main Street Garden. But I do take issue with some of what’s being said about the homeless in the park.

I use the park every day. It’s where I met most of my friends. It’s where I take the dog for exercise. And, yeah, it’s where I run into some homeless. But I rarely find them aggressive. Most of the time, they’ll make a comment about the dog, and that’s it. Sometimes, I’ll engage them in conversation. (Some of the best conversations I’ve had occurred out there with homeless people.) And sometimes, but rarely, they ask me for money. But if I say I don’t have cash, they leave it at that. The only real problem that comes from them hanging out there is that they’ll leave chicken bones behind, which is really dangerous for the dogs. But I don’t avoid the park because of the homeless population.

Over at our excellent RealPoints blog, Mike Berry points to Urban Land Institute and legislative reports that show “years of neglect and inadequate funding are quickly putting the state in a position where it will be unable to afford any new roads or badly needed improvements…”

Hello there, presidential candidate Rick Perry.

State Sen. John Carona has led a lonely, one-man crusade on this issue, trying to get his fellow GOPers to understand the needs of a fast-growing state. But he has consistently run up against the governor’s adament refusal to provide money — i.e., to raise the gasoline tax. For an in-depth look at the problem, you can read our cover story on Carona’s struggles here.