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Monday, December 17, 2007

Dallas: The Hidden City

By Rawlins Gilliland

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I know Dallas. No. I mean it. I know Dallas.

Not because I grew up here but because I live here; navigating its far corners between Farmer’s Branch and Lancaster, Grand Prairie to Garland, Irving to Balch Springs. This isn’t normal in a town where, not unlike those yards with ‘electric fences’ installed to keep one’s hound at home, local inhabitants seem to wear invisible collars that shock them if they venture beyond their home turfs. Why?

Look. The Grand Canyon was once a ditch. Can that rut we’re in be far behind?

I understand territorial imperatives in cities where not everyone drives. But Dallasites get cars as christening gifts. So why run strictly with our own pack on well-trodden trails when, all round you, Dallas is fast becoming the new-and-improved version of the town it once-upon-a-time almost became? In other words, Dallas is coming of age in a pivotal time. All over again. And while much is new, the old is newer still. Be still my heart.

The Fall of Roaming

No prefabricated Hollywood sets masquerading as a ‘town’ for me! My eternal hope springs when I see a ‘60s icon like the old Hilton Inn at Mockingbird and Central reincarnated as the Palomar. Returning to Trader Vic's 40 years later was as close as I get to ‘Beam me up, Scotty’ time travel. This after trekking through the coldly inventive Angelika multiplex across the street, where movies and MasterCards are showcased amidst modern minimalism.

Drive past the turn-of-some-century Crescent to the Blade Runner-meets-Belo world of Victory Park. Where, while eating or shopping, one can see across that open air plaza an outdoor high definition TV screen the size of a Himalayan foothill, where I recently watched my eight foot face onscreen. (WARNING: In high def, middle aged facial pores resemble volcanic craters seen from a Careflite helicopter.)

Diversity University

Circa 2007, Dallas memories are newly minted in many flavors (and languages). Like a recent night at the Latino Cultural Center east of Downtown, hearing the legendary pianist Larry Harlow playing with the Dallas Latin Youth Orchestra under the tutelage of DISD Booker T. Washington Performing Arts School hero, Otis Gray. Watching the faces of the self-described half-blonde Anglo/ half-Mexican Gray and the kids of all colors he directed, the bilingual adrenaline was nothing less than transformational. Anyone discounting today’s teens, dissing the DISD or maligning our multicultural society missed a halcyon event.

Dallas is a town that eats out. I eat my heart out on a typical week across quadrants of your city where despair and joy coincide as elsewhere but in different quotients. Trips across the Trinity in Oak Cliff, whether on Jefferson Avenue listening to mariachis or to that restaurant Mecca, the Bishop Arts District off Davis. Far North Dallas for Colombian cuisine or cheap-thrill Italian. To Harry Hines for sizzling steaks or staking out daytime diners for non-stop truck-stop temptation. Catching jazz off Abrams or Downtown or served with omelets in South Dallas on Lamar near Dallas Police Department headquarters. Having Thai or Vietnamese in old East Dallas or edgy options in Deep Ellum.

Lakewood. Inwood. Wynnewood. Uptown. Downtown to the Nasher Sculpture and Crow Asian and Dallas Art Museums to experience ‘fall in love with your city for the first time’ déjà vu.

Like Little Debbie proffering her moon pies with outstretched arms, the ‘rest of’ Dallas is saying; ‘Try it. You’ll like it!’ How sweet it is.

Reality Checked

Much of Dallas is understandably preoccupied raising children. Consider: One way to create interesting and bravely aware children is to expose them to more than one isolating universe. Even Princess Diana sought to share with her sons enlightening alternative realities, to give them an aesthetic sense of empathetic balance. So why do so many Dallas parents restrict their prince and princesses to house arrest? The whole reason I continue fearlessly exploring this city’s whole is precisely that our parents did not hold us hostage to their own circumspect brand of home schooling.

Yes, it’s lovely to see the even manicures of a Park Cities lawn. But it’s lovelier still at the 60-plus acre Arboretum at White Rock Lake or the over-600-acre Dallas Nature Center...renamed the Cedar Ridge Preserve...on Dallas’ western-most border. Hit the Katy Trail with the kids in tow. Take that long postponed brisk hike along the Nature Trails in the (many times the size of Central Park) Trinity Forest in my Southeast Dallas neighborhood and south. Then go west to South Dallas’ Fair Park Science Place for another IMAX virtual dream sequence. Or across the river to Oak Cliff’s Dallas Zoo.

Back through the Future

Miss the ethno-simpatico of San Francisco/San Diego or Chicago’s music? Hungry for the food-aholic frenzy of New York or starved for the sexy nuance (after two mojitos) of Miami, the morose allure of New Orleans or the true blue state of Texas mindsets? It’s all lurking in Dallas; if not in spades, at least in hearts. Ignorance may be bliss when your spouse is flirting with the pool guy, but not when it comes to ignoring a large city’s at-large offerings. Consider the words of fabled 16th century astronomer Galileo: "All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them."

Why make an astronomical mistake? It’s your city. Find it.

The ‘Other Half’ of Dallas South/West Primer:

Here’s Rawlins’ Hansel and Gretel trail of rice-in-the-forest road map of Southern Dallas, which wraps Dallas’ western border across its entire southern border going east; the lion’s share of your city, about which the lion’s share of Dallasites know little or nothing.

Beginning with Oak Cliff, which is by definition across the Trinity River: Therein lies, opposite Downtown, North Oak Cliff and just beyond that, ‘Downtown Oak Cliff’ (Jefferson/Davis Oak Cliff proper including the Bishop Arts District). Then South Oak Cliff south of I-35/67 to I-20 (no less an actual name for a sector of this city than East Dallas or Oak Lawn/Uptown.) North of Oak Cliff (think I-30) and south of Irving lies West Dallas.

East of South Oak Cliff (think I-45) is South Dallas. This begins south of downtown/I-30 down to I-20, then east to the forest (actually White Rock Creek which runs north/south through the forest). East of the creek and on through the Forest is Southeast Dallas (labeled improperly for years as ‘Pleasant Grove’) on to the Dallas southeast border with Balch Springs and Mesquite.

This story was submitted by a member of the Pegasus News community.

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Comments

AGR60 Anonymous

This is absolutely marvelous. As a "former" Dallasite,(why do I always feel that is so like parasite) I loved hearing what Dallas is and has become: an all-encompassing city. Rawlins states the case eloquently, and, better yet, with feeling.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

lakewooder

lakewooder Anonymous

Thanks Rawlins - tell it like it is!

Nice to have chatted with you at the wonderful Christmas-Pegasus-Party.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Billusa99

Billusa99 Anonymous

Rawlins... this is excellent and certainly reflects some of our past pool hall discussion! I'm going to save this link to give to our frequent global visitors, as well as our occasional, insular aquaintances!

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Minnie Payne Staff

Rawlins, Many thanks for sharing your wonderful talent with us.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Rawlins Gilliland

Rawlins Gilliland Verified

Someone wrote asking why I didn't mention Sea World. Ugh, the last time Dallas was (literally) part of Sea World is before dinosaurs roamed the earth. But hey.... keep your head above water-boarding. Then floor board it around Dallas!

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

90248869 Anonymous

I often find myself in the same old rut doing the same old stuff. This article is a breath of new life into my what-am-I-gonna-do-THIS-weekend drama... Excellent writing. I feel your enthusiasm and energy for this great city. BTW, we love to rollerblade at Fair Park, no traffic, miles of great architecture and well-manicured landscapes. Thanks for giving us some new places to explore. KG

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

viva_la_malcriada

viva_la_malcriada Anonymous

Rawlins, thank you for making our town all lovable and huggy for me again. You know I'm always up for any of your personal tours and the first few rounds...

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Susan Thornton

Susan Thornton Verified

Thank you, Rawlins.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Stephanie Hindall

Stephanie Hindall Verified

Thank you, thank you. As a self-appointed cheerleader for Dallas, I have lately grown all too weary of locals dissing this great city of ours. After nights of discussing all the great things about our fair town (see your article), I finally threw up my hands, looked the naysayers in the eye, and said, "Get the hell out of here, already." But now I'm back on the sunny side of the street and will instead refer them to this great article.

(And now that I'm a homeowning Cliffdweller, I've got a whole new can of worms to deal with. So, thanks for the positive mentions of OC. We'll take what we can get to help shrug off this ridiculous stigma that Oak Cliff is a scary Larry place to live.)

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Rawlins Gilliland

Rawlins Gilliland Verified

Rawlins' Mantra: "Show me someone who's bored and I'll show you someone who's boring."

Feliz Christmas to the entire Pegasus community.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Bill Holston

Bill Holston Verified

well said, as always. Love the mention of Cedar Ridge. love for Oak Cliff and Deep Ellum, way to go, very very interesting and safe neighborhoods!

Cafe Istanbul on Elm btw, is one great restaurant. Just had a wonderful flavorful meal there. Great attentive service.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

cardinal Anonymous

Thanks for a great paean to the Eastern end of the Metroplex. I have lived here now off and on for 27 years, and I compare the area favorably to anywhere else I've ever lived, including Rome. I can never find enough time to attend all the plays, symphonies, operas, and art openings that are listed in the News. Rawlins does a great job illustrating that a fervent cultural life bubbles at the surface of our asphalt paved metropolis.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Rawlins Gilliland

Rawlins Gilliland Verified

Getting emails asking, so anyone interested in the specific restaurants/jazz venues/bars, etc. I allude to in my 'City' piece, email me. I opted to not name the specific businesses up front to not distract/cloud my larger intended points. But several people have written asking especially about the jazz, and the places I reference here are The Balcony Bar (in Lakewood next to theater), Pearl (Commerce & Pearl DT, props to the Yosts) and Brooklyn Jazz on Lamar. Disfruta!

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Billusa99

Billusa99 Anonymous

Are you sure you don't mean Balcony Club above the Lakewood theater? The bar next to the theater is just a bar.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Rawlins Gilliland

Rawlins Gilliland Verified

Yep, sorry; Balcony Club upstairs. (Downstairs below is the Arcade Bar which is great for just slugging non-stop Blue Moon on tap.)

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Rick Yost

Rick Yost Verified

Rawlins- Nice!

Yes,for me,Dallas has always been a mix of cultures and tastes- but you may need to live here to discover and enjoy the best.

I grew up in, and have spent most of my life in East Dallas. I've experienced ALL parts of the city- but I don't have the same familiarity.
As everyone will, I have my own little eccentric memories of different experiences from the stomping grounds of my youth. Even after a considerable amount of traveling I keep coming back to East Dallas.

Some of you older Eastsiders might recognize: The Festival theater ( The "Flicks" ) on Maple Ave, Vickery Park (I mean the real one, way back when Matilda was still a dirt road), the Lakewood Mickey Finns, the great Indian-buffet at the Hari Christna Temple off East Grand, The Magnolia club, The Saloon and then Schooners, watching the Cowboys at the Cottton Bowl, and as a little boy, I remember my parents, my big brother and I, sitting in the car, eating burgers, and parking on Denton Dr. right next to the runway at Love Field- watching the planes take off and land- sorry, I'll stop dragging you down my own memory lane.

I guess I really do love this town. Thank you Rawlins for helping me remember that.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Rawlins Gilliland

Rawlins Gilliland Verified

The anyone reading today,

It’s Rawlins here wanting to say 

*The whole city's shaking 

With purchases breaking*

The MasterCard Lotto. Hurrah!

All I am hoping to share

Is the closest I come to a prayer. 

*Meaning; please think of others

As if they’re brothers*

About whom no others might care.

Then keeping in mind those in need

Be mindful, the Pegasus Creed; 

*To be snarky and clever

While unfeeling?  Never!*

Then party and drink. Yes indeed!

To Catherine and Mike, lift a few

To Teresa and Chad with their brew. 

*May your Christmas be blessed

In your snuggly warm nest!*

It’s my coffee-laced wishes to you.

RAWLINS

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Rick Yost

Rick Yost Verified

"Seasoned greetage" The downtown 'Grinch' here... Rawlins- you're clever, but your undulating font sizes make me dizzy. "Happy X to you!"

I don't join in this season's paganism. (I'm speaking of the birth of Santa Claus of course) I am a card-carrying-heathen.

However, I do enjoy the change that comes over folks this time of the year- even me, believe it or not.

I hope everyone has a marvelous holiday. I hope the street-peeps stay warm, and the cops have nothing to do but sip coffee and eat xmas cookies.

Peace.

P.S. You might enjoy this 'Yost-like' xmas story... http://www.rickyost.com/xmas.htm "Cheers!"

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

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