Mayor Leppert’s Deep Ellum Town Hall meeting draws crowd, answers prefab questions

Clay213 says:

I grew up in a town that had a 'town hall' style government. This was no town hall meeting. This was a PR opp and nothing more.

And could we please cut down on the constant ego stroking circle jerk? 'The father of Deep Ellum art?' Give me a break.

Clay213 says:

And with all the acronyms being thrown around at this meeting, I was starting to feel like I was in a Monty Python skit.

Clay213 says:

Tammany hall would have been a better name for the poster.

I got a kick out of the tag line 'and other city luminaries.'

It reminded me, of when I went to the thing at Kettle Art where they were showing short films about Deep Ellum. By halfway through I was feeling sick to my stomach from all the saccharine. It was nothing more than group masturbation.

Liles says:

Clay, I would be very curious to see how your collective contributions to the Deep Ellum art scene over the years match up to those of Frank Campagna. If you've been doing it for over twenty-five years, putting your own time, money and energy into the neighborhood as he has, then we'll take your opinion seriously. Fill us in on your background, show us that you actually have some measure of context in which you base your assertions.

(Or, you can continue to hide behind a screen name and we'll just consider you a bad comedian with a bag over your head at open mic night. It's your call.)

As for the Town Hall meeting, the Mayor showed up late and missed all of the prepared individual presentations by each of the neighborhood groups. He then seized the opportunity to pat himself on the back for AT&T's corporate relocation to Dallas; gave props to the cops; and then breezed through all of the PC talking points we've been hearing forever for years about the importance of Deep Ellum.

More telling what was he DIDN'T say - that a developer named Beck Ventures had just purchased most of the real estate in the neighborhood and is planning on tearing down many of the buildings.

For Mayor Leppert, this could have been the ideal opportunity to address the new dynamic that will be brought about by the changes that are sure to take place in the neighborhood.

Instead, he either didn't know about the deal (in which case, his aides should be fired for leaving him exposed like this), or he knew about the deal and was too afraid of talking about it and raining on his AT&T parade.

Either way, we didn't get what needed from the Mayor on Friday afternoon - and that was the Real Truth about the future of Deep Ellum.

Clay213 says:

"Liles Anonymous

Clay, I would be very curious to see how your collective contributions to the Deep Ellum art scene over the years match up to those of Frank Campagna. If you've been doing it for over twenty-five years, putting your own time, money and energy into the neighborhood as he has, then we'll take your opinion seriously. Fill us in on your background, show us that you actually have some measure of context in which you base your assertions. "

What exactly are my assertions?

Since my assertions have nothing to do with whether Frank Campagna has spent 25 minutes or 25 years doing anything-- I don't see your point. Just like I don't see the point in having him called 'the father of Deep Ellum art' in this article-- other than to continue the constant ego stroking that goes on in this town.

Clay213 says:

Honestly, I don't even see the point in mentioning anyone who was there that didn't speak-- other than pretentiousness.

And pretentiousness has always left me nauseated.

apaulable says:

Clay, I think what Lyles was defending (& I could be totally wrong) was the one event you brought up from 6 months ago that involved a number of neighborhood artists showing their films to an overflowing house. The film night was free, had free drinks and snacks from area restaurants... seriously, if you disliked the event so much you could have left and your spot would have been quickly taken. By throwing stones at an old event and insulting the hard work of a number of people who made the whole thing possible, you just come off like some bitter kid who spends waay too much time in blogs trying to start fires.

Clay213 says:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedconte...

Liles says:

Rick, there was an item about the purchase in the Business section of the Saturday DMN. The first blog item about Beck Ventures showed up on DMN's web page before ten AM on Friday and was followed up two hours later on the Dallas Observer's blog.

Both were posted before the meeting started, so it's hard to imagine that Leppert had yet to learn of the purchase. I'm actually quite surprised that it wasn't mentioned in this Pegasus item.

Kay says:

Applause to apaulable who seemingly has no problem hitting the nail on the head...tho IANAC (I am not a contractor).

Hoops_Texas says:

Clay 213 - we get it, we get it, we get it.

You can't find your way out of your underoos into some big boy pants, you have nothing positive or constructive and everything childish, time wasting, crass, bottom feeding and banal to offer.

We get that you are an arm chair warrior who posts the same lame, tired, excessive comments that echo each other - over and over. We get that you have nothing better to do than this.

We get that you are seething with jealousy of popular events and artists and graphic designers.

At the end of the day - you and only you can try to put on those big boy pants and try to be a grown up with a life.

I'd crack that we are all waiting for you to put on a town hall or great event or murals or graphics. You should considering you always criticize that which you are not offering or capable of doing. But you've made that painfully obvious for yourself.

Can you do it? The grown ups are hoping you can. Get rid of those underoos and act like a man. Some time soon......the bandwidth of the web would appreciate you finding your way into the maturation process sometime soon. Those underoos must be embarrassing by now. Buck up soldier. Come on, everyone else grew up, try it too.

Clay213 says:

I can't wait for them to scrape all this 'past' so people will finally shut up about it.

I live here-- I just walked down to 7-11 and walked by so many empty falling apart buildings I can't keep track. Entire blocks empty.

So yeah-- keep spouting your wankery-- and I don't care if going against your party line makes me look like a little kid. But whatever it is you and your ilk are doing isn't working.

Maybe it's time all these old farts got the out.

Feel free to keep registering new accounts to talk sh*t to me. At the end of the day I will still be living and having fun in Deep Ellum, and y'all will be reminiscing about 20 years ago.

Hoops_Texas says:

So what is it that you do that's constructive?

What are your contributions? If things are not working from others what are the contributions you made that are?

Where is your right to criticize?

Or are you failing the area yourself and you are really talking to yourself?

Yes, that's it. It's people like you Clay who embarrass the area.

Ah, now we have it...the arm chair warrior man-child speaks again.

Clay213 says:

Besides the fact that I live and spend money in this neighborhood-- and also the fact that I don't need to justify myself to anyone-- I do what I can to try and support the businesses that are here.

What few there are.

I'm also working on getting some things going that I don't feel the need to talk about to an abusive and obnoxious internet troll.

But how about you? Do you live in the neighborhood? Do you shop here? Do you even live in Dallas?

Hoops_Texas says:

Oh, I guess you did not read your first few comments.

We just totally figured you out Clay. You want to trash others, contributing others, who give massively to the area, far more than just buying stuff, then some how not get it back yourself or be held accountable for your attacks.

Should I quote your pathetic comments or do you want to scroll up and read them yourself?

You just outed yourself. It's you who needs to justify yourself and no one else.

You started it but you can't take the heat you dish.

So maybe you should not dish. We all have better things to do.

Negative attention is better than no attention at all, so we'll stop giving you what you need.

Go back and read your comments and see what you need to work on.

Clay213 says:

Hahaha-- you're a joke. You registered this account to talk sh*t.

You probably don't even live in Dallas.

As for my 'pathetic comments'-- I must be right-- since no one can actually address what I said and can only talk trash.

I'm sorry if I upset your fragile ego, by actually saying what other people around here think-- but won't speak. Can you actually address what I said? No-- because you know I'm right.

This article isn't in the style pages of Envy magazine-- though maybe you guys should put something like it there-- complete with cutesy pictures with pretentious captions about how self important you all feel.

Chrisdanger had it right with sycophants.

Clay213 says:

PS: I notice you completely avoided answering your own questions about what YOU contribute.. care to share with us? hmm?

jtmbls says:

Aha! A charity boxing match between Clay and Hoops with the proceeds going to fund food and beverages for whatever attempt at civil disobedience we are clearly going to have to make in front of bulldozers and whatnot. Obviously, that is where this is all headed. And it is sad…so very, very sad.

Thank you Orren for providing this. I wish I could have been there but it seems perhaps a waste of time anyway…A whole lot of fluff and not much substance. Perhaps it was Leppert’s lack of appropriate adverbs or the dispassionate way he said he was a “fan” of Deep Ellum. I’m kinda feeling a little jerked off myself. And then Kunkle – what a d.bag…

So, what’s next? Pleas to the new property owner? What can we do? I mean besides calling each other names?

btw - Howdy y'all from Memphis! Elvis says "Whats shakin' Dallas!" He's still alive - I swear - I just saw him!

One_of_Many_volunteers says:

I've posted this elsewhere and posting again. People complaining need to GET INVOLVED.

We can't control the SUPs, unscrupulous use of historic properties, land owners sitting on properties to cash in later, property owners who can't lease because those wanting to lease their spaces are scared of SUPs, the waiting on the Dart, the construction hold on the area, the audiences that bailed for shinier areas, and the negative posts that continue. Starting at the beginning of this thread, again sadly.

But here's what was said before and will be said again.

The Beck deal was not announced until the same time as the Mayor. There were rumors but it was under lock and key and it's a fluke that it happened at the same time. It had nothing to do with DEA, Preservation Dallas, Green Planning or DEEP for sure. It's unfortunate to wrap it up as a negative against those who had searched for but were not in control of the information.

And I saw the meeting totally differently. The positive of it being hosted at 1911 built Sons of Hermann and all the great publicity they received and appreciated, of the brilliant speech by Katherine Seale Preservation Dallas. They have been a great supporter of Deep Ellum and many in the neighborhood helped to nominate it again as one of the areas most endangered historic. Those people were in the crowd and Katherine's speech was not lost on us but I'm sorry it was not brought up here. That's truly unfortunate.

There's the fact that Dart and the city and DEF and DEA and DEEP and DPD and Green Planning and the ever supportive Reel FX and Fine Line Live and more were all in the room shaking hands and working to get along and find solutions to things. Dart put 1.5 million into an art project for Deep Ellum. They were there to talk to us and support. They admitted to the loss of the tunnel and are working to making it up by hiring Reel FX to place the Deep Ellum Gateway up. Reel FX was in the crowd and talking to so many people in every direction they could. They have brilliant ideas and they are going to be making great waves in the future. The fact that all those groups were in one room allowed for immense networking and communication that does not often happen. Some of us were able to connect live music venues needing SUP help with the very folks who can volunteer, provide information and resources to them.

And that around the room...those needing SUP help, historic support, for those wanting green support to work together, for those wanting to support live music and charity events and eclectic events to come together and create plans - that should have been reported also by all of the naysayers.

Please have some respect for those who work with Preservation Dallas and Historic Sons of Hermann Hall, built in 1911, and those who volunteered to get Deep Ellum nominated again as one of the most endangered historic neighborhoods in Dallas, and to protect the Freedman's history, who speak to our love of the area and it's roots in jazz and blues and the connection to the Freedman's town settled by emancipated slaves, and those who love the the first black owned built and financed architecture, and volunteered to help get it away from demo by neglect, and all those who volunteer endless hours to put on benefits in deep ellum for cystic fibrosis, and arts, and refugees, and the homeless, and all the thriving live music that some how fought through the SUP mess and survived - Sons of Hermann Hall, the Door, Club Dada, Adair's, The Bone, The Prophet Bar, Sankofa, AllGood, Amsterdam, Fallout, etc. Awesome bands play all the time, often packed out, often sold out often for charities. And cooler still of late in galleries.

Dada has hosted incredible benefits like the CF benefit raising great funds for a great cause. Space Studio has hosted great benefits for the homelessness international and national. Kettle Art, Pawn, Space and Public Trust have had brilliant eclectic events, be they music or media or experimental performance all hosted in an art gallery setting.

You guys please respect who puts extraordinary time and energy into loving and caring for and protecting the hood and trying to keep beautiful things going.

Beautiful things are going on. And will continue too. Tons of the area is under historic landmark protection - Continental Gin, many of the lofts, 2200 Canton, Adam Hats, Mitchell, Dallas Tent, Boyd, Sons of Hermann Hall, the La France Building.....

It is a crying, crying shame that a conservation district has never been voted on and approved but many more want to go historic and that will prevent the entire area from going.

We could help people who are fighting with COs and SUPs. It's gotten better for some, not all, and we can help. And we know tips for some who have navigated the scary waters of parking and worked around it.

But we can't if people don't come to our meetings and identify themselves and ask for help.

We are not the first to blog because we are out volunteering for events, benefits, historics, mixers, meetings, speakers, etc.

That's absurd. We don't care because we are out working for the area rather than blogging negatively......seriously.....

We want the history of Leadbelly and Blind Lemon and the blues and jazz greats carried over and respected with an ongoing musical future.

We want the respect for the nearby Freedman's town settled by emancipated slaves history respected.

But we do that by calling the city historics and preservation dallas and the designation committee and offering volunteer time and work to help more go historic. We don't all do it by blogging negative about an area we love.

Amazing things happened at that meeting. Amazing connections were made. Amazing follow up is already in the works.

It's a crying shame that was not observed.

It was not perfect and there were a lot of different perspectives on how it should go, a lot of things out of people's control and only so much endless volunteer work can produce, but overlooking the positives is unfortunate.

Please don't WANT the area to fail because it makes for good drama. The area is too sacred for that.

People say they love the area, the history and the art and then they kick it's present and future in the face every chance they get. It's so hard to watch. It's not respecting the history.

We are not all billionaire developers and we can't control them to a point. But we can be positive and try to retain what we can.

And we can keep working with the historics to retain and help those who want to go or stay historic.

And there are other neighborhoods where developers have respected history and altered their development due to public outcry.

It's happened in Lakewood. And Bishop Arts had developers who respected the history and worked with it.

Beck Ventures runs Cornerband.com - that's music. We don't know yet they'll go Trophy Club. It's too soon to call.

And Beck Group (not the Beck who bought the area but another Beck) renovated House of Blues out of a 100 year old building. It's not everyone's cup of tea but it's an historic place.

We don't know yet what's going to happen, but in the meantime, it's not helping everyone to insult the hard work of volunteers.

I am proud of Deep Ellum, so proud of it right now. I'm proud of Space and their benefits and Kettle and Sons of Hermann Hall and their lovely volunteers and how much they love that their building is looking to turn 100 in the neighborhood and that when the folks who cooked daily and had Erykah Badu playing in their venue moved - they moved to our neighborhood. I'm proud of Vern's soul food playing Jazz into the streets on Sat. night.

I'm proud of the benefits for beautiful causes. And that we have some of the most extraordinary artists in Deep Ellum that you can find. We've got brilliant photographers and musicians art galleries like Road Agent and Barry Whistler all the way over to Adair's and Twisted Root for food and music. And Reel FX and Ad-Libs and the Mavericks. There's a lot going on.

This neighborhood is amazing. Amazing. We have major challenges, but a lot of us are not going to stop fighting. More than anything there's an incredible audience and community there that supports each others work, art, music and events like nothing I've seen anywhere else in Dallas. It's extraordinary.

And if anyone cares about the history - please go volunteer for the historic groups rather than slamming he area.

And if you need help with SUPs you can't hide. Groups can help but you have to identify yourself to get it.

jtmbls says:

Thanks for reposting One! Where do I sign up and is there a preferred organization? I don’t know much about historical organizations.

Liles says:

I'm going to assume Clay's "Open Mic Night" act is over now and we can get back to the real issue at hand.

Before anybody does anything else, I think we need to find out the backstory of just how this Beck deal went down.

First things first.

I'm very curious to see who solicited and brokered the deal, how they represented the area to the buyer, and if this person (or persons) has a pre-existing relationship with Mayor Leppert and the City Council. Were tax abatements or incentives promised to the buyer? Was Beck Ventures made aware of the historical importance of the neighborhood, or was it pitched as a large scale tear-down project?

Next.

Ten acres is a very large chunk of the neighborhood. That means whoever solicited and administrated this deal packaged a number of separately-owned properties under a single umbrella. Whoever is responsible for brokering this deal should have been at the Town Meeting and announced their intentions and motivation.

They fact they weren't there (or didn't represent themselves) should raise a red flag.

One_of_Many_volunteers says:

jtmbls -- Preservation Dallas is an amazing organization. They listed Deep Ellum in the 2008 most endangered historic: http://www.preservationdallas.org/new...

You can come out any Tues night to meet up with Deep Ellum Enrichment: http://deepellummedia.com

The next meeting is at the Prophet Bar in Deep ellum and we'll be talking about helping live music. They also run a crime watch, weekly meetings and monthly speakers.

Also check out: Savedeepellum.org Finelinelive.com

For ongoing information on the area's events and meetings.

We need people who love what's going on, and a lot is going on, not people who derail all the hard work of others. Please everyone, when you see people slamming the area, know it's just the derailers that creep out to hear themselves talk, it's not representative of the beauty of the area.

ameripro says:

I was amazed! I have never been to a meeting where it was announced that the questions were "pre-approved". All the questions end up being are paragraph headings for the speech to be given. But I do appreciate Tanner's honesty in telling everyone that they were pre-approved.

The PR for the meeting was very, very misleading - IT WAS NOT A TOWN HALL MEETING! The exercise of telling people to fill out cards with their questions for the mayor was juvenile, considering the reality.

Since the meeting was billed as lasting from 2-4, with the meeting adjourned at 3:30, 30 minutes were available for open questions.

As to timing of the Beck announcement, I read it on the DMN website before I went to the meeting. The DMN posting was time stamped 11:59.

I was told by someone at the meeting that their information was that Beck had Blanton's, Cass's and Jernigan's property under contract and that the closings had been delayed repeatedly. Does anyone know if either is true (who's tracts are contracted for or that the closings have been repeatedly delayed)?

chasd00 says:

The questions were "pre-approved" to keep the meeting from degenerating into a bitch fest which, judging from some of the comments here and on unfair park, is what it would have turned into if questions where not carefully moderated.

The whole Beck deal is a good example. Sean Fitzgerald who put together the agenda and Tanner who moderated didn't even know about it. Even if they did it probably wouldn't have made it to the agenda. I worked on the planning with Sean, Gianna, Tanner and the others. The point of the meeting wasn't "oh noess Beck bought something !!1!eleven" it was to clue people in on what is going on and to get all the different groups within hand shaking distance.

The neighborhood's biggest liability has moved from crime to paranoid, delusional, and bi-polar personalities. I don't have a clue how to fix that... maybe we can spike all the bud light kegs with prozac or something.

There are some real bright spots. Liles, Volunteer, and others work their asses off behind the scene to try and make a difference. But for every one Volunteer there's 5 clays. I was president of D.E.E.P. for 2 years and am now on the Deep Ellum Association board and I have to tell you it's a constant struggle with burn out because you hit a brick wall with any idea not rooted in 1995.

Luckily, the mayor and others are starting to take the neighborhood more seriously. It all started with the SUP hearings when hundreds of us spent days in City Hall voicing our concerns. We didn't win every battle but City Hall was impressed. A few councilmen/women even came down to Expo Park and Deep Ellum to see what we were all fighting for. That wake up has been the biggest win for the neighborhood in a while.

Ironically, some people see even that as a bad thing. Now people are stuck on the Beck deal. What do you want? 5 blocks of For Lease signs? Any single bit of change or going's on is met with downright hysteria. It's not 1995, it's 2008, that's 13 years! No one is going to sacrifice Deep Ellum's personality but god, let the past go and help us move on.

Kay says:

"I'm always sorry to see a comment thread devolve into ad hominem attacks, especially when there's some otherwise good points being brought up."

Unfortunately some threads don't "devolve" into these attacks Mike. Those (yes, mean-spirited) that like to stir up folks seem to be showing a lack of respect right outta the box.

Herein IMO lies "the problem", not with those that are then forced into defense.

Perhaps lack of respect is simply a sign of the times ...sadly.

Good for those that keep coming back with " the rest of the story ".

Scott, Personally, I haven't been to DE since it's heyday. By the time you've seen most (if not every!) area disappear that held fond memories in your life, perhaps you will want to revive at least one of them too. Think of it as "comfort food". ;)

Liles says:

I am very open minded when it comes to new development, as long as the word "development" isn't being used as code for more of the same stuff that you can already find all over the rest of Dallas.

I wouldn't mind new restaurants, art galleries, live music venues, funky mom-and-pop retail stores, tattoo shops, recording studios or design shops, maybe a new "art house" movie theatre, or anything that nurtures and preserves the cultural and creative legacy of the neighborhood.

Established franchised businesses like Chili's or The Gap aren't going to make Deep Ellum an attractive destination for anybody. Those people who live in the 'burbs aren't going to head to Deep Ellum to patronize a business that already exists within a couple of miles of their home.

This neighborhood has always had a distinctive character, and that definitive identity is crucial to giving "safe haven" for the creative contingency of our citizenry. It isn't about the reliving past or going backwards in time, it's about maintaining and nurturing an area that has, until now, refused to give in to greed and conformity.

A lot of people don't realize it, but Dallas-connected musicians have collectively sold almost 200 million records worldwide. A lot of these musicians got their start in Deep Ellum, and attribute their success to the nurturing environment the experienced during the early stages of their careers. The neighborhood was a natural extension of the Arts Magnet High School.

In addition, the neighborhood has been a proving ground for many of our best photographers, graphic artists, animators, writers and creative types who give the city of Dallas a signature sense of art and aesthetic.

Do we really want to let real estate speculators leverage that priceless legacy into a quick buck for themselves? That isn't development - it's a backwards trajectory that will certainly dead end into more empty buildings, only shinier and more expensive.

Who knows? Maybe the Beck Ventures people get it and understand the creative dynamic.

Still, if they plan on tearing down many of the buildings, you can't count on them being replaced with newer properties that will undoubtedly raise the competitive lease rates of the buildings that remain. That, in turn, will probably price the artists and creatives out of the neighborhood.

The goal should be to find the kind of common ground that works for everybody - not just those who are trying to leverage this distinctive legacy to get rich quick.

Kay says:

In agreement with Tracy.

BTW, I love the old buildings...everywhere. I'm gladdened when they are kept and recycled (so to speak) all around the country. Many a thriving tourist area has kept the old buildings/homes intact ...otherwise you just have more of the same-as-every-where-else.

JMO

Emmieb says:

One of the things that Leppert did say a few times was the "Brand" of Deep Ellum and the need to preserve that while moving on.

I cut my coming-of-age teeth in Deep Ellum. I've been known to leave my car there overnight and I've seen more shows than I can count.

And while the passing of greats makes me nostalgic (Trees, for example) new greats are being allowed to flourish - Twisted Root, anyone?

I admit I don't contribute as much as I should, but I live four blocks away in downtown and I patronize the businesses in my backyard.

As long as Beck keeps the atmosphere and doesn't turn Deep Ellum into the next West Village or Shops at Legacy, then I'm ok with their purchase. I'm even ok with them scraping the buildings that can't be salvaged as long as they replace them with ones that feel as though they've been there forever.

This city's roots are in Deep Ellum...and now all I'm getting are lame plant-analogies. We need to allow the neighborhood to move forward. Or it will always be mostly deserted.

inarchetype says:

So, we're gonna find out that Leppert sold out most of Deep Ellum, the most recognizable bit of continuity in the metroplex, in a back room deal. Real smart. Real far sighted.

We should all pitch in to hire Richard Florida to come down here and beat some sense into him before he turns the whole city into a bigger Las Collinas. This has nothing to do with benefiting Dallas, even in a strictly money-motivated economic development sense, and everything to do with graft for the construction/real-estate developers.

Continuity in built stock makes for nice, flourishing central cities, but doesn't make construction companies any money, as someone pointed out above. Well, we knew who Leppert was, and shouldn't have expected better, but a wholesale razing of Deep Ellum is more brazen than I would ever have believed that Dallas would ever let happen. In some other places those responsible would be up in the Hague!

I'm not averse to a neighbourhood evolving culturally, growing up, up-scaling a bit; its inevitable; but the built feel of the place should remain. Replacing the classic, solidly built brick main-street façades with more cheap and fast sticks and stucko/facing a-la west village, addison circle, firewheel, legacy, etc. will NOT be an improvement- those places will be trash in twenty years. Look at what happened to Vickery Meadows.

How can Dallas expect to compete with surrounding bedroom communities complete with their schlocky so called "new urbanist" monstrosities if it abdicates its only real advantage, that of being an actual, organic city to imitate them? Its beyond comprehension. The suburbs build these vapid, pale facsimiles of real urban neighbourhoods they don't have to try to compete with real cities, and what does Dallas do? Tear down the real urban neighbourhoods it has to try and imitate its suburbs.

Its not gonna work, folks.

Remember Boeing!

Liles says:

Everybody hold your horses.

Robert Wilonsky over at "Unfair Park" will have an interesting new wrinkle in this story for you tomorrow.

Kay says:

No doubt in my mind how devolved was being used, Mike. Even if it wasn't a real word it certainly was appropriate. but IANAW (I am not a wordsmith).

Unfortunately it just doesn't/didn't take long around here: Already another meaningful thread is starting to devolve right outta the box this morning. Instead of shaking my head and rolling my eyes, I think I'll converse with the grown-ups, have another cup of coffee, and insure the ignore button is operable. ;)

Liles says:

There was a very inspirational brainstorming session last night at the Prophet Bar.

A large number of dedicated gallery owners, artists, residents, public relations execs, photographers and committed visionaries gathered together to cut through all the distorted perception and begin the process of reclaiming Deep Ellum.

Fact: nobody, including Beck Ventures, is going to change the face of this neighborhood for the worse. The deal hasn't gone through yet, and when/if it does, many of the properties they are interested in are protected by a no-tear-down clause. Unless a building is simply beyond salvage or repair, it isn't going anywhere.

Fact: the creative/artistic legacy of the neighborhood is simply priceless. Much in the same way small business owners came together to deal with the SUP issues, we are going to continue to reach out to the North Texas creative community in the effort to protect and restore this neighborhood.

Fact: as many of you have already pointed out, there are literally dozens of interesting and inspirational destinations within the neighborhood. Deep Ellum is anything but dead. In actuality, during this difficult economy, the neighborhood is currently providing the best overall value for your entertainment dollar. This isn't a veiled pitch or advertisement, it's simply the truth.

Fact: if you've never been to an art gallery opening, you should know they're free. It's a great place to take a date. Many of the galleries in the neighborhood all have art openings on the same night, and they are all within walking distance of each other. You don't have to spend five or ten bucks to park in a lot, just bring a handful of change and you can park on the street the whole night for less than three bucks.

If you'd rather go drop 60 bucks a person at the House of Blues to see a show that ends before midnight, spend six or seven dollars for a single beer at the Palladium, then go for it. Just know that drink prices in Deep Ellum are WAY less than that. You won't go broke by seeing a show or dining in this neighborhood.

You can't destroy or diminish Deep Ellum. It was here long before all of the shiny shopping malls, the overpriced corporate live music venues and trendy "red velvet rope" clubs with their snooty bottle service. As was referenced time and time again last night, the area is the cradle of this city's creative sensibility.

If you're content to live in a vacuous, benign existence with little sense of purpose or meaning, then stay at home and jerk off your X-Box.

If you wanna break out of a routine that offers little or no spiritual or creative inspiration, then know you will be embraced and made to feel part of this very eclectic creative community.

We're here. We're not going anywhere. There's nothing to be afraid of.

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." -- Anne Frank

jtmbls says:

Yeah...Liles is one whole reason on his own to make Deep Ellum a top destination choice.

Liles says:

With all due respect to Gianna Madrini and Tanner Hockensmith, I'm not sure that the Deep Ellum Association really knows what it is doing.

The Town Hall Meeting was ultimately a redundant photo op and covered no new ground. All of these little "micro-meetings" are sure to be more of the same. They're just rehashing the exact same things they were talking about before I left for Los Angeles two years ago. It felt like a time warp.

Talk is cheap. Progress means picking up a paint brush instead of a telephone. The group who gathered the other night at Prophet Bar is well past talking about crime watches, websites and discount cards. This is about artists, residents, creative business owners and arts patrons taking matters into their own hands.

The creative arts movement in Deep Ellum started out as an organic manifestation of expression, and (in my opinion, anyway) all of this political butt-sniffing is just stagnant and counterintuitive.

People like Hal Samples, Sean Jenkins, Frank Campagna, Russ Hobbs, Tiffany Kieran, Mike Snider, Carl Lutz, and Sean Fitzgerald (among many others) all have the right idea: "Build it and they will come..."

We can talk about stuff until we're blue in the face, but from what I've seen, all that jabber about "branding", marketing, crime and websites is just more time spent on an endless treadmill.

I'm taking this straight to the people of Dallas. Past the landlords and speculators; the City government; the neighborhood bureaucracy and all of the anonymous and disconnected nay-sayers: it isn't advantageous or necessary to initiate or dictate policy and protocol to a subversive arts movement.

We can do this organically. We've done it before.

You wanna create and maintain something special? Let the artists do their thing. Lose the politics. Ditch the tired old talking points. Stop micro-managing and start actually doing something.

I was born in Deep Ellum and found my creative voice there twenty-three years later. Now, twenty-three years after that, I'm here and happy to give something back. But I won't be looking for validation in the eyes of all of the local political movers and shakers. They just don't get it. They never have and never will.

If you feel me, you know where I'll be.

jtmbls says:

Liles, which group was that exactly? I am, at best, going to have to use the eenie, meenie, minie, mo system on the list One was kind enough to provide us with.

Liles says:

Not sure. I don't belong to any group.

I only went because Tiffany and Frank asked me to attend. I took it for what it was - a gathering of motivated creative people who are simply tired of lip service and empty promises.

Russ Hobbs from Prophet Bar was the host, for what it's worth. After about ten minutes of everybody introducing themselves to each other, it was nothing but inspired and intelligent conversation for two hours after that.