Robert Wilonsky

Wilonsky: If they can put a new neighborhood in The Bottom, Dallas can develop anywhere A few right, left and wrong turns last week landed me in a part of town I hadn’t visited in far too long – The Bottom, so named for its location and, also...

Years ago, I edited a Dallas Observer column by Jim Schutze in which he quoted someone who said that even if you built housing down in The Bottom, no one would come.

On Saturday, I drove him down here, to the land between the highway and the bluff and the levee.

www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...

For Your Weekend Listening Pleasure:

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at Reunion Arena, Born in the USA Tour

Nov. 25, 1984: When they played "Atlantic City" and "Nebraska":

tinyurl.com/yc24mn2c

Nov. 26, 1984: "Factory" makes its tour debut and a legendary "Jungleland":

tinyurl.com/3efjcdfz

Wilonsky: Blues for the South Dallas house where Ray Charles lived in the 1950s Ray Charles lived in South Dallas in the mid-1950s while assembling his crack Atlantic Records band, featuring Lincoln High School graduate David “Fathead”...

"It’s not only a blatant disregard of a vital moment in the history of American musical culture, but it should be a big deal in Dallas.” - Author David Ritz

“But it is a museum. That’s just how our museums look over here.” - South Dallas rapper D.J. Smith-Rhodes

www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...

Wilonsky: South Dallas church must rebuild neighbors’ trust after high-rise plans toppled Pastor Austin Anetekhai, among the leaders of The Winners Assembly on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, requested a meeting via text. “There is a new thinking...

Wilonsky | Pastor Austin Anetekhai and I discussed at great length what went very wrong with a plan for a garish high-rise that would have swallowed blocks of South Dallas.

The Winners Assembly on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard now eyes housing rather than a 25-story hotel with a helipad.

For Your Weekend Listening Pleasure:

Van Halen played Reunion Arena Nov. 18-19, 1982. This week, remastered soundboard recordings of both "Hide Your Sheep Tour" shows appeared online. Everybody wants some.

First Night: www.youtube.com/watch?v=idmt...

Second Night: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTaJ...

Wilonsky: South Dallas church must rebuild neighbors’ trust after high-rise plans toppled Pastor Austin Anetekhai, among the leaders of The Winners Assembly on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, requested a meeting via text. “There is a new thinking...

The Winners Assembly on MLK went to the plan commission last month to push for a 25-story luxury high-rise. CPC killed the proposal with ruthless efficiency. A church leader wanted to discuss what happens next -- and how this whole thing went so terribly wrong.

www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...

Good piece about the very weird place Dallas's streetcars are in.

Wilonsky: Yet again, an attempt to link the Oak Cliff and downtown Dallas streetcars It’s been a few years since I last rode the streetcar from downtown Dallas to Bishop Arts – probably, oh, since The Dallas Morning News moved out of the Young...

In the fall of 2017, after MUCH discussion and debate, the Dallas City Council approved a route that would have connected the Oak Cliff/Bishop Arts and Uptown/downtown streetcar lines. The work was supposed to be completed by 2023. But here we go again. Again.

www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...

Three days ago, the Dallas City Council voted on a resolution that could include the sale and redevelopment of the City Hall site downtown.

On Monday, this is on the agenda for the council's Ad Hoc Committee on Professional Sports Recruitment and Retention meeting.

Let the speculation commence!

For Your Weekend Listening Pleasure:

Two weeks into the tour for "Vs.," Pearl Jam pulled a local back-to-back, playing Denton on Nov. 11, 1993, then SMU's Moody Coliseum the next night. The concert that made me a convert. Come for the Neil Young; stay for the Dead Boys.

archive.org/details/Pear...

Wilonsky: It’s hard enough to save South Dallas history without city attorneys’ intrusion I was driving around South Dallas a few days ago when a left turn off Elsie Faye Heggins Street put me in front of a large old house at the corner of Leland...

Long story short: Dallas might be a slightly better town when it comes to historic preservation if city officials actually worked with folks who own honest-to-God official Dallas landmarks, like this one in South Dallas, rather than sue them for code violations.

www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...

And the seventh-floor archives are indispensable.

If we have a half empty library and there's not enough space at City Hall for all of City Staff, it seems like there's a pretty obvious solution here.

Convert some library space to offices and move services to the Library (e.g. Oak Cliff Municipal Center).

Wilonsky: Do the downtown library and Dallas City Hall share the same fate? It’s either the worst-kept secret in Dallas or the most repeated rumor around; in this small town pretending like it’s a big city, it’s sometimes hard to tell...

“Many of the building’s key systems, such as electrical, plumbing and elevators, are beyond their expected useful life, [and] the longer they go without upgrade and replacement, the more likely they are to fail.”

No, this was not a quote about Dallas City Hall.

www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...

This "Open Letter from Patrick Dumont" just landed in the inbox. Long story short: Fired Nico.

I remember when we had mayors who delivered their annual State of the City speeches in public. In front of, like, people.

The Future of City Hall is on the Dallas City Council's agenda this Wednesday. Here's the resolution. I just assume someone made a mistake when they left out the part where it says, "For the Dallas Mavericks."

For Your Weekend Listening Pleasure:

39 years ago tonight, Neil Young + Crazy Horse turned Reunion Arena into A Rusted Out Garage, a solid gag that produced this keepsake filled with old favorites and "Life" previews. Hey hey, my my, play loud.

tinyurl.com/3h4aeewn

Setlist: tinyurl.com/5tjkpfky

Wilonsky: Eulogizing the church that anchored my northwest Dallas neighborhood since 1953 Walnut Hill UMC was nearly destroyed the night of Oct. 20, 2019, when the tornado that tore through our stretch of Northwest Dallas snapped off its steeple...

Walnut Hill Methodist opened during the first year of the Eisenhower Administration. It will close its doors following Christmas Eve services, celebrating a birth with a funeral of sorts. Below, a eulogy for a church that did a LOT of good for its neighborhood.

www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...

Actually, I think just the mayor and Chad West were absent from today's meeting.

After six hours of testimony and discussion, the 12 members of the City Council present -- none of whom were the mayor -- unanimously concurred with the chief that Dallas police will NOT partner with ICE. Their final act was to table the subject indefinitely so it will never reach a council agenda.

This is why he calls for joint committee meetings -- so he can get a lot of council members together without actually having to attend himself. Same thing happened Monday with the joint committee meeting concerning the fate of Dallas City Hall.

The joint committee meeting, called by Mayor Eric Johnson, is now hearing from public speakers -- nearly every one opposed to this partnership. Said one speaker, "Eric Johnson is not known for making good decisions for our city." Council discussion to follow.

dallastx.new.swagit.com/views/113

Spends Ray Hunt's money, apparently.

I woke up this a.m. to discover that the Dallas ISD on Tuesday canceled its application to demolish Adamson High School, an official Dallas landmark. I spoke this morning with DISD trustee Ben Mackey, who said it was likely filed as a result of "miscommunication." I've updated the column accordingly

Put this one on upset watch. This is a Trump +20 district.

Wilonsky: Dallas ISD has finally made it official: Historic Adamson High School must go Demolition by neglect, it’s called, the fine art of looking the other way as the windows shatter, the plywood fades and peels away, outsiders make their way...

A column about the DISD wanting to raze a 1915 historic landmark, Dallas' eagerness to auction off City Hall to someone whose name probably rhymes with Adelson and a late mayor whose Goals for Dallas included preserving what little history we have in this new city

www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...

So nice they showed it twice

Beautiful shot of the county jail