Page 12 of 17

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 11 Mar 2020 10:17
by cowboyeagle05
Hannibal Lecter wrote:
cowboyeagle05 wrote:Four lanes back up more traffic during rush hour than three lanes with a center turn lane would.
Get stuck behind a DART bus on Matilda from Ross Avenue to Mockingbird and see if you still think that.


Try being stuck behind cars trying to turn on Throckmorton from one of the middle lanes on Cedar Springs Road during rush hour or while the bars are decently busy. It's called traffic if you don't want to be in it then get out of your car. We all get in frustrating traffic patterns but I would much prefer to trade a three-lane Cedar Springs Road with a center turn lane over the high speed dangerous 4 lane version we have now. I don't recommend bike lanes on Cedar Springs but would like to see better on-street parking arrangements and more corner bump-outs for pedestrian crossings.

The ones the city built are a victim of a few problems they narrow the intersection on Throckmorton but since cars are still racing down Cedar Springs and barreling around those corners there is a definite issue. Maybe if we had proceeded with the traffic slowing on Cedar Springs as well this incompatibility wouldn't be as much of an issue. They removed the bump-out this week on the Italia corner to give cars turning a bit more room to swing around those corners and now Hunky's has three on-street spots that are protected by a bump-out on Throckmorton to replace the taken away parking spots at the corner.

I understand why people don't want to trust the city I tend to swing conservative myself against government decision making but people have to realize their meddling is just as problematic here. The city proposed some real solutions and everyone said basically F*** you at all the proposals cause everyone is a traffic engineer including myself except apparently the people that work in the actual field and went to school for it...not to mention most business owners like those in any of these neighborhoods believe in myths about how they get consumer traffic. Most say give me a giant parking lot and a highspeed roadway and I'll make money.

I honestly would have liked to see a Better Block event here as the city did on Knox to demonstrate how traffic patterns could be modified and wouldn't bring the sky falling down as everyone seems to always proclaim. The problem is Oak Lawn is an active voice community who is always on the lookout for being the victim in any decision making for good reason. Oak Lawn also has an active voting block that politicians try to make happy on a constant basis so the people hired to create logical solutions are constantly undercut by emotional political interference. Instead, we get Frankenstein solutions that are children's band-aids rather than a cure.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 11:46
by Cbdallas
Sadly because it is still all about the cars and where to park them. This should have been guided by pedestrian goals not traffic goals.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 11:54
by R1070
I always found the deliveries excuse funny because most of the businesses have adequate space in back or side street access for deliveries.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 14:06
by j_d_p
The former Cedar Grove spaces looks closer to opening. Looks like a fresh coat of pain has been done inside as well as some additional dry wall work. Looks very nice.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 12 Mar 2020 14:29
by cowboyeagle05
Cbdallas wrote:Sadly because it is still all about the cars and where to park them. This should have been guided by pedestrian goals not traffic goals.


That's because the design is grounded in fear by the local businesses not just the bars either. They are all afraid that if the city makes the street narrower or traffic gets backed up from construction they will all close. In an area that has been gay-oriented and cultured for decades many fear if things close we will lose the gaybourhood and it will become a boring average area to blend in with everything else in Dallas. Which is a real fear I can understand but final decision making was on that fear and not on solutions to that fear. Now we have an area that got band-aid fixes rather than solutions and a neighborhood still declining due to the encroaching neighboring development and the march of equality that has left the core LGBTQ leaders without followers cause many of my gay friends believe the gaybourhood is not needed anymore so why worry about it. Fear of losing power is a powerful motivator as well. I'll try to get off my soapbox for now. 8-)

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 13:53
by R1070
The office supply store on OL Ave is pretty much a goner.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 14:21
by cowboyeagle05
Well, we will either get a new apartment building underway in time for the end of the outbreak or a parking lot for the hotel next door until the economy recovers from almost a total stop.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 12 Jul 2020 23:58
by Matt777
Has anybody heard anything new about the Braniff hostess academy redevelopment at Wycliff and the DNT? I keep dreaming about a residential conversion (so I can live there) but last I heard it was going hotel and boutique office. Both of those real estate sectors are doing poorly, so I would think boutique residential might make more sense now due to COVID-19.

It doesn't look like anything has been done since some of the glass was removed a while back, which worries me with the building being exposed to the elements now.

I still think the current structure should be redeveloped as 727 Braniff Place, and a striking highrise built in the empty lot next to it called 747 Braniff Place. It should be easy to rename that part of Hartford Street since this property is the only one on it. "747 Braniff Place, the most exclusive address in the sky" has a nice ring to it for luxury condos or apartments, and the views would be fantastic overlooking all of Uptown and Downtown, as well as Love Field towards the back direction.

Image

Image

Image

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 09:02
by Zmitz
I think that idea is so clever and neat that there's no way they'll do something like that. If we're lucky maybe we'll get a donut. :lol:

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 05 Aug 2020 10:49
by OrangeMike
Pics from this morning.
Workers are digging out the parking at the old Office Depot site (2929 Oak Lawn).
IMG_20200805_091803.jpeg


The windowless rear facade of the Melrose annex could be mistaken for the back side of an Office Depot.
IMG_20200805_091548.jpeg


The Toll Brothers apartment tower at Welborn and Congress is a new looming presence on the skyline.
IMG_20200805 Toll Brothers.jpg

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 05 Aug 2020 17:44
by Tivo_Kenevil
Okay, I like this progress!

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 07 Aug 2020 00:43
by ContriveDallasite
Lot's going on in Oak Lawn, still waiting on a "complete streets" rework of Lemmon though...

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 07 Aug 2020 09:10
by Cbdallas
Driving down Lemmon is like a time tunnel back to the 1970's

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 07 Aug 2020 09:42
by cowboyeagle05
ContriveDallasite wrote:Lot's going on in Oak Lawn, still waiting on a "complete streets" rework of Lemmon though...


I am not sure that makes sense for Lemmon it made more sense for Cedar Springs Rd but all the merchants fought that plan and I imagine any business on Lemmon would too.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 07 Aug 2020 12:26
by DPatel304
I think we're more likely to see improvements made to Oak Lawn ave than Lemmon, especially now that we are seeing proposals for some high-rise. Perhaps if that trend continues along Oak Lawn (which I imagine it will), it might eventually spill over to other streets such as Lemmon.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 07 Aug 2020 15:06
by cowboyeagle05
The problem is Oak Lawn Ave leads to the freeway so TXDOT is sure to want to keep Oak Lawn a speedway and get involved with any redos the city might want to do.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 07 Aug 2020 17:10
by tamtagon
I've always been fine with a (renamed) Lemmon Ave focused more high volumes of cars - even making it an ideal boulevard/expressway hybrid between Central and NW Highway. Something nice for a fancy sports car test drive, Love Field access and making all the other streets between Lemmon and Harry Hines cater to pedestrians.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 12 Aug 2020 04:47
by willyk
A simple sign ordinance on Lemmon would go a long way toward improving its appearance.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 12 Aug 2020 10:00
by cowboyeagle05
In case anyone hasn't driven down Lemmon Ave lately Mia's is open where Buzz Brews used to be and there is a demo fence around their old building and parking lot. I assume it will become a shared lot for valet parking but I have no idea if Mia's owned their previous building or was just a lease. That previously planned Central Market at Lemmon and Oak Lawn really would have recharged the area. Now it continues to just idle. Although there is some changes because the small office building next to Craddock Park at Lemmon and Hawthorne is in the middle of major redo. Its getting new tenants and a brand new total renovation including what looks like a impressive ground floor lobby.

Still no sign of the street lights project at Oak Lawn and Lemmon Ave. The Pizza Hut is still operating there.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 14:55
by OrangeMike
New marker at Cedar Springs and Wycliff.

https://dallasvoice.com/oak-lawn-signs-installed/

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 18:04
by LongonBigD
Didn’t know those were in the works. Looks good.

I guess they had more colors than letters and had to improvise, but I’m not used to Oaklawn being two words.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 19:28
by OrangeMike
LongonBigD wrote:I’m not used to Oaklawn being two words.


It has always been two words, both the street (Oak Lawn Avenue) and the neighborhood.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Lawn,_Dallas

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 13 Aug 2020 23:19
by LongonBigD
I know the name from the racetrack in Hot Springs, AR. It still looks odd to me as two words.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 14 Aug 2020 10:33
by DPatel304
OrangeMike wrote:New marker at Cedar Springs and Wycliff.

https://dallasvoice.com/oak-lawn-signs-installed/


Had no idea this was being planned, but I love it! It's a shame it's right in front the blah looking Kroger though.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 14 Aug 2020 12:00
by R1070
I could see the Kroger and B of A going away at some point.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 14 Aug 2020 16:59
by cowboyeagle05
Kroger won't leave their lot for a long time. This Kroger one of their most profitable stores in the company. Plus the city owns the entire parking along Cedar Springs Rd from Wycliff to the Library. Any redevelopment of the Kroger site would require the city to sell the land requiring public city meetings in some cases. Kroger tried to build a bigger store but the neighborhood wanted an urban store so Kroger canceled its plan to make any big changes to the store cause they would have had to convince the city to sell the land to them.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 19 Aug 2020 18:15
by uptown74
Correct me if I am wrong, but is the Oak Lawn Branch Library of any service to the community still?
I think its temporarily closed due to Covid, but the upkeep has been horrible for years and its sort of an eyesore.
(I.e. lots of homeless camping there, tons of litter and trash, landscaping that is not kept up)
Is the city of Dallas supposed to provide maintenance for it?

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 19 Aug 2020 21:26
by R1070
uptown74 wrote:Correct me if I am wrong, but is the Oak Lawn Branch Library of any service to the community still?
I think its temporarily closed due to Covid, but the upkeep has been horrible for years and its sort of an eyesore.
(I.e. lots of homeless camping there, tons of litter and trash, landscaping that is not kept up)
Is the city of Dallas supposed to provide maintenance for it?


Please contact the city council members about this as it has been addressed more than once and still persists.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 20 Aug 2020 09:45
by cowboyeagle05
And yes it provides the community resources so yes it has value even if it looks a bit worn out and does have the homeless problem at its doorstep. The community room in that library is booked for events frequently and the Oak Lawn neighborhood around it has a wide range of residents who need it more than the gay bars and rainbow crosswalks. I am sure like all library's in the city it needs a refresh in not just the exterior but in resources it provides. More computers for example. Library's are still not sure where they fit in when you have so many people with the entire internet on our smart phones.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 21 Aug 2020 07:20
by vman
cowboyeagle05 wrote:And yes it provides the community resources so yes it has value even if it looks a bit worn out and does have the homeless problem at its doorstep. The community room in that library is booked for events frequently and the Oak Lawn neighborhood around it has a wide range of residents who need it more than the gay bars and rainbow crosswalks. I am sure like all library's in the city it needs a refresh in not just the exterior but in resources it provides. More computers for example. Library's are still not sure where they fit in when you have so many people with the entire internet on our smart phones.

cowboyeagle05, have you heard anything about the status of the bars in the gayborhood? A neighbor of mine who used to frequent the bars there said most of the bars were not doing that great before Covid and some will not be back. I don't know if that's true or not. I will say, I was in Dallas a few weekends ago and decided to grab a burger at Hunky's (one of my favorite burgers in Dallas!) and although I didn't eat there because there was no dine-in, the area definitely has a deserted feel with those bars being boarded up.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 21 Aug 2020 09:40
by citygeek
What bars are boarded up in Oaklawn?

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 21 Aug 2020 09:43
by cowboyeagle05
CAVEN who owns Sue Ellen's, JR's, TMC and S4 has deep pockets they are fine. JR's already considered pursing a TABC modified license since they have a grill and already offered lunch. They decided against it. Caven misses the income for sure but they own their buildings the land they sit on and surrounding properties like where Skivies and RoyG's sits. Taxes are their biggest concerns. They also own half the shopping center where Alexandre's is located. Caven is just trying to survive so they canceled their private security boarded up the windows and are waiting for the all clear. I would say 50% of the bar staff is working picking up low paying minimum wage jobs while management types are all waiting it out for the cue to come back.

RoundUp is the one I have the least knowledge of but the two owners hopefully had a stockpile since that bar wasn't doing bad before. They were paying employees to do projects inside the bar back during the first shut down but I believe most are waiting out the shutdown on unemployment.

I heard Mr Mister is seeing if they can get one of the TABC modified restaurant licenses but since they don't currently have a kitchen I am not sure how well that will work. There was a restaurant in that space before them but I am not sure how much of that is left and whether their investors are willing to rebuild a kitchen or wait.

Alexandre's is a shot in the dark since its owner is a hardcore liberal and refuses to open anything unless the world has gone back to complete safety. He is a big believer in protecting his staff and that everyone should stay home 24/7 so I don't expect him to budge. He is the kind that I could see closing down permanently if its between his staffs safety or his bottom line.

Woody's and The Eagle last I heard are still just trying to hold out for the end of the shutdown. Most are looking at September to see if things get lifted again.

Zippers and Club Pegasus are closed for good and Tin Room is a big what if since I don't know anyone on their staff let alone who owns it. Peker's well I have no idea.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 21 Aug 2020 09:44
by cowboyeagle05
citygeek wrote:What bars are boarded up in Oaklawn?


All the CAVEN bars JR's, Sue Ellen's, TMC and S4 boarded up so they could secure their buildings and reduce the need for private security to monitor 24/7.

unnamed (5).jpg

unnamed (4).jpg
unnamed (3).jpg
unnamed (2).jpg
unnamed (1).jpg

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 21 Aug 2020 15:50
by citygeek
Wow.. Thanks. I am in Tampa so of course I missed this.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 22 Aug 2020 21:15
by vman
cowboyeagle05 wrote:
Zippers and Club Pegasus are closed for good and Tin Room is a big what if since I don't know anyone on their staff let alone who owns it. Peker's well I have no idea.

So with Zippers and Pegasus gone that’s pretty much the end of the gay bars in that Fitzhugh/75 area, right? I remember going to a gay bar there many many years ago after a coworker’s birthday party. It’s a fancy restaurant now. The whole strip it was in got “upscaled” a little over a year ago.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 24 Aug 2020 09:27
by cowboyeagle05
Yes Fitzugh is basically just a entrance to the Park Cities now. The question is how much longer will the day bars not on the strip last cause they are dropping fast these days.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 24 Aug 2020 12:46
by LongonBigD
cowboyeagle05 wrote:Fitzugh is basically just a entrance to the Park Cities now.


And not a moment too soon. Knox was an entrance to HP before but with all the construction, the street narrowing and trolley extension to come and the widely successful Katy trail crossing, it’s just gonna a be a permanent traffic jam In the future.

Fitzhugh is a better fit. It passes under the trail. While this street is also upgrading its buildings as they age, it will never be a walking shopping area due to the traffic pattern (one-way arteries merging to become Fitzhugh heading East).

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 24 Aug 2020 14:46
by I45Tex
FWIW the ZIP boundaries run almost exactly along Fitzhugh:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dallas,+TX+75205/

If a future generation of Perots gets tired of 2010s modernism and sells or donates their Hillwood HQ to the city, a half dozen houses on the creek just between Blackburn and 3822 TC Drive are the only things preventing a single unified "Reverchon Park" spanning from the Tollway all the way to Fitzhugh.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 07 Sep 2020 11:39
by OrangeMike
OrangeMike wrote:New marker at Cedar Springs and Wycliff.

https://dallasvoice.com/oak-lawn-signs-installed/


The signs in the Oak Lawn median at Cedar Springs have been installed. These look much worse to me with the stair-step placement of twice as many pillars instead of putting letters on both sides of a single rainbow of varying heights.

https://dallasvoice.com/oak-lawn-markers-are-installed/

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 07 Sep 2020 12:23
by R1070
And the way it’s angled, you can’t really see the letters. I’m not sure a lot of thought went into these. Especially with the rainbow colors being backward.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 07 Sep 2020 22:10
by eburress
I agree. I like the idea but the execution isn't great.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 08 Sep 2020 11:05
by cowboyeagle05
Well to be honest I don't think many would be happy either way with design decisions how many times do we all argue over the design of every project in Dallas.

The LGBTQA Task Force picked the design though and the last member I ran into was not happy that I suggested that their meetings were not open to the public. He said they were. I asked where he personally promoted attendance so that members of the neighborhood and the community could attend and provide input. He said if you go to the city website and find the postings about the meetings sure you could attend them on week days at City Hall. I asked him why didn't the committee have any meetings at the library or even post about them on PARTY AT THE BLOCK one of the most active neighborhood Facebook groups which he is a member of. They could have gone to the bars and done some outreach as well. I am sure some citizens showed up who were even more vigilant than me cause even I missed it and I have lived in Oak Lawn for 4 years now. I get they have full time jobs like all of us but if you are going to be a part of group charged with a mission of speaking for a larger community you have to make more of an effort to do lots of outreach. Our former Mayor picked them out of the Save Oak Lawn group that popped up after all those attacks so I know many of the members care.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 08 Sep 2020 16:12
by Hannibal Lecter
"But Mr Dent, the plans have been available in the local planning office for the last nine months."

"Oh yes, well as soon as I heard I went straight round to see them, yesterday afternoon. You hadn't exactly gone out of your way to call attention to them, had you? I mean, like actually telling anybody or anything."

"But the plans were on display ..."

"On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."

"That's the display department."

"With a flashlight."

"Ah, well the lights had probably gone."

"So had the stairs."

"But look, you found the notice didn't you?"

"Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'."

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 09 Sep 2020 10:56
by Cbdallas
I saw people this morning at Cedar Springs and Oak Lawn taking selfies in front of the sign. I do think the strip from Oak Lawn to Douglas does feel much more cohesive. I just wish we could go midrise and get rid of the strip centers still left. This area needs more density for living.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 09 Sep 2020 11:05
by R1070
Cbdallas wrote:I saw people this morning at Cedar Springs and Oak Lawn taking selfies in front of the sign. I do think the strip from Oak Lawn to Douglas does feel much more cohesive. I just wish we could go midrise and get rid of the strip centers still left. This area needs more density for living.


Building on the Bank of America lot and the strip across the street would make a big difference. I think the plans to rebuild the Kroger have been shelved unfortunately.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 10 Sep 2020 09:46
by cowboyeagle05
Well once tiny piece of news the strip where ALexandre's and the Nail Spa is located has been sold. Actually it was sold in April. It was formerly owned by Caven Enterprises which held their corporate offices for JR's, Sue Ellen's, S4 and TMC in the space right next to the Dallas Resource Center Clinic. It was a sale already planned before the pandemic. Caven was looking to move their offices out of the strip center and sell it. Part of the redo of TMC added office space above TMC and connected to S4 by way of a new door now located in the Rose Room. The strip center is receiving some minor upgrades by its new owners though so don't expect much to come of the sale.

Also there is lots of rumors flying back and fourth about the gay bars. Some say CAVEN is ready to sell off all their bars which is employee owned so it wouldn't be a easy thing to do. Also rumors that RoundUp staff was told to find new jobs that they wouldn't be reopening etc. Someone even claimed Caven now owned RoundUp and bought also most of the strip on that side of the street. The rumor mill is def churning lots of stories.

Mr Mister has reopened now with food though.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 05 Nov 2020 15:20
by OrangeMike
Walked by the Melrose this afternoon and took a pic through the parking lot fence of the conference center expansion. Can’t find any external renderings to see what it was supposed to look like, but so far it has all the charm of a value-engineered suburban strip center grocery store.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 05 Nov 2020 15:47
by eburress
OrangeMike wrote:Walked by the Melrose this afternoon and took a pic through the parking lot fence of the conference center expansion. Can’t find any external renderings to see what it was supposed to look like, but so far it has all the charm of a value-engineered suburban strip center grocery store.


Funny, I had forgotten what this was supposed to be and assumed this was a new BestBuy or something. Lame!

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 05 Nov 2020 15:55
by R1070
I’m shocked they didn’t put shrubbery along the fence to block the view of the parking lot. OLC should require new surface lots to be more aesthetically pleasing and properly landscaped.

Re: Oak Lawn

Posted: 11 Nov 2020 10:32
by DPatel304
Image
Image
Ablon said the apartment towers would be built in phases with a total of 450 rental units. The tallest of the high-rises would be about 20 floors with retail on the lower floors facing a new public plaza along Throckmorton Street.

He said if everything works out, construction would start in mid-2022.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/rea ... ngs-strip/

This is quite a surprise to see. I'm happy to see more development, but this does feel quite a bit drastic given how little this area has changed over the last decade.

The timeline seems pretty reasonable/realistic as well, and now that this has been announced, I'm hoping this encourages other developments in the area to start moving forward as well.