Friday, April 25, 2008

Industrial boulevard to be renamed to present a spiffier image for the billion dollar Trinity River Sinkhole--er Development Project.

What's the problem with keeping this street named for the purpose it's served for about a century? We all remember the recent news of last July when the Airgas plant on Industrial did a daylight firework display. What could be more industrial than thousands of exploding canisters of gas? I can't think of a thing.

Maybe we could re-name Industrial Silicone Alley for the gentlemen's clubs scattered along its length? Or the liquor stores? Or the rundown seedy dives? Or the massage parlours?

Then there's one of my favorite features of Industrial, the Lew Sterrett Correctional Facility and the adjacent Court building. You can always tell the hung over pups as they slink across the street in tow of a concerned/irate/broke parent. No discreet way to get to your car there, the gauntlet from the jail to the parking garages is always a walk of shame. Funny, the git-ups they got-up in the night before don't usually look so suave after a night in the slammer.

Bail bonds! When I think Bail Bonds, I definitely think of Industrial Blvd.

I say we all suggest and vote for FUEL CITY TACOS Esplanade. I had to go get me a couple fuel city tacos on Saturday. Them was real good, 'ceptin' LouLou the Baby Shoe was stinky for a few days thereafter, wot with the grilled onions, peppers and what not. Their tomatillo sauce is a marvel. I also got a cup of that Mexican cream corn from the little cart in front. I had my sunglasses on, so I may have been passing for La'in. Everyone standing in front of the taco stand and corn cart was Mexican, and I noticed a nervous little knot of whiteness standing inside the store behind the glass--two mighty white couples, and rather upscale for all that-- looking mooney-eyed at the corn. They finally mustered the courage and came out and ordered 4 cups of corn. I wondered if their food was still warm when they'd traversed a comfortable enough distance from which to enjoy their "slumming" nosh.

Anyway, the business owners who will have to change their addresses and business cards and everything will have the greatest say in the re-naming, but I'm betting nothing on earth will prevent the street from being re-named, no matter how silly the whole concept is. I'm betting the powers-that-be in Dallas will shoot for a gentrified, high-falutin' sobriquet in hopes of a self-fulfilling prophecy type outcome. After all, about a billion dollars in the form of 3 Calatrava bridges over the Trinity River will each find their terminus on Industrial/Whatever Boulevard. We need lofty names for the street, even if it comes with a handy sensual massage replete with happy ending.

Way to go, Dallas: keep it plastic!

5 comments:

Rabbit said...

I keep thinking it'll be something like "The Don Hill Indictment Expressway" or "The James Fantroy Golden Road" or the "Al Lipscomb Boulevard of Dreams".

Well, maybe with not quite so much flourish. Maybe the "John Wylie Price Community Development Block Grant Row".

Hell, the only reason I go down in that part of town is if I am going to Ray's Sporting Goods, aka Mecca, or if the Incubus has ben picked up and has to be bonded out. Again.

Regards,
Rabbit.

btw, did you get the discount coupon to the gun show I sent you?

Thud said...

Same thing is happening here in Liverpool with a 2 billion dollar redevelopment...hundreds of years of social history are being swept away in the name of modernity..plus lots of ribbon cutting ceremonies for our local halfwit politicians.

HollyB said...

Same thing happened here. Only in the name of Politically Correct Vote Mongering among the SouthEast Community. Civic Center Park, so named because that's where the Civic Center is located, DUH was re-named Quakertown park.
The reasoning behind this re-naming is that was the name of that "part of town" before the city bought it and built the CC and park and pool and Senior Center and City Hall. And then the County bought a parcel and built the old jail. And the Feds bought a parcel and built the new post office. And then the City built the Emily Fowler Library. And of Course the Women's Building had been there on the far corner since Gawd made Dirt, or the late 40's early 50's anyway.

So the question in MY mind is...was "Quakertown" the name the residents of these 2 City blocks gave their neighborhood ? Or was it the name the genteel white folks called it in lieu of the more vulgar racial epitaths in use for black enclaves in the first half of the 20th Century?
There are many neighborhoods in our city today that are racially diverse. But there are also many areas that are still heavily populated by one race, ethnicity or another. Some of these areas have nice, well maintained homes. Some...are obviously rentals that receive little care or maintenance.
Were the city to offer the owners a fair price for them; many would gladly sell. So, I don't believe the claims of activists who bemoan the loss of a piece of our "Cultural History." I've seen the pictures. Quakertown was not some quaint Shaker or Amish or Mennoite neighborhood. Hell, they weren't even Quakers! They were Babtists and AME Methodists!

Trust me when I say the collection of nicely maintained Gov't Bldgs and beautifully landscaped parkland is a VAST improvement over the previous use of this space.
Now if we could just go back to calling it Civic Center Park...I for one, will always call it that, but that's just me.

Buck said...

The multistep voting process sounds a little like the convoluted "Texas two-step" for selecting Democratic presidential delegates.

Dang. Ain't that the truth! What a colossal waste of time and money...

Rabbit said...

Y'know, no matter what happens when they build those Calatrava billion dollar bridges, they're still going to connect downtown Dallas to a ghetto.

Regards,
Rabbit.