Squeezing Out Transit-Oriented Development

Source: City of Richardson.

With four DART stations on the Red Line, Richardson is well-situated to take advantage of the benefits of transit-oriented development (TOD). Richardson has talked a good story on this front, but recent actions by the city council raise doubts about the city's commitment to carrying it through.

First, it was the gas station that was approved at the entrance to the Brick Row development at the Spring Valley DART station. Now, the city council was faced with another threat to TOD. It's a proposal for a new apartment complex on vacant land just north of the Arapaho DART station. The City Plan Commission approved it 4-3.

Those DART stations, instead of serving as catalysts for TOD spreading outward from the stations, are instead being slowly strangled by traditional, suburban-style development encroaching inwards.

After the jump, how the city council responded.

School Spending and Academic Results

Last week, I commented on a study that concluded that Texas school funding favors wealthy school districts. Today, I want to focus on what the disparity in spending buys the wealthy school districts. In short, academic achievement.

After the jump, plenty of dodging and weaving, then the facts.

One of the Largest Spending Gaps

This is not the kind of distinction that Texans ought to be proud of:

The public policy research and advocacy organization said Texas has "one of the largest spending gaps" in the country -- a difference of more than $1,100 per pupil, after factoring in differences in costs. "In fact, in 2012, the wealthiest districts received almost $1,500 more per pupil than the lowest-wealth districts," the report said, attributing the disparities to a "regressive" formula for distributing state and local funds.

Source: Dallas Morning News.

This won't change until either the voters or the courts force the legislature to do something.

After the jump, the prospects for each.

Some Body Work for a Gas Station

Source: City of Richardson.

In this week's meeting, the Richardson City Planning Commission (CPC) considered a request for zoning changes for reconstruction of a Texaco gas station on the northeast corner of Belt Line Rd and Plano Rd. I'm getting weary of whining about the voracious appetite of developers for ever more acreage to devote to cars. Sometimes, it seems as if our city's 28 square miles will soon all be paved.

After the jump, my thoughts on this Texaco station's plans.

28 Square Miles. How Many Will Be Paved?

Wired magazine's Adam Rogers gets it:

Tear it all down! Well, OK, not all of it. Let’s start with the freeways. They look permanent, sure, but most highways, especially the ones cutting through city centers, aren’t that old -- only a few decades. And in some towns, they do more harm than good.

Source: Wired.

The movement against freeways appears to be picking up followers slowly. It's not enough to reverse the growth of freeways, at least not yet, but maybe it soon will be enough to bend the curve.

After the jump, what this has to do with Richardson.

Remember the Alamo ... Drafthouse

The alarm was sounded. There was an urgent need for immediate action in last May's announcement that the Alamo Drafthouse was coming to the Richardson Heights Shopping Center:

"It is urgent -- the reason is that old theater on Spring Valley," [Bill DiGaetano of Alamo Drafthouse] said. "It's an existing theater, and if a theater group comes in there before we announce, [then] we're not coming into Richardson nor will any theater come back into Richardson. Because in order to show first-run Hollywood movies, you have to be three miles from an existing theater. So once you plant your flag, nobody can come within three miles of you simply because they won't get the same films as you. Delaying this causes us to delay announcing it, and delaying announcing it could be detrimental to the whole process. We have contingencies in our lease that if something like that happens, we’re out."

Source: Pegasus News.

Message received. Alamo Drafthouse got the Richardson city approvals it wanted. The rest of us could conclude that the "old theater on Spring Valley" would just have to find some other re-purposing use. Another option for your Sunday morning church services, maybe?

That was last May. After the jump, more good news for moviegoers. Or is it?

Why Have a City Planning Commission?

At its September 10 meeting, besides approving a gas station in the Spring Valley Station District Planned Development, Richardson's city council also considered zoning changes requested by a developer in support of a 56-unit independent living facility in the Shire development at the Bush tollway and Jupiter Rd. The vote to approve was unanimous, 7-0.

After the jump, what caused my eyebrows to rise.

Growth, Debt, and Social Equity

David Brooks, columnist for The New York Times, lays out this to-do list for the next President:

The next president has to do three big things, which are in tension with one another: increase growth, reduce debt and increase social equity.

Source: New York Times.

After the jump, my assessment of the candidates' abilities to accomplish each big thing.

Defending One's Honor

Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.

Source: Othello Act 3, scene 3.

Remember duels? For centuries, a duel was considered an acceptable way to resolve disputes involving personal honor. Insult me, or insult my family, and by God, sir, I will have satisfaction (even if someone ends up dead).

After the jump, whatever became of that reckless, overwrought practice?

Zombie Gas Station at Brick Row

Source: City of Richardson.

Back in December, I blogged about a poorly suited idea for a prime spot for transit-oriented development (and by transit, I don't mean cars).

One request is for rezoning with special use permit for a gas station at the corner of Spring Valley and Centennial. That's right across the street from the new Brick Row development. Brick Row already has plenty of apartments. What it needs is retail, something to boost that whole neighborhood around the DART station. There'll be thousands of pedestrians getting on and off those trains every day. Why do we need a gas station there to greet them? It's 20th century thinking in a 21st century neighborhood.

Source: The Wheel.

That special use permit for a 7-Eleven gas station at Brick Row was rejected by the planning commission. Before consideration by the Richardson city council, it was withdrawn at the applicant's request.

Thought that was the end of it? Hardly. Like in all good zombie movies, the threat from zombies is never really dead and gone. After the jump, the return of the living dead.