2010 World Cup - South Africa

The whole world is watching. Even Americans. From June 11 through July 11, the world will pause to watch the World Cup. Find a location in the Dallas area to join in. Ideally, a location where Brazilians gather to watch Brazil play, or where Slovenians, Slovakians or Serbians gather -- the more exotic the country, the better, if they have a critical mass of fans in the north Texas area. The enthusiasm is infectious. Catch it. Even if you never watched a soccer match before in your life.

RICHARDSON

Fox and Hound*
112 W. Campbell Road
972-437-4225
www.foxandhound.com
*All locations will open early

Humperdink's Sports Bar and Restaurant
1601 N. Central Expressway
972-690-4867
www.humperdinks.com

Restaurants On Notice

Below is a list of restaurants that I've eaten in that have received a rating below 90 (that is, less than "Excellent") on a recent inspection score by the Richardson Health Department. I'm putting these restaurants on notice. If their scores don't improve to 90 or above ("Excellent") on their next inspection, I don't be eating there anymore.

(Note that a score of 80-89 is still considered "Good." I just like to think I have high standards. And note that there are other restaurants with scores less than 90. These are just the ones that I have had the pleasure of dining at and the ones that have been inspected in the last couple of months. The full list of restaurant scores can be found here.)

Inspection	Restaurant	Address	Score
05/27/10	Funasia - Main (upstairs)	1210 E Belt Line Rd	74
05/27/10	Funasia - Concession (downstairs)	1210 E Belt Line Rd	75
05/21/10	Chick-Fil-A	603 S Plano Rd	87
05/13/10	Twisted Root Burger Co.	730 E Campbell Rd	88
05/03/10	Furr's Cafeteria	350 S Plano Rd	84
04/29/10	Oriental Express	1600 N Plano Rd 2000	86
04/28/10	The Upper Deck Bar and Grill	1403 E Campbell Rd	79
04/27/10	A Taste of Italy	3555 Murphy Rd	88
04/26/10	Dos Charros	108 Univ Vlg S/C	81
04/26/10	Canyon Creek Country Club Main Kitchen	625 Lookout Dr	89
04/22/10	Spring Creek B.B.Q.	270 N Central Expy	83
03/29/10	Chien Garden	1144 N Plano Rd #121	83
03/16/10	Scalini's Pizza and Pasta	3610 Shire Blvd 5108	88
03/15/10	Boudreaux's Cajun Kitchen	720 E Campbell Rd	88

Richardson's Walkability

Patrick Kennedy, on his blog WalkableDFW, has championed walkability as a necessary component of a city's livability. In a recent blog entry, he reports on an academic finding that intersection density is the number one predictor of walkability. He says:

"Intuitively this makes sense in that the smaller the blocks, the greater number of intersections, the more storefronts, the more choice of route, etc. We have also known that intersection density is an indicator of traffic safety."

Kennedy goes on to present a detailed analysis of the intersection density of downtown Dallas compared with Portland, Oregon. Read his blog to learn which city comes out ahead.

After the jump, what another walkability measure says about Richardson.

Bush Turnpike TOD

My first impressions of the developers' vision for the transit-oriented development around the Bush Turnpike DART station in Richardson:

• It looks promising. Preserves creeks. Connects to trails and DART rail. Strives for mixed-use walkability.
• I like how it uses Spring Creek trail to punch a hole in Central Expwy to tie east/west together.
• It gets Cottonwood rail line across Central Expwy without blocking traffic at Plano Pkwy. Advantage Richardson over Plano.

OTBR: A Rapeseed Field In Germany

Latitude: 48.295399° N
Longitude: 11.999700° E

A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".