I’ve always been sympathetic to people who get branded as being part of the “NOT IN MY BACKYARD” (NIMBY) crowd. Often, these are people who get stigmatized as whiners and wimps merely because they don’t want a landing strip built a block away from their house. “Oooh, don’t want us building a halfway house for convicted sex offenders right next to the neighborhood playground, you NIMBY jackals? WHY MUST YOU BE SO SELFISH?”
But I did find a bit of humor in this article by Jeff Mosier in the Dallas Morning News today that highlighted some of the dissatisfaction Arlington homeowners have with the traffic and parking issues Cowboys Stadium is causing, including complaints from a lady WHO VOTED FOR THE THING TO BE PUBLICLY FUNDED.
Michelle Peterson, who lives on New Haven Street, part of the Woodbrook subdivision north of the stadium, said it once took her husband 30 minutes to travel about four or five blocks before one event.
"Trying to get in and out of the neighborhood is ridiculous," she said.
Still, Peterson said she voted in favor of taxes that helped build the stadium, which she thinks will benefit Arlington's economy. She said that bringing tens of thousands of people to town for every game and concert is bound to create jobs.
Elsewhere, Arlington residents who didn’t vote for the stadium’s funding also had issues with the congestion caused by the House That The Double J Built, including a woman who has lived in her home for 49 years with her husband who says:
"It feels like we're in prison."
Real estate speculators believe Cowboys Stadium will ultimately increase nearby property values, yet many of the homeowners trying to leave Arlington right now are stuck, unable to sell their homes because the economy is bad, and because parking and traffic issues around the stadium aren't resolved.
In the meantime, I suggest homeowners in Arlington rent out space on their lawns and sell $15 “obstructed view Party Passes.” If Jerry Jones is gonna make some money off of building a $1.2 billion stadium in your backyard, I say you deserve to as well.
