It's Long Past Time DART Start Developing Its Vacant Lots Near Transit Centers

Dallas Area Rapid Transit owns a nice patch of green in the Cedars, where Powhattan Street dead-ends into the light-rail tracks near, get this, Wall Street -- so close to the flourishing, bustling stretch of rebirth down there, though it might as well be miles away. I've recently seen the property on maps and in PowerPoints, but never up close till Wednesday when I drove down around 11 p.m. to peek at the place and wound up being scared witless by the guy tucked into concrete stairs leading to the vestigial remnants of one of the Cedars' long-ago-razed estates. The man, thin and frail and using a cane, was drinking a soda from a Styrofoam cup and said he'd just been released from the hospital; he still had on his wristband by way of ID. He asked could I spare a couple of bucks to help him get into the Dallas Life shelter down the street. He also wondered what in the hell was I doing in this no man's land at this late hour. A perfectly reasonable question, whether from homeless man or cop.  Continue reading...