This Is What Happens When a New West Dallas Devours the Old One

The remaking of West Dallas did not happen all of the sudden; there was plenty of warning.Years ago, before the zoning changed and the speculators bought and the builders arrived, there were neighborhood meetings. The residents, so many lifers amid the transients and transplants, were warned: Their West Dallas, full of quiet streets and chaparral hilltops and skyline views, wasn't going to look the same. Residents were told, again and again: The bulldozers are coming, try not to get run over. Now, residents say, there are no more neighborhood meetings. Because, perhaps, there is not much neighborhood left here, atop the perch behind the Belmont Hotel that stretches almost to the city pound."This area used to be called La Loma," 19-year-old Elizabeth Garcia said Thursday, as we sat in her family's house along what's left of Mobile Avenue.  Continue reading...