City Council must protect Dallas

Re: “Opposing ForwardDallas isn’t racist or snobbish — It’s a zoning policy regardless of what City Hall says,” by Jim Schutze, July 21 Opinion.

I oppose ForwardDallas 2.0 with the same sense of danger this proposal brings to our American and Texan way of life as I did with the presence of short-term rentals in our single-family neighborhoods.

Why must we continue to defend these incursions on the character of life in our neighborhoods? Neighborhoods are America’s home. The backbone of family life. The places of choice to live peacefully, raise our children and retire.

ForwardDallas 2.0 pillages the American idea of home where the conviviality of neighbors, a child’s freedom to roam and the pride in homeownership are weakened for want of higher density. And why, when there are other solutions?

ForwardDallas 2.0 is so ill-suited to fostering family life that the word forward in its title is a misnomer for planning. While the proposal purports to carry Dallas forward, it will destroy enough of our city’s character as to decidedly take us two steps back.

I call on the Dallas City Council to protect our neighborhoods. Protect our Dallas. Vote for an exemption for R-zoned, historic/conservation and planned development districts, and neighborhood stabilization overlays.

Dennis C. D’Amico, Dallas/Caruth Hills

Applause for environmental justice

The most important and hard-fought outcome of ForwardDallas is completely missing from much of the media frenzy zeroing in on single-family housing. Downwinders at Risk and front-line neighborhoods have been fighting, negotiating, persuading and winning major environmental justice gains in ForwardDallas since its first soft launch in 2019.

The communities we fight for do not have stable neighborhoods because they are constantly at risk of industrial development as a result of planning efforts undergone in the ‘60s and ‘80s.

Where were the protectors of single-family neighborhoods when Floral Farms was being dumped on leading to Shingle Mountain? What about today as GAF threatens single-family neighborhoods in West Dallas or TAMKO Building Products factory in Joppa?

I wish I saw the same passion from concerned citizens fighting for their neighbors living next to cancerous factories as I’ve seen them fighting against a hypothetical duplex.

ForwardDallas is the first city-led plan that acknowledges this history and provides meaningful recommendations that will move the needle forward. It is not perfect, but planned unit development staff should be commended for making this policy impactful regarding environmental justice.

Evelyn Mayo, Dallas

City staffers’ ties questioned

I was wondering which members of the Dallas City Council and the City Plan Commission reside in a historical district or conservation district and thus would be protected from the provisions of the proposed ForwardDallas initiative.

Further, which members have significant holdings in rental properties that could be extended into currently protected single-family zoned neighborhoods if ForwardDallas guidelines are imposed.

Noble Hetherington, Dallas/Oak Cliff

More people fuels more culture

Re: “Handing developers the keys,” by Anne Stone and “Gatekeepers, protect our city,” by Mike Sundin, July 19 Letters.

These letters seem very concerned with protecting the culture of Dallas by maintaining widespread single-family zoning. Not to be rude, but when people think of Dallas-Fort Worth, they don’t think of culture. Maybe traffic.

Medium- to high-density buildings dominate the world’s great cities. New York, Paris, London, Tokyo and Rome are all not known for their suburbs.

Similarly, skyscrapers surround the cultural centers of Dallas, such as the Bishop Arts District. This is no coincidence. Culture arises when people come together. More people means more culture.

Single-family zoning puts everyone in a separate box to drive their car everywhere. Medium-density mixed-development spaces encourage walkability and intermingling of people while maintaining human-scale architecture.

If that’s not convincing, then consider that single-family zoning requires higher property taxes.

Thomas Urech, Richardson

Cutting housing costs is priority

What a Sunday Opinion section you published July 14. I read about two Russian dissidents now in the U. S., the housing crsis and a respected past Dallas mayor criticizing Joe Biden.

After considerable examination of public policy and economic inequality, I have come to the conclusion that the experts who have identified the housing crisis in America as the No. 1 factor in economic inequality are absolutely correct.

The approaches to correcting the crisis are multiple and varied, but doable. It is not acceptable to have housing eat up 60% or more of one’s wages.

The nation’s No. 1 economic priority must be to lower housing costs for working Americans to the 20% range. It’s doable, not pie in the sky.

Furthermore, much of the anger and desperation experienced by so many will dissipate. Our leaders must make this a priority. They need to educate the public why this is so important and how all of us are part of the solution.

Jerry Frankel, Plano

The many costs of moving

Re: “Stop hogging the houses, boomers — Millennials don’t stand a chance against empty nesters controlling a third of the market,” by Dallas Cothrum, July 7 Opinion.

It has been alluded to that property taxes are higher if you move and mortgage rates are also higher.

To elaborate, I, too, live in a four-bedroom, two-story house with pool on a creek. I’d love to downsize.

But as a 72-year-old, my taxes in Collin County have been frozen — thank you so much. They are wonderfully low.

Thanks to Gov. Greg Abbott , they are even lower. If I move, I’ll pick up the tax rate of the smaller home whose owner didn’t benefit from the seven years of frozen taxes. I estimate that’s a $300 monthly hit.

Further, while many boomers are mortgage free, I am not. A new mortgage would have a 5.5% rate, compared with my current 3.5% — a further $300 monthly increase. See why I can’t afford to move?

Gary Tutt, McKinney

Lack of houses inventory

Dallas Cothrum, you missed the boat on this one. I, for one, would be happy to see a young family in our too-big-for-us house in Lake Highlands. But where would we go?

As a boomer, I am looking for a smaller home, a newer build to reduce maintenance, one story, a lot with trees that still is small enough not to require extensive yard work — all in the city of Dallas.

I’ve been looking on and off for seven years. The problem, as I see it, is a total lack of inventory. Houses being built today are huge and multistory. Who is building houses designed for boomers?

Jenine A. Bucker, Dallas

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FC Dallas looks for a rare win away from home in 2024 tonight when they taken on St. Louis CITY SC in the opening game of the Leagues Cup.

Both clubs have their lineups in, so let’s break them down.

On Friday, Peter Luccin discussed his desire to use a strong lineup in this tournament. And we kind of got that. Kind of.

Up top, Petar Musa returns to the lineup, fresh off his MLS All-Star Game appearance on Wednesday night. He’ll have Paul Arriola and Logan Farrington in support.

The midfield sees Carl Sainte earn his second straight start in the middle next to Tsiki Ntsabeleng. Marco Farfan and Ema Twumasi will be on the wings.

It is a strong group defensively, with Sebastien Ibeagha, Nkosi Tafari and Sam Junqua earning the start in the back.

And finally, in goal we have All-Star keeper Maarten Paes.

Seeing how it is a deeper bench for this tournament, I think we could see a few changes in the second half. Asier Illarramendi could get around 25-30 minutes in this one as he is working back from an ankle injury.

From there, it could be a very young set of subs come into this one with guys like Tarik Scott, Tomas Pondeca, Bernard Kamungo and Dante Sealy available on the bench.

Suspended: none
Out: Geovane Jesus (Right knee), Alan Velasco (Left knee), Paxton Pomykal (knee), Jesus Ferreira (hamstring), Patrickson Delgado (knee), Liam Fraser (upper leg), Sebastian Lletget (concussion)
Questionable: none
On Loan: Isaiah Parker
International Duty: none

Yeah, St. Louis is dealing with injuries to key players, too.

📅 Date: Saturday, July 27, 2024
⚽️ Kickoff: 8:00 PM
🏟 Venue: CITYPARK
📺 Streaming: MLS Season Pass
💬 Gameday Social: #FCDvSTL
☀️ Weather: 80, rain

Join us on our Notes to discuss it.

Super Bowl windows have a habit of slamming shut unexpectedly. At this level, all it takes is one bad draft class or a string of injuries to turn a contender into a pretender. For now, the Dallas Cowboys still appear to be one of the better teams in the NFL and it would be a surprise if they didn’t make the playoffs for their fourth consecutive season.

While their roster is loaded with superstars and quality role players, it’s also getting a bit long in the tooth. Foundational veterans like Zack Martin and DeMarcus Lawrence are nearing the end of their respective careers, Dak Prescott will turn 31 years old in a couple of days.

If you need evidence that this team is no longer a spring chicken, look no further than the All-Under 25 Team that NFL.com writer Nick Shook came up with this week.

Only one Cowboys player made the cut: left guard Tyler Smith.

“Tyler took over LT duties as a rookie, playing well enough to keep the gig even after the veteran returned late in the campaign. However, Dallas moved Tyron Smith back to the blind side last year, sliding Tyler inside to maximize the starting talent up front. The youngster ended up being so good in his new role that he’s staying at guard despite the elder Smith’s departure this offseason. Tyler will likely take the torch as Dallas’ best offensive lineman wheneverZack Martin walks away from the game, if not sooner.”

For those wondering, Micah Parsons and CeeDee Lamb are both 25 years old, so they didn’t qualify for this team.

Smith is a solid choice to make it, having posted a very strong 79.7 grade in run blocking last season from PFF to go with a respectable enough 68.7 mark in pass protection. In the end, Smith only allowed two quarterback hits and one sack all year long. He should only get better the more experience he gains in the NFL.

That being said, when the best young player on your team is a left guard it’s not a great sign for your long-term prospects.

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