In an article I was interviewed for regarding the state of Deep Ellum, the word gentrification was used by the writer to describe my views on what is happening, or needs to happen to revitalize the neighborhood where my gallery is located. Since this article I have noticed this word being used more and more in conversations I have had pertaining to the area. Having minored in cultural anthropology I am very familiar with the word and its meaning, but today I looked it up on Merriam Webster’s online dictionary, so that the official definition can help to illustrate my point. And here is the definition they gave for the word:

gen·tri·fi·ca·tion • jen-trə-fə-ˈkā-shən • noun
the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.

What is happening in Deep Ellum is hardly gentrification. There is no displacing of a lower economic class by affluent people who are capitalizing on low property values for their own financial gain. In fact if you were to shop around the neighborhood you would find that a lot of the property in Deep Ellum is quite expensive. The property owners of Deep Ellum are doing what any good capitalist does, and that is simply getting a return on their investment. There really isn’t a lot that anyone can do to stop someone from selling something that is theirs.

Organizations like the Deep Ellum Association, Deep Ellum Foundation and the Deep Ellum Enrichment Project serve a key purpose of trying to keep the culture of Deep Ellum intact as we move into this new era promising big change. I think the spirit of Deep Ellum is more vital than the physical complexion of the area.

If a few large retailers end up moving into the neighborhood I think that will be really great for the independent businesses that are already here. Large retail, residential communities and restaurants generally come with budgets to advertise. This will ultimately draw new people to the area that might not have come here otherwise. Once they are here they can walk around and discover the O.G. businesses who are foundation of the neighborhood.

This isn’t an after school special where the big developer’s soft spot is touched when he sees the neighborhood kids playing on the playground he is about to tear down for his latest mixed use development, and the climax occurs when he tears up the contract while his investors stand their shaking their heads.

This is commerce not gentrification, and the above scenario will almost certainly never happen. So since this is inevitable at this point, playing ball sounds like a good idea. It is better than the alternative of being confrontational and resistant to change, you’ll get less referrals from your gigantic new neighbors.

If you want to see what gentrification looks like, Oak Cliff is a 10 minute drive from Deep Ellum.

I read this post on the dallasblog.com regarding the upcoming Grafitti Wipeout. I’ve had conversations before with quite a few people on this issue. WHY IS THE GRAFITTI ABATEMENT COMMITTE THE ONLY PROGRAM THAT HAS SUCH MOMENTUM IN DALLAS!? It baffles me that there are other major issues in Dallas happening at the moment that have miles of balled-up red tape surrounding them, but getting rid of grafitti…well that’s all green lights and paved roads. Yes, grafitti is a crime due to property damage and maybe tresspassing, BUT the criminals are just art kids from the suburbs!

It seems that Dallas still has this 1980’s mentality that grafitti is connected to street gangs. So in the process of “cleaning up the streets” from grafitti, then they are thinking that they are discouraging the gangs from being attracted to those areas and robbing and shooting them up. So in the plea to clean up Dallas, they have convinced corporations and volunteers to contribute their money and time to feel like that have “made a difference” in their community just because there is fresh paint on a wall…ha…it’s the same notions that compelled those art kids from the suburbs to paint there too!!! To make a visual change. To make a personal contribution. To be seen and heard.
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My boyfriend’s birthday is tomorrow, and we celebrated Saturday by watching the big UFC pay-per-view event at Hooters in the West End. There was a huge group of friends there, and pretty much everyone in the restaraunt was pumped about the fight card, so it was really fun. [I’m still pissed that Arlovsky lost to Silvia. Bunk.

After that we went to the Lakewood Landing and got my boyfriend good and drunk. They were nice enough to give him a free shot of SoCo for the occasion. Too bad he got sick on the way home. LOL

Today was kinda fucked up. This guy called the office like 12 times today, saying he’s calling from our tech support in NYC and he is testing our phone lines, and could I transfer him to this or that extension. I transferred him several times, thinking nothing of it-the lady who is my backup on the phones tranferred him a couple of times as well. He was calling from a 212 number, which is the area code all our corporate office numbers originate from.

Sooo fast forward to this afternoon around 4…and it’s all “hello, this the DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, sup?” on my phone. WTF?

Oh yah, and the FBI called as well.
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I really don’t want to come off like a hypocrite here. After all, I have so many opportunities to do that on other issues. But the recent ballyhooed TABC crackdown on “public intoxication” in bars just makes me want to make a couple of points.

First, anyone who has been out and about with my circle of friends knows we get loud, profane and boisterous. We argue silly and inane points, yell at each other from across the bar, and garner enough looks from the uninitiated to make anyone skeptical. This is regardless of how much alcohol has been consumed.

Last night, after picking my roommate up from the airport, we went to No Frills Grill. Since I’m still boozeless through Lent, I didn’t have one sip of alcohol — but if a field agent uses the same criteria they used when they arrested Burton Byers, the guy in an Irving hotel bar, I would have so been in jail Tuesday night.

Second, Our Fearless Mayor Laura Miller actually signed off on this operation. At a time when Dallas is already trying to mend fences with the convention business — after a decade of twiddling their thumbs and watching millions of tourism dollars fly elsewhere — the city is now the laughingstock of the nation. Again. Never mind that “Operation Last Call” is state-wide: the perception is that it’s happening primarily in Dallas because of the Byers story. Yeah, we need this.

Au nom d’Allah, le Tout Mis