The City of Dallas

Sarah and I have been in Dallas the past few days for the Thanksgiving holiday. We had a really great time getting to know some of my relatives that I have not spent much time with over the years. It wasn’t until Saturday that everyone could get together so our “Thanksgiving” arrived a few days later this year. So that we could explore some of the city, we pricelined a nice hotel in downtown Dallas for Thursday evening . I haven’t really spent much time in the Dallas area although Sarah and I have driven through several times. But with the exception of a short business trip a few years ago, and brief visits many years prior, my experience with the city is almost nil. I’ve been particularly intrigued with Dallas’ transit system. The city is hardly known for its urban characteristics and many, I imagine, would assume their public transit infrastructure is limited to a fleet of busses. As it turns out, the city has a successful light rail system, a commuter rail service, a downtown trolley line, in addition to busses.

After checking into our hotel we set out in search of food. Downtown was pin-drop quiet. It was like a giant vacuum hose was dragged through the streets, somehow missing all the homeless men. We flagged a cab and had him cruise through the Deep Ellum district. Here is all we knew about this area: when bands we like play in Dallas, it is usually at a club here. As we slowly passed tattoo parlors, clubs, restuarants, and galleries, it was evident that nothing was open. It appeared that most of the businesses in Deep Ellum occupied former warehouse spaces. This is clearly the city’s “bohemian” enclave and the painted freeway tunnel, graffiti murals, and semi-seedy feel were surprising. Not what I expected. But like the rest of downtown, it was empty and despite lofts springing up, there didn’t appear to be many people that actually lived in Deep Ellum.

The cab soon pointed toward Uptown, a shopping and dining district that a few people recommended. As far as I could tell, “Uptown” is the area along McKinney Avenue, a narrow, store-lined street with a fairly long trolley line. Although–no surprise–most everything was closed, there were people on the avenue, the street car was running, and a few establishments had their “open” signs on. The heart of Uptown is a conglomeration of luxury hotels, lofts, restuarants, and an art house cinema. If you squinted really hard and looked around, this might be mistaken for some random Chicago neighborhood. Minus a lot of people. We walked down McKinney until we reached a friendly sports bar. Best Philly Cheese Steak I have eaten in eons, yo. Drained, and having a drained a few beers, we caught a cab (in mere seconds–score another point for Uptown) back to the Hyatt.

The Hyatt is literally across the street from Union Station and we could see the [url=http://www.dart.org]Dart light rail trains[/url], [url=http://www.trinityrailwayexpress.org/]Trinity Railway Express[/url], Amtrak, and freight trains continously arrive and depart. The plan was to take light rail in the morning to Fort Worth and visit the modern art museum. There is a convenient corridor between the Hyatt and Union Station that plays tinney, old-times-were-so-good music and has some historic photographs on the walls. As you approach a Metro station, or the central terminal in other big cities, there might be kiosks, public art, and other things that celebrate the civic accomplishment that is the rail system. It was a little annoying that Dallas was pushing the quaintness and long-gone heyday of rail travel. The goal was to quickly board a train bound for Fort Worth, not leisurely chug along brick streets in a locomotive. Whatever. Soon we realized that it was TRE (Trinity Railway Express) not Dart that would take us to Fort Worth. TRE is a traditional diesel train, as opposed to Dart, which is electric. The train was on Saturday schedule and we had to wait about an hour. But we had done no planning and it was basically a holiday. The ticket to take a train to-and-from Forth Worth, a city about 35 miles away, was $4.50 a person. Not bad. Union Station’s kiosks, electronic signage, info boards, and facilities were helpful and clean. About fifteen others had gathered to take the same train and we met a guy who shared our plans. “Do you own a car? Why wouldn’t you just drive to Forth Worth,” I asked him. The train was part of a relaxing, enjoyable afternoon for him. He would even have to catch a bus at the Forth Worth Intermodal Station to get out the museum, yet still found this preferable to driving. As far as I could tell, he had no special interest in mass transit.

The TRE cars are double-decker, and the top floor is obviously the best place to be. We found seats with an [url=http://www.trinityrailwayexpress.org/Resources/trefacts2.gif]attached table[/url] and the three of us kicked back for a 30-45 minute journey. As the Dallas towers disappeared, the train reached speeds in the neighborhood of 30-50 mph, I would guess. I counted only four streets that the train crossed, where the crossing arm came down. The track was almost certainly being used for freight trains, long before TRE’s arrival. TRE passed the American Airlines arena where the Mavs and Stars play and passengers practically get front door service. The rest of the scenery wasn’t much to look at–land fills, sprawl, and odd patches of rural wetlands. But it was a very pleasant journey. We learned a little about our day-trip companion, read, and collected our thoughts.

The train pulled in to the Fort Worth Intermodal Station, a facility that houses an Amtrak station, bays for TRE riders, and an efficient system for their natural gas-fueled city busses. To our disappointment, the next train returning to Dallas did not leave us time to visit the museum. Another time. We did check out the new Santa Fe Railyard shops and restaurants next door to the station. It is home to the only all vegan cafe in the entire city. I had a hummus and sweet potato wrap. Our trip back to Dallas was quiet and uneventful. We picked up several passengers along the way and our car was almost full. A couple beside us played cards and were toting backpacks. Another man was providing commentary on the train and interesting facts. A group of African students wearing uniforms that were baggy like basketball jerseys but had soccer logos giggled and bounced across the aisle to check out the scenery on both sides of the train. Just before we rounded a corner and pulled in to Union Station, the man pointed to a group of people scattered across a grassy knoll and showed us the infamous book depository.