8 July 20-26, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents worked in the Department of Housing and Urban Development under then-Secretary Julián Castro, a fellow Texan who’d later vie for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomi- nation. Eventually it was back home to Dallas and the start of his congressional career. Leading up to the 2018 race, Allred thought that Sessions didn’t mirror the Dal- las community he knew growing up. Today he feels the same about Cruz and Texas. “We’re a dynamic, diverse, growing state. We are not a small, scared state,” Allred said. “And that’s what I think Ted Cruz kind of represents us as: All the things that we should be afraid of, all the people that we should be worried about, instead of seeing our diversity as a strength.” It’s just a matter of time before Texas’ politics catch up to better reflect its people, he added: “And I think it’s going to be in this election.” ▼ CITY HALL THEY’RE BAAAAACK SCOOTERS HAVE RETURNED TO BIG D. IS THAT A GOOD THING? BY SIMONE CARTER E lectric scooters had a rough go in Dallas following their 2018 introduc- tion. The “micro-mobility” options pissed off plenty and led to a spike in hospi- talizations. So in 2020, the two-wheeled vehicles were yanked from the streets. Critics pointed to cluttered sidewalks and argued that the devices posed safety concerns. Well, now the e-scooters are back, and proponents hope they’re here to stay. Dallas’ Shared Dockless Vehicle Program officially returned on May 31 following a soft launch the week before. This time around, local leaders have updated restrictions and rules for a (hopefully) improved experience. But not everyone is a fan. On May 31, then-Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Omar Narvaez discussed local scooter his- tory during the program’s official relaunch. “It was pretty scary. We had scooters all over the place,” he told reporters, according to KERA. “They looked like litter, and they were in trees. They were cut in half. They were thrown in rivers. And that was a prob- lem.” Still, some research indicates that certain residents want them back. Nearly 40% of respondents who took a Downtown Dallas Inc. survey last summer said they prefer to scooter, bike or walk around downtown, said Jennifer Scripps, DDI’s president and CEO. That number rep- resents a 21% increase compared with a sur- vey conducted four years earlier. “They are a much-needed transportation alternative within our thriving Downtown community,” Scripps told the Observer via email. Yet naysayers have noted that scooters present a safety hazard. From 2014 to 2018, e-scooter-related hos- pital admissions for people ages 18 to 34 spiked by 354%, according to one JAMA Sur- gery study. And Baylor Scott & White counted $1.4 million in hospital costs associated with the devices, WFAA reported in 2019. Scripps said DDI worked in tandem with the city on revised rental regulations that are aimed at protecting pedestrians and riders alike. There are fewer scooters on the streets this time around, too. Only three companies — Lime, Bird and Superpedestrian — can operate in Dallas. Certain areas, including some public spaces and parks, are considered no-ride and slow zones. The hours of operation for e-scooters run from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Dallas riders face a 20-mph speed limit and must be at least 16 years old. E-scooters and e-bikes have to be parked properly, such as in designated cor- rals. So far, there haven’t been “anywhere near” as many issues with the e-scooters and e-bikes downtown, Scripps said. Still, a pressing challenge remains: Some riders are driving the scooters on sidewalks. That’s both illegal and a safety risk. “We hope that with time, continued pub- lic education, and improved GPS features that limit riding in certain areas, more riders will move to the streets,” Scripps said. But the way Dan Murry sees it, e-scooters are more of a nuisance than a boon. As the co-owner of Ruins, a Deep Ellum club and restaurant, he views the program’s first iter- ation as an “unmitigated disaster.” He noticed mostly younger kids joy-rid- ing for fun, often on sidewalks. “If the … goal was to provide electronic playthings for children, then they’re suc- ceeding very well,” said Murry, who also co- owns Armoury D.E. “But if they’re trying to provide a simple mobility solution for adults, they’re failing miserably.” The last time scooters were around, they littered the area with “electronic trash,” Murry said. Dallas already isn’t exactly pedestrian- friendly, he added, and the slower-moving scooters don’t gel well with two-ton cars on roads. To Murry, it seems that the number of scooters dropped off around the city isn’t as high as before, particularly in Deep Ellum, and he isn’t confident that the e-scooters are here to stay, even with the new rules. “I obviously can’t see the future, so I don’t really know. But I hope that it becomes another failed experiment,” he said. “And hopefully they pull the plug on it before it’s just a complete disaster.” ▼ HOUSING NIMBY IS EVERYWHERE JOPPA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY PROJECT DENIED AFTER FACING OPPOSITION. BY JACOB VAUGHN D allas Area Habitat for Humanity wants to build an additional 30 af- fordable homes in Joppa, a freed- man’s town on the edge of Oak Cliff in southern Dallas established by freed slaves in the 1870s. Dallas County approved funds for Habitat for Humanity to build the homes, but one of the organization’s permits was denied by the Dallas Plan Commission recently after several people from the neigh- borhood spoke out against the project. Last month, Dallas County commission- ers approved $1.6 million for the construc- tion of a new street in the neighborhood along with the 30 affordable homes at 0% fi- nancing. The homes are intended to be made available to people making 80% of the area median income. As part of this project, the future homeowners would be required to volunteer more than 350 hours for Habi- tat for Humanity. Some of that time could be spent building their home. Those who qual- ify could also receive up to $10,000 in assis- tance to help cover the down payment. It all sounded good to members of the Commissioners Court, especially as North Texas faces an affordable housing shortage. But it didn’t sound like a good plan to some Joppa residents. Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity repre- sentatives appeared at the City Plan Com- mission meeting on July 6, hoping for approval of a permit to replat the land the new homes would be built on, but several neighborhood residents came out to oppose the project, saying it would overcrowd the neighborhood and disrupt its character. The land the homes would be built on is the site of an old football and baseball field that was connected to the now closed Me- lissa Pierce School. Community groups used to play sports on the site, but now it’s over- grown and surrounded by fencing with signs that say it’s private property. The former segregated public school was built in the 1950s and closed in 1968, accord- ing to Advocate Magazine. The school was eventually owned by Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity, and in 2021 it was deeded to a nonprofit organization called the Melissa Pierce Project to be turned into a multipur- pose center for the neighborhood. Yolander Thomas attended the school and played soft- ball on the now-dormant baseball field. She told the commissioners she opposed the project in Joppa because the neighborhood has so many other needs besides housing. It needs more infrastructure like sidewalks and paved streets, and the air quality needs to be improved after years of pollution, she said. Former resident Claudia Fowler also spoke against the Habitat for Humanity project. “They have gentrified our commu- nity,” Fowler told the commissioners, refer- ring to Habitat for Humanity. “What are they doing by giving us 30 more families who do not care about the history of our community? … They don’t deserve another 30 homes in Joppa.” Despite outcries by some from the neigh- borhood at the meeting, plan commissioners were ready to reluctantly approve the per- mit because the city attorney’s office said it was legally required to. The city attorney’s office said the com- mission had to approve the permit if it fol- lowed land-use requirements and if the platted lots conformed “in width, depth and area to the pattern already established in ad- jacent areas, having due regard for the char- acter of the area …” Several plan commissioners apologized to the Joppa residents who turned out to the meeting, saying their hands were tied. But Commissioner Melissa Kingston moved to deny the permit, saying it didn’t conform with the lot pattern adjacent to the site. Shalondria Galimore, president of the South Central Civic League Serving Joppa and founder of the Melissa Pierce Project, told the Observer she and others who spoke at the City Plan Commission meeting were ecstatic about the last-minute denial of the permit. They want the land to continue to be a green space for the community. “It doesn’t benefit the community,” Gal- imore said of the project. “We need to sta- bilize what we have,” she said. “Just continuing to pile families on top of fami- lies … creates more problems.” Not everyone opposes the project, how- ever. Temeckia Derrough, a Joppa resident, told the Observer last month that she was hopeful for the project. “I feel like [Dallas Area Habitat for Hu- manity] is revitalizing Joppa because when I moved there in 2006, it was a no man’s land down there,” she said. “The more residents we get to move into the Joppa community, we’ll have more people to fight and change the environment around our community.” Galimore said she and others were told Habitat for Humanity would likely continue pursuing the project. In a statement to the Observer, Bill Eubanks, the CEO of Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity, said the organi- zation plans to move forward with Unfair Park from p6 “That’s a nice cranium you got there. Be a shame if something happened to it.” From 2014 to 2018, e-scooter-related hospital admissions increased by 354%. Carly Mask >> p10
