Un-utterable: What Would A Depression Look Like In Dallas?
I hate to use the D-word, but after reading this article in The Boston Globe, I started thinking about a local application. Dallas has such strong job growth — as I discussed last night with Stewart Lytle and Karen Taylor. If we look at the history of The Great Depression, that could mean many people would migrate here to find work. Oh great, just what we need — more cars on the road. So let’s turn on the comments. Tell me what you think Dallas would be like if we were to have a Depression. I heard all about the Great Depression from my mother, who saved plastic lids and rubber bands until her dying day. I know doctors used newspapers as sterile drapes – does that mean we’d go to the Gyno and he’dcover us up with The Dallas Morning News? Or would it be The Dallas Fort Worth News Telegram? People mended clothes and wore them forever. Would J’s Tailor do more business than Neimans? Would the Dallas Blonde fade to the Dallas Brunette? Big hair to bangs and a bob? Would the McMansions on Park Lane and Beverly Drive be filled with three generations under one roof so much that HPV would start a Bingo night? Would everyone move in downtown, fill up those condos, and leave their cars to rust in Frisco? Your turn…�
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Candy, your comment about leaving the cars to rust in Frisco is probably not such a remote idea–all puns intended. The suburbs could become ghettos if the economy completely collapses. I would wager that the bulk of the foreclosures in any city are outside the core.
I’ve closely listened to this guy (you probably have too), Christopher B. Leinberger (http://www.brookings.edu/experts/leinbergerc.aspx), at The Brookings Institution. As commodity prices increase, the price of suburban living increases and convenience decreases. The vibrant city cores in Europe are practical in economic terms. Shared walls, mass transit and walking conserve energy–which translates into $$$.
Here’s a comment from Mr. Leinberger in a piece about Charlotte…
“First, I saw the beginning of the end of sprawl. Like much of the rest of the country, the over-production of automobile-driven suburban development at the fringe of your metropolitan area has reached its limits. The combination of outrageous commutes, high gas prices, and the increasing number of consumers preferring a walkable urban way of life have combined to end the geometric increase in land consumption.” http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2008/0329_charlotte_leinberger.aspx
Here’s what he says about Dallas…http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2008/0215_walkable_leinberger.aspx
Big D is headed in the right direction should the other D hit. This has already been a long post, but I think many Americans are ill-equipped for the other D.
Thanks for interesting article