Dallas has hosted plenty of events that draw national and international visitors, from men’s World Cup matches in 1994 to the 1984 Republican National Convention. And skimming through old news stories about local preparations for those events, we can confirm that, as a French tourist might say, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.”
Or, in English: The more things change, the more things stay the same.
Each major event brings a surge in civic insecurity and worries about our city’s reputation and appearance, along with a frenzy of beautification efforts. It’s frustrating that we don’t make that effort all the time, but it’s human. It’s like frantically tidying your house before your Thanksgiving guests arrive.
Still, there is more work to do.
The city of Dallas and Downtown Dallas Inc., a nonprofit that tries to make downtown safe, clean and vibrant, have been meeting for months to identify and fix problematic patches of streets and sidewalks. In some parts of downtown, those efforts have paid off. New saplings and flowers fill long-empty sidewalk planters. The Farmers Market and the Arts District are starting to feel like urban oases, with wide, smooth sidewalks, pleasant outdoor cafes, well-tended plazas and occasional shade.
But much of downtown’s historic heart still looks either desolate or dingy.
Around Dallas City Hall and the convention center, there’s too much concrete and asphalt — a perpetual problem — and too little shade. Too many property owners along Main, Commerce and Elm streets and Pacific Avenue have allowed layers of grime to accumulate on walls, windows and sidewalks. There are too many unpleasant odors, whether from garbage, marijuana or something else, that will only grow more pungent as the weather warms.
FIFA fans also will face the same pedestrian hazards that downtown residents and workers confront daily: sawed-off signposts and bolts sticking randomly out of sidewalks and reckless drivers barreling through red lights.
Shalissa Perry, chief experience officer at DDI, said its workers will do a final sweep of downtown before the World Cup to remove abandoned street repair signs and trip hazards. We encourage them not to wait; these obstacles are troublesome and unattractive now.
In an email, a Dallas Police Department spokesman wrote that officers will continue their current traffic enforcement regimen but did not specify any extra traffic safety efforts during the World Cup. The department’s resources will be stretched thin during the massive event, but we worry that visiting soccer fans may overestimate local drivers’ awareness of, or concern for, pedestrians. Heightened enforcement now might help motorists break their dangerous habits.
The World Cup gives city leaders and downtown property owners an extra incentive to address these perennial issues. We hope they seize the opportunity.
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