Dallas
“This city is my city and I love it, yeah I love it.”
This City by Patrick Stump and Lupe Fiasco
March 30, 2018
Since this is a website devoted to moments of awe and inspiration, obviously I should add a post about one of my favorite places on Earth – my adopted hometown – Dallas, Texas!
I’m not sure when I first fell in love with Dallas. Perhaps, it was in 1978 when the original Dallas television show first aired. Today, as much as I despise the corruption and privilege depicted in the show, hearing that theme song and seeing the opening cityscape montage make me giddy. When I moved to Dallas in 2008, I wanted to be able to look out my window and see that view. So, judge me, if you want. However, I’m not the only person that loves the Dallas skyline. It was voted first place in the 2016 USA Today Readers Choice contest for Best International Skyline!
My view is just one of the reasons I love this city. There are many others. Here are my other top reasons.
1 The weather: I love the mild winters. Texas may be known for its heat, but the truth is Dallas has all four seasons—sometimes even in the same week! Typically, Dallas residents enjoy 234 sunny days per year and only 54 with measurable precipitation, which provides lots of time to do the activities that everyone loves to do outdoors. The climate lends itself to a wide variety of fun activities, both indoors and outdoors, in the city and out in nature, all year round.
2 Diversity: Dallas is truly a melting pot. It has an amazing cross-section of cultures from Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Asian, Latino and African-American, and many others. And, I love DIVERSITY! (See March 16, 2018 post)
3 Easy access to other US and international cities: You can fly almost anywhere non-stop from Dallas. I love to travel. I love experiencing new cultures, new sights, etc. And, I can get almost anywhere relatively easily from Dallas. As of January 2018, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) has service to 216 destinations, including 57 international and 159 domestic destinations within the U.S. Dallas Love Field, which is only 5 miles from where I live, is the corporate headquarters for Southwest Airlines. When the Wright Amendment ended on October 13, 2014, it meant that I could now fly non-stop almost anywhere in the U.S. on Southwest Airlines, and experience the low fares, no change and no bag fees!
4 My neighborhood: Living in a “livable” community is a big issue for me. According to Partners for Livable Communities, “livability” is the sum of the factors that add up to a community’s quality of life—including the built and natural environments, economic prosperity, social stability and equity, educational opportunity, and cultural, entertainment and recreation possibilities. The thing is, I can walk to almost any amenity. The walk score in my neighborhood in Dallas is 97 (www.walkscore.com), compared to 3 in my neighborhood in Purcell, Oklahoma. I can walk to the grocery store, retail, healthcare services, church, the Dallas Museum of Art, coffee shops, numerous parks, restaurants, and other services. I am less than ½ mile from one of my favorite restaurants, Moxies, which has my favorite appetizer, Mosiac Dip! Livable communities bring individuals a higher quality of life and also promote economic growth.
5 Oak Lawn United Methodist Church: I am a Christian, and my faith and Christian upbringing and beliefs are an important part of who I am today. However, my faith and Christianity have been questioned so many times by fundamentalist “friends,” that when I moved to Dallas, I “avoided” church. Plus, I was disgusted by the “hate speech” I heard from conservative evangelicals on television. But, I knew I missed the non-judgmental Christian love and guidance that had been so instrumental in my life. Call it divine intervention, but in June 2016, I found Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, a reconciling congregation that “welcomes people of all ages, races, backgrounds, abilities, economic circumstances, sexual orientations, and gender identities into the life and leadership of our church.” This church has restored my faith in Christianity … and humanity!
6 Parkland Health & Hospital System: In October 2007, I walked into Dr. Ron Anderson’s office to interview for the position of Director of the Injury Prevention Center of Greater Dallas as a favor to a friend. Dr. Anderson was the President and Chief Executive Officer, of Parkland. At that time, I knew of Parkland as the hospital where President John F. Kennedy was taken and later died in 1963. On a more personal level, it was the hospital where my father-in-law was taken for cutting-edge surgery in the 1980s. When I arrived for that interview, I considered it a courtesy to my friend. I was happy in my job in Oklahoma. When I left the interview, I knew that if offered the job, I would crawl to Dallas to accept it, if that was necessary. Parkland’s commitment to serving the underserved with dignity was so aligned with my core values, that I knew that this job was the portal to the next phase of my life. I accepted the job offer in November 2007, and moved to Dallas in January 2008. It has been one of the best decisions of my life.
Dallas is not perfect. But, this is a blog about moments of awe and inspiration, so I won’t elaborate on the negative here. I do know that there are many of my colleagues at Parkland who are working to create the Dallas that I love for all of our citizens.
It is likely that there will come a time in the future when I will have to leave Dallas. But, I will always consider it “my city,” and I will always I love it!
