1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,800 Chad West: There's a finite amount of real estate. 2 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:05,790 I trust the real estate market a lot more than I trust the stock market here. 3 00:00:05,790 --> 00:00:06,960 I mean, here's the question. 4 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:11,700 Like we will add 5 million people to the DFW region in the next 10 years. 5 00:00:11,700 --> 00:00:14,130 Like, do we just have a highway going over downtown? 6 00:00:14,190 --> 00:00:15,870 Do we have a highway going over West Dallas? 7 00:00:15,870 --> 00:00:18,390 Like we would just bury everything in the highways. 8 00:00:18,390 --> 00:00:19,110 Just go above us. 9 00:00:19,290 --> 00:00:22,080 You're listening to Building Dallas by Arrington Roofing. 10 00:00:22,425 --> 00:00:27,345 When I was working on my lease with them, and he said, um, as a lawyer, 11 00:00:27,345 --> 00:00:28,485 he's like, you're gonna do fine. 12 00:00:28,485 --> 00:00:29,715 You'll, you'll make money. 13 00:00:29,715 --> 00:00:31,455 You might be happy, you might not. 14 00:00:31,515 --> 00:00:35,115 Uh, he said, but I will tell you, um, the people I know that are the 15 00:00:35,115 --> 00:00:38,415 happiest, um, they don't work that hard and they're not as stressed. 16 00:00:38,415 --> 00:00:39,525 They're in commercial real estate 17 00:00:41,114 --> 00:00:41,715 Chase: from sunrise commutes. 18 00:00:43,170 --> 00:00:48,150 To Stormy nights from tough builds to big ideas. 19 00:00:48,570 --> 00:00:50,820 We're shaping the future of North Texas. 20 00:00:51,330 --> 00:00:52,740 One story at a time. 21 00:00:53,160 --> 00:00:53,880 Welcome to 22 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:54,720 Reese Arrington: Building Dallas. 23 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:55,830 Hello. 24 00:00:55,830 --> 00:00:57,180 Welcome to building Dallas. 25 00:00:57,180 --> 00:00:58,230 My name's Reese Arrington. 26 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:00,390 Today I have Chad West. 27 00:01:00,540 --> 00:01:03,335 He's been an oak cliff for, uh, how long now, Chad, I've lived 28 00:01:03,335 --> 00:01:04,890 in Oak Cliff for about 16 years. 29 00:01:04,965 --> 00:01:05,295 Okay. 30 00:01:05,295 --> 00:01:06,285 16 years. 31 00:01:06,495 --> 00:01:07,785 He's from Southern Illinois. 32 00:01:07,785 --> 00:01:10,245 Attended Washington University in St. Louis. 33 00:01:10,485 --> 00:01:12,255 Became an army officer. 34 00:01:12,615 --> 00:01:13,845 Uh, went to Texas Tech. 35 00:01:14,235 --> 00:01:14,955 Go Red Raiders. 36 00:01:15,105 --> 00:01:15,735 Red Raider family. 37 00:01:15,765 --> 00:01:16,065 Oh yeah. 38 00:01:16,935 --> 00:01:21,345 And then started a boutique law firm in Dallas and then now is doing. 39 00:01:21,730 --> 00:01:23,830 Express car wash businesses. 40 00:01:24,250 --> 00:01:27,490 And you've been city council membership member in In district 41 00:01:27,490 --> 00:01:29,320 one for, it's been six years. 42 00:01:29,350 --> 00:01:29,620 Going 43 00:01:29,620 --> 00:01:30,220 Chad West: on six years. 44 00:01:30,220 --> 00:01:30,370 That's 45 00:01:30,370 --> 00:01:30,550 Reese Arrington: right. 46 00:01:30,550 --> 00:01:31,150 Six years, yeah. 47 00:01:31,150 --> 00:01:34,900 So, wow, man, you have, uh, quite the resume. 48 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:35,170 Yeah. 49 00:01:35,170 --> 00:01:35,830 I tell people I'm 50 00:01:35,830 --> 00:01:38,080 Chad West: a recovering lawyer now, so I always recovering. 51 00:01:38,170 --> 00:01:40,420 I practice law for most of the time. 52 00:01:40,420 --> 00:01:43,780 I've lived in Oak Cliff actually a little bit before that and 53 00:01:43,810 --> 00:01:46,900 realized after that I started getting into commercial real estate. 54 00:01:46,900 --> 00:01:50,330 And on the development side, on the car washes, and then also 55 00:01:50,330 --> 00:01:51,949 owner operating side of it. 56 00:01:51,949 --> 00:01:53,270 So we two arms, you know. 57 00:01:53,300 --> 00:01:53,600 Okay. 58 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:58,160 And, uh, and it's, it quickly consumed all my free time that the 59 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,140 city and, and my kids don't consume. 60 00:02:00,199 --> 00:02:00,590 Reese Arrington: Gotcha. 61 00:02:00,590 --> 00:02:00,949 For the most part. 62 00:02:00,949 --> 00:02:03,725 So, so you were, so it kind of happened not. 63 00:02:04,330 --> 00:02:05,500 On a quick trade off. 64 00:02:05,500 --> 00:02:10,090 You were doing the law thing and then you just had an opportunity to 65 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:12,370 sneak into the car wash business. 66 00:02:12,370 --> 00:02:12,550 That's, yeah. 67 00:02:13,155 --> 00:02:17,440 Chad West: It, it, it really started off with, um, some adaptive reuse projects 68 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:19,450 in our neighborhood in North Oak Cliff. 69 00:02:19,540 --> 00:02:22,210 Uh, I, uh, kind of fell into it. 70 00:02:22,210 --> 00:02:26,050 My, uh, guy was renting from was a real big real estate developer 71 00:02:26,050 --> 00:02:27,610 named Mark Miranda, who passed away. 72 00:02:28,175 --> 00:02:31,715 Business partners with Craig Shingle, uh, who lives in the neighborhood or 73 00:02:31,715 --> 00:02:33,395 is has a office in the neighborhood. 74 00:02:33,815 --> 00:02:38,135 And when I, uh, started my law firm to hang out with my shingle, you know, I was 75 00:02:38,135 --> 00:02:43,445 a baby lawyer, I found these guys and, uh, and wanted to rent from Mark and he sat 76 00:02:43,445 --> 00:02:48,425 down and talked to me when I was working on my lease with them, and he said. 77 00:02:48,945 --> 00:02:51,435 Um, as a lawyer, he's like, you're gonna do fine. 78 00:02:51,435 --> 00:02:52,665 You'll, you'll make money. 79 00:02:52,665 --> 00:02:54,405 You might be happy, you might not. 80 00:02:54,465 --> 00:02:58,065 Uh, he said, but I will tell you, um, the people I know that are the 81 00:02:58,065 --> 00:03:01,365 happiest, um, they don't work that hard and they're not as stressed. 82 00:03:01,365 --> 00:03:04,545 They're in commercial real estate, and, and he said, I'll teach you 83 00:03:04,545 --> 00:03:06,105 about triple net and how that works. 84 00:03:06,105 --> 00:03:06,945 If you ever wanna like. 85 00:03:07,424 --> 00:03:08,475 Sit down with me and do it. 86 00:03:08,535 --> 00:03:12,285 And I was kind of scared at the time because all I had were two 87 00:03:12,734 --> 00:03:16,875 residential rental properties and I had horrendous tenants. 88 00:03:17,055 --> 00:03:19,845 I had, it was partly my fault 'cause I didn't screen 'em right. 89 00:03:19,905 --> 00:03:20,549 And mm-hmm. 90 00:03:20,650 --> 00:03:24,255 Uh, it was constantly just drama all the time and they, and I would. 91 00:03:24,300 --> 00:03:25,440 One was in Lubbock. 92 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,130 I left my old house in Lubbock when I lived there for law school, and the other 93 00:03:29,130 --> 00:03:30,780 was back in my hometown in Illinois. 94 00:03:31,140 --> 00:03:35,160 And I was losing money on both properties, having handyman out there all the time. 95 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:38,310 And I'm like, you know, I don't wanna be in the real estate business. 96 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:39,810 It's, it's, it sounds awful. 97 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:40,200 Yeah. 98 00:03:40,260 --> 00:03:41,010 And he said. 99 00:03:41,445 --> 00:03:43,515 He's like, just talk to me when you're ready to talk to me. 100 00:03:43,515 --> 00:03:48,345 And over the next year we, we talked, and the first building I 101 00:03:48,345 --> 00:03:53,685 bought in Oak Cliff was the 900 West Davis Building, which is now, uh, 102 00:03:53,685 --> 00:03:55,365 it was my law firm for many years. 103 00:03:55,425 --> 00:03:55,815 Okay. 104 00:03:55,815 --> 00:03:58,455 And, uh, we, we went through an adaptive reuse of it. 105 00:03:58,455 --> 00:04:00,765 It was all boarded up, you know, you know what it is? 106 00:04:00,765 --> 00:04:04,665 It's, uh, just down from Bebe Bop on that triangle by Starkey's Garage. 107 00:04:05,130 --> 00:04:06,180 Oh yeah. 108 00:04:06,275 --> 00:04:06,565 Yeah. 109 00:04:06,570 --> 00:04:07,320 Oh wow. 110 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:08,100 One story. 111 00:04:08,100 --> 00:04:12,210 It's like a, an old, um, I think originally it was a gas station at Texaco. 112 00:04:12,510 --> 00:04:12,600 Wait, 113 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:12,885 Unknown: yeah, yeah, 114 00:04:12,885 --> 00:04:13,530 Chad West: yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 115 00:04:13,530 --> 00:04:14,310 That was my first building. 116 00:04:14,310 --> 00:04:18,390 We took off the side panels not knowing what was underneath them. 117 00:04:18,390 --> 00:04:18,525 Oh my gosh. 118 00:04:18,525 --> 00:04:22,800 And we found that gorgeous brick that we didn't really have to do anything with. 119 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:24,180 It had been protected all these years. 120 00:04:24,575 --> 00:04:28,140 There was brick inside that we did do some restoration on. 121 00:04:28,435 --> 00:04:30,535 And, uh, and then, you know, fix it up. 122 00:04:30,535 --> 00:04:31,975 And we were all kinds of problems, you know, when you 123 00:04:31,975 --> 00:04:33,175 dig into these old buildings. 124 00:04:33,205 --> 00:04:33,325 Mm-hmm. 125 00:04:33,595 --> 00:04:37,225 But, um, that was my first building and then I had several after that. 126 00:04:37,765 --> 00:04:40,825 Eventually I got into a car wash deal. 127 00:04:40,825 --> 00:04:44,455 It was much more complicated financing, bigger deal. 128 00:04:44,545 --> 00:04:45,535 So, uh. 129 00:04:45,905 --> 00:04:48,515 We ended up, I ended up having to kind of focus on that. 130 00:04:48,515 --> 00:04:51,065 So I sold most of those, uh, smaller buildings. 131 00:04:51,125 --> 00:04:51,515 Reese Arrington: Okay. 132 00:04:51,515 --> 00:04:56,135 So is it true what you, what your mentor said about commercial real estate and 133 00:04:56,135 --> 00:04:58,175 are you as happy as you've ever been 134 00:04:58,985 --> 00:04:59,675 Chad West: owning property? 135 00:05:00,155 --> 00:05:04,205 Well, he was in his sixties when he said that, so I think he kind 136 00:05:04,205 --> 00:05:05,345 of worked out all the kinks. 137 00:05:05,345 --> 00:05:05,760 Sure, sure. 138 00:05:05,765 --> 00:05:08,915 You know, I'm still in the, uh, the, the baby phase uhhuh 139 00:05:08,915 --> 00:05:10,145 of getting into the business. 140 00:05:10,385 --> 00:05:11,375 I will say that. 141 00:05:12,195 --> 00:05:15,795 I trust the real estate market a lot more than I trust the stock market. 142 00:05:16,215 --> 00:05:16,245 Okay. 143 00:05:16,245 --> 00:05:17,055 Or the economy. 144 00:05:17,115 --> 00:05:20,835 And how, you know, soft money is, you know, like in banks. 145 00:05:20,985 --> 00:05:21,165 Mm-hmm. 146 00:05:21,465 --> 00:05:23,295 I see real estate as an asset. 147 00:05:24,225 --> 00:05:28,395 Another phrase I had heard is that, uh, there's a finite amount of real estate. 148 00:05:28,395 --> 00:05:28,995 No one's. 149 00:05:29,775 --> 00:05:30,585 Creating more. 150 00:05:30,585 --> 00:05:32,114 It's what you've got is what you got. 151 00:05:32,114 --> 00:05:32,205 Mm-hmm. 152 00:05:32,445 --> 00:05:34,335 So the value over time is always gonna go up. 153 00:05:34,395 --> 00:05:34,484 Mm-hmm. 154 00:05:34,784 --> 00:05:36,974 And I just never had that kind of trust in the market. 155 00:05:36,974 --> 00:05:39,435 So I feel safer putting my investments in real estate. 156 00:05:39,585 --> 00:05:41,745 Reese Arrington: So we have, you know, times when we have 157 00:05:41,745 --> 00:05:43,125 these bubbles and they burst. 158 00:05:43,215 --> 00:05:43,455 Yeah. 159 00:05:43,455 --> 00:05:43,695 Right. 160 00:05:43,935 --> 00:05:45,405 I mean, so do you think that. 161 00:05:45,925 --> 00:05:49,465 Your, your position is that just over time it's all gonna level out and it's 162 00:05:49,465 --> 00:05:53,185 gonna keep increasing, um, and you're gonna stick through any type of, you 163 00:05:53,185 --> 00:05:55,075 know, fallout that there might be. 164 00:05:55,465 --> 00:05:56,995 Um, is that kind of what, what you're saying? 165 00:05:56,995 --> 00:06:00,595 I mean, um, or is it just that the market in Dallas is just so good and 166 00:06:00,595 --> 00:06:06,025 so uh, so much, so high in demand that you just don't see it going south? 167 00:06:06,115 --> 00:06:07,285 Chad West: Uh, I would. 168 00:06:07,310 --> 00:06:09,890 Say like just the model I feel comfortable with. 169 00:06:09,890 --> 00:06:09,980 Mm-hmm. 170 00:06:10,220 --> 00:06:14,540 As a, you know, when I was an entry level investor who hardly had any money, 171 00:06:14,570 --> 00:06:19,280 and I was just trying to get into it, is to buy cheap in an area that you 172 00:06:19,280 --> 00:06:22,610 believe you bet on is gonna in increase. 173 00:06:22,820 --> 00:06:22,910 Right. 174 00:06:22,970 --> 00:06:26,030 And you put the work into it to, to fix it up. 175 00:06:26,315 --> 00:06:30,305 Um, so the adaptive reuse concept restoration, and then find the 176 00:06:30,305 --> 00:06:31,175 right tenant to go in there. 177 00:06:31,175 --> 00:06:34,385 It worked for me initially in my first building was, I think 178 00:06:34,385 --> 00:06:36,935 I owned it two and a half years before I tried to do a second one. 179 00:06:37,505 --> 00:06:37,955 Okay. 180 00:06:38,044 --> 00:06:40,985 And, uh, it worked for me 'cause I was the owner occupant. 181 00:06:41,044 --> 00:06:45,935 I was already paying, you know, like 3,500 a month or something in rent and 182 00:06:45,935 --> 00:06:48,275 utilities and all that to mark, uh. 183 00:06:48,550 --> 00:06:53,830 I could shift most of that cost over to my, uh, mortgage to pay for my building. 184 00:06:53,830 --> 00:06:58,810 So the numbers really worked for me to, to be a owner occupant and to, to 185 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,990 put value into that asset as opposed to paying rent to somebody else. 186 00:07:02,020 --> 00:07:02,230 Yeah. 187 00:07:02,530 --> 00:07:03,070 So you mentioned 188 00:07:03,070 --> 00:07:05,260 Reese Arrington: something net, net three earlier. 189 00:07:05,260 --> 00:07:06,100 Is that what you said? 190 00:07:06,100 --> 00:07:06,640 Triple net. 191 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:07,540 Triple net, yeah. 192 00:07:07,540 --> 00:07:07,690 Alright. 193 00:07:07,750 --> 00:07:08,260 I'm not. 194 00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:09,450 I'm not in real estate. 195 00:07:09,719 --> 00:07:13,109 So for everyone, you know, watching out there, that's not, you know, can 196 00:07:13,109 --> 00:07:15,030 you describe what that, what that is? 197 00:07:15,059 --> 00:07:15,419 Chad West: Yeah. 198 00:07:15,419 --> 00:07:19,710 No, it's, um, it's a, it's used in a lot of commercial real estate deals. 199 00:07:19,710 --> 00:07:23,849 So if you're a residential homeowner and you're renting out. 200 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:25,010 Your property, right? 201 00:07:25,010 --> 00:07:26,900 Then you just give the tenant one amount. 202 00:07:26,929 --> 00:07:29,599 Like, all right, tenant, you're gonna pay me $2,500 a month. 203 00:07:29,599 --> 00:07:32,060 The tenant goes and deals with their electrical and 204 00:07:32,060 --> 00:07:33,020 all that stuff on their own. 205 00:07:33,229 --> 00:07:37,700 But if the roof leaks, if something breaks, a pipe breaks, like the 206 00:07:37,700 --> 00:07:40,130 landlord's gotta come in and fix it, or his handyman, right? 207 00:07:40,130 --> 00:07:40,219 Mm-hmm. 208 00:07:40,364 --> 00:07:40,585 Um. 209 00:07:42,180 --> 00:07:43,050 Commercial property. 210 00:07:43,050 --> 00:07:47,910 What's different about that is most leases are written where the, 211 00:07:47,970 --> 00:07:51,150 uh, the insurance is paid for. 212 00:07:51,150 --> 00:07:54,540 The building is pa. The cost is passed along to the tenant uhhuh. 213 00:07:54,570 --> 00:07:59,190 The, um, the, uh, repairs and maintenance except for the roof, 214 00:07:59,190 --> 00:08:00,120 interestingly enough mm-hmm. 215 00:08:00,390 --> 00:08:01,680 Is passed along to the tenant. 216 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,500 Landlords typically under most leases, maintain. 217 00:08:05,025 --> 00:08:06,405 The responsibility for the roof. 218 00:08:06,405 --> 00:08:10,604 But everything else, if a pipe burst, if a window breaks, somebody shoots it out. 219 00:08:10,695 --> 00:08:10,875 Mm-hmm. 220 00:08:11,354 --> 00:08:14,985 Um, if there's flooding, a lot of times that falls on the tenant. 221 00:08:15,315 --> 00:08:17,115 And then the third thing is real estate taxes. 222 00:08:17,145 --> 00:08:21,164 If real estate taxes goes up on, on the house, you're renting to somebody. 223 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:22,680 You gotta eat that cost, right? 224 00:08:22,830 --> 00:08:24,030 Or raise the rent on your tenant. 225 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:26,100 However your lease is tracked. 226 00:08:26,100 --> 00:08:30,630 So if your real estate taxes go up $500 in the year, the tenant's gotta absorb. 227 00:08:30,630 --> 00:08:33,450 That kind of sucks to be a tenant in a lot of cases. 228 00:08:33,810 --> 00:08:35,880 Um, but if you've got the right building, they're willing to pay it. 229 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,240 'cause they're making so much more, you know, on, on, uh, their product 230 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:40,289 or whatever they're selling, right? 231 00:08:40,295 --> 00:08:40,375 Mm-hmm. 232 00:08:40,455 --> 00:08:40,534 Right. 233 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:41,775 But the beauty of that is. 234 00:08:42,209 --> 00:08:46,079 You're insulated as a landlord from a lot of the maintenance, 235 00:08:46,380 --> 00:08:48,569 uh, a lot of the cost escalations. 236 00:08:48,810 --> 00:08:52,469 Um, it's, it's riskier for tenants in the commercial world versus it's also 237 00:08:52,469 --> 00:08:54,060 easier to evict a commercial tenant. 238 00:08:54,060 --> 00:08:55,439 They don't have as many protections. 239 00:08:55,469 --> 00:08:55,560 Yeah. 240 00:08:55,709 --> 00:08:58,949 If they're a bad tenant, you know, as like a residential one has. 241 00:08:59,040 --> 00:08:59,160 Mm-hmm. 242 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:00,180 And, and for good reason. 243 00:09:00,180 --> 00:09:01,560 That's where someone lives, you know? 244 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:01,800 Right. 245 00:09:01,860 --> 00:09:02,520 No, of course. 246 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:02,670 Yeah. 247 00:09:02,670 --> 00:09:03,000 Someone 248 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:03,660 Reese Arrington: just works there. 249 00:09:04,050 --> 00:09:05,579 Well, then that makes me. 250 00:09:06,060 --> 00:09:11,460 Kinda understand why that guy said that being a commercial, uh, owner 251 00:09:11,460 --> 00:09:15,000 is a lot more, uh, less stressful, at least happier than lawyers. 252 00:09:15,540 --> 00:09:17,640 Yeah, he was, oh, he was talking about the lawyers. 253 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:19,470 Chad West: He was kinda talking about all, all professions. 254 00:09:19,470 --> 00:09:21,660 But he was specifically talking to me about a lawyer. 255 00:09:21,660 --> 00:09:25,830 He was like, yeah, my lawyer, all of the lawyers I know, uh, are, uh. 256 00:09:25,830 --> 00:09:27,500 You know, they're, they're, uh, miserable. 257 00:09:27,570 --> 00:09:28,755 They're kind of miserable. 258 00:09:28,755 --> 00:09:29,025 Yeah. 259 00:09:29,025 --> 00:09:31,665 And I, at that point, when he was talking to me, I was a baby lawyer. 260 00:09:31,665 --> 00:09:33,195 I was really happy. 261 00:09:33,195 --> 00:09:35,860 And most of my career I've been very happy as a lawyer, but mm-hmm. 262 00:09:36,105 --> 00:09:37,005 I didn't wanna do it. 263 00:09:37,305 --> 00:09:39,405 You know, you have to be a very special kind of person to 264 00:09:39,405 --> 00:09:40,245 wanna do it your whole Yeah. 265 00:09:40,485 --> 00:09:40,905 Career. 266 00:09:40,905 --> 00:09:43,215 You gotta just kind of love the fight if you're litigator. 267 00:09:43,215 --> 00:09:43,216 Mm-hmm. 268 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,815 Reese Arrington: So, okay, so now you've got the car washes, you've 269 00:09:46,815 --> 00:09:51,225 kind of moved on from all the, the small residences, everything, the 270 00:09:51,225 --> 00:09:52,485 commercial properties you have. 271 00:09:52,515 --> 00:09:52,605 Mm-hmm. 272 00:09:52,905 --> 00:09:55,140 So where, what's your kind of, you know. 273 00:09:55,685 --> 00:09:57,695 We like to talk about what's next in Dallas. 274 00:09:57,695 --> 00:10:00,275 You know what area we're in, west Dallas. 275 00:10:00,275 --> 00:10:02,435 There's a lot of development going on over here. 276 00:10:03,435 --> 00:10:05,805 You know, is this the next big spot in 277 00:10:05,805 --> 00:10:06,765 Chad West: Dallas, do you think? 278 00:10:06,770 --> 00:10:08,025 I, I feel like it's already here. 279 00:10:08,115 --> 00:10:08,235 Yeah. 280 00:10:08,235 --> 00:10:09,255 I mean, it's already here. 281 00:10:09,255 --> 00:10:13,785 I was just driving over to your, your studio and I, there's, there's 282 00:10:13,785 --> 00:10:15,435 always something new that's coming up. 283 00:10:15,435 --> 00:10:15,525 Mm-hmm. 284 00:10:15,765 --> 00:10:18,045 You know, I was coming along Commerce and I'm like, I don't remember 285 00:10:18,045 --> 00:10:19,035 that building being there before. 286 00:10:19,035 --> 00:10:19,185 Yeah. 287 00:10:19,245 --> 00:10:22,125 You know, it's, and it's, and then there's one that was kind of 288 00:10:22,125 --> 00:10:25,875 decrepit and not taken care of, and now it's beautiful with new windows 289 00:10:25,875 --> 00:10:27,194 and there's a mural on the side. 290 00:10:27,225 --> 00:10:27,314 Mm-hmm. 291 00:10:27,555 --> 00:10:28,785 Just down commerce a little bit. 292 00:10:29,145 --> 00:10:29,595 Um. 293 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:30,944 I, I feel like it's already here. 294 00:10:30,944 --> 00:10:33,675 I think like what's after West Dallas? 295 00:10:34,334 --> 00:10:37,155 I mean, I'm looking at Oak Cliff of course. 296 00:10:37,155 --> 00:10:37,214 Yeah. 297 00:10:37,214 --> 00:10:38,234 You know, you know it well. 298 00:10:38,234 --> 00:10:41,925 And um, we did as part of my role on city council. 299 00:10:41,984 --> 00:10:42,165 Yeah. 300 00:10:42,224 --> 00:10:44,925 Uh, the West Oak Cliff area plan. 301 00:10:44,925 --> 00:10:47,204 It took me three years, uh, to go through it. 302 00:10:47,204 --> 00:10:48,915 And we started during Covid, so that. 303 00:10:49,165 --> 00:10:50,185 It's part of the challenge, right? 304 00:10:50,185 --> 00:10:50,425 Yeah. 305 00:10:50,455 --> 00:10:52,525 Trying to get community engagement during Covid mm-hmm. 306 00:10:52,765 --> 00:10:53,725 Is pretty tough. 307 00:10:53,965 --> 00:11:00,505 And, um, we found a lot of little areas that have, um, uh, that they're 308 00:11:00,505 --> 00:11:04,555 like little neighborhood centers that used to be really alive back in the, 309 00:11:04,555 --> 00:11:06,895 uh, days of the streetcar back Oh. 310 00:11:06,895 --> 00:11:09,985 When Dallas had street cars back until they were ripped out in the forties. 311 00:11:10,465 --> 00:11:14,005 And, uh, those areas, some are still alive. 312 00:11:14,065 --> 00:11:15,445 Um, some are completely dead. 313 00:11:15,565 --> 00:11:17,845 And I think over time those little areas. 314 00:11:18,335 --> 00:11:19,115 Could come back really? 315 00:11:19,295 --> 00:11:22,475 You know, downtown Elmwood I see is really happening right now. 316 00:11:22,475 --> 00:11:23,975 There's property trading there. 317 00:11:24,275 --> 00:11:25,865 There's money in the bond too. 318 00:11:26,195 --> 00:11:26,375 Mm-hmm. 319 00:11:26,645 --> 00:11:28,985 To fix up their streets and make it a complete street. 320 00:11:29,195 --> 00:11:30,365 I'm excited for them. 321 00:11:30,485 --> 00:11:36,305 And we just did a study, um, on what I'm calling for now, far West Oak Cliff, which 322 00:11:36,305 --> 00:11:40,565 is the area of Pinnacle Park with the Walmart over there off 30 Cockrell Hill. 323 00:11:40,565 --> 00:11:40,955 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 324 00:11:40,985 --> 00:11:44,435 There's a 200 acre city owned park that no one's touched. 325 00:11:44,705 --> 00:11:45,575 That's over there. 326 00:11:45,605 --> 00:11:46,685 Um, and then. 327 00:11:47,445 --> 00:11:50,385 Hundreds and hundreds of acres that need infrastructure, and 328 00:11:50,385 --> 00:11:53,205 they've just been neglected, you know, for, since the fifties. 329 00:11:53,205 --> 00:11:54,135 I mean, so we're gonna work on that. 330 00:11:54,330 --> 00:11:56,145 I, I take 30 to get to Cocke Hill. 331 00:11:56,145 --> 00:11:58,815 Reese Arrington: I don't, I don't go through a cliff, you know, like through, 332 00:11:59,145 --> 00:12:00,975 uh, down Davis or anything because 333 00:12:00,975 --> 00:12:01,755 Chad West: it takes forever. 334 00:12:01,755 --> 00:12:02,715 The roads are messed up. 335 00:12:02,715 --> 00:12:03,375 The roads are, yeah. 336 00:12:03,375 --> 00:12:06,345 You're absolutely, you're gonna, you're gonna bust a tire, you know? 337 00:12:06,345 --> 00:12:06,435 Mm-hmm. 338 00:12:06,675 --> 00:12:07,755 I mean, there's, it's down 30. 339 00:12:07,845 --> 00:12:08,730 Reese Arrington: No, there's neighborhoods. 340 00:12:09,395 --> 00:12:12,005 Um, you know, over by Tom Thumb, right. 341 00:12:12,395 --> 00:12:15,395 That are, you know, really nice neighborhoods, you know, down 342 00:12:15,395 --> 00:12:19,895 Hampton, uh uh, or down Jefferson past fourth Avenue if you're going 343 00:12:19,895 --> 00:12:21,725 west Beautiful neighborhoods. 344 00:12:21,725 --> 00:12:22,084 That's right. 345 00:12:22,235 --> 00:12:25,564 You know, and it just seems like there's not, there's not enough retailers. 346 00:12:25,564 --> 00:12:26,225 Not enough. 347 00:12:26,500 --> 00:12:29,440 You know, we have some food deserts kind of here in the area in Oak Cliff. 348 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,350 It seems like, you know, I grew up having to drive all the way down 349 00:12:32,350 --> 00:12:36,310 to Tom Thumb, you know, um, so, you know, when we're developing this area, 350 00:12:36,310 --> 00:12:39,490 like, what, you know, what, what do you see as someone on city council? 351 00:12:39,490 --> 00:12:43,000 Like what, what are the plans to kind of solve those type of problems? 352 00:12:43,030 --> 00:12:45,970 Chad West: Well, um, the, for anybody who voted for the 353 00:12:45,970 --> 00:12:48,250 2024 bond, thank you for that. 354 00:12:48,250 --> 00:12:48,251 Mm-hmm. 355 00:12:48,315 --> 00:12:48,515 Okay. 356 00:12:48,515 --> 00:12:52,360 Uh, the bond was, uh, so if you voted in November, 2024, it was on there 357 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:53,860 at the very end, after all the other. 358 00:12:54,110 --> 00:12:55,220 National and state stuff. 359 00:12:55,670 --> 00:13:00,860 Uh, very important thing that has helped us as a city to bring in retailers has 360 00:13:00,860 --> 00:13:03,380 been, uh, the economic development piece. 361 00:13:03,410 --> 00:13:05,785 So we have sprouts coming to, uh, yeah, that's right. 362 00:13:05,785 --> 00:13:06,065 That's right. 363 00:13:06,070 --> 00:13:06,230 Yeah. 364 00:13:06,230 --> 00:13:07,970 It's gonna open in June, supposedly. 365 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:08,060 Okay. 366 00:13:08,060 --> 00:13:09,500 You know how construction delays work? 367 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:09,650 Yeah. 368 00:13:09,860 --> 00:13:15,200 Uh, but it's at the corner of Fort Worth Avenue and, uh, Hampton and that 369 00:13:15,290 --> 00:13:19,220 project would not have happened if we hadn't had economic development dollars. 370 00:13:19,430 --> 00:13:21,140 Really, uh, thanks to, um. 371 00:13:21,855 --> 00:13:24,045 Well, partially the 2024 bond. 372 00:13:24,045 --> 00:13:28,215 I mean, we pretty much used most of it to close that gap on the, uh, financing 373 00:13:28,215 --> 00:13:32,055 for Sprouts because construction costs went up over time and it just wasn't 374 00:13:32,055 --> 00:13:33,465 gonna meet the, meet the threshold. 375 00:13:33,584 --> 00:13:33,645 Yeah. 376 00:13:34,005 --> 00:13:36,225 Neighbors tell me overwhelmingly. 377 00:13:36,944 --> 00:13:40,275 Um, and it doesn't matter where they live in Oak, cliff, rich, poor, brown, 378 00:13:40,275 --> 00:13:43,605 black, white, um, they tell me they want more grocery store options. 379 00:13:43,875 --> 00:13:44,055 Yeah. 380 00:13:44,055 --> 00:13:45,765 And so we're working on it. 381 00:13:46,125 --> 00:13:49,845 What I'm hearing from the real estate professionals who do. 382 00:13:50,265 --> 00:13:55,574 Site selection for Central Market, HEB and some of these higher end grocers. 383 00:13:55,574 --> 00:13:58,155 And then the small places like, uh, trader Joe's mm-hmm. 384 00:13:58,395 --> 00:14:01,694 Is that we, we just don't have the density and the demographics yet. 385 00:14:01,905 --> 00:14:02,115 Okay. 386 00:14:02,505 --> 00:14:08,865 So, um, you know, there's, there's pros and cons with, uh, bringing in more like, 387 00:14:08,895 --> 00:14:13,755 you know, higher income demographics, the gentrification that comes along with that. 388 00:14:13,755 --> 00:14:16,545 And it's, it's a real issue in our neighborhood. 389 00:14:16,545 --> 00:14:17,475 It's a real challenge. 390 00:14:17,895 --> 00:14:18,435 Um. 391 00:14:19,030 --> 00:14:21,400 But on the density, that is something we can control. 392 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:24,250 And it's something that is welcome if you do it in the right places. 393 00:14:24,250 --> 00:14:29,260 And so along 35, that whole corridor over there, um, 35, 394 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,410 uh, uh, west of 35, south of 30. 395 00:14:32,740 --> 00:14:32,890 Mm-hmm. 396 00:14:33,130 --> 00:14:36,490 So if you think of Jefferson and Colorado, the Oak Farms development. 397 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,390 Um, what's over there that everybody would probably think of? 398 00:14:39,390 --> 00:14:42,510 There's a dart service station for trucks over there. 399 00:14:42,569 --> 00:14:42,720 Hmm. 400 00:14:42,900 --> 00:14:44,819 Um, basically where the zoo is that area? 401 00:14:44,819 --> 00:14:45,240 North? 402 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:45,360 Yes. 403 00:14:45,395 --> 00:14:46,050 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 404 00:14:46,050 --> 00:14:48,840 Where the zoo is north along the highway. 405 00:14:48,930 --> 00:14:49,020 Mm-hmm. 406 00:14:49,260 --> 00:14:51,840 There's no residences on the west side there. 407 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:54,480 It's, it's all like parking lots and car dealerships. 408 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:56,430 That's a perfect area for density. 409 00:14:56,730 --> 00:14:56,850 Yeah. 410 00:14:56,850 --> 00:14:58,620 Um, to bring in the hundreds and hundreds and. 411 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:00,510 Maybe thousands of new neighbors. 412 00:15:00,510 --> 00:15:03,780 We need to bring in more retail. 413 00:15:03,990 --> 00:15:06,840 Reese Arrington: And what about, what about all the big apartment complexes 414 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:11,310 they've put up, down, you know, Beckley Avenue, like just, just over here? 415 00:15:11,310 --> 00:15:15,150 I mean, is it, it's just not substantial enough to, to support, 416 00:15:15,210 --> 00:15:19,440 Chad West: it's, it's, it's not raising the amount of, um, numbers we need 417 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:21,090 to justify a larger grocery store. 418 00:15:21,090 --> 00:15:22,080 I mean, HEB. 419 00:15:22,515 --> 00:15:25,155 Owns, uh, at least that's what I'm being told. 420 00:15:25,214 --> 00:15:25,305 Mm-hmm. 421 00:15:25,545 --> 00:15:32,594 Uh, HEB owns the lot over by novel Bishop Arts, which is, uh, Zang and Davis. 422 00:15:32,625 --> 00:15:32,744 Mm-hmm. 423 00:15:33,074 --> 00:15:34,635 You know what I'm talking about, where the CVS is. 424 00:15:34,635 --> 00:15:35,685 The streetcar ends there. 425 00:15:35,689 --> 00:15:36,015 Yep, yep. 426 00:15:36,020 --> 00:15:36,375 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 427 00:15:36,375 --> 00:15:39,854 So if you think about where the streetcar ends, it's the north. 428 00:15:40,214 --> 00:15:40,905 East corner. 429 00:15:40,905 --> 00:15:43,935 There's that large apartment complex that's got coffee 430 00:15:43,935 --> 00:15:45,255 shop in it, it's called Novel. 431 00:15:45,525 --> 00:15:49,724 On the other side of that, just east of that down, Davis is a big vacant 432 00:15:49,724 --> 00:15:52,875 lot and HEB actually owns that. 433 00:15:53,265 --> 00:15:54,675 Um, we've met with them. 434 00:15:54,675 --> 00:15:56,415 We've tried to get them to do something with it. 435 00:15:57,074 --> 00:16:00,015 It's not on any plans right now to do construction there. 436 00:16:00,810 --> 00:16:04,770 At one point it was, they had told me we would be after the rebuild on the, 437 00:16:05,310 --> 00:16:07,410 on the McKinney site that they own. 438 00:16:07,415 --> 00:16:07,505 Mm-hmm. 439 00:16:07,585 --> 00:16:10,140 You know, they own the, the former Albertsons there. 440 00:16:10,620 --> 00:16:10,920 Okay. 441 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:11,430 Excuse me. 442 00:16:11,435 --> 00:16:11,465 Okay. 443 00:16:11,470 --> 00:16:12,420 On McKinney, uh. 444 00:16:13,140 --> 00:16:14,010 In West Village. 445 00:16:14,250 --> 00:16:14,370 Yep. 446 00:16:14,430 --> 00:16:17,640 And after that's built, we were supposedly next, but we're not 447 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:19,170 on any construction planes now. 448 00:16:19,170 --> 00:16:19,200 Okay. 449 00:16:19,980 --> 00:16:23,520 Um, but there's an opportunity, I mean, you have the ho the Oak Farms 450 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:27,270 development, which is over the right there looking at downtown, at the 451 00:16:27,270 --> 00:16:29,040 north northeast part of the district. 452 00:16:29,490 --> 00:16:31,890 Uh, there's a lot of land over by Methodist Hospital, 453 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:33,210 um, just east of Beckley. 454 00:16:33,630 --> 00:16:34,260 Um. 455 00:16:34,500 --> 00:16:37,980 And then, uh, there's, there's a couple of larger lots along 456 00:16:37,980 --> 00:16:39,720 Davis, just down by Encina. 457 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:42,720 You know, Rick Garza owns a, a great piece of property there. 458 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:42,780 Yeah. 459 00:16:42,780 --> 00:16:42,782 I would 460 00:16:42,787 --> 00:16:43,680 Reese Arrington: see Rick at the Veranda. 461 00:16:43,710 --> 00:16:44,220 Yeah. 462 00:16:44,220 --> 00:16:47,640 No, Rick, Rick is, uh, I saw him this morning actually at the, uh, 463 00:16:47,790 --> 00:16:49,350 Davis Street Coffee or whatever. 464 00:16:49,410 --> 00:16:50,790 Oh, Ty Typo. 465 00:16:50,790 --> 00:16:51,630 Is that what it's called? 466 00:16:51,630 --> 00:16:52,260 I, I forget. 467 00:16:52,290 --> 00:16:53,250 Chad West: David Typo. 468 00:16:53,250 --> 00:16:54,390 Is that Typo is the, is the building. 469 00:16:54,390 --> 00:16:55,920 Is the building and then it's Davis 470 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:56,730 Reese Arrington: Street Espresso. 471 00:16:56,790 --> 00:16:57,030 Chad West: Yeah. 472 00:16:57,210 --> 00:16:58,380 He goes That's his place. 473 00:16:58,380 --> 00:16:58,680 Yeah. 474 00:16:58,680 --> 00:16:59,175 He's there every morning. 475 00:16:59,255 --> 00:17:00,090 I see him there all the time. 476 00:17:00,330 --> 00:17:00,570 Reese Arrington: Yeah, I know. 477 00:17:00,570 --> 00:17:01,410 Hey Rick, if you're watching. 478 00:17:02,189 --> 00:17:02,730 That's so funny. 479 00:17:02,730 --> 00:17:04,170 Yeah, I, that place is always 480 00:17:04,170 --> 00:17:04,680 Chad West: so busy. 481 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:06,599 I can't, I mean, I'm happy for the owners. 482 00:17:06,599 --> 00:17:08,160 I can't get a seat when I go in there. 483 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:08,639 No, no. 484 00:17:08,639 --> 00:17:09,510 I had, it's packed and yeah, 485 00:17:09,569 --> 00:17:11,099 Reese Arrington: I met a buddy there this morning and it 486 00:17:11,099 --> 00:17:12,329 was, it was definitely packed. 487 00:17:12,329 --> 00:17:15,270 And I don't think they have wifi, which is like really kinda Oh, it's interesting. 488 00:17:15,420 --> 00:17:15,540 They 489 00:17:15,540 --> 00:17:17,520 Chad West: don't want you hanging out, but, but people still hanging out there. 490 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:18,180 Yeah. 491 00:17:18,180 --> 00:17:19,560 You can't, they can't get rid of, you can help it. 492 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:19,829 Yeah. 493 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:20,369 Reese Arrington: Yeah. 494 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:21,240 No, that's really cool. 495 00:17:21,420 --> 00:17:24,990 Um, well, so that's the one thing that, you know, if Dallas residents 496 00:17:24,990 --> 00:17:26,220 ask, Hey, where are my tax? 497 00:17:26,230 --> 00:17:27,130 Million dollars going. 498 00:17:27,130 --> 00:17:30,430 It's like, Hey, we're trying to bring in these, you know, grocery stores, 499 00:17:30,430 --> 00:17:34,480 et cetera, so that we can have, you know, easier access to food. 500 00:17:34,540 --> 00:17:34,840 Right. 501 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:36,760 That's like one, that's one thing that. 502 00:17:37,695 --> 00:17:39,585 You know, we're doing, is that kinda how, how it works? 503 00:17:39,585 --> 00:17:39,915 No, that's, 504 00:17:39,915 --> 00:17:40,935 Chad West: that's a fair statement. 505 00:17:40,995 --> 00:17:41,535 Um, yeah. 506 00:17:41,595 --> 00:17:45,435 Uh, so it's, it's a little bit different, um, pot of money when 507 00:17:45,435 --> 00:17:48,675 you talk about economic development incentives, in this case at least. 508 00:17:48,705 --> 00:17:48,795 Mm-hmm. 509 00:17:49,395 --> 00:17:50,265 It's bond dollar. 510 00:17:50,265 --> 00:17:55,365 So a bond's kind of like a responsible way to use a credit card, I guess, if 511 00:17:55,365 --> 00:17:58,035 there is a responsible way, it's like a responsible version of a credit card. 512 00:17:58,035 --> 00:18:01,755 We, we, uh, we, we, uh, we put a bond out. 513 00:18:01,755 --> 00:18:03,855 We raise most large cities, do this. 514 00:18:04,445 --> 00:18:08,435 Raise, you know, in this case, $1.25 billion, that money spent across the city 515 00:18:08,435 --> 00:18:13,325 on different things and then increase in, um, value, the value of land over time. 516 00:18:13,325 --> 00:18:19,085 Pays that back versus your, your average property tax dollar right now, um, 517 00:18:19,115 --> 00:18:21,095 goes to mostly pay for police and fire. 518 00:18:21,215 --> 00:18:24,005 You know, our largest bill in the city is, is public safety. 519 00:18:24,275 --> 00:18:24,755 Uh, sure. 520 00:18:24,755 --> 00:18:25,445 And, and. 521 00:18:25,455 --> 00:18:28,215 And it should be, it's a priority for our residents. 522 00:18:28,544 --> 00:18:31,185 Uh, pays for road repairs, stuff like that. 523 00:18:31,189 --> 00:18:31,419 Unknown: Mm-hmm. 524 00:18:31,504 --> 00:18:31,544 Mm-hmm. 525 00:18:32,054 --> 00:18:32,324 Reese Arrington: Okay. 526 00:18:32,655 --> 00:18:32,835 Yeah. 527 00:18:32,835 --> 00:18:34,034 Road repairs, infrastructure. 528 00:18:34,034 --> 00:18:36,044 I mean, those are the things that we care about. 529 00:18:36,044 --> 00:18:37,845 You know, every maintaining safety. 530 00:18:37,845 --> 00:18:38,385 Yes. 531 00:18:38,415 --> 00:18:38,925 Every 532 00:18:38,925 --> 00:18:39,855 Chad West: single. 533 00:18:40,425 --> 00:18:42,885 Year, um, for, for six years now. 534 00:18:42,885 --> 00:18:46,215 I've heard from our residents, and it's always been either public 535 00:18:46,215 --> 00:18:49,695 safety or streets and roads have been one and two in their priority. 536 00:18:49,755 --> 00:18:49,995 Oh, wow. 537 00:18:50,175 --> 00:18:53,385 And again, it does not matter what your race is. 538 00:18:53,390 --> 00:18:53,670 Right. 539 00:18:53,715 --> 00:18:55,335 Uh, what your income level is. 540 00:18:55,695 --> 00:18:56,775 Uh, people. 541 00:18:56,899 --> 00:18:57,950 All value. 542 00:18:58,010 --> 00:19:00,830 Uh, right now it's actually infrastructure is their number one priority. 543 00:19:00,830 --> 00:19:01,310 It's mm-hmm. 544 00:19:01,550 --> 00:19:04,430 Streets, sidewalks, and alleys, and then public safety. 545 00:19:04,430 --> 00:19:05,960 And then I believe it's parks after that. 546 00:19:06,170 --> 00:19:06,470 Reese Arrington: Yeah. 547 00:19:06,470 --> 00:19:09,500 I mean, and, and really, I mean, we do have a lot of parks here in Oak Cliff. 548 00:19:09,740 --> 00:19:09,980 Chad West: Oh, that's 549 00:19:09,980 --> 00:19:10,220 Reese Arrington: great. 550 00:19:10,220 --> 00:19:10,940 I mean, it's awesome. 551 00:19:10,940 --> 00:19:11,300 I love it. 552 00:19:11,300 --> 00:19:12,770 And so that probably it's like. 553 00:19:13,379 --> 00:19:15,720 You know, sometimes there's just trade-offs, you know, if 554 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:16,955 we wanna have density mm-hmm. 555 00:19:17,070 --> 00:19:19,169 We can't have the density we need if we have parks. 556 00:19:19,169 --> 00:19:21,929 But then who, who wants to get rid of all the parks that we have? 557 00:19:21,929 --> 00:19:26,310 I mean, I, I found out it's like, is it lit Cliff or there's a park 558 00:19:26,310 --> 00:19:29,909 up here that has a DISC golf course, it's called Founder's Park Founder. 559 00:19:29,909 --> 00:19:31,409 It's, yeah, founder's Park. 560 00:19:31,649 --> 00:19:33,360 And I had no idea it was there. 561 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:35,399 And all of a sudden I'm like, I love this place. 562 00:19:35,399 --> 00:19:36,030 This is awesome. 563 00:19:36,030 --> 00:19:38,100 You know, I still haven't played, uh, 564 00:19:38,129 --> 00:19:38,939 Chad West: disc golf there. 565 00:19:38,939 --> 00:19:39,720 I need to do that. 566 00:19:39,780 --> 00:19:41,520 Yeah, it's, and it's right there in our neighborhood. 567 00:19:41,625 --> 00:19:41,995 It's crazy. 568 00:19:41,995 --> 00:19:42,750 Yeah, it's right there. 569 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,800 We're actually going through a visioning statement right now. 570 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:46,370 Our visioning. 571 00:19:46,919 --> 00:19:50,879 Uh, uh, like in a collection of input right now for Lake 572 00:19:50,879 --> 00:19:51,929 Cliff and Founders Park. 573 00:19:52,020 --> 00:19:52,110 Mm-hmm. 574 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:55,770 We haven't put much money into it as a city in, in a long time. 575 00:19:55,770 --> 00:20:00,360 It's a, they're beautiful parks, but as we look 10, 15, 20 years down the 576 00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:04,169 road, um, we have to, um, we have to think about what's in the future. 577 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:04,500 Yeah. 578 00:20:04,500 --> 00:20:05,550 It needs to be dredged. 579 00:20:05,550 --> 00:20:09,030 That lake hasn't been dredged from all the silt and stuff in it for, I 580 00:20:09,030 --> 00:20:10,379 don't know when it's been a long time. 581 00:20:10,679 --> 00:20:12,959 There's some historical elements that need to be fixed up. 582 00:20:13,020 --> 00:20:16,320 And so, yeah, no, I mean, I would just say, you know, if I can put a 583 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:20,879 plugin for people who, uh, do care about the park to come to the city's 584 00:20:20,879 --> 00:20:25,620 website, um, come to my page as a, as their city council person, you can 585 00:20:25,620 --> 00:20:29,100 follow my, um, my biweekly newsletter. 586 00:20:29,310 --> 00:20:33,360 We send out survey things through that and, uh, request and so people can 587 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:36,660 actually provide input, uh, for us that we can take, take back and use it. 588 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:37,139 Reese Arrington: Yeah. 589 00:20:37,170 --> 00:20:37,620 Very cool. 590 00:20:37,620 --> 00:20:38,100 Very cool. 591 00:20:38,340 --> 00:20:41,010 So I wanna go back to kind of, you know. 592 00:20:41,140 --> 00:20:44,440 You left, you left the law firm, you got into the car wash business. 593 00:20:44,710 --> 00:20:44,800 Mm-hmm. 594 00:20:45,130 --> 00:20:47,560 And you joined city, you know, ran for city council. 595 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:50,200 I mean, what, what got you there? 596 00:20:50,230 --> 00:20:53,380 You know, what did you see in the current city council at the time that 597 00:20:53,380 --> 00:20:56,860 you thought, you know what I need to be on, I need to be a part of this? 598 00:20:56,980 --> 00:20:57,220 Chad West: Yeah. 599 00:20:57,220 --> 00:20:59,140 No, I mean, I think service has always been. 600 00:20:59,950 --> 00:21:02,800 Just a core value of mine, service to community. 601 00:21:03,130 --> 00:21:04,960 That's what drew me to the military. 602 00:21:05,020 --> 00:21:06,550 You know, I did military for four years, but I 603 00:21:06,550 --> 00:21:07,210 Reese Arrington: had no idea. 604 00:21:07,210 --> 00:21:07,660 You did? 605 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:07,960 Chad West: Yeah. 606 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:08,620 Reese Arrington: So that's awesome. 607 00:21:08,620 --> 00:21:09,370 Thanks for your service. 608 00:21:09,370 --> 00:21:09,640 Yeah, 609 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:10,270 Chad West: no, definitely. 610 00:21:10,270 --> 00:21:13,900 It's, uh, that was, uh, one of the best times of my life and, uh, the 611 00:21:13,900 --> 00:21:16,510 Army's what brought me down to Texas. 612 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,450 If it wasn't for the Army, I would never, would never even come to the state. 613 00:21:19,810 --> 00:21:24,610 And, uh, it really made me the person I am today, you know, 614 00:21:24,610 --> 00:21:25,960 my experience in the military. 615 00:21:26,620 --> 00:21:28,480 So, you know, it was already, already. 616 00:21:29,024 --> 00:21:33,735 Kind of ingrained in me, like to, to, to just have that intrinsic, you 617 00:21:33,735 --> 00:21:37,094 know, desire to, to just be part of something bigger than myself, right? 618 00:21:37,094 --> 00:21:37,425 Mm-hmm. 619 00:21:37,689 --> 00:21:43,665 And, um, when I, it was kind of a weird path, like when I, uh, when 620 00:21:43,665 --> 00:21:47,655 I, uh, first moved to Oak Cliff, um, I wanted to start meeting people. 621 00:21:47,655 --> 00:21:51,105 I wanted to, I, I also opened my law firm right after I moved to Oak Cliff. 622 00:21:51,415 --> 00:21:54,355 And, uh, I didn't, you know, I opened my law firm. 623 00:21:54,355 --> 00:21:58,645 I had no money, uh, because I'd, I'd left my big law firm job mm-hmm. 624 00:21:58,885 --> 00:22:01,285 And had every bit of dollars I made there. 625 00:22:01,285 --> 00:22:03,145 I'd paid off debt and all that stuff. 626 00:22:03,655 --> 00:22:07,495 And, uh, started my law firm with, uh, $10,000 in credit 627 00:22:07,495 --> 00:22:09,085 card debt and one client. 628 00:22:09,535 --> 00:22:10,195 And, uh. 629 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:14,110 And ended up like a lot of people in Oak Cliff, you know, it's a very 630 00:22:14,110 --> 00:22:16,690 entrepreneurial, uh, place to live. 631 00:22:16,780 --> 00:22:18,850 And that's one of the things I love about our neighborhood. 632 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:22,720 But I got involved in the Oak Cliff Chamber, uh, of commerce. 633 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:22,810 Mm-hmm. 634 00:22:23,050 --> 00:22:26,920 Which was a great move for me because we help each other entrepreneurs. 635 00:22:26,950 --> 00:22:27,880 Definitely support each other. 636 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:31,570 No, cliff, I mean, you guys used to be down at wax space for a while, right? 637 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:31,690 Mm-hmm. 638 00:22:31,930 --> 00:22:31,990 Yeah. 639 00:22:32,110 --> 00:22:35,830 And uh, you just know how many startups down there support each other. 640 00:22:35,830 --> 00:22:36,075 Oh my gosh. 641 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:36,100 Yeah. 642 00:22:36,100 --> 00:22:36,670 And help each other. 643 00:22:36,670 --> 00:22:37,240 That's very cool. 644 00:22:37,270 --> 00:22:41,470 Um, and then the second thing I did is I actually started the dash for the beads. 645 00:22:41,860 --> 00:22:42,340 You did? 646 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:43,150 I started that. 647 00:22:43,630 --> 00:22:44,140 Oh yeah. 648 00:22:44,140 --> 00:22:45,970 On a 15 years ago. 649 00:22:46,030 --> 00:22:50,050 Uh, uh, sitting at what used to be Jack's backyard down the street from 650 00:22:50,050 --> 00:22:52,210 here, which is now Henry's Majestic. 651 00:22:52,435 --> 00:22:53,125 Yeah. 652 00:22:53,185 --> 00:22:53,845 Isn't it now? 653 00:22:53,935 --> 00:22:54,145 Yeah. 654 00:22:54,145 --> 00:22:54,850 It used to be chicken 655 00:22:54,850 --> 00:22:56,050 Reese Arrington: scratch and foundry. 656 00:22:56,050 --> 00:22:56,330 Chicken scratch. 657 00:22:56,335 --> 00:22:57,175 Yeah, exactly. 658 00:22:57,175 --> 00:22:57,415 Yeah. 659 00:22:57,595 --> 00:22:57,775 So 660 00:22:57,775 --> 00:23:00,565 Chad West: it's gone through a few, it's kind of still looks the same as when it 661 00:23:00,565 --> 00:23:02,035 was Jack's backyard, to be honest, really. 662 00:23:02,035 --> 00:23:04,765 And, uh, uh, I mean the, the setup's still the same, but I 663 00:23:04,765 --> 00:23:05,995 was there with a buddy of mine. 664 00:23:05,995 --> 00:23:11,425 It was happy hour and we'd might have had a few cocktails and uh, and decided 665 00:23:11,485 --> 00:23:13,585 we needed to do a 5K in Oak Cliff. 666 00:23:13,675 --> 00:23:14,455 'cause there wasn't one. 667 00:23:14,895 --> 00:23:17,385 And it literally dash for the beads was created at that 668 00:23:17,385 --> 00:23:18,764 moment on the back of a napkin. 669 00:23:19,245 --> 00:23:24,584 And, um, you know, fortunately now more responsible people have taken it over. 670 00:23:24,584 --> 00:23:28,125 It's, it's a lot more successful than it was in those early years. 671 00:23:28,125 --> 00:23:34,365 But, uh, it was the combination of the chamber and the dash for the beads. 672 00:23:34,365 --> 00:23:36,705 I met a lot of people in the neighborhood and. 673 00:23:37,620 --> 00:23:40,200 Ended up meeting our former council member, uh, Scott Griggs. 674 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:40,680 Yeah. 675 00:23:40,710 --> 00:23:45,750 And, uh, worked with him on some chamber stuff and, uh, saw through his work 676 00:23:46,290 --> 00:23:50,970 just how much more you could do for the community, how your, your, your ability to 677 00:23:50,970 --> 00:23:53,520 serve, uh, could really be expanded upon. 678 00:23:53,550 --> 00:23:53,640 Mm-hmm. 679 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:55,470 I also love new urbanism. 680 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:59,040 I, I love activating as, as you know, from what I told you a 681 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:01,080 few minutes ago, I love seeing. 682 00:24:01,830 --> 00:24:03,600 Old spaces come back to life. 683 00:24:03,780 --> 00:24:04,200 Oh, yeah. 684 00:24:04,205 --> 00:24:05,970 And, and the preservation aspect too. 685 00:24:06,540 --> 00:24:12,570 And so through good planning, uh, and through good ordinances and good zoning, 686 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:14,790 um, how you can bring places back to life. 687 00:24:14,790 --> 00:24:18,030 And so that really was what inspired me to run early on. 688 00:24:18,270 --> 00:24:18,510 Yeah. 689 00:24:18,510 --> 00:24:18,811 I mean, I know 690 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,480 Reese Arrington: you were just at, um, what Tyler Street Station 691 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:24,810 LA a couple weeks ago doing, doing another podcast, right? 692 00:24:24,815 --> 00:24:25,075 Yeah. 693 00:24:25,075 --> 00:24:26,955 I was cheating on you guys with the bars. 694 00:24:26,955 --> 00:24:30,060 I know on the, you just talked about wax space and um. 695 00:24:30,300 --> 00:24:33,419 I mean, it's just, it's, it's so cool when you go to that, that area and Oak 696 00:24:33,419 --> 00:24:35,580 Cliff has so many of these old buildings. 697 00:24:35,610 --> 00:24:38,970 I mean, you've got, you know, even Gloria's is an old firehouse. 698 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:39,419 Oh, that's awesome. 699 00:24:39,419 --> 00:24:41,760 They turned into a restaurant that's really awesome. 700 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,250 You have all Bishop Arts and we know what, you know, Jim 701 00:24:44,250 --> 00:24:45,659 Lake, Dave Spence do over there. 702 00:24:45,899 --> 00:24:49,139 So there's so much rich history in Dallas, especially around bishop arts. 703 00:24:49,169 --> 00:24:49,740 People love it. 704 00:24:49,740 --> 00:24:49,919 They 705 00:24:49,919 --> 00:24:51,149 Chad West: love coming to see. 706 00:24:51,750 --> 00:24:55,290 You can't recreate something like that and make, make it feel authentic. 707 00:24:55,290 --> 00:24:56,970 It's got to be organic. 708 00:24:57,030 --> 00:24:57,210 Mm-hmm. 709 00:24:57,480 --> 00:24:59,580 And that's how Bishop Arts became what it is. 710 00:24:59,580 --> 00:25:04,290 And Jefferson, I mean, has been, um, a lot of it's been maintained really well. 711 00:25:04,290 --> 00:25:07,740 And, and there's, there's, it's such a vibrancy there as well. 712 00:25:07,740 --> 00:25:07,741 Mm-hmm. 713 00:25:07,860 --> 00:25:09,030 You know, both Jefferson and Bishop 714 00:25:09,030 --> 00:25:09,210 Reese Arrington: Arts. 715 00:25:09,210 --> 00:25:09,450 Yeah. 716 00:25:09,510 --> 00:25:10,725 And, you know, there's this blend. 717 00:25:10,725 --> 00:25:12,030 I mean, we have the new stuff. 718 00:25:12,090 --> 00:25:12,210 Yeah. 719 00:25:12,210 --> 00:25:12,390 Right. 720 00:25:12,870 --> 00:25:16,200 Bishop Bar has some new stuff, but this blend of the old and the new and 721 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:17,940 people working together is really cool. 722 00:25:17,940 --> 00:25:22,695 I mean, um, and on top of that, I, I was at a. Chamber meeting, I may 723 00:25:22,695 --> 00:25:25,995 have been a little bit ago, but they were talking about bringing back 724 00:25:26,355 --> 00:25:28,905 some sort of train or accessibility. 725 00:25:28,905 --> 00:25:31,305 Did, do you know anything about that? 726 00:25:31,335 --> 00:25:36,645 It may have been some sort of, um, walk path or, or tram system for Oak Cliff. 727 00:25:37,035 --> 00:25:40,905 Yeah, it was, it had to do with, with Oak Cliff, I think it went around. 728 00:25:41,564 --> 00:25:44,595 Uh, Bishop, it went to Bishop Arch, maybe around it. 729 00:25:44,745 --> 00:25:45,615 Well, I don't know. 730 00:25:45,615 --> 00:25:46,875 You may be thinking about the 731 00:25:46,875 --> 00:25:49,274 Chad West: city's streetcar master plan. 732 00:25:49,455 --> 00:25:50,024 You maybe. 733 00:25:50,024 --> 00:25:50,385 So, yeah. 734 00:25:50,385 --> 00:25:56,534 So, um, we currently, we have a streetcar as you, you know, that goes from the Eddie 735 00:25:56,534 --> 00:25:58,425 Bernice Johnson Union Station mm-hmm. 736 00:25:59,054 --> 00:26:03,135 Downtown, and it comes into Oak Cliff and it stops at Bishop 737 00:26:03,135 --> 00:26:04,695 Arts at the corner of Davis. 738 00:26:04,695 --> 00:26:06,345 And, uh, uh, Zane. 739 00:26:06,639 --> 00:26:07,090 Right there. 740 00:26:07,179 --> 00:26:07,419 Yeah. 741 00:26:07,479 --> 00:26:10,600 And so it's, uh, there's a bunch of Alamo Manhattan apartments right there. 742 00:26:10,659 --> 00:26:14,949 Um, and you can get off and go into Bishop Arts or, you know, wherever you wanna go. 743 00:26:15,070 --> 00:26:15,159 Mm-hmm. 744 00:26:15,489 --> 00:26:21,070 Um, the streetcar master plan, uh, proposes to take the northern 745 00:26:21,219 --> 00:26:25,659 part around the convention center and go up through downtown. 746 00:26:25,659 --> 00:26:27,010 I don't know exactly where it's gonna go. 747 00:26:27,010 --> 00:26:27,040 Okay. 748 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:32,199 I think that's up for negotiation and then make some kind of meaningful connection. 749 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:35,740 To the M line trolley, which is in on McKinney. 750 00:26:35,890 --> 00:26:36,700 You know that, that troll? 751 00:26:37,060 --> 00:26:37,300 Oh yeah, yeah. 752 00:26:37,300 --> 00:26:37,330 Okay. 753 00:26:37,330 --> 00:26:42,460 Now those two lines are, the tracks are different, the train types are different, 754 00:26:42,790 --> 00:26:44,980 and neither one is gonna be changed. 755 00:26:45,010 --> 00:26:49,270 So they're gonna have to be, there's a, a, some kind of stop. 756 00:26:49,300 --> 00:26:49,870 Hmm. 757 00:26:49,990 --> 00:26:52,625 And where people don't mind getting off and hanging out 758 00:26:52,625 --> 00:26:53,980 for a minute to switch trains. 759 00:26:53,980 --> 00:26:54,070 Right. 760 00:26:54,100 --> 00:26:56,140 'cause otherwise it's gonna kind of suck if you think about it. 761 00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:56,380 Yeah. 762 00:26:56,410 --> 00:26:56,770 So they. 763 00:26:56,820 --> 00:26:59,370 It'll probably be something like, you know, Clyde Warren Park, 764 00:26:59,429 --> 00:27:03,179 uh, like a logical place to, to have them meet up the other end. 765 00:27:03,179 --> 00:27:03,929 On our end. 766 00:27:03,990 --> 00:27:09,689 Uh, the proposal is to go down Zang till you hit Jefferson, 767 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:11,159 hang a right and go to the zoo. 768 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:11,939 Okay. 769 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:12,899 Reese Arrington: That's, yeah. 770 00:27:12,899 --> 00:27:13,439 It's so interesting. 771 00:27:13,439 --> 00:27:15,330 I mean, you know, we, we look at. 772 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:17,240 I saw a map on Instagram the other day. 773 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:20,990 It's like the train systems in the United States versus train systems in Europe. 774 00:27:21,110 --> 00:27:21,200 Mm-hmm. 775 00:27:21,439 --> 00:27:24,679 And I mean, it's, it's incomparable, you know, we're massive and we 776 00:27:24,679 --> 00:27:26,870 developed so fast and it was hard. 777 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:30,470 You know, it's hard to retroactively create those, connect 778 00:27:30,500 --> 00:27:31,970 that connectivity in a city. 779 00:27:31,970 --> 00:27:32,419 It's hard. 780 00:27:32,419 --> 00:27:35,720 I mean, and so, and so, it's interesting to see, okay, here's the problems 781 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:39,649 we're facing, which is, well, this area of town developed tracks like 782 00:27:39,649 --> 00:27:42,800 this and this area developed 'em this way, and now they just don't. 783 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:44,110 It'll match up. 784 00:27:44,110 --> 00:27:48,070 So it's interesting to see what we're up against and the dreams that, you 785 00:27:48,070 --> 00:27:51,400 know, people, citizens might have and even the council members might have 786 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:53,230 and, and what kind of gets in their way. 787 00:27:53,530 --> 00:27:53,560 Uh, 788 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:53,740 Chad West: yeah. 789 00:27:53,740 --> 00:27:58,120 No, I mean, we're a city that was, um, we had amazing public 790 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:01,000 transit back until the 1940s. 791 00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:01,210 Mm-hmm. 792 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:02,680 It was privately run. 793 00:28:02,885 --> 00:28:06,400 Interestingly, our bus lines and our, our streetcar lines were privately run. 794 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:11,180 I have a map in my house, um, that I. I had printed, and you can get it online 795 00:28:11,180 --> 00:28:12,890 and it's, it's the old streetcar map. 796 00:28:12,980 --> 00:28:14,720 Uh, it's, it's really awesome. 797 00:28:15,170 --> 00:28:16,310 Those were all ripped up. 798 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:20,240 And of course, as you know, like, uh, you know, we are a very car-centric city now. 799 00:28:20,270 --> 00:28:20,570 Yeah. 800 00:28:20,570 --> 00:28:25,670 And so it's, we're designed by, by people who are engineers who wanna 801 00:28:25,670 --> 00:28:27,110 move cars as fast as possible. 802 00:28:27,260 --> 00:28:27,350 Mm-hmm. 803 00:28:27,470 --> 00:28:30,470 And most of the engineers in the county and in the city, 804 00:28:30,740 --> 00:28:32,090 you know, they're great people. 805 00:28:32,090 --> 00:28:32,780 Very smart. 806 00:28:32,780 --> 00:28:36,440 They have that focus on moving cars as fast as possible. 807 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:36,530 Right. 808 00:28:37,770 --> 00:28:42,090 To the detriment of cyclists, pedestrians, other kinds of people. 809 00:28:42,090 --> 00:28:47,460 So any win we can get with, um, with, uh, streetcar, uh, public 810 00:28:47,460 --> 00:28:48,570 transit, we gotta take it. 811 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:52,140 You know, it's, it's, parking reform is a big thing, which we could go 812 00:28:52,140 --> 00:28:54,210 into that on its own podcast probably. 813 00:28:54,210 --> 00:28:57,990 But yeah, it's, uh, we open, I open that actually, uh, back 814 00:28:58,020 --> 00:29:00,390 in August of 2019 because. 815 00:29:00,995 --> 00:29:07,325 The, the fact that we are such a car-centric society, um, has 816 00:29:07,325 --> 00:29:10,055 driven us to create all these parking spaces everywhere, which 817 00:29:10,055 --> 00:29:11,670 just perpetuates the problem. 818 00:29:11,670 --> 00:29:11,830 Yeah. 819 00:29:11,830 --> 00:29:12,875 The driving mentality. 820 00:29:12,875 --> 00:29:12,935 Yeah. 821 00:29:13,205 --> 00:29:16,145 And parking is so expensive to. 822 00:29:16,265 --> 00:29:18,575 To, to be able to, to provide that. 823 00:29:18,575 --> 00:29:22,775 It drives up the cost of housing, which is a problem that we're facing in the city. 824 00:29:23,105 --> 00:29:27,365 Um, and it help, it prevents small businesses in a lot of cases from opening. 825 00:29:27,365 --> 00:29:30,125 I have, I've had two coffee shops in downtown Elmwood 826 00:29:30,425 --> 00:29:32,225 that couldn't open despite. 827 00:29:32,355 --> 00:29:35,535 Ample street parking because they didn't have the parking spaces 828 00:29:35,775 --> 00:29:38,715 in their 1920s houses that they wanted to open the coffee shops in. 829 00:29:38,895 --> 00:29:39,105 Wow. 830 00:29:39,135 --> 00:29:41,625 So it's, it's hurting our small businesses doing this. 831 00:29:41,625 --> 00:29:45,255 So, parking reform right now as we film this is at the plan commission, 832 00:29:45,705 --> 00:29:49,845 and it will be coming to city Council, hopefully, hopefully next month. 833 00:29:49,875 --> 00:29:50,205 Reese Arrington: Yeah. 834 00:29:50,265 --> 00:29:53,410 So if we want any type of change, there's gonna be some sort of. 835 00:29:53,885 --> 00:29:55,895 Growing pain's gonna come with that. 836 00:29:55,985 --> 00:29:56,795 Chad West: It's very hard. 837 00:29:56,795 --> 00:29:57,514 Change is hard. 838 00:29:57,545 --> 00:29:57,605 Yeah. 839 00:29:57,605 --> 00:30:00,095 We're cities are built to resist change. 840 00:30:00,095 --> 00:30:00,185 Mm-hmm. 841 00:30:00,425 --> 00:30:03,065 Which in some ways is good because you don't wanna do 842 00:30:03,065 --> 00:30:04,565 something fast and reckless. 843 00:30:04,565 --> 00:30:04,925 Right. 844 00:30:05,195 --> 00:30:10,895 Um, but it's also mind blowing, like how hard it is to get a micro change. 845 00:30:11,165 --> 00:30:11,975 So then we really 846 00:30:11,975 --> 00:30:14,465 Reese Arrington: need, we need government, you know, people in 847 00:30:14,465 --> 00:30:17,405 government and people in the private sector to work together on some of 848 00:30:17,405 --> 00:30:19,055 these things to really make this happen. 849 00:30:19,445 --> 00:30:21,455 'cause I mean, you know, um. 850 00:30:22,245 --> 00:30:25,125 Like it's hard for someone like that wants to make coffee shop and 851 00:30:25,125 --> 00:30:26,326 they can't get the parking for it. 852 00:30:26,331 --> 00:30:26,580 Mm-hmm. 853 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:29,835 Um, for them to want to make that endeavor, especially if they're 854 00:30:29,835 --> 00:30:32,655 starting up something and don't have just endless amounts of capital. 855 00:30:32,925 --> 00:30:35,295 So it's kind of the more established business owners that 856 00:30:35,295 --> 00:30:38,865 need to come in to try to help make, you know, something happen. 857 00:30:38,865 --> 00:30:39,195 I mean. 858 00:30:40,185 --> 00:30:44,865 How are, are there ways for people to donate to these causes? 859 00:30:44,865 --> 00:30:48,795 I mean, I mean, you think this is a massive scale operations. 860 00:30:48,795 --> 00:30:49,155 I mean, 861 00:30:49,635 --> 00:30:51,915 Chad West: I think using parking reform as an example. 862 00:30:52,035 --> 00:30:52,185 Mm-hmm. 863 00:30:52,875 --> 00:30:57,705 Um, when somebody hears of an example of a, uh, you know, I spent. 864 00:30:58,649 --> 00:31:03,030 $50,000 trying to open my business, um, just getting my parking 865 00:31:03,030 --> 00:31:04,920 worked out at the permit office. 866 00:31:04,950 --> 00:31:09,330 Or you hear of someone saying, I tried to open a, uh, beauty salon 867 00:31:09,330 --> 00:31:12,840 and I didn't have the parking, so I, I couldn't do it in Oak Cliff. 868 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:13,860 I had to go to Plano. 869 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:15,450 You hear those kinds of stories Okay. 870 00:31:15,450 --> 00:31:16,560 Which are real stories. 871 00:31:16,710 --> 00:31:16,889 Yeah. 872 00:31:16,889 --> 00:31:17,340 Uh. 873 00:31:17,615 --> 00:31:20,764 Then you at this point, the best thing you can do is let your city 874 00:31:20,764 --> 00:31:25,625 council person know, or tell that person who's complaining to you 875 00:31:25,625 --> 00:31:27,545 or sharing you know, their story. 876 00:31:27,635 --> 00:31:27,725 Mm-hmm. 877 00:31:27,965 --> 00:31:32,165 To actually go share that story with the media or go to share that story 878 00:31:32,165 --> 00:31:36,185 with city council, like we need to hear that because a lot of decisions are 879 00:31:36,185 --> 00:31:40,385 made in a vacuum without talking to people, most council members and most. 880 00:31:40,775 --> 00:31:43,175 Commissioners that are making these decisions mm-hmm. 881 00:31:43,415 --> 00:31:47,615 Are not business owners, they're school teachers or, um, you know, 882 00:31:47,615 --> 00:31:52,295 they're, we have a, a, a cook on city council, we have lawyers and it's great 883 00:31:52,295 --> 00:31:53,825 people with great life experience. 884 00:31:54,185 --> 00:31:57,125 Um, but on this side of it, when you're talking real estate 885 00:31:57,185 --> 00:31:58,535 and zoning and planning, right. 886 00:31:58,865 --> 00:31:59,285 Um. 887 00:31:59,865 --> 00:32:01,605 They need to hear these real life stories. 888 00:32:01,815 --> 00:32:01,965 Mm-hmm. 889 00:32:02,565 --> 00:32:06,795 Reese Arrington: Because, yeah, I mean we, you know, we have a lot of preservation, 890 00:32:06,795 --> 00:32:11,115 you know, conservation historic districts in Dallas and especially in Oak Cliff. 891 00:32:11,385 --> 00:32:15,290 And we've done roofing work on a lot of properties and you know, I. 892 00:32:15,405 --> 00:32:18,795 You know, some of these things like, okay, I gotta, I gotta get a permit 893 00:32:18,795 --> 00:32:22,665 to change my internal fireplace that nobody even sees from the street. 894 00:32:22,665 --> 00:32:23,145 Or, you know, yeah. 895 00:32:23,385 --> 00:32:24,975 What kind of material do I have to use? 896 00:32:24,975 --> 00:32:29,295 So I'm sure the businesses have those same hurdles, which then deters, 897 00:32:29,805 --> 00:32:34,155 you know, these boutique shops that really have historically don't Cliff. 898 00:32:34,155 --> 00:32:36,345 Look at Bishop Bar, you know, Jefferson and places like this 899 00:32:36,345 --> 00:32:38,085 that have really made us unique. 900 00:32:38,205 --> 00:32:38,415 You know, 901 00:32:38,415 --> 00:32:40,665 Chad West: it's the hardest for, and it shouldn't be. 902 00:32:40,695 --> 00:32:42,495 It's the hardest in the permanent office. 903 00:32:42,905 --> 00:32:45,815 For the adaptive reuse projects, if you think about your projects 904 00:32:45,815 --> 00:32:50,585 that are like the old buildings versus a new build, right? 905 00:32:50,615 --> 00:32:52,685 It's always easier to do the new builds, right? 906 00:32:52,685 --> 00:32:56,225 I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, I'm assuming like, if it's like a, a new 907 00:32:56,225 --> 00:32:57,635 build, it should be pretty easy, right? 908 00:32:57,665 --> 00:32:57,965 Yeah. 909 00:32:58,055 --> 00:32:58,774 Reese Arrington: Right, right. 910 00:32:58,774 --> 00:33:03,785 I mean, it's, it's, it, it's keeping, keeping things looking the same, you 911 00:33:03,785 --> 00:33:06,395 know, that can be tough, but, but, um. 912 00:33:07,274 --> 00:33:11,834 I guess any, any type of going into, into the offices to get a 913 00:33:11,834 --> 00:33:13,875 permit can always just take time. 914 00:33:14,145 --> 00:33:15,014 You know, it just takes, it can always take 915 00:33:15,014 --> 00:33:15,465 Chad West: time. 916 00:33:15,465 --> 00:33:19,784 We need to do a better job of encouraging people to preserve what's there mm-hmm. 917 00:33:20,024 --> 00:33:23,715 And restore it versus rip it down and put up something new Right. 918 00:33:23,715 --> 00:33:24,675 When, whenever we can. 919 00:33:24,854 --> 00:33:25,155 Mm-hmm. 920 00:33:25,395 --> 00:33:27,014 So, so, so, so make it easier in the permit 921 00:33:27,014 --> 00:33:27,375 Reese Arrington: office. 922 00:33:27,405 --> 00:33:27,705 Right. 923 00:33:27,705 --> 00:33:28,004 Right. 924 00:33:28,004 --> 00:33:31,004 And I think that would encourage people to do that if it was. 925 00:33:31,530 --> 00:33:35,520 Easier and didn't take so long to get things approved. 926 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:35,940 Exactly. 927 00:33:35,940 --> 00:33:38,490 You know, and that's what's really been painful for us is like, 928 00:33:39,419 --> 00:33:43,284 oh my gosh, I, I've gotta file this permit and it's not gonna. 929 00:33:43,860 --> 00:33:47,370 Get back for four for, you know, four weeks, you know? 930 00:33:47,375 --> 00:33:47,909 Well, I need to hear 931 00:33:47,909 --> 00:33:49,020 Chad West: those kind of stories. 932 00:33:49,050 --> 00:33:51,060 City staff needs to hear those kinds of stories. 933 00:33:51,060 --> 00:33:55,350 Like it, it, you know, I did this in Mesquite or Fort Worth. 934 00:33:55,350 --> 00:33:55,440 Mm-hmm. 935 00:33:55,679 --> 00:34:00,090 And it took two weeks, exact same kind of project and it took four in Dallas. 936 00:34:00,090 --> 00:34:00,179 Right. 937 00:34:00,179 --> 00:34:01,020 If that's the case. 938 00:34:01,139 --> 00:34:01,350 Right. 939 00:34:01,350 --> 00:34:01,409 Yeah. 940 00:34:01,409 --> 00:34:02,940 We need to hear those stories in examples. 941 00:34:02,940 --> 00:34:03,149 Reese Arrington: Yeah. 942 00:34:03,179 --> 00:34:07,350 So another interesting thing on infrastructure that I saw is the I 3 45. 943 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:12,000 Uh, from, you know, coming down 75 through Deep El. 944 00:34:12,060 --> 00:34:15,659 Yeah, I mean, when I heard about this idea, I thought it was just insane, 945 00:34:15,900 --> 00:34:17,429 but like, I'm still thinking about it. 946 00:34:17,429 --> 00:34:18,630 I'm like, this is interesting. 947 00:34:18,630 --> 00:34:23,069 I mean, you know, it seems like there's a lot of, um, could be complications. 948 00:34:23,069 --> 00:34:27,150 There are a lot of trade offs, but can you tell people what this. 949 00:34:27,219 --> 00:34:29,379 Idea would be to take, take down the highway. 950 00:34:29,469 --> 00:34:31,839 Chad West: I mean, I think it's a, it's a dead issue now, really. 951 00:34:31,839 --> 00:34:34,989 We've got the federal, state, and local. 952 00:34:34,989 --> 00:34:39,189 Everyone's lined up on doing the trench idea what kind of like what 75 is, so, 953 00:34:39,580 --> 00:34:39,730 Chase: oh, gotcha. 954 00:34:39,790 --> 00:34:40,389 But I, I would 955 00:34:40,389 --> 00:34:41,290 Chad West: love to talk about it. 956 00:34:41,290 --> 00:34:43,779 'cause if it could ever come back to life, it would be it. 957 00:34:43,899 --> 00:34:45,100 I think it's the way to go. 958 00:34:45,219 --> 00:34:50,230 So first of all, you've gotta decide as, as a person, do you feel like. 959 00:34:50,884 --> 00:34:55,145 Expanding highways more in Dallas is going to help alleviate traffic, or is 960 00:34:55,145 --> 00:34:56,554 it just gonna encourage more traffic? 961 00:34:56,855 --> 00:34:56,915 Hmm. 962 00:34:57,065 --> 00:35:01,384 Um, my philosophy is if you look at our highways have been expanded 963 00:35:01,475 --> 00:35:06,995 in in recent decades, and, um, traffic's just getting worse. 964 00:35:07,085 --> 00:35:09,785 Like if you drive around the city on the weekends or. 965 00:35:10,410 --> 00:35:14,670 God forbid on during rush hour, uh, you're in traffic all the time. 966 00:35:14,730 --> 00:35:14,970 Yeah. 967 00:35:14,970 --> 00:35:16,560 You know, you're in traffic all the time. 968 00:35:16,740 --> 00:35:21,000 And expanding highways is just gonna add to more of it. 969 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:26,190 I think we need to, we need to be more creative about, well, I think you be more 970 00:35:26,190 --> 00:35:31,230 thoughtful about expanding highways just encourages people to live further out of 971 00:35:31,230 --> 00:35:34,350 the city and drive in to do things versus. 972 00:35:34,845 --> 00:35:39,375 Make it harder to do that and take back some of this space for our residents and 973 00:35:39,375 --> 00:35:42,075 build more housing and more opportunities for the people who live here. 974 00:35:42,674 --> 00:35:42,765 Mm-hmm. 975 00:35:43,004 --> 00:35:47,205 Rethink our transportation grid to focus on Dallas instead of. 976 00:35:48,330 --> 00:35:51,000 You know, um, far north Dallas Right. 977 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:55,740 You know, uh, uh, Plano and, and Mesquite and Arlington like, you know, great. 978 00:35:55,740 --> 00:35:59,760 That, that is, understand that TxDOT wants to move cars around more fast. 979 00:35:59,820 --> 00:35:59,910 Mm-hmm. 980 00:36:00,180 --> 00:36:05,280 But we as a city want to also have streets that are safe for our residents. 981 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:07,260 We want to have more green space. 982 00:36:07,530 --> 00:36:11,430 And frankly, the I 3 45, here's what, here's what it's, yeah. 983 00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:14,370 I 3 45 is a one mile highway mm-hmm. 984 00:36:14,610 --> 00:36:15,090 That connects. 985 00:36:15,095 --> 00:36:15,105 Mm-hmm. 986 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:17,310 45 to 75. 987 00:36:17,730 --> 00:36:22,410 It's, it's, it's the completion of the, the noose around downtown that 988 00:36:22,410 --> 00:36:23,910 strangles downtown all the time. 989 00:36:24,150 --> 00:36:24,240 Mm-hmm. 990 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:27,300 You, if, if that went away, let's just pretend it went away. 991 00:36:27,300 --> 00:36:31,950 The street grid would be reconnected and you could have a completely open 992 00:36:31,950 --> 00:36:36,360 highway free experience walking to Deep Ellum from downtown Dallas, 993 00:36:36,540 --> 00:36:41,010 completely reactivating, um, dozens of acres of land underneath the highway. 994 00:36:41,370 --> 00:36:46,155 Mm. That is not something supported by, Hmm, everybody I mentioned earlier. 995 00:36:46,305 --> 00:36:46,455 Yeah. 996 00:36:46,485 --> 00:36:48,405 Uh, it was proposed. 997 00:36:48,405 --> 00:36:52,725 There were three proposals because the highway's ending the near and ending the 998 00:36:53,055 --> 00:36:55,935 coming to the end of its useful life, it has something has to be done with it. 999 00:36:56,415 --> 00:37:00,075 The first, uh, proposal was to rebuild it as it is elevated highway. 1000 00:37:00,705 --> 00:37:02,835 Second proposal was the other extreme. 1001 00:37:03,720 --> 00:37:06,750 Which is what I've supported, which is you take it out entirely 1002 00:37:06,750 --> 00:37:08,279 and you boulevard everything. 1003 00:37:08,310 --> 00:37:08,549 Unknown: Yeah. 1004 00:37:08,790 --> 00:37:11,670 Chad West: Which would theoretically, under today's traffic count, slow 1005 00:37:11,670 --> 00:37:13,259 people down by about eight minutes. 1006 00:37:13,529 --> 00:37:13,560 Okay. 1007 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:16,230 So they'd exit the highway, they'd boulevard up and they'd get out of there. 1008 00:37:16,230 --> 00:37:16,350 Unknown: Mm-hmm. 1009 00:37:16,890 --> 00:37:19,799 Chad West: Um, the third proposal, which is what we ended up on, which is 1010 00:37:19,799 --> 00:37:22,950 what TDOT wanted, was a, um, a trench. 1011 00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:27,220 The trench is similar to the Highway 75 experience. 1012 00:37:27,220 --> 00:37:29,920 So instead of an elevated highway, it's below ground. 1013 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:30,100 Yeah. 1014 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:33,670 With a lot of exits and, and bridges that go across it. 1015 00:37:33,700 --> 00:37:35,590 Um, similar situation. 1016 00:37:35,590 --> 00:37:37,300 That's probably what we're gonna end up with. 1017 00:37:38,110 --> 00:37:40,030 I don't think, I think we can do better. 1018 00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:43,150 I think, um, at some point when. 1019 00:37:44,475 --> 00:37:45,944 When is enough, highways enough, 1020 00:37:46,305 --> 00:37:46,455 Reese Arrington: you know? 1021 00:37:46,455 --> 00:37:46,665 Right. 1022 00:37:46,725 --> 00:37:47,625 Well, I see your point. 1023 00:37:47,625 --> 00:37:53,174 I mean, um, this, it seems like the point becomes for the city of making 1024 00:37:53,174 --> 00:37:56,774 these highways bigger is, well, we gotta get people from Frisco down to Dallas 1025 00:37:56,774 --> 00:37:58,484 because they work in all the skyscrapers. 1026 00:37:58,484 --> 00:38:01,274 It's like, you know what, you know, what are we doing here? 1027 00:38:01,335 --> 00:38:07,605 I mean, is, is the Dallas, you know, traffic, uh, scape gonna be a hundred, 1028 00:38:07,665 --> 00:38:09,555 a hundred miles north to south? 1029 00:38:09,585 --> 00:38:13,064 I mean, you know, or, or, or do, or is it okay to have. 1030 00:38:13,605 --> 00:38:16,965 Smaller communities within Dallas as a whole, you know, and, and how 1031 00:38:16,965 --> 00:38:18,315 do we, how do we encourage that? 1032 00:38:18,315 --> 00:38:22,185 And if, you know Dallas, you know, I guess it probably comes 1033 00:38:22,185 --> 00:38:24,555 down to money, you know, it does. 1034 00:38:24,735 --> 00:38:27,610 I mean, on, on, on some, some things it's like, yeah, well, you know, if we. 1035 00:38:28,570 --> 00:38:30,490 You know, get people down here. 1036 00:38:30,490 --> 00:38:32,800 Then Dallas gets more money to do other things. 1037 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:33,970 But then what else are we doing? 1038 00:38:33,970 --> 00:38:37,630 We're just spending more money to fix all the highways we're building and all the 1039 00:38:37,630 --> 00:38:39,790 bottles that all this traffic is causing. 1040 00:38:39,790 --> 00:38:41,920 So it's like this double-edged sword. 1041 00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:44,410 I mean, this seems like how do we win 1042 00:38:44,500 --> 00:38:44,740 Chad West: here? 1043 00:38:44,740 --> 00:38:45,910 I mean, here's the question. 1044 00:38:45,910 --> 00:38:50,650 Like we will add 5 million people to the DFW region in the next 10 years. 1045 00:38:50,650 --> 00:38:53,950 Like, it's gonna, it's, it's 10 or 15, five million's 1046 00:38:53,950 --> 00:38:55,240 coming, let's just say that. 1047 00:38:55,240 --> 00:38:55,509 Yeah. 1048 00:38:55,540 --> 00:38:56,440 10, 15 years. 1049 00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:57,910 And, uh. 1050 00:38:58,545 --> 00:39:03,045 If you subscribe to the philosophy that, alright, as more people come, we need to 1051 00:39:03,195 --> 00:39:05,835 widen our highways, where does it end? 1052 00:39:05,835 --> 00:39:08,355 Like, do we just have a highway going over downtown? 1053 00:39:08,385 --> 00:39:10,095 Do we have a highway going over West Dallas? 1054 00:39:10,095 --> 00:39:13,815 Like we would just bury everything and the highways just go above us, like mm-hmm. 1055 00:39:14,295 --> 00:39:16,365 At some point you've gotta say, enough is enough. 1056 00:39:16,455 --> 00:39:16,695 Right. 1057 00:39:16,695 --> 00:39:20,475 And we are gonna reclaim some of the space for ourselves, for our city. 1058 00:39:20,475 --> 00:39:20,535 Yeah. 1059 00:39:20,895 --> 00:39:21,225 And. 1060 00:39:21,695 --> 00:39:24,755 If y'all wanna come here and we want you to, like, it's gonna take 1061 00:39:24,755 --> 00:39:25,895 a little longer, enjoy things. 1062 00:39:25,895 --> 00:39:25,985 Mm-hmm. 1063 00:39:26,225 --> 00:39:29,045 Just stop at this business along the way and, and pick up 1064 00:39:29,045 --> 00:39:30,575 breakfast there or what have you. 1065 00:39:30,815 --> 00:39:30,905 Reese Arrington: Yeah. 1066 00:39:30,905 --> 00:39:35,555 What, what is the experience that we want to have as residents of Dallas? 1067 00:39:35,585 --> 00:39:35,975 That's right. 1068 00:39:36,035 --> 00:39:39,335 You know, that's what I, I mean, that's, I think what everyone watching you think 1069 00:39:39,335 --> 00:39:43,295 about, you know, on this topic is what do you want your life to look like? 1070 00:39:43,295 --> 00:39:45,965 And if you, and if you know we have. 1071 00:39:46,450 --> 00:39:49,390 Guys like you that you know, people like you that are here to 1072 00:39:49,390 --> 00:39:52,360 hear those concerns and say, Hey, you know, we have a say in this. 1073 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:54,790 We have a say in what, what our community's gonna look like, 1074 00:39:54,790 --> 00:39:56,230 especially in district one. 1075 00:39:56,500 --> 00:39:59,920 You know, you still get to vote on things for dos and as a whole. 1076 00:40:00,070 --> 00:40:04,720 So, you know, this is, this is I think a discourse that needs to happen more often. 1077 00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:09,550 And I, and so, and I know you were a proponent of having y'all's meetings, your 1078 00:40:09,550 --> 00:40:14,170 monthly meetings still in the afternoon or still in the evening so that people can. 1079 00:40:14,750 --> 00:40:17,625 Still hear kind of what's going on is mm-hmm. 1080 00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:20,390 You know, when, when is that, and when can people come to those meetings 1081 00:40:20,390 --> 00:40:21,680 to voice any of their concerns? 1082 00:40:21,860 --> 00:40:23,870 Chad West: Man, I think, I mean, there's so many meetings. 1083 00:40:23,900 --> 00:40:23,990 Yeah. 1084 00:40:23,990 --> 00:40:28,550 Like coun, being a council member is a, uh, I mean, it's, if you're doing 1085 00:40:28,550 --> 00:40:30,380 it right, it's a 50 hour a week job. 1086 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:30,710 Oh, wow. 1087 00:40:30,710 --> 00:40:31,760 In addition to your real job. 1088 00:40:32,090 --> 00:40:35,000 And, and then there's also various commissions that deal with 1089 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:38,945 everything from arts to, you know, zoning and parking reform mm-hmm. 1090 00:40:39,025 --> 00:40:41,000 And stuff like that to parks. 1091 00:40:41,030 --> 00:40:43,040 I mean, there's so many, like you literally. 1092 00:40:44,355 --> 00:40:45,945 And we all meet at different times and different days. 1093 00:40:45,945 --> 00:40:46,005 Okay. 1094 00:40:46,005 --> 00:40:49,305 So I think the best thing a, a, a resident trying to figure out what's 1095 00:40:49,305 --> 00:40:54,285 going on in the city could do is follow their council member for sure. 1096 00:40:54,315 --> 00:40:54,404 Mm-hmm. 1097 00:40:54,645 --> 00:40:56,384 On, on their official city page. 1098 00:40:56,955 --> 00:40:59,955 Um, and then figure out what your passion is. 1099 00:40:59,955 --> 00:41:04,875 If it's, if it's land use and uh, transportation and stuff 1100 00:41:04,875 --> 00:41:06,735 like that, then figure out. 1101 00:41:07,395 --> 00:41:11,055 You know what's happening by through your council member's office. 1102 00:41:11,085 --> 00:41:11,145 Yeah. 1103 00:41:11,145 --> 00:41:14,745 And then you can start following, following that if your passion's parks and 1104 00:41:14,745 --> 00:41:16,305 you follow what the parks board is doing. 1105 00:41:16,665 --> 00:41:19,335 Um, you know, we have a ton of things going on in parks. 1106 00:41:19,335 --> 00:41:21,615 I don't even know what's happening in all of our parks in Oak Cliff. 1107 00:41:21,645 --> 00:41:21,765 Sure. 1108 00:41:21,915 --> 00:41:22,305 Because. 1109 00:41:23,150 --> 00:41:25,580 I mean, our people who are into parks, they're, they're 1110 00:41:25,580 --> 00:41:26,930 wild about it, and I love it. 1111 00:41:26,990 --> 00:41:27,110 Yeah. 1112 00:41:27,110 --> 00:41:30,320 You know, my kids, my kids love going to our parks and, um, and 1113 00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:32,840 I have to like go look it up to find out what's going on there. 1114 00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:34,070 I don't have all that information. 1115 00:41:34,100 --> 00:41:34,190 Mm-hmm. 1116 00:41:34,670 --> 00:41:36,020 So I, I think that's the best thing to do. 1117 00:41:36,020 --> 00:41:39,830 Like the city puts out information, but usually it's very hyperlocal 1118 00:41:39,830 --> 00:41:41,300 if you follow your council member. 1119 00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:42,500 Um, as well. 1120 00:41:42,710 --> 00:41:46,070 I also find like for good citywide. 1121 00:41:46,255 --> 00:41:49,285 Big, big stuff going on, like 3 45, for example. 1122 00:41:49,405 --> 00:41:49,495 Mm-hmm. 1123 00:41:49,735 --> 00:41:53,965 Like I really read D Magazine a lot and I follow some of their writers, 1124 00:41:54,295 --> 00:41:58,165 um, because they deep dive more than other publications on the big issues. 1125 00:41:58,285 --> 00:41:58,495 Reese Arrington: Yeah. 1126 00:41:58,495 --> 00:41:58,615 Okay. 1127 00:41:58,675 --> 00:41:58,765 Mm-hmm. 1128 00:41:59,245 --> 00:41:59,635 So they're kinda 1129 00:41:59,635 --> 00:42:01,795 Chad West: like new urbanism, but that's my passion is new urbanism. 1130 00:42:01,795 --> 00:42:01,975 Reese Arrington: Yeah. 1131 00:42:02,545 --> 00:42:05,845 You know, sometimes it just feels like the, the power, you know, there's these 1132 00:42:05,845 --> 00:42:09,565 powers that be, that are making all these decisions, you know, and it seems 1133 00:42:09,565 --> 00:42:11,485 like then, then you know, the people. 1134 00:42:12,055 --> 00:42:15,415 We get to really do is choose between a couple options. 1135 00:42:15,685 --> 00:42:19,675 You know, where do these, where do these ideas trickle down from? 1136 00:42:19,765 --> 00:42:22,435 I mean, you know, where, where does this start? 1137 00:42:22,435 --> 00:42:24,685 Where does this i I 3 45 thing start? 1138 00:42:24,685 --> 00:42:26,305 Where do these streetcars ideas start? 1139 00:42:26,725 --> 00:42:31,165 Um, I. I know, you know, we are a, you know, um, democratic republic 1140 00:42:31,165 --> 00:42:35,095 and we, we elect people that then go make decisions for us. 1141 00:42:35,095 --> 00:42:38,275 And it's like, okay, that, is that where, that's just where it starts? 1142 00:42:38,275 --> 00:42:41,665 I mean, how do we feel like we have equity in the decisions that are being 1143 00:42:41,665 --> 00:42:45,565 made and the, and the ideas that are even being brought to the table in Dallas? 1144 00:42:45,565 --> 00:42:46,495 Is it, is it. 1145 00:42:46,950 --> 00:42:52,080 Too out of reach for a guy like me or, or, you know, um, is it just come down to 1146 00:42:52,410 --> 00:42:56,640 demanding that the, our elected officials platform on something that we care about? 1147 00:42:57,450 --> 00:42:59,640 Chad West: Well, that's a, that's a million dollar question. 1148 00:42:59,670 --> 00:43:04,380 I mean, there's so many issues and there's so many residents. 1149 00:43:04,410 --> 00:43:08,520 Like we have in district one, 90,000 residents, and we've 1150 00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:10,770 got, um, you know, like. 1151 00:43:11,145 --> 00:43:15,134 Our Zo, our, our voting docket agenda is, is a hundred to 1152 00:43:15,134 --> 00:43:17,085 150 items any given Wednesday. 1153 00:43:17,295 --> 00:43:17,384 Mm-hmm. 1154 00:43:17,625 --> 00:43:19,634 And so it's impossible to like. 1155 00:43:20,325 --> 00:43:23,234 I wish I could like lay everything out for everybody at all times and 1156 00:43:23,234 --> 00:43:26,625 get collective feedback, but that's, that's a really hard thing to do. 1157 00:43:26,625 --> 00:43:32,205 So on big issues, for example, the Sprouts issue, whether we were going to approve 1158 00:43:32,205 --> 00:43:36,584 the zoning, the zoning got denied for that even though everybody in No Cliff 1159 00:43:36,584 --> 00:43:38,805 was, was says they want a grocery store. 1160 00:43:39,165 --> 00:43:43,665 The zoning got denied, um, to, which would've prevented it by the 1161 00:43:43,665 --> 00:43:46,845 plan commission because some of the commissioners did not like. 1162 00:43:47,044 --> 00:43:50,765 The fact that we, that it was, they were gonna have to go outside the 1163 00:43:50,765 --> 00:43:53,615 zoning overlay, um, for that issue. 1164 00:43:53,615 --> 00:43:59,435 I knew it was gonna be a huge community, um, uh, issue for them. 1165 00:43:59,435 --> 00:43:59,495 Yeah. 1166 00:43:59,854 --> 00:44:01,895 You know, it was gonna be, everybody's gonna be in an uproar 1167 00:44:01,895 --> 00:44:04,564 like, okay, this grocery store is gonna be prevented because of some 1168 00:44:04,564 --> 00:44:06,575 technicalities and the zoning language. 1169 00:44:06,845 --> 00:44:09,995 However, there was some very vocal neighbors who do show up 1170 00:44:09,995 --> 00:44:12,365 all the time and they let me know what they think and That's great. 1171 00:44:12,365 --> 00:44:13,294 I, I appreciate that. 1172 00:44:13,865 --> 00:44:14,254 Um. 1173 00:44:14,595 --> 00:44:18,254 Who were truist purists to the zoning, they didn't want it changed. 1174 00:44:18,464 --> 00:44:18,525 Hmm. 1175 00:44:18,555 --> 00:44:22,904 So I, I knew I needed, um, extensive neighborhood feedback on that. 1176 00:44:23,174 --> 00:44:27,015 I did a community-wide survey that included not just my neighborhoods, 1177 00:44:27,015 --> 00:44:31,035 but it was one mile radius around where Sprouts was gonna be. 1178 00:44:31,035 --> 00:44:33,015 And we did a two mile and a three mile radius. 1179 00:44:33,645 --> 00:44:36,315 And, and that included West Dallas too, even though it's not my district. 1180 00:44:36,315 --> 00:44:36,525 Right. 1181 00:44:36,705 --> 00:44:37,785 And so, um. 1182 00:44:38,420 --> 00:44:42,080 I think on those, for me, the way I've tried to capture community 1183 00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:45,800 feedback is on big issues that I know are gonna be controversial. 1184 00:44:46,460 --> 00:44:49,790 Um, I, I, I'll do a survey, I'll do a community meetings. 1185 00:44:49,880 --> 00:44:51,350 Uh, I'll do more if asked. 1186 00:44:51,890 --> 00:44:56,270 Um, but on your typical contract, like, are we gonna use vendor A 1187 00:44:56,270 --> 00:44:58,730 or vendor B to pave this road? 1188 00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:01,880 Like, I just assume there's, nobody's gonna have an input on that. 1189 00:45:02,150 --> 00:45:05,000 If we have a public hearing, every, everything we do is public. 1190 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:05,090 Mm-hmm. 1191 00:45:05,330 --> 00:45:05,965 All of our meetings are public. 1192 00:45:06,140 --> 00:45:06,260 Sure. 1193 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:07,850 And so, um. 1194 00:45:08,580 --> 00:45:09,300 Those kinds of things. 1195 00:45:09,300 --> 00:45:10,560 I don't hear from the public on. 1196 00:45:10,980 --> 00:45:11,040 Yeah. 1197 00:45:11,040 --> 00:45:13,590 I'm always, but with that all is being said, I am mm-hmm. 1198 00:45:13,830 --> 00:45:18,420 Very open to constructive feedback on what we could be doing better. 1199 00:45:18,570 --> 00:45:18,750 Sure. 1200 00:45:18,750 --> 00:45:23,040 On outreach, because, you know, I know I'm not perfect. 1201 00:45:23,250 --> 00:45:24,660 I know the city's not perfect. 1202 00:45:25,110 --> 00:45:25,380 Mm-hmm. 1203 00:45:25,381 --> 00:45:27,030 You know, but I think what's. 1204 00:45:27,780 --> 00:45:29,430 What I like about is that we try to be, 1205 00:45:29,700 --> 00:45:30,030 Reese Arrington: yeah. 1206 00:45:30,180 --> 00:45:31,080 Chad West: We try to do our best. 1207 00:45:31,140 --> 00:45:31,440 Reese Arrington: Yeah. 1208 00:45:31,890 --> 00:45:33,930 No, and I mean, I love the city of Dallas. 1209 00:45:34,110 --> 00:45:34,950 I love Oak Cliff. 1210 00:45:34,950 --> 00:45:36,000 I've had a great time meeting you. 1211 00:45:36,270 --> 00:45:41,070 You know, I, like, I heard about you for years and this is like, I finally get 1212 00:45:41,070 --> 00:45:45,480 to put a, a real face to the name and get to know you and, um, you know, we've 1213 00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:47,670 been here for longer than I expected. 1214 00:45:47,970 --> 00:45:48,120 Yeah. 1215 00:45:48,150 --> 00:45:51,750 But, but this is good stuff and I hope this conversation continues. 1216 00:45:51,990 --> 00:45:53,190 Um, you know, I know that. 1217 00:45:53,425 --> 00:45:56,455 That there were some things we wanted talk about we didn't quite get to yet. 1218 00:45:56,725 --> 00:45:56,935 Yeah. 1219 00:45:56,935 --> 00:45:58,195 But, but I wanna, let's pick it back up. 1220 00:45:58,255 --> 00:45:58,495 Yeah. 1221 00:45:58,555 --> 00:45:59,545 I want to give you an opportunity. 1222 00:45:59,545 --> 00:46:03,685 Is there anything you want to tell anybody watching, you know, anything 1223 00:46:03,685 --> 00:46:06,745 you wanna leave them with, um, today? 1224 00:46:06,835 --> 00:46:07,195 Chad West: Yeah. 1225 00:46:07,195 --> 00:46:10,645 I mean, I, I'm not sure who your audience is, but I have a feeling 1226 00:46:10,645 --> 00:46:15,415 it's, it's, uh, it's a lot of people who, um, are interested in, in real 1227 00:46:15,415 --> 00:46:16,740 estate and building in Dallas mm-hmm. 1228 00:46:16,825 --> 00:46:17,940 And who may not have. 1229 00:46:19,020 --> 00:46:22,650 Uh, reach with their, their city government, um, other than who they 1230 00:46:22,650 --> 00:46:23,790 deal with at the permit office. 1231 00:46:23,790 --> 00:46:27,840 And I would just say, uh, and correct me if I'm wrong on that, 1232 00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:28,620 but I would just say you're right. 1233 00:46:28,620 --> 00:46:29,520 You know, that's, that's good. 1234 00:46:29,520 --> 00:46:29,610 Yeah. 1235 00:46:29,670 --> 00:46:33,090 Like what we're doing talking today and me just kind of answering 1236 00:46:33,090 --> 00:46:35,100 some, some questions for you like. 1237 00:46:35,299 --> 00:46:38,480 I'm open to do that with anybody and I have a really good relationship 1238 00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:39,620 with the builder community. 1239 00:46:39,620 --> 00:46:42,830 I'm the only person who develops, who is on council. 1240 00:46:43,009 --> 00:46:44,150 I get attacked for that a lot. 1241 00:46:44,150 --> 00:46:44,210 Yeah. 1242 00:46:44,210 --> 00:46:45,049 Being a developer. 1243 00:46:45,529 --> 00:46:49,430 Uh, but I think it's good to have that skill set on council because I understand 1244 00:46:49,430 --> 00:46:53,810 what people are going through in the permit office and having done my own GC 1245 00:46:53,810 --> 00:46:56,120 for projects, uh, two commercial projects. 1246 00:46:56,880 --> 00:46:59,190 Which I was complete disastrous, by the way. 1247 00:46:59,220 --> 00:47:00,300 Uh, I would never do that again. 1248 00:47:00,660 --> 00:47:02,880 Uh, I understand the, the difficulties. 1249 00:47:02,940 --> 00:47:03,030 Mm-hmm. 1250 00:47:03,270 --> 00:47:07,290 Um, you know, Oak Cliff is a, uh, just like the rest of Dallas. 1251 00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:13,230 Um, it's very special and we have a spirit, especially in Oak Cliff of, 1252 00:47:13,290 --> 00:47:16,890 uh, like I said, entrepreneurism being a little different than everybody 1253 00:47:16,895 --> 00:47:18,570 else and being cool about that. 1254 00:47:18,660 --> 00:47:21,865 And I think our diversity makes us really special, so, yeah. 1255 00:47:21,990 --> 00:47:22,230 Yeah. 1256 00:47:22,230 --> 00:47:24,570 I'm, I'm happy to, happy to talk with anyone. 1257 00:47:24,570 --> 00:47:24,660 Mm-hmm. 1258 00:47:24,900 --> 00:47:25,860 And continue. 1259 00:47:25,920 --> 00:47:26,280 Um. 1260 00:47:26,310 --> 00:47:28,200 Figuring out how to make Dallas a better place to live. 1261 00:47:28,320 --> 00:47:28,529 Yeah. 1262 00:47:28,770 --> 00:47:29,190 Awesome. 1263 00:47:29,340 --> 00:47:29,520 Reese Arrington: Yeah. 1264 00:47:29,520 --> 00:47:30,270 Well, thanks Chad. 1265 00:47:30,420 --> 00:47:30,720 Awesome. 1266 00:47:30,720 --> 00:47:32,340 Thank you guys for tuning in. 1267 00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:32,850 Wow. 1268 00:47:32,880 --> 00:47:36,420 We've talked about, um, I feel like so much and that went by like a breeze. 1269 00:47:36,720 --> 00:47:39,150 But we'll be back with more building Dallas next week. 1270 00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:39,810 See you Allall day. 1271 00:47:41,460 --> 00:47:43,890 Chase: Thanks for tuning in to Building Dallas, where we bring 1272 00:47:43,890 --> 00:47:46,049 the stories that shape North Texas. 1273 00:47:46,080 --> 00:47:48,690 Subscribe, share, and stay connected. 1274 00:47:48,690 --> 00:47:51,210 Until next time, keep building. 1275 00:47:51,615 --> 00:47:56,654 Really Building Dallas is presented by Arrington Roofing, keeping 1276 00:47:56,654 --> 00:47:58,964 North Texas covered rain or shine.