Comments on: Experiment in Good Urbanism Goes Bad; Or, Why I Won’t Be Taking DART Anymore

By: luniz

luniz — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:32:21 +0000

I’ve been lucky. My car’s never been broken into in Dallas. But if it was, I’d never go back to where it happened, whether a Dart Station, CM, or anywhere else.

By: Glenn Hunter

Glenn Hunter — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:31:35 +0000

@ak: Thank you for telling your story on FrontBurner. It sounds like you’ve had a tough row to hoe. Real “answers” I think are long-term and sweeping–societal stuff–but you made a good start by demanding accountability from the uncaring market, withholding your hard-won dollars. If enough people acted similarly, maybe we could get some people’s attention.

By: Glenn's Neighbor

Glenn's Neighbor — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:49:15 +0000

Glenn – I assume it was your 9 to 10 year old car that was broken into? The one you let me and my pregnant wife borrow when we had our wheels stolen off of our car? Truly sorry to hear it pal.

To the argument that theft is a “poor” thing. Screw that! I agree poor is a reality, but its a shame people use it as an excuse to do bad things. I grew up poor – had a single mom raising four kids receiving welfare. I never stole a thing.

Tim – next time, maybe you should just give Glenn that kiss while he’s in your loving arms instead of punching in the stomach first.

By: ak

ak — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:34:08 +0000

I hope I am not tempting fate by responding, as my car has had its windows broken seven times in four years. All but one were at home at night. (Unfortunately, I don’t currently have a job and can’t afford to move) The one that was not at my apartment was at Central Market in daytime and I did stop shopping there- they were unhelpful. I parked where the employees take smoke breaks and hid my purse- taking keys and credit cards (I had a toddler with me). Someone was obviously watching and broke into my car (got my purse- my eyeglasses were the most expensive thing in it) and the one next to me- Central Market got it on their tape but did not offer to help identify the culprit. I do not have a fancy car (11 years old) or stereo- and they have never been successful getting the stereo out. Now I do not leave my car without covering up my stereo and I never leave my glasses in my purse unless I am carrying the purse. After the first break in I installed an alarm system- a joke, obviously. I have a broken door handle that I cannot afford to fix and would be afraid to get a nicer car even if I were employed. I do not know what the answer is.

By: Gwyon

Gwyon — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:39:43 +0000

First, nobody blames Glenn for the fact that his car got broken into.

But yes, I think driving less than a mile to a train station is a bit silly (for most people). You can’t walk in the rain or the heat? Really? I thought we enlightened elitists were supposed to be the soft ones.

By: Dallasite

Dallasite — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:26:42 +0000

Jonathan:

Great, sanity in a Frontburner discussion. That will never work.

My idea would be to pull the DART cops from writing traffic tickets and use them to actually… patrol DART. In know, it sounds crazy.

By: yeah, um...

yeah, um... — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:16:32 +0000

Seems like everything I’ve thought of has been said…

Glenn, I hope you give it another shot. In my experience, DART really does make for a more interesting commute. If anything, it creates an excellent opportunity to get some reading done.

Sorry to hear about your car. I think DART does have some security measures in place, of course any security system can fail.

man, tough week for public transit…

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:06:01 +0000

So I came back today to check on the conversation. Seems like we fall very easily into the blame trap. But the truth is these forums are just as useful for thinking up solutions! I believe that public transit has a critical role to play in improving mobility, productivity, and community in Dallas. To reach its potential, though, folks do need to feel safe and DART can’t continue to be seen as the mode of transit solely for the poor and the “hippies.” So, what’s the solution here? What would you like to see DART do to make its stations safer?

By: Tim Rogers

Tim Rogers — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:23:59 +0000

@Glenn: That wasn’t a lecture. If you want one, I’m happy to oblige tomorrow. But only if I can deliver said talk while holding you in my loving arms.

Point is, if you’re the victim of a crime on someone’s property, don’t cast blame on that someone unless they’ve demonstrated negligence or some sort of failure in response to that crime.

What has DART done wrong? If you shop at, say, Central Market, and your car is jacked in their lot, do you stop going to Central Market?

Anyplace people gather, crimes will happen. My problem with your post is that because the crime happened to YOU, you’ve decided, apparently, that public transportation is to be avoided?

If I steal something from your desk tomorrow, will D Magazine’s outrageous behavior stop you from ever coming to work again? I hope not, because your desk is a target-rich environment for me.

Kisses, friend.

By: "Do-oh"

"Do-oh" — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:16:10 +0000

The problem with DART in this situation is similar to the TX/OU DART issue. For such a prestigious agency simply saying “Sorry” to the TX/OU fans and “Sorry” to Glenn in advance (by posting their sign) is a laughable attempt to address the situation.
How about acknowledging the issues with security at certain DART lots and posting a pro-active statement about what is being done to curb crime at these locations. If someone were to be assaulted or, heaven forbid, murdered, then there would be a whole level of publicity where “Sorry” would not suffice.
Most rationale people would agree with any DART initiative if they were seen to be sensitive and truly attempting to prevent such occurences again.