Why Things Never Get Done In Denton

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

It's the same thing....time after time...after time around this city.

On one day, the city or a developer will announce plans for a new project.

Within a day or two, the Denton paper will have the headlines: "Concerns Expressed Over New Project."

They just announced plans to spruce up Downtown....that headline (or something similar) is in today's D-RC.

So if it's Rayzor Ranch, new rail, Downtown, Fry Street....widening Bonnie Brae, a new hotel/convention center....this town never gets any projects off the ground (or seldom does)....because there are always people fighting them every step of the way.

If UNT was in a progressive town like Plano or Frisco....we'd probably be in the Big 12 (exaggeration....but maybe you get my point).

Dude, it's a college town. If anyone suggests anything remotely approaching capitalism, the denizens crawl out of their caves and demand a return to the fire and water only era.

[GreenMachine]

I have a friend that is in management for Fastenal and they looked into moving a distribution center to Denton. He said that obtaining permits in Denton county is an absolute nightmare and after 15 months of getting nothing but the run around, they decided to forget a move to Denton and are either going to stay put in Carrollton or move to Collin county.

I am from a small town so I understand why the longtime residents of Denton want to keep it the small, quaint, sleepy town they fell in love with. However, with Denton being this close to the metroplex, that just isn't going to happen. Therefore Denton needs to build a strong city management team and control and guide the growth that is inevitably coming its way.

Control growth doesn't mean doing everything possible to prevent growth from coming to Denton but to be responsible in what type of growth, where its located, retail vs commercial vs residential etc. Denton doesn't have to be a cookie cutter city like Frisco, Allen, McKinney etc. It can continuing growing and maintain its uniqueness.

[GreenMachine]

I have a friend that is in management for Fastenal and they looked into moving a distribution center to Denton. He said that obtaining permits in Denton county is an absolute nightmare and after 15 months of getting nothing but the run around, they decided to forget a move to Denton and are either going to stay put in Carrollton or move to Collin county.

I am from a small town so I understand why the longtime residents of Denton want to keep it the small, quaint, sleepy town they fell in love with. However, with Denton being this close to the metroplex, that just isn't going to happen. Therefore Denton needs to build a strong city management team and control and guide the growth that is inevitably coming its way.

Control growth doesn't mean doing everything possible to prevent growth from coming to Denton but to be responsible in what type of growth, where its located, retail vs commercial vs residential etc. Denton doesn't have to be a cookie cutter city like Frisco, Allen, McKinney etc. It can continuing growing and maintain its uniqueness.

Wow, I stand corrected. I read the link above and apparently Fastenal did move its distribution center to Denton. Guess I need to keep in contact with old friends a little more often.

[Censored by Laurie]

Control growth doesn't mean doing everything possible to prevent growth from coming to Denton but to be responsible in what type of growth, where its located, retail vs commercial vs residential etc. Denton doesn't have to be a cookie cutter city like Frisco, Allen, McKinney etc. It can continuing growing and maintain its uniqueness.

This.

[ArmyOfMom]

It absolutely depends on how the city government manages the growth as to what you end up with. Just look at south Arlington. 15 years ago it was farmland, minutes from the shiny new Parks Mall. Today it is home of the biggest gang problem in the metroplex (thank you, $90K home developments). Nowhere is more centrally located than Arlington, and they completely screwed the pooch.

Frisco, Allen, Grapevine, Southlake and the like have been smart in their development. Denton? From what I see, not so much.

What a shame that they built $90k houses that working people can afford to buy. Because clearly that is where all the gangs come from. Really?

[UNT90]

What a shame that they built $90k houses that working people can afford to buy. Because clearly that is where all the gangs come from. Really?

When you see people living in section eight housing one month, and in those $90k homes the next, yes, it does.

Remember those bad loans?

Ask the people that live and work in that area. They will tell you.

There should have been gated communities with $200k plus homes on that property, but the city took the easy way out. They will pay for it for the next 30 years. I agree that Denton should plan furture development, but not planning leads to situations like South Arlington, not Frisco or Southlake. You may not like those communities, but there is no doubt that they were well conceived and planned to attract a certain resident, which they accomplished quite effectively. Location plays a role, but you have to have what people want to get them to live in your city.

Another great example of a city being very proactive is Fort Worth. The new W. 7th St development, the new development just south of downtown, working to reginerate older neighborhoods, the new town lakes development about to get underway, and all of this in a bad economy.

It's kinda like college football, your either going forward or your going backward. Arlington=backward, Fort Worth (and Southlake, Frisco, etc..)=forward.

[ArmyOfMom]

When you see people living in section eight housing one month, and in those $90k homes the next, yes, it does.

Remember those bad loans?

Ask the people that live and work in that area. They will tell you.

There should have been gated communities with $200k plus homes on that property, but the city took the easy way out. They will pay for it for the next 30 years. I agree that Denton should plan furture development, but not planning leads to situations like South Arlington, not Frisco or Southlake. You may not like those communities, but there is no doubt that they were well conceived and planned to attract a certain resident, which they accomplished quite effectively. Location plays a role, but you have to have what people want to get them to live in your city.

Another great example of a city being very proactive is Fort Worth. The new W. 7th St development, the new development just south of downtown, working to reginerate older neighborhoods, the new town lakes development about to get underway, and all of this in a bad economy.

It's kinda like college football, your either going forward or your going backward. Arlington=backward, Fort Worth (and Southlake, Frisco, etc..)=forward.

I guess those of us who can't afford to live in $200k homes are supposed to not own homes? There has to be a demand for projects like W. 7th St. in areas. There is that demand in FW. Is there that demand in Denton? There has to be financial backing. Looks like The Martino Group here in Denton is doing their best to try and fuel some of that desire and create a urban downtown here. We live in a decent little sub-division where houses go for about $100k (give or take) and, so far, there are no gang-bangers walking down our streets tagging houses and doing drive-bys. Just seems a little small-minded to me to make the assumptions that lower income folks are naturally going to be criminals. (and trust me, I'm no liberal, I just think it is a poor assumption - pun intended.)

[UNT90]

I guess those of us who can't afford to live in $200k homes are supposed to not own homes? There has to be a demand for projects like W. 7th St. in areas. There is that demand in FW. Is there that demand in Denton? There has to be financial backing. Looks like The Martino Group here in Denton is doing their best to try and fuel some of that desire and create a urban downtown here. We live in a decent little sub-division where houses go for about $100k (give or take) and, so far, there are no gang-bangers walking down our streets tagging houses and doing drive-bys. Just seems a little small-minded to me to make the assumptions that lower income folks are naturally going to be criminals. (and trust me, I'm no liberal, I just think it is a poor assumption - pun intended.)

Trust me, they aren't assumptions and have very little to do with 100K homes. You can find plenty of nice 100K home neighborhoods in plenty of places. South Arlington is not one of them. That is an indictment of the planners of the City of Arlington and no one else.

But, there are very few gang members that grew up in 200k homes. There may be plenty of coke heads, but very, very few gang members. Unfortunately, they are usually a product of lower income neighborhoods. Sad but true.

[Censored by Laurie]

Nice...I love a new episode of "White People Explain The Streets to Other White People."

[UNT90]

Nice...I love a new episode of "White People Explain The Streets to Other White People."

Funny the asssumptions you make. By doing so, you practice the same thing of which you accuse...

So you assume that only non-whites are low income? Interesting indeed.

Edited July 15, 2010 by UNT90

[Censored by Laurie]

Funny the asssumptions you make. By doing so, you practice the same thing of which you accuse...

So you assume that only non-whites are low income? Interesting indeed.

Of what have I accused anyone?

The other day I noticed a pair of Nikes, laces knotted, dangling from a telephone wire...can anybody tell me what that means?

[Green P1]

Nice...I love a new episode of "White People Explain The Streets to Other White People."

I think that just the way their hair grow.

[GreenMachine]

Nice...I love a new episode of "White People Explain The Streets to Other White People."

As the Cracker Turns!

[meanrob]

Curious to how many of the people who complain about denton actually live in denton?

If you want denton to be Frisco or Southlake, not sure you get what makes denton....denton.

[KRAM1]

Denton...I like very much and have lived in Denton for some 45 years, and helped raise our three kids in Denton It's like a lot of places, lots of good and some not-so-good thrown in to the mix. It is all about your attitude and what you make of it all. I don't care for the "no-business and no growth" attitude of many of the citizens of Denton and I am not a big fan of the "liberalness" of Denton as a whole, but it is all part of what makes Denton...well, Denton. And, if I love living in Denton, I must take the not so great (in my opinion) with the great. I try to help change Denton to a "better" Denton in ways that I can, but it's a tough fight. All the Fry Street and Razor Ranch stuff is just so typical of Denton. I just see it as part of the "charm". Denton is changing and the "no-change" folks are fighting to hold on as hard as they can, but they are losing their grip every so slowly and they know it...much like the folks in Plano, Frisco, Allen, etc., etc. did who had lived there forever and did not want their little slice of heaven to change and did all they could to stop the growth and progress. While Denton isn't in the Frisco or Allen modes it is changing...just like UNT is changing for the better. Sometimes the "locals" just can't see the change for all the positive progress going on.

You got to love Denton to have lived in Denton as long as we have. Don't want to call any other place "home". I just wish some of the "crazies" would move along!

Edited July 15, 2010 by KRAM1

[Travis]

I have lived in Denton for 27 years and I am not a fan. I find it poorly planned and poorly utilized. The infrastructure could be much better.

[aztecskin]

So which one of you is the guy with the sign in his backyard that is anti-Obama and taxes? The one on Carroll.

[KingDL1]

I have lived in Denton for 27 years and I am not a fan. I find it poorly planned and poorly utilized. The infrastructure could be much better.

Being in Commercial Retail Real Estate I can tell you the nightmares companies have had dealing with Denton.

[stebo]

What a shame that they built $90k houses that working people can afford to buy. Because clearly that is where all the gangs come from. Really?

It was an idiotic post. The Parks Mall is dying because all malls are dying. Yes, a bunch of kids hang out there but just because they have baggy clothes does not make them gangstas. I live in the Dallas area that is 10 minutes up I-20 and the Highlands is a WONDERFUL, open air mall with top of the line merchants... Houses are being built in this area ranging in price from $130K into the millions. Business is booming in Arlington - just the Highlands is a huge deal.. The place is packed around the clock and has everything from Rolex to James Avery to Dave and Busters. They just put the very first Pinkberry in the Highlands. It is a wonderfully diverse shopping center with office space on the 2nd levels (just like Southlake Town Center). And guess what - you can actually drive on ALL the roads without paying a toll charge, go figure. A tax base that can actually support the schools and roads, what a concept!