TODAY’S CREATIVE LOVING PROFILE
Doin' Dallas
However, I was up for taking a trip out of town. Armed with two carry-ons, I headed for Dallas because I had to attend a wedding, which can also be referred to as a mourning of sorts by the male friends of the groom who are watching one of their boys throw in his playa-card.
On this day, it was one of my high school classmates, Darrell Williams, marrying a very lovely Dallas diva. I was excited for him, yet concerned, because in the months leading up to the wedding, the bride's father had expressed his displeasure at his daughter marrying a black man. In case I forgot to mention, Darrell's diva is a lighter shade of suburban vanilla. I guess folks are still living life enclosed in a bubble. It would seem to me that with the divorce rate being so high in this country and folks being desperate for any ol' mate, that one would simply be happy that another had taken the time to get to know someone they wanted to jump over the broom with. Nevertheless, with all my worries, no one stood up during the ceremony and expressed their displeasure, including the father who sat on the front row, but didn't give his daughter away ... Damm.
Since I, and not Debbie (get it?) am doing Dallas, let's look at a few similarities between the two cities. Affecting both is the growth expansion. When I moved from Dallas to Atlanta almost eight years ago, it was estimated that the state of Texas stood to gain 10 million folks over the next 20 years, mainly folks moving from California, because of all the natural disasters and the high insurance cost associated with that. Here in Atlanta, it has been forecast that over the next couple of years the population will double, thus creating a bigger traffic and housing issue.
One key developer who has a huge presence in both markets and is defiantly taking advantage of the latter issue with high-end offerings is Post Properties. If you think their property, Post Park, located at 10th and Piedmont in Atlanta, is nice -- and it certainly is -- you should see one of their prized possessions, the Gallery in Dallas, where a 2,700-square-foot unit, ground floor I might add, goes for $3,300 a month, and one of the 9,000-square-foot penthouses rents for 14 g's a month. That, my friend, is big pimping.
From a shopping perspective, and the similarities here aren't even fair, Dallas has some of the country's best. With the crown jewel of the mallrat race being the Dallas Galleria (think Phipps Plaza on steroids), this place is an international shopping experience. North Park Mall, which is most comparable to Lenox, continues to be one of the most profitable malls in the U.S. and boasts the No. 1 destination in the country for fragrances and makeup, Neiman Marcus, which is based in Dallas.
Many event promoters can attest that both cites fail miserably when it comes to having quality small to medium-sized non-athletic entertainment venues that can accommodate smaller audiences. Dallas has Starplex, a medium capacity amphitheater similar to Atlanta's Chastain Park and Lakewood amphitheatres, as well as the Majestic Theatre, the poor man's Fox. There is also the Bronco Bowl, which actually isn't that bad a venue, but the West Dallas gang situation makes it less desirable.
With all this venue talk, some of you may have been wondering what's going on with Center Stage over on West Peachtree, well Earthlink and Center Stage Ventures have joined together and renamed the space Earthlink.Live. Hopefully the service provided will be better than Earthlink's Internet service has been lately ... Jus keeping it real! Tom Cook of Rivendell Enterprise who owns Mumbo Jumbo & Nathaniel's secured a long-term lease on the building, which will be used to host monthly concerts. Lucy Lawler, who used to do the booking for SFX/Atl Concerts, will be the lady in charge of booking the spot for House of Blues Entertainment. Those are the facts.
Hug a Dread.
