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The
Hustle and Bustle of
the Metroplex Shuffleby
Dorothy Hamm | |
I
live at the epicenter of a Metroplex. It is a conglomeration of Texas cities anchored
by Dallas on the east and Fort
Worth on the west. These two cities sit a mere thirty miles apart on a mostly
flat plain in North Central
Texas. Actually, “sit” is probably not a proper description as all the cities
that make up the Metroplex seem to be in perpetual motion with traffic that speeds
from point A to point B and back again in an endless mechanical dance. We are
building new freeways and toll roads as fast as we can but we cannot keep pace
with demand.
Is Metroplex a word? My spell check does not recognize it.
Some one thought to lump these two major Texas cities and all connecting suburbs
into one all encompassing word Metroplex was born. Of course, it could have been
born somewhere else and only moved here like so many others have done. At one
time news reports said the area is growing at the rate of 1000 people a month.
I’m not sure if that number has increased or declined. I’m also not sure if it
means we are a complex metropolis or that we have a metropolis complex.
Esteemed
writer Norman Maclean once said: “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a
river runs through it.” That’s an interesting theory and is exactly what seems
to be happening with all the many cities that have sprung up here. And yes, a
river, the Trinity, does run through it.
Dallas
is a huge bustling many splendored city of glass skyscrapers, whose wealth is
based mostly on, uh, hmmm, I guess it is based on money. Dallasites tend to think
of themselves as more sophisticated and cosmopolitan than Fort Worthites which
bills itself as the place where the West begins. However being sophisticated did
not keep Dallas from erecting an impressive
cattle herd made of bronze near city hall.
Fort
Worth is the smaller of the two cities and professes to have a slower, more
relaxed pace. Its wealth is based on oil, cattle and airplanes. It has a goodly
number of very nice museums, for the most part designed by foreigners. I haven’t
exactly figured out the reasons for that. And it is host to the Van Cliburn International
Piano Competition each year, which is a pretty sophisticated event for a city
that isn’t supposed be that.
Fort
Worth has not forgotten it was once a stopover on the Chisholm Trail and the
cowboy mystique is alive and well, especially in the Stockyards area where in
recent years they added a live longhorn herd for tourism and old times sake.
Jeans and ties are appropriate attire for men for almost any “dress-up” events
in Fort Worth. But the jeans must
be starched and ironed to a knife-edge crease. If a tuxedo should be required
it can still be worn with cowboy boots. They can be made of patent leather but
they are still cowboy boots.
Expect to be hearing more about the city
of Arlington in the
future. It is the largest of the cities between Dallas
and Fort Worth and in the past
its major claim to fame was the Texas Rangers baseball team and Six Flags over
Texas amusement park. But in 2009, a new sports and entertainment arena was built
in order to be the new home of the Dallas Cowboys whose previous home arena was
never in Dallas but rather in Irving.
A lot of people are still shaking their heads and wondering why Dallas
did not roll out a red carpet and whatever tax breaks necessary to coax Cowboys’
owner Jerry Jones to locate the new Dallas Cowboy stadium in Dallas
but they didn’t and he didn’t and a new chapter is being written in the Metroplex
book. Stay tuned, it looks like it will continue to be very interesting.
©
Dorothy Hamm
"Words
and Music"
September 1, 2009 column
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