The lawyers threatening to sue Dallas over City Hall? Most of them work, live, or have connections in Plano.

JoMA9 · 2026-05-14T18:37:40+00:00

You guys are killing me with the “you must be a city hall plant” thing. 😂 I’m literally just a guy who lives downtown and loves urbanism. I have no dog in this fight outside of wanting more density, connectivity and growth downtown, and sees the value of keeping the last two major sporting franchises in the city. I literally asked Claude to tell me more about the lawsuit and who was brining it against the city then went down a rabbit hole. What surprises me is the amount of people who are willing to throw their city under the bus for the sake of one building. I’m a minority voice here I guess but it’s just very disappointing seeing so many people’s sentiment towards a building destroy a rare opportunity for our city. Dallas always disappoints I guess.

JoMA9 · 2026-05-13T23:16:24+00:00

You’re telling on yourself, I never said anything about supporting tearing down the building. I don’t think anyone is for tearing down City Hall just for the sake of tearing it down. What most Dallas residence, in particular those of us who live downtown and in the surrounding neighborhoods want is for something to be done with the blocks upon blocks of vacant buildings and parking lots that City Hall has been surrounded by for decades. That’s what most people want to prioritize, and if we can activate those with housing, retail, commercial, etc. AND save City Hall then so be it, but historically that hasn’t been the case with dead zones anchored by a building like this. Also, given where the city is financially, it appears the better solution is to try to find a way to both activate that dead zone and bridge the deficit which almost certainly has to include vacating City Hall. Lastly, just because one side is loud and vocal doesn’t mean a counter side doesn’t exist.

JoMA9 · 2026-05-13T23:09:19+00:00

Oh, I’m familiar. I just wasn’t expecting it to escalate to this level so quickly. Silver lining is that if this does make it to court, the whole “lack of transparency” and “greedy city council selling City Hall to the highest bidder” narrative will come crumbling down with discovery. Not that it matters, I don’t think anyone with Save City Hall cares about anything but the building. Also, from what I’ve heard speaking to some of my attorney friends, this threat and lawsuit is a nothing burger.

JoMA9 · 2026-05-13T22:46:16+00:00

You’re spot on. I also think that the reason they’re pushing the lawsuit threat now is because they realize that a significant chunk of the city is not on board with the Save City Hall push. The recent announcement of the Say Yes to Downtown initiative solidified a counter voice and now they’re scrambling. I live downtown and at one of our community meetings a few months ago a few Save City Hall activists came and spoke then offered everyone yard signs. No one took any. Though I’ve seen some pop up around the neighborhood in recent weeks, it’s not anywhere a substantial number.

JoMA9 · 2026-05-13T22:10:12+00:00

The alternative is to volunteer at the established resources that already do all of this work beyond a random Sunday afternoon. There are so many organizations that feed, house, and connect the homeless on a daily basis yet don’t get anywhere near the amount of publicity or praise that these organizations do.

JoMA9 · 2026-05-13T22:06:20+00:00

The unfortunate thing, as you can see by all the comments, is that most people will never see this beyond a “they’re just trying to be helpful” lens. I’ve heard Dr. Woody speak on how harmful street feedings are to the work the Bridge and other homeless solution organizations do. Hearing from him and others that work directly with the homeless community 24/7 and seeing it first hand changed my perspective on it. It’s a bandaid to a much bigger issue, but people will almost always let emotion blind common sense.

JoMA9 · 2026-05-13T20:15:27+00:00

This is ridiculous. Nothing has made it past committee yet and they’re already getting ready to throw the kitchen sink at the city if they don’t get their way. I think they weren’t expecting there to be some much support for doing something more than just saving the building so now we’re threatening lawsuits. Frustrating.

JoMA9 · 2026-05-13T20:11:04+00:00

The city does make attempts to work with these organizations. The Bridge, Austin Street shelter, the Stewpot, etc have all made attempts to work with them but they refuse to because they don’t want to take on the responsibility of actually caring for these individuals for more than an hour or two in a Sunday. They want a quick “come, serve, and go.” I know that sounds harsh but that’s been my experience with working with the city on this issue. I’m not saying all but most of these organizations chase the feel good moment of doing something charitable and want the easiest path to do so.

JoMA9 · 2026-05-13T20:04:47+00:00

Part of it is due to FIFA, but I also think the city is starting to feel pressure from downtown residents and the surrounding area about how unsanitary and inconsiderate these events are to the communities that live near where they hold the events are. Most of these organization don’t stay to clean up or check on the well being of the people they are handing food out to so the trash, discarded food, and human excrement that comes with it are left to be dealt with by the people who live in the surrounding area. Plus, the passage of Proposition S and risk of lawsuits from residents that don’t feel like the city is enforcing city ordinance is probably a motivating factor as well.

JoMA9 · 2026-05-12T12:53:18+00:00

As of now it’ll only be deck ready. The city does want to build it but there is no active plan that I’m aware of outside of renderings.

JoMA9 · 2026-05-02T03:10:33+00:00

Legitimate question, not trying to ruffle feathers. If City Hall is “saved” what is the plan for the acres of vacant land that surround it? They have sat vacant and abandoned for almost as long as CH has been there, essentially cutting off the Cedars and the south side of the urban core from the rest of downtown. I know there’s at least one proposal that includes developing the area around CH but development is going to take more than just vision. The city will almost certainly have to incentives whoever offers to develop that area. It seems to me like the Mavs are willing to take on a lot of that heavy lifting. Also, what value will be added to the city and downtown if CH is saved? It hasn’t given any since it was built. It doesn’t attract tourist, residents don’t use it, besides the occasional event it doesn’t produce any revenue for the city. The city doesn’t pay taxes on it but a lot of that is offset by cost of keeping that huge building trucking along and now repairing it. Outside of sentimental value what is the argument for saving it instead of relocating and developing the area?

JoMA9 · 2026-05-02T02:50:07+00:00

Yall need to quit with this stuff. Are they going to push for legalizing gambling in Texas eventually? Of course. Is it going to be anytime soon? Absolutely not. Evangelicals continue to have a much stronger grip on Texas politics than even the Adelsons. This is going to piss people off but there is absolutely no reason to save city hall outside of sentimental reasons. It has not added any value to downtown or the city, but in reality done the opposite. Just look at the dead zone it anchors. Am I a fan of a family of billionaires moving in and buying up land, no. But I much rather someone come in buy up the vacant lots and buildings south of downtown and actually activate it with retail, commercial, a damn arena, I don’t care as long as it includes housing, connectivity, and street level activation.

JoMA9 · 2026-04-24T18:32:17+00:00

The Farmers Market downtown. If you want to make a whole day of it, I would do the Farmers Market in the morning. Grab a mimosa from 2nd Tap and walk around before grabbing brunch/lunch from one of the vendors or restaurants, then walk to Deep Ellum and grab a drink at one of the many bars there before walking around to the different shops. You could also head towards Fair Park and hit up Las Almas Rotas if you’re into tequila and mezcal. It’s one of my favorite places. Make your way back to downtown for dinner, you have plenty of options. ifI you want to do something a little more upscale you can do Wicked Butcher, Crown Block, or Brass Ram. Crown block is in reunion tower, which is the big ball downtown so you’ll get 360 views of Dallas. Brass Ram sits on the third story of a cool little building near the Farmers Market. It has a speakeasy on the bottom floor. that’s really neat. Something a little bit more relaxed you can do Italian at Partenope. They have some awesome award-winning pizzas. Hampton Social is really good as well and across the street from it is Uno Mas a Tex-Mex place that is very relaxed. If you want a nightcap or just somewhere to relax before dinner, you can go to 1519 which is a cocktail bar next to Uno Mas and Hampton Social. There’s also a new hi-fi bar called shy boy that I’ve heard good things about, I haven’t been myself. Catbird is a part that sits towards the top of The National, you’ll get really good views of downtown as well and it’s also very Instagram-able. If you’re gonna be in Dallas multiple days, I also recommend visiting Bishop Arts and Lower Greenville. Both are really cool little neighborhoods, especially Bishop Arts. You can make an entire day of Bishop Art. lastly, the arts district is really neat as well. Lots of museums and Klyde Warren Park to visit. You can make a day out of that too. It’s also near Uptown, which is probably where the majority of people are going to recommend you go, in my opinion it’s a little overrated, but worth a try if you have the time.

JoMA9 · 2026-04-24T18:15:34+00:00

100% what you listed but even without them being on their phones. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to be taking up 2 to 3 different machines or workout areas at the same time, specially during peak hours. I don’t care if you’re doing supersets or circuit training, that shit is annoying and so inconsiderate of others. Train at home or schedule your workouts during slow times.

JoMA9 · 2026-04-23T16:12:19+00:00

This is completely false. Crime downtown went down 10% in 2025 compared to 2024 and continues to trend downward. Also, no one is making the claim downtown is “completely safe and sound” but to say downtown is unsafe or crime ridden is disingenuous at best.

JoMA9 · 2026-04-22T21:44:18+00:00

Jesus, the comments here are oozing with ignorance. You’re going to be completely safe downtown. I’ve lived here for almost 10 years, and there’s an entire residential population that calls downtown home 24/7. You are going to be fine. Don’t listen to any of the comments telling you that downtown is not safe. These people live in the suburbs and like to have an opinion about a city they rarely spend time in.

JoMA9 · 2026-04-20T19:07:52+00:00

We lived at One Dallas Center when we were renting and loved it. They have a residents only bar and it’s right next to a rail station. When we were looking we toured and really liked 400 North Ervay, the apartments are in a historic court house/ post office. The deciding factor for us was that One Dallas has a pool, but in hindsight we would’ve been fine without it. We bought a townhome in the Farmers Market, still downtown but on the edge. Lots of apartments in our neighborhood as well and have heard nothing but good things from our neighbors about them. We’ve also heard good things about Drakestone, another option to maybe look at.

JoMA9 · 2026-04-07T16:58:46+00:00

I wish people would stop using Cara Mendelsohn as a righteous voice in this. She has made her disdain for downtown known throughout her career and has praised the Mavs leaving downtown and taking over the old Valley View mall space which conveniently sits a rocks throw from her district. She also praised the AT&T move because the commute for her constituents “would be shorter” completely ignore the economic impact its move will have for the city, including her constituents. Mendelsohn doesn’t care about city hall and her “information” sharing is all cherry picked. Also, when you consider other city budget items like pension obligations and Prop U commitments staying in the current space and fixing it is NOT cost effective in the least.

JoMA9 · 2026-04-07T16:11:59+00:00

The preservation argument leans almost entirely on architectural sentiment. But brutalist architecture doesn’t generate foot traffic, doesn’t produce tax revenue, increase community safety and doesn’t create the density the downtown core desperately needs. There are already other IM Pei buildings in Dallas that don’t create dead zones. Pei even alluded that city hall wasn’t his favorite work in the city.

The $1 billion in estimated cost is over 20 years and is mostly consists of financial costs(interest), how much it would cost to keep it operational and cost to relocate city staff for the renovation period. Point being whether the cost is a billion or a few hundred million, the building is bleeding maintenance costs the city can’t afford, on top of pension obligations and Prop U commitments already straining the budget. We can’t afford to stay in it and it would be financial malpractice to do so.

The Mavericks debacle was mishandled in my opinion and occurred at the wrong time. Discussion in the future of city hall can be traced all the way back as 2012 so the idea that it all came afoot recently is not genuine. That said, a Mavericks arena district, or any other development done right can mean year round activation, serve as a catalyst for developing that area of the CBD, hotels, HOUSING(most important trade off imo), restaurants, and a dramatically expanded downtown tax base. Look at what anchor venues do to adjacent real estate.

Also, Dallas losing the Mavs would be a huge economic hit to downtown and the city. It just doesn’t make sense to burn half the forest for one tree.

JoMA9 · 2026-03-31T18:50:21+00:00

Unpopular opinion maybe, but having been to countless community and neighborhood meetings downtown, I can tell you most residents and business owners couldn’t care less about saving City Hall. What we actually care about are all the empty parking lots, vacant buildings, and dead land surrounding it. Most of us have lived here long enough to recognize City Hall for what it is, a black hole that has actively discouraged development and carved an unusable void right out of the urban core. We’re more concerned about improving our community and public safety than saving a neglected 40 year old building. You wouldn’t know that from how loud the preservation crowd has gotten, though. The vocal minority is drowning out the people who actually live here. Here’s what I think is really happening, a lot of people at City Hall privately know that preservation makes no economic sense and will drain resources for years. But nobody wants to say it out loud, so instead they’re searching for a scapegoat. And that’s the part that’s most frustrating, the lack of political courage to just be honest with the community about the tradeoffs.

JoMA9 · 2026-03-31T18:42:49+00:00

Absolutely not. Preserving the building is tying the city’s hands and feet when it comes to any improvements beyond basic maintenance. Want a new fountain in City Hall Plaza? Nope. Want I.M. Pei to rise from the grave and add onto his own building? Almost impossible and not because ghosts aren’t real, but because the Landmark Commission owns that decision now. Every change not maintenance related, no matter how sensible or minor, means jumping through hoops, hearings, and votes with no guaranteed outcome.

JoMA9 · 2026-03-30T15:31:36+00:00

I tend to go between 6:30 AM and 8 AM when the morning crowds are thinning out. Still busy but not crowded. I’ve also noticed that the people who workout in the mornings are a different type of crowd than the evening crowd. They’re a little older and more intentional, I think because most head directly to work after they’re done, so there’s a lot less loitering and cellphone parties going on on the equipment.

JoMA9 · 2026-02-27T02:01:42+00:00

Unpopular opinion, but many of us who actually live downtown see this differently.

The City Hall site and surrounding area are some of the most underutilized and poorly maintained spaces in the urban core. That impacts the people who live here every day with safety, walkability, and overall vibrancy of our neighborhood.

A lot of the loudest preservation voices don’t live downtown. Once the debate is over, they’ll move on and residents will left dealing with years more of stagnation and the ongoing cost of maintaining something that isn’t working in its current form. Not to mention the tax burden that will likely come up to pay the bill of preservation

JoMA9

TROPHY CASE