City needs to permanently shelve SW Center Mall plans

Has Dallas shamefully neglected the southern half of its city? If you look at the historical record, it's probably worse than "neglect." Under a system when all city council members were elected at large, the city deliberately focused all its development plans on the northern half and it became policy to turn the southern half into a area designated for minorities that would have to fend for itself. The way Dallas city leaders used to treat South Dallas bordered on the criminal.

Today's leaders know this and their collective consciences have forced them to invest far more heavily in the southern sector of the city. Is this the right thing to do? Damn right it is, although it's going to take a long time to overcome the policies of the past.

That being said, however, there are limits to what the city should do. For instance, it has no business sinking taxpayer money into the albatross of Southwest Center (formerly Red Bird) Mall. For one thing, it appears the traditional concept of the mall is dying of its own accord. Two other highly visible malls north of downtown Dallas -- Valley View and Collin Creek -- appear to be on their last legs. Big Town died years ago and I don't know of that many people who regularly schedule shopping trips to Town East. The popular concept now seems to be the mixed-use development that combines residential with shopping, the best of which can be found at Watters Creek at Montgomery Farms in Allen.

At one point the city seemed prepared to purchase the Penney's site at Southwest Center Mall for $2 million. Now it seems it's pulling out of that plan to put money into keeping Macy's at the mall. Why? I don't understand why Macy's at Southwest Center Mall should be treated any differently than Dillard's at Valley View. I didn't see the city offering it money to stay. What's going on at Southwest Center Mall has nothing to do with the historical actions of the city toward South Dallas. Guilty consciences should just go so far.