Richardson is "Running with the Big Dogs"

The Dallas Morning News published an editorial in which it described Richardson as "cruising on a massive dose of adrenaline." Specifically it highlighted the superlatives of the real estate development underway at the Bush Turnpike and Central Expressway.

Go ahead and read the editorial, then come back here for my thoughts ... after the jump.

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First, I don't understand what makes this an editorial. The newspaper doesn't say the development is good. It doesn't say it's bad. It doesn't pass judgment on the development at all, other than opine that it "put[s] pressure on suburb to tackle new challenges." D'oh.

Second, where's the transit in this development that The Dallas Morning News calls transit-oriented development? More like a coincidental neighbor. As someone else said, "It is not designed for transit. It is designed next to transit." Pretty much.

But read between the lines and you can see where The Dallas Morning News is really going with this. Cars. That's apparently the crux of the interest for The Dallas Morning News.

One big challenge will be handling the tens of thousands of extra motorists who will be heading in and out every day. Being near North Central Expressway is a boost for developers selling the site but a potential bane for workers who need to drive it. That stretch of highway is one of the most congested in the state; coincidentally, TxDOT planners have begun soliciting ideas from the public on options for rebuilding it.

Source: The Dallas Morning News.

Let's unpack that. That one architect's rendition of the new State Farm complex showing the monstrous parking garages planned for State Farm ought to scare everyone. Traffic will be an enormous challenge at this car-oriented development.

From Pantagraph.com

I'd like to say that things will take care of themselves. Other traffic will reroute around the bottlenecks. As for State Farm traffic, well, State Farm brought this on themselves. But I know that's not how things work out. This will just increase the justification for TxDOT's ravenous appetite to rebuild and expand Central Expressway. Expect The Dallas Morning News to be a leading cheerleader for that multi-billion dollar effort in the name of congestion relief.

And that's how you find the advocacy in an editorial in The Dallas Morning News.