DART to Fair Park - An Update

From 2011 10 State Fair

Two years ago, DART opened a short section of the DART Green Line from downtown to Fair Park. Football fans from UT and OU overcrowded the trains for the ride to the Cotton Bowl and the annual Red River Rivalry game. Anger overflowed. DART's image suffered.

Last year, DART added trains and rerouted the Red Line to eliminate the need to change trains downtown. And, likely, many fans, burned once, decided to drive, reducing demand. The result? A better balance of capacity and demand. Less anger. No headlines featuring DART.

This year, DART faced a new challenge. The Green Line has been extended to Carrollton. Would the influx of new passengers again overcrowd the service? DART was ready once again. Riding DART to Fair Park was a non-story. Good for DART.

How is DART handling the State Fair traffic on days other than the day of a big game? After the jump, my experience this week.

First Impressions of GOP Economics Debate

Eight Republicans gathered around a table at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire for the seventh GOP presidential candidates' debate. My quick scorecard:

• Romney won. Hands down.
  
• Perry lost. No doubt.
  
• Cain might have helped himself by sounding bold but hurt himself by sounding simplistic.
  
• No one else distinguished himself or herself to change the dynamics of the race.
  

After the jump, deeper impressions.

The Fair in Photos

From 2011 10 State Fair

More photos from our day at the 125th State Fair of Texas can be found here.

No Exemption for Home, Sweet, Home

City, county, and school property tax statements were mailed out to homeowners last week. The only new wrinkle this year is that the City of Richardson's tax statement is now combined with the county's tax statement. Combining the two saves money. Good, smart move.

Combining the two also makes it easier to compare the taxes paid to support city services versus county services. The numbers are right there, side by side. Now, if we could only get more momentum behind movements like Taxpayer Receipt, taxpayers would know even more about how their tax dollars are being spent.

What stood out for me in this year's local tax statement is that the city doesn't give homeowners a homestead exemption. It's hard to avoid that big, fat "0" in the column headed "Homestead Exemption." This shouldn't be news to anyone. The lack of a homestead exemption was always listed on the city's tax statement in the past. It's just more prominent now. I'm curious whether residents will notice and lobby for the city to revisit this policy. Odder things have happened. If so, it'll be another example of the law of unintended consequences.

Homecoming: Lake Highlands 37, Sunset 6

From 2011 Football

In perfect weather, with a large home crowd, Lake Highlands celebrated homecoming with a big win over Sunset High School, 37-6.

More photos from this game, and all of the 2011 season, including the bands and color guards and drill teams and cheerleaders and everything else that goes into making high school football the best value in Friday night entertainment, can be found here.