The Voelker Doctrine in a Nutshell

This week, the Richardson City Council rejected a proposal for a private student housing project north of UT-Dallas. I summarized the move as a message to students: "DROP DEAD." But that was unfair (really, not really). Mayor Paul Voelker expressed the thinking behind the rejection as more of a nod to a greater good. "My vision for the highest and best use are...technology-based, international companies that want to be right next door to a tier one research university." In his telling, it's not that he's against students or student housing, it's that he's for something he considers to be greater. I called that the Voelker Doctrine. Now I've found a six-word slogan that captures the doctrine in a nutshell. Read on.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV 2021): How Captain America's shield gets passed down...to a Black man. That matters in this telling. And how the Winter Soldier gets his groove back. Two Captain Americas and a Nazi and Wakandans and Flag Smashers. Way too crowded for me. C+

The Voelker Doctrine

I've been preoccupied with a zoning case for student housing just north of UT-Dallas for almost a year. The case is finally dead (I think). For the second time, the City Council denied the rezoning application. Each time I struggled to find a coherent reason why. As I said in December, 2020, "You might think if there's anywhere an apartment building just might get approved, it's on a property like that: on a freeway, near public transit and a large (and growing) university, and nowhere near a single family neighborhood. But the City Council said 'no.' " This year, I called a similar application for rezoning a "no-brainer." The City Council again said "no." What was I missing?

What Killed Student Housing for UT-Dallas?

The Richardson City Council on Monday unanimously approved a request to rezone 13.3 acres next to the university from technical office to a planned development.
...
The housing will be open to the public but mostly serve faculty and graduate students.

Source: Dallas Morning News.

Just kidding. Check the date on that story in The Dallas Morning News. It's from 2014. Richardson resident Marcia Grau uncovered it. The article reports on the Richardson City Council's approval of the Northside apartment development. Oh, about that "The housing will be open to the public but mostly serve faculty and graduate students." Northside has to follow the same Fair Housing Act regulations that would apply to this year's private student housing project. What the Council had no problem with in 2014 took up much of the Council's handwringing this year.

The outcome this week, seven years later, was decidedly different.

4th (and best) Dispatch from the Chamber of Secrets

The Richardson City Council has been meeting in secret to set the council's vision, mission, goals, strategies, and tactics for its two-year term. In my three previous dispatches, I barely scratched the surface of the substance of those talks (so blame me for being verbose). This time, I'll finally talk substance. (Maybe just a little anyway. The talks are ongoing.)