Make downtown fit for retail
Re: “Dallas Needs Plan to Keep Neiman’s — City must embrace a bold vision for downtown that is about renewal and prosperity,” Thursday editorial.
The Dallas Morning News is right to value Neiman Marcus as part of downtown’s history, but framing its future as a test of Dallas’ “bold vision” risks missing the real issue. Retailers do not decide where to operate based on symbolism or civic aspiration; they follow customers, safety and sustained economic activity.
Neiman’s challenges are not unique, nor are they primarily about imagination. They reflect longstanding, unresolved problems downtown: inconsistent public safety, limited residential density, weak evening and weekend foot traffic and an environment that often feels uninviting to everyday visitors.
No amount of vision casting can substitute for addressing those fundamentals. The city cannot, and should not, try to prop up individual retailers to preserve nostalgia.
Opinion
Its responsibility is to create conditions where businesses can succeed without special pleading. That means focusing less on saving icons of the past and more on making downtown functional, safe and livable for the present.
If Dallas gets the basics right, Neiman Marcus will stay by choice — not persuasion.
Bill Rogge, Dallas
Neiman’s we loved is gone
Why do we need a plan to keep a retailer that is going out of business because no one shops there anymore? What we need is a plan to reimagine and re-tenant the building. Neiman’s as we loved it is gone. This is capitalism.
Jon Altschuler, Highland Park
Texas clings to $7.25 an hour
Texas likes to tell a story about itself: that hard work is rewarded and opportunity is abundant. But that story collapses under one stubborn fact. Texas still clings to a $7.25 minimum wage, unchanged since 2009, while the cost of living in places like Dallas has soared.
This is not an oversight; it is a policy choice. Someone working full time at minimum wage earns about $15,000 a year before taxes — nowhere near enough to cover rent, transportation, food or health care in North Texas. When lawmakers refuse to act, they are effectively saying that full-time work no longer deserves economic security.
Low wages don’t just harm workers. They shift costs onto taxpayers, as underpaid employees rely on programs like SNAP, Medicaid and housing assistance. That is not fiscal responsibility; it is subsidizing poverty wages with public dollars.
Dallas feels the consequences directly. Underpaid workers spend less locally, turnover rises and financial stress strains families and community services. An economy built on wages that don’t meet basic living costs is not strong — it is fragile.
Raising the minimum wage is not radical. It is a recognition that work should provide dignity.
Jacqueline Grote, Plano
Why we need reporters
Re: “City park board member resigns — His no-bid deal for airport restaurant is killed after conflict of interest concern,” Thursday news story.
This story about a restaurant deal for Executive Airport, a park board member (now former), and no-bid process followed by Dallas is a prime example why we must have local reporters and an independent press.
Bravo to The Dallas Morning News for asking the questions and shining the spotlight. Without your work, this sort of good-ole-boy deal would have sailed through. Thank you for the good work, and please keep it up.
Michael Brown, Fairview
Support democracy in Iran
Re: “Maduro Had to Be Removed — But the U.S. cannot ‘run’ Venezuela,” Monday editorial.
Your editorial rightly notes that “a democratic nation is more resistant to entreaties from China, Russia and Iran.” That point is even more striking given Iranians themselves are demanding democracy in the streets.
Since Dec. 28, protests have spread nationwide, driven by long-standing demands for freedom and accountability. Protesters are explicit: They reject both the former monarchy and the current theocracy, chanting, “Down with the oppressor, be it the Shah or the (Supreme) Leader.”
I now live in North Texas, but I was born in Iran, denied higher education and imprisoned for my political beliefs. These protests are part of a sustained, generational push for a democratic republic — one that can coexist peacefully with the world.
Supporting Iran’s democratic aspirations is not charity. It’s sound policy. A democratic Iran would no longer threaten its neighbors — or the world.
Homeira Hesami, Carrollton
University Park needs DART
Re: “DART ditch list could grow — University Park Council will allow voters to decide whether to stay on board,” Thursday Metro & Business story.
Although I am dismayed about the recent push for cities to leave DART, I feel a particular betrayal at University Park’s recent decision to call an election.
During my time at Southern Methodist University, I used DART’s services often to get around the area. I didn’t have a car until I lived off-campus, and even when I did, I still commuted via the Red Line to avoid traffic and parking.
Although the city leaving DART wouldn’t stop the shuttle buses between campus and Mockingbird Station, the loss of funding for the remainder of the system will still hurt the students and staff who rely on it.
University Park doesn’t exist in an infrastructure bubble; dollars spent in other cities still benefit them.
James Outlaw Urech, Richardson
AT&T headline praised
The headline writer deserves more than “Three Cheers” for the sad but true headline on the jump page for the Tuesday AT&T story: “AT&T hangs up on Dallas.” Perfect! I would have loved seeing that across the front page.
Sue Owens, Dallas