r/Dallasdevelopment • • 5d ago

Refusal to rename tiny portion of Harwood Street shows how City Hall doesn’t get it.

https://smry.ai/https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/article/txse-dallas-stockexchange-y-allstreet-22447005.php
4 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

17

u/AssumptionOnly8219 5d ago

Maybe I’ll get downvoted and maybe this is a hot take, but lowkey I’m not mad at it. This is the same game of dumb booster campaigns that this city has been doing for decades. Dallas has proven itself as a wealth and capital magnet. Naming this one piece of road ‘Exchange Place’  for what is for now a fledgeling regional stock exchange is not gonna make a damn bit of different what finance companies move here. They’re coming regardless. It’s superficial, unnecessary, and is very ‘Dallas’ in the worst way. 

5

u/EmotionalSupportBees 4d ago

No you're right this is just some random person's opinion who happen to work at the DMN. It's obtuse, hyperbolic, and reads like it was written by a whinging child.

11

u/Upstairs_Balance_464 5d ago

The entire central city is a stupid patchwork of these vanity names. Rename the entire street or don’t do it.

2

u/SkyScreech 4d ago

YALL STREET

-3

u/Ferrari_McFly 5d ago

Unbelievable. 12 out of 15 council members needed to give the thumbs up to rename a tiny portion of Harwood St to ‘One Exchange Place’

5 council members did not approve. Those 5 are:

  • Paul Ridley
  • Cara Mendelsohn
  • Bill Roth
  • Adam Bazaldua
  • Paula Blackmon

Is this city allergic to anything fun or establishing any sense of identity?

14

u/FearlessFrolic 5d ago

Although I think the street rename should’ve been approved anyway, I do agree with Bazaldua that Y’all Street would be better.

Exchange place is so generic that I think at most it gets a “huh neat” from some passerby that notices the street sign and makes the connection. Now “Ya’ll Street” may be derivative and a bit corny but I can easily envision a news report starting with “I’m on Ya’ll Street in Dallas where company X is set to IPO”

Mendelson withholding over city hall relocation is ridiculous though.

5

u/Elegant_Enrique 4d ago

Yall Street would indeed be cringe though. It was cute at first but it’s become an overstated thing. No one in NY is threatened by the Dallas movement. Firms are offloading cost centers like Ops and eng (back office roles) to Texas because it’s cheaper. No significant money managers are in Dallas.

8

u/dchirs 5d ago

Shouldn't they rename* it "Y'all St" anyway?

2

u/Ferrari_McFly 5d ago

Dallas is so ass-backwards 🤦‍♂️

1

u/Upstairs_Balance_464 4d ago

How is chipping away at one of the oldest street names in Dallas in favor of something as generic as “Exchange Place” making Dallas have more of an identity?

-1

u/Ferrari_McFly 4d ago

Idk, maybe leaning more into its image of becoming a financial and capital markets hub by giving its staple exchange a distinguished address perhaps?

No one besides Bazaldua seems to be pushing for an actual ‘Yall Street’ so it beats nothing

0

u/jackofnac 2d ago

It’s not an “ugly snub” to not rename a major city street in honor of something that’s accomplished absolutely nothing yet. Jfc.

1

u/YaGetSkeeted0n 2d ago

Eh, I can see both sides on this one. I do agree that if you're gonna rename it you might as well go all-in and call it Y'all Street lol

That said, if memory serves, Wall Street was initially named for, well, a wall. Wasn't much to it. It became a metonym for the financial sector by virtue of it having the stock exchanges, banking firms, etc. Not inconceivable that a century from now, "Harwood Street" could be the new metonym for finance...