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CREATING COMMUNITY
FOUNDED BY BROTHERS EVAN AND JORDAN AUGUST, August Real Estate Co. is a Dallas-based development firm with a clear mission: to create high-quality, design forward spaces that honor the history of the city while pushing its culture and economy forward.
Their work is guided by a deep commitment to authenticity, long-term community investment, and a hospitality-driven approach that makes every building feel like a natural part of the neighborhood it serves.
At the heart of August Real Estate Co.’s philosophy is the belief that great cities are built on a blend of the old and the new and that thoughtful, beautiful design can be a bridge between legacy and innovation. Their developments are more than real estate projects; they’re gathering spaces, creative campuses, and landmarks that reflect the evolving identity of Dallas.
Their journey began with a piece of history: the Continental Gin Building (CGB) in Deep Ellum.
A 130-year-old icon, the CGB became the company’s first and foundational property. With careful restoration and vision, August Real Estate Co.’s transformed it into a dynamic mixeduse hub.
It’s now home to a growing roster of forward-thinking companies like Colossal, a pioneering biotech firm making waves in the field of de-extinction and conservation. Another notable company, Access Fares is a key player in the travel technology sector, known for its innovation in airfare consolidation and premium travel solutions. These companies are a reflection of the kind of innovation and momentum that August Real Estate Co. is proud to support and house.
But it’s not just about office space. The building features Tatsu Dallas, the only Michelin-starred restaurant in the city, which is an intimate, refined omakase experience curated by Chef Tatsuya Sekiguchi. Culpepper Cattle Co., located on-site as well, brings a more rustic Texas charm, serving classic comfort food with a modern twist. Together, these establishments add another layer of vibrancy and culture to the Deep Ellum community.
In East Dallas, the company is continuing its mission with one of its most prominent properties — Lakewood Tower. A nine-story, 120,000-square-foot office building, it represents August Real Estate Co.’s commitment to adaptive reuse and long-term value. Rather than fo cusing on national chains or large corporate tenants, the building is home to a diverse range of local businesses from your trusted child’s pediatrician at Pecan Tree Pediatrics to neighborhood like furniture company Worthington Direct. Creative agencies, planning consultants, and wellness professionals all work side-by-side in a space that reflects the eclectic and entrepreneurial spirit of East Dallas.
Designed to be both timeless and functional, Lakewood Tower reflects the neighborhood’s charm while embracing the modern needs of today’s professionals and small businesses.
“East Dallas is one of the most dynamic areas in our city, rich in culture, history, and benefits from favorable proximity to lifestyle amenities like Deep Ellum, Fair Park, the Santa Fe Trail, and White Rock Lake. Mean -
while, we felt the office, retail, and multi-family markets are lacking in both quantity and quality. We’re focused on bridging that supply/demand gap with amenity-rich, mixed-use developments,” says co-founder Evan August.
Another standout in their portfolio is 333 1st Avenue, a creative and hospitality-inspired office space in Deep Ellum with modern infrastructure nestled in a historic building. With open ceilings, minimal column interruptions, and ample natural light, it offers flexibility and energy that’s perfect for today’s collaborative work environments. 333 1st serves as the corporate headquarters for Embark, a financial consulting firm founded in Dallas who’s client rooster includes Hello Fresh and Omni Hotels & Resorts.
Rounding out their development footprint is Expo Park, a sprawling, 400,000-squarefoot mixed-use district on the doorsteps of Fair Park. Made up of 17 buildings across nine acres, Expo Park blends residential, creative, retail and office spaces to form a vibrant community hub. Artists, small businesses, and residents all call this place home, making it one of the most uniquely dynamic areas in the city.
From revitalizing historic landmarks to creating new community anchors, August Real Estate Co. is shaping a bold, thoughtful future for Dallas. With a focus on quality, culture, and longterm investment, Evan and Jordan August are proving that development can be as soulful as it is smart and that when design and intention come together, entire neighborhoods thrive.
100 days Kimberly Tolbert with
Story by MADELYN EDWARDS
AS OF EARLY MAY,
Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has spent 100 days as the official Dallas city manager.
Technically, Tolbert served as interim city manager for more than half a year before being appointed to the position permanently by a 13-2 Dallas City Council vote on Jan. 22. She made history as the first Black woman to have that role.
In February 2024, former City Manager T.C. Broadnax announced that he would resign. Broadnax reportedly had a tense relationship with Mayor Eric Johnson and some members of the council, and he endured controversies, like when the City unintentionally deleted Dallas Police Department files containing evidence and investigations. He is now the Austin city manager.
We reached out to Tolbert’s staff for an interview, but we were unable to book an appointment with her by the press deadline. So, the following list of her major activities since being appointed was sourced from the web.
PUBLIC SAFETY
In her first 100 days, Tolbert finalized two big hires — Daniel Comeaux as the new police chief and Justin Ball as the new Dallas Fire-Rescue chief. While Ball was promoted from within his department, Tolbert took a different approach to the police chief by hiring Comeaux, the former Drug Enforcement Administration’s Houston Field Division special agent in charge.
Tolbert is also reportedly working with developers on a police academy project that would include a training center and a public safety complex. Respectively, these facilities would have classrooms, reality-based training, a criminal justice center, an auditorium, an indoor multi-purpose training space, indoor and outdoor firearms training, a tactical village, and an emergency vehicle obstacle course.
The updated plan was presented to the Dallas City Council in April and drew some concern over the cost, which was about $150 million in March but wasn’t updated in April.
REAL ESTATE & PERMITTING
In April, Tolbert decided to halt all city real estate purchases after the previous administration bought a $14 million office building with multiple fire code violations a few years ago. The issues with the building were discovered after some staffers moved into it. In her report, Tolbert said the building is no longer needed for permitting because of the new online land management system, and the space on North Stemmons Freeway will be sold. She is also working toward a comprehensive citywide real estate master plan.
That new online system is DallasNow, which was launched in May. DallasNow moves some functions of planning and development online, like submitting applications, plan reviews and issuing permits.
A Q&A WITH CHIEF OF POLICE DANIEL C. COMEAUX
On incoming Chief of Police Daniel C. Comeaux’s first day, we briefly chatted with him about the move to Dallas, goals for the future and what to expect. We were told by the police department that we could only ask introductory questions and refrain from bringing up topics like immigration and marijuana. We look forward to revisiting those subjects with the chief in the future.
WHAT EXPERIENCES ARE YOU BRINGING TO DALLAS
PD FROM YOUR DIVERSE LAW ENFORCEMENT CAREER?
I’ve been in law enforcement for over 33 years. I feel like I’m uniquely qualified for these positions from all the places that I have policed in some very large police departments, but also some smaller police departments, like when I policed in Mississippi, in Gulfport and Jackson, where there’s a lot of poverty areas. I’ve policed across the entire United States — San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston. Bringing all that experience in one, I feel like I’m uniquely qualified to succeed here.
WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE DALLAS?
Dallas has always had the reputation of being one of the top police departments. When I started the search on where I wanted to work — I actually did a Google search, and we know Google does not lie — I put in there, ‘What are the best police departments in the United States?’ And one of the ones that came up was Dallas. I started really focusing on Dallas, and when it came open, I was like, ‘I can’t believe this is open. Let’s go for it.’
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, BOTH IN THE SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM?
First of all, we’re going to try and hire more officers. I understand what’s happening there. We’re going to be very aggressive in trying to hire more officers, but I also want the police officers to understand that the residents want us here.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST ISSUES THAT YOU WANT TO TACKLE?
Anyone out there who’s in Dallas, especially those who have felony warrants, should be worried about us knocking on their door because we want to get all of those felony warrants off the street.
WHAT HAS THE EXPERIENCE OF GETTING TO KNOW THE CITY AND ITS NEIGHBORHOODS BEEN LIKE FOR YOU?
It’s been great, and I’m really looking forward to just
traveling to all the different areas. I am a foodie, so that’s how I’m going to get to know the city, when I’m traveling someplace, (Googling) the best restaurant in the area and getting to know the city from there. I’ve mainly been Downtown, but I’m going to start branching out here extremely soon.
WHAT IS YOUR PLAN FOR ENGAGING WITH THE COMMUNITY?
I will definitely hold community meetings. The community will know me. Every area of Dallas will get to know me. If they want to meet me, I will come. Not only me, but my command staff will come.
COMING FROM HOUSTON TO DALLAS, DO YOU FEEL YOU STILL HAVE TIES TO SOME OF THE COMPETITIVE SPORTS CULTURE FROM ONE CITY TO THE OTHER?
I actually love this question, because the day that I got named for the chief of Dallas, I told everybody in Houston I was done with them, and Dallas was going to kick their butt and everything. It’s actually been a friendly competition between the Houston Police Department with me leaving and going to Dallas. They’re like, ‘Hey, remember, you were one of us.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, no longer. Now I’m Dallas PD. And if you want to meet on 45, we’ll play you in basketball, softball, football. And we’re going to win.’
THE FUTURE OF THE JEWEL
Story by AUSTIN WOOD | Photography by LAUREN ALLEN
THERE IS A NEW PLAN CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED AT CITY HALL WHICH COULD SHAPE THE FUTURE OF WHITE ROCK LAKE PARK.
Built and filled between 1911 and 1914, White Rock Lake (WRL) is a 1,015-acre city lake that has been described as the “jewel in the crown of the Dallas park system.” Lakewood and Lake Highlands both owe their names — and a lot of neighborhood identity — to the lake, which receives over 2 million visitors annually.
The lake anchors the 2,200-acre eponymous park built around it, which contains landmarks like Flag Pole Hill, Winfrey Point, the Bath House and Boy Scout Hill.
Since the lake’s filling, more than a dozen master plans, maintenance plans and design guidelines have been put in place to manage the park. Some documents go back to World War II, while others come from as recently as 2022.
That’s why, when running for reelection in 2023, District 9 Council Member Paula Blackmon made consolidating these diverse visions for WRL’s future a campaign priority alongside dredging.
“What we are doing is, when you go into that area and we’ve given it a kind of a theme or a thought, then it goes into deeper diving of project development,” Blackmon says. “And so what we’re hoping is that people understand what is happening in that area and then develop ideas in which to be implemented later on. But this is not one where it says, ‘Oh, here is going to be a picnic table, and here, there’s going to be a playground.’ It’s just kind of showing different zones of that, combining all the stuff that’s been done before, what is there now?”
Shortly after her reelection, consultants contracted by the city began gathering data and information from past studies for the new White Rock Lake Master Plan. The goal: create a living document outlining opportunities for future improvements at the lake.
The plan will not provide concrete action items complete with blueprints and budgets; instead, the WRMP will be a evolving document outlining a vision for the lake’s future by pinpointing opportunities for potential exploration at various park sites.
“This is one of the main driving factors of why Paula thought it was so important,” District 9 Park and Recreation Board Rep. Maria Hasbany says. “In order for us to get
money for projects, we need to know what those projects and needs are. You need a plan laid out.”
The process was originally intended to be completed by the fall of 2024, but Blackmon says that the city has sought additional public feedback to refine the document.
“At one point, we changed the public engagement process to allow more meetings and more engagement,” Blackmon says. “I feel that we’ve had a lot of community engagement. We’ll continue to have community engagement. It doesn’t mean that it’s over. This is not a static document. It is very much a living document, and we need to change it along the way.”
Several community meetings were held at various locations around the lake from 2023 to 2024, and a survey was opened to gather neighbor feedback. The three largest priorities identified from neighbor feedback were trails, general maintenance, and green spaces and preservation.
Using the neighbor feedback, city staff and consultants have created draft master plans detailing opportunities for improvement at the lake. The opportunities vary in scale, with some drafted ideas drawing more attention than others, but Hasbany says it’s important to remember they are just that — opportunities, not set commitments.
“The part that’s challenging is it’s not a true master plan,” Hasbany says. “You can have public input as much as you like, but it’s not like we’re asking your input on whether or not you want a hotel. If you really read the document, it’s talking about what, in general, what kind of trails would we like there? In general, it’s all sort of in general. And there’s no money for any of it, and some of it is big picture thinking, so we’ll say we’ve had a lot of public input for a document that really isn’t driving any immediate decisions about anything.”
The plan tackles each section of the park individually, with areas like Winfrey Point, the Bath House and Flag Pole Hill addressed site-specifically.
At Flag Pole Hill, the plan identified opportunities such as a playground expansion, a refitting of the staff building as a visitor center, and reforesting the entryway along Northwest Highway. Baseball field upgrades, wildflower
“This is not a static document. It is very much a living document, and we need to change it along the way.”
plantings and the potential creation of a site-specific master plan have been identified as opportunities at Winfrey Point. At the Bath House Cultural Center, the plan encourages consolidation of “inefficient parking” to create more green space.
Along with smaller opportunities outlined in the draft plan, “big ideas” are also identified for potential improvements. Ideas identified include an elevated trail connection running behind the Filter Building, shoreline reclamation near the Bath House, an overlook at Mockingbird Point, a bridge renovation and construction of a pedestrian overpass with trail connections at the end of Mockingbird pedestrian bridge, and a boardwalk along South Garland Road which will maintain the integrity of the trail in the face of worsening erosion.
The idea for a boardwalk has been well-publicized, with neighbors campaigning for or against the idea. That’s why it’s important
to remember the document’s role as a guiding vision for the future, not a decisive action plan, Hasbany says.
“There is no money for the boardwalk,” she says. “There is no money for the erosion control until we figure out how we’re going to pay for the erosion and how we’re going to pay for that boardwalk. Nothing can happen until we figure out the financial mechanism to do so.”
City staff began reviewing a final draft of the plan in March. Blackmon says the final version of the master plan will likely come to the Park Board for approval in fall, more than three years after the plan was announced.
“I’m excited that people did take part in this. I know there were tons of surveys. We had lots of options,” Blackmon says. “And so I just hope that if people feel like they haven’t been heard, there’s still an opportunity that they can email me, or they can email the parks department, and we’re happy to send the information off to the consultant and look at it.”
MIDTOWN
MADNESS
Story by AUSTIN WOOD
DALLAS HAS A DOWNTOWN AND, SINCE THE LATE ’90S, AN UPTOWN.
So where is Midtown?
Depending on who you ask, it’s either four miles northeast of Uptown in an area traditionally known as Vickery Meadows, five miles northeast on Royal Lane or eight miles north at the former Valley View Mall site.
How does that work?
We’re not exactly sure. Logically, one would figure Midtown to be located somewhere in the Harwood District and Victory Park, both sandwiched between Uptown and Downtown.
Perhaps it’s easier to understand through the lens of what happened to the area now known as Uptown in the 1990s.
The impetus for the district came after the collapse of the real estate market in the ’80s created an opportunity for a walkable, mixed-use area containing historic neighborhoods like State Thomas. Developers jumped at the opportunity and eventually coined the name Uptown to sell their vision.
Uptown’s story somewhat mirrors that of the other “Midtown” planned at the former Valley View Mall site, albeit with much less progress to show. When it was purchased by developers in 2012, a multi-use district containing retail and residential development was planned on the site of the mall, which was demolished between 2019 and 2023.
Earlier this year, Robert Wilonsky at The Dallas Morning News reported that the site’s three owners had put the property up for sale, potentially signaling the end of “Midtown” near Dallas North Tollway.
Four miles to the west, close to
the intersection of Forest Lane and Josey Road, the Residence at Midtown apartment complex seems to be trying to get in on the action, or perhaps even create its own out-ofthe-way Midtown, although no other properties in the area have embraced the new branding.
On Mockingbird Lane, an apartment complex adorned with 20-foot murals, Mockingbird 5, was previously known as Phoenix Midtown, but has since rebranded.
Close to four miles north, near U.S. 75 on Royal Lane, apartment complexes have branded themselves as located in “Midtown” or “Midtown Park” with names like Everra Midtown Park Apartments, Luxia Midtown Park, The Summit at Midtown and Domain at Midtown Park.
The development comprises the northern end of the Midtown Public Improvement District. Previously known as the Vickery Meadow Public Improvement District, established in 1994, the PID rebranded at first to Vickery Midtown PID before losing the Vickery entirely to become Midtown PID in 2021.
Signs bearing the name have sprung up in every nook and corner of the neighborhood, and the infamous intersection better known to longtime residents as Five Points has been repackaged with bright street art, a Little Free Library and benches to become “Midtown Plaza.”
In a historically working-class area long known as the “Little UN,” newer, pricier apartment developments are starting to creep in. The motivations for the rebrand aren’t hard to figure out.
So where is Midtown?
We still aren’t sure, and it doesn’t seem like many people know either. Maybe, Midtown is wherever the (developer’s) heart is.
PARKING PERMITTING PAINS
Story by JILLIAN NACHTIGAL
After years of discussion, city council approved parking reform for Dallas on May 14.
Chapters 51 and 51A of the Dallas City Code determine parking areas’ location, design and how much off-street parking must exist per land use. These regulations impact housing affordability, economic development potential, environmental resiliency, safety and walkability in Dallas. Amendments are being considered which would shift the approach from one-sizefits-all numerical requirements to a framework prioritizing context-sensitive travel demand management, multi-modal transportation options and well-designed parking facilities.
The reform looks to dismantle strict parking mandates to allow for more housing and small business opportunities.
Jake Ettinger, District 1 policy advisor and community liaison, says the parking reform will primarily help small businesses.
Restaurants and bars, particularly those under 2,500 square feet, could see mandates completely waived. For buildings over 2,500 square feet, one space per 200 square feet for sales and seating area would be required.
Parking requirements are recommended to be removed for office use and Downtown, with no parking for any use within 1/2-mile of light rail and streetcar stations and Downtown districts.
According to the proposal, parking minimums would also be reduced for hotels, commercial amusement and places of worship, with designated historic buildings having minimums mostly removed.
Additionally, Ettinger says this could make housing more affordable in the city, as part of the cost of housing right now is unused parking spots. Multi-family dwellings will see a decrease in parking requirements from one space per bedroom to one-half space per unit.
Other council members, such as District
PERMITTING
10’s Kathy Stewart, intitially did not agree with all aspects of the parking reform.
“From a multi-family perspec tive, what came out of (City Plan and Zoning Commission) was the one-half space per unit, and I just don’t think that works in District 10 or in District 12,” Stewart says. “We have a lot of multi-family that is adjacent to single-family, and we already have examples of where property managers put some im pediments, of some things in the way of people parking multiple cars, like they’ll charge an extra fee for your second car.”
Stewart ended up voting for the parking reform, while District 12 council member Cara Mendelsohn was the sole dissenting vote.
In some cases, residents opt out of parking in the parking facility, and they go to park on the public streets in the single family neighborhoods, Stewart says. This can be disruptive to people who live on those streets.
Currently, the city requires one parking spot per bedroom. Etting er says this doesn’t always make sense for multifamily housing.
“If you have two young kids that don’t have a car, why do they need a parking spot?” Ettinger says. “As a city, big picture when we think about what housing is going to look like 10, 20, 30 years from now, if we want families to not just be confined to single family homes, but also have the option if they want to live in townhouses or multi-family that’s well designed, we’re going to need this.”
DENTAL
Dr. Ben Alexander and the Lakewood Restorative Dentistry team
Dr. Ben Alexander and his family are longtime neighborhood residents
SURF + TURF
Ocean Ranch’s menu has something for everyone
Story by MADELYN EDWARDS
Photography by KATHY TRAN
Ocean Ranch chef Enrico Glaudo crafted the menu to include both seafood and steak entrées.
IT’S DIM INSIDE the restaurant, despite multiple light fixtures on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. Natural light plays a significant role in the ambiance; the sun’s rays can brighten up the dining room when streaming through the front windows. The decor inside Ocean Ranch also favors darkness — the black floors and cushions on chairs and in booths, as well as the wood detailing on tables, chairs and at the host stand.
Besides setting the mood, the wall decorations can tell you about Ocean Ranch’s menu. Cattle horns adorn the walls, which are painted an ocean blue color with white accents, reminiscent of a nautical motif. Before you leave, you’ll see two illustrations of a mermaid in a martini glass on the walls framing the restaurant’s doors. And if you really need it spelled out, spot the pictures of cows and fish in Ocean Ranch. You can order a lobster roll (hot or cold, $27) during one visit and get short ribs ($32) the next time. The menu also includes options like the Duroc pork chop ($31) and chicken parmigiana ($29) to offer more variety.
“There’s a little bit for everybody,” Ocean Ranch chef/partner Enrico Glaudo says. “Usually, when you go to a seafood place,
there’s hardly any meat, and when you go to a steakhouse, there’s hardly any seafood. So we kind of wanted to embrace both, and so far, it’s been working.”
Ever since he was young, Glaudo wanted to be a chef. He spent his childhood in the Italian Alps bordering France, just south of Mont Blanc, in a family full of food and hospitality workers.
“My grandma had a hotel, my mom had a restaurant, my dad had a butcher shop and deli shops,” Glaudo says.
Because of Italy’s educational system, Glaudo’s training started early. He was cooking his own food by 8 years old, and as a 14-year-old culinary student, he recalls preparing boneless chicken stuffed with chestnuts, pine nuts, raisins and breading without breaking the bird’s skin. He graduated from culinary school in the early ’80s before his 18th birthday. While he was in school, Glaudo worked at hotels during the summer, and after graduating, he landed a job at a Michelin-starred restaurant called Locanda Dell’Angelo in Bergamo, which is east of Milan. He worked his way up through the ranks, from kitchen prep to chef at 21 years old, which he says made him the youngest chef in an Italian
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Michelin-starred restaurant at the time.
The call to the United States came from Los Angeles. In 1990, at 24 years old, Glaudo moved to the West Coast to work in restaurateur Piero Selvaggio’s Primi in West L.A. He was motivated to stay in America and learn English, but the experience was a culture shock at first.
“In Italy, if you serve food as fast as we do in America, they don’t want to get it because they think you have it premade,” Glaudo says while listing off the biggest differences between Italian and U.S. restaurants.
Glaudo stayed in Los Angeles and worked in restaurants for over 30 years, though he did take breaks, like when he worked at the Hotel Granduca in Houston for a couple of years in the 2010s. From that experience, he fell in love with Texas for our state’s open roads, which he explored with his motorcycle and camera.
Even though he returned to California, Glaudo was looking for a way to get back to Texas.
Glaudo opened Ocean Ranch with his partner and restaurateur Nando Silvestri in March. When looking for a location, he found plenty of positives on Greenville Avenue.
“We liked the feeling of the area,” he says. “It’s a city, but it still looks like a village. There’s a lot of people walking. There’s a lot of different businesses.”
Ocean Ranch is located in the space where the bakery/fine dining restaurant Carte Blanche used to be before closing last summer. The restaurant won recognition in Forbes Travel Guide and AAA, but it also came under scrutiny
when chef and owner Casey La Rue was accused of falsifying his resume, though he has denied those claims. His wife and fellow Carte Blanche owner Amy La Rue started up a doughnut shop in Trinity Groves last summer after Carte Blanche shuttered. The La Rues are also planning to open a tasting-menu restaurant in Downtown this year.
When opening Ocean Ranch, Glaudo mentioned moving the bar from the middle of the restaurant over to the side and, of course, decorating the restaurant to draw attention to the menu’s fish and beef items. The chef says the vibe in Ocean Ranch is supposed to evoke comfort.
For now, Ocean Ranch is open for dinner six days a week (closed on Tuesdays) and opens early to serve brunch on the weekends. The brunch menu includes a variety of breakfast-inspired house specials, like short rib hash ($17), Alaskan benedict with crab cake ($22) and tres leches French toast ($14).
This is just the beginning for Ocean Ranch. When asked what he wants it to become in the future, Glaudo says, “Just a neighborhood restaurant where people come for food, find something different that not everybody has or prepared in different sauces.”
“We have different things, different unique things. And that’s pretty much what we wanted to be, not pretentious — just to come in, enjoy the food and be part of the neighborhood.”
With sunny days ahead, summer is a time for outdoor adventures—long walks, weekend getaways, and backyard fun. But it’s also the season when more pets can find themselves missing. Fireworks, open gates, and road trips can all lead to a pet slipping away. That’s why microchipping is one of the most important things you can do to protect your pet.
A microchip is a tiny device— about the size of a grain of rice—placed just beneath your pet’s skin. It holds a unique ID number that can be scanned by any vet or shelter to reconnect you with your furry family member. It’s safe, quick, and unlike a collar, it can’t fall off or be removed. A microchip can even be placed during a routine wellness visit!
At Modern Animal, we make vet care simple, convenient, and stress-free for today’s pet parents. I’d love to personally welcome you and your pet into one of our Dallas clinics to talk about microchipping and more ways to keep your pet healthy and happy this summer! Our team is here to answer questions, walk you through what to expect, and provide thoughtful care at every step.
Stop by, meet our team of trusted doctors, and learn how we can support your pet’s well-being—not just this summer, but for a lifetime.
To book a visit, head to modernanimal.com or download the Modern Animal app and use promo code ADVOCATE to get started with a free year of All Access Membership. Once you sign-up, we’ll handle transferring all previous medical records - it’s that simple!
— Dr. Cristina Mastromonaco, Lead Doctor at Modern Animal Lakewood
Modern Animal
6465 E. Mockingbird Lane #310 469.373.9338 modernanimal.com
Let’s face it — aggressive driving is part of DFW culture.
We know the drill. There’s a driver in front of you who’s going too slow, and another one inches behind your bumper who thinks you’re not driving fast enough. We’ve all slipped past the speed limit at one point or another. We roll the dice on whether we have enough of a traffic gap to change lanes or make a turn at an unsignalized intersection.
We can laugh and joke about Dallas drivers being terrible all we want, but really, this behavior can have serious consequences. Dallas Department of Transportation and Public Works data shows that our city had the second highest rate of traffic deaths between 2015-2019 compared to the likes of Houston, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, all of which had lower rates.
Though multiple factors are involved in severe crashes, speed-related causes were found in most of the severe wrecks from 2015-2023, according to a Dallas City Council Vision Zero update from last year.
Bad driving habits on the highways are a given, but they also extend to our city streets, especially if you’re a busy person with places to be and things to do.
“When I was in my 30s and a commuter, and I had to be someplace at a certain time, I did drive kind of aggressively,” says William Robbins, who has lived in Dallas for about five years. “There’s a tendency for people to leave at the last moment or get tied up with something and (think), ‘Oh my god, I’m going to be late. Hey, I got this wide open road. Punch it!’”
Nowadays, when Robbins, 68, is driving the speed limit around Abrams Road in East Dallas, he’ll notice people speeding past him.
“People will fly past me. They’ll honk at me (and make) aggressive maneuvers,” he says. “I meet them at the next traffic light every time. So they’re not winning.”
Robbins and other neighbors who use Abrams Road and Skillman Street have noticed some issues on these roads and want them to be safer.
Abrams Road (from Richmond Avenue to Northwest Highway) and Skillman Street (from Live Oak Street to Abrams) may not be among the worst streets in Dallas, but they still have issues. On Abrams Road, 449 crashes occurred between 2019 and 2023 — 259 south of Mockingbird Lane and 190 north of Mockingbird, where the number of total lanes increases from four to six (plus a turn lane),
according to a City of Dallas public meeting presentation. Most of these crashes only result in property damage, but fatal wrecks have happened once a year between 2022-2024. Crashes usually occur at a left turn, right angle or in a rear-end situation. The most common causes are failing to yield to the right of way when turning left, not controlling speed and disregarding stop-and-go signals.
“If somebody wants to make a left turn, they’re blocking a lane, and then somebody nice slows down or stops for them, and they go, and then another person gets mad and speeds past them. Bam!” Robbins says.
From January 2018 to June 2023, just over 600 wrecks were reported on Skillman Street, which is made up of six lanes north of Lovers Lane and four lanes to the south until Live Oak Street, for the most part. The types of crashes on Skillman and causes were about the same as on Abrams.
In 2024 alone, there were 68 crashes on Abrams Road between Richmond Avenue and Northwest Highway, with four resulting in suspected severe injuries and one alcohol-related fatality wreck, says Auro Majumdar, Traffic Engineering and Operations assistant director at the Dallas Department of Transportation and Public Works, in an email.
Skillman Street between La Vista Drive and Abrams Road had 63 crashes last year, but they weren’t as severe as the ones on Abrams.
Though it’s not the top factor contributing to wrecks, speeding is reportedly an issue on Abrams Road and Skillman Street. Despite Abrams’ posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour, drivers on average travel 4-6 mph over the limit. On the four-lane stretch of Abrams, 13-14% of drivers go 10 mph over the limit. And 6.3-16.5% of motorists drive 10 mph over the speed limit in the six-lane section.
The speed limit on Skillman Street ranges from 30-40 mph, depending on the section, and people surpass that limit by 35% on average.
Former Dallas City Council member Philip Kingston points out that it’s not speed but speed variance that poses a problem.
“When you have people trying to go 45 miles an hour on Abrams and Skillman, which is a very normal speed that we see every day, and you have somebody coming to a complete stop to take a left turn, you are creating a 45 mile an hour delta between cars,” Kingston says. “That is where you get injuries and death.”
If you think that more tickets should be
issued to speeding motorists, Majumdar says this is only part of the solution.
“While speed enforcement is effective in discouraging speeding, the most impactful strategy is to combine enforcement with engineering and education,” Majumdar states in an email. “In other words, properly engineered roadways and traffic control devices, together with effective education/outreach, and enforcement, are demonstrated to be most effective in reducing speeding.”
Dallas Police Department Tactical Operations Division Major Eric Roman says in an email just as much as Majumdar — “Speed enforcement along with traffic safety campaigns, community engagement and collaboration with our City Department of Transportation is part of our multifaceted approach to traffic safety.”
DPD prioritizes traffic safety, Roman says, and has a Speed Racing Task Force that is supposed to handle aggressive driving and “combat street takeovers incidents.” The patrol divisions all have Strategic Targeting Against Aggressive Driving and Road Rage vehicles “to provide proactive traffic enforcement to reduce the number of traffic accidents at high-accident locations.”
The department also runs public awareness campaigns and community events to urge motorists to wear their seatbelts, drive sober and be smart on the road.
“Traffic accidents take seconds to occur and are life-changing,” Roman says. “A few tips to driving safely: Drive smart, plan ahead, pay attention to your surroundings, take your time when traveling, drive defensively and be respectful to others while driving.”
But Kingston says the issue is more than people not obeying traffic laws but the roads themselves that need to be made safer.
“Either the facility encourages safe driving or it does not,” he says. “An unsafe facility can have whatever speed limit signs it wants. It can have as many traffic cops as you can put out there and as many signals as you can have, and an unsafe facility will continue to be unsafe.”
Kingston describes traffic on Abrams and Skillman as “incompatible with the neighborhood feel that people who live around there want to have.”
“These were both streets that were intended to be neighborhood streets,” he says. “For the four lanes that they are, they’re inadequately sized because they were never supposed to be that big. There was a huge move in the ’60s and early ’70s to widen all of the streets in Dallas. That was what was seen as good city planning back then.”
To evaluate the roads and recommend improvements, the City of Dallas Department of Transportation and Public Works began studies on Abrams Road from Richmond Avenue to Northwest Highway and Skillman Street from Live Oak Street to Abrams in 2023. Multiple recommendations were listed in the November 2024 presentations on Abrams and Skillman. Majumdar says several additional analyses, which were conducted after the public meetings in response to comments received, will be presented to stakeholders soon.
Of course, East Dallas residents have their own ideas of ways to calm traffic.
STRAIGHT FROM THE NEIGHBORS’ MOUTHS
Ironically, Rudy Karimi and his family moved near Tietze Park so they could live on a quieter street.
Karimi and his wife, both of whom serve on city boards, used to live near Woodrow Wilson High School, where he said there was a lot of through traffic and speeding. But there’s always been speeding on Abrams Road and Skillman Street, too. To Karimi, it won’t help to lower speed limits because people will just go as fast as they can anyway. And more police officers in the area probably wouldn’t solve the problem because they can’t be everywhere and catch every traffic infraction.
So, what would help?
“What slows people down is the things that are a nuisance,” Karimi says. “I’m a big fan of speed humps,” or speed cushions. He also mentioned narrowing streets as a way to reduce the speed of traffic, similar to how traffic is slower on streets where vehicles are parked on both sides.
Karimi doesn’t think speed cushions should be used on Skillman Street or Abrams Road but instead on slower neighborhood streets.
“Why does it matter on neighborhood roads? Because when you change your behavior on neighborhood roads, naturally, it’s going to change your behavior on larger roads,” he says.
Robbins would like to see Abrams Road get “Matilda-ized,” or given a structure similar to Matilda Street — a nearby twolane road with a turning lane in the middle plus bike lanes and sidewalks on the sides. Having a dedicated turn lane should take the pressure off of drivers wanting to go left and help prevent accidents. Plus, having complete sidewalks and lanes for cyclists, like Robbins, sends a message to motorists.
“I think when drivers see pedestrians, they’ll tend to slow down,” he says. “If they see asphalt, they tend to speed up.”
Lakewood resident Robyn Gaytán was living off Matilda Street when it was transformed into what it is today. She liked the change and thought it helped control speeding, although she suspects that people avoid using Matilda in favor of other roads, like Abrams.
“ We totaled a car on Matilda one time” before the changes were made, Gaytán says. “My husband, he got hit on a corner and spun around like three times and totaled the car, so I feel like it’s definitely helped on Matilda. … It was very much like Skillman or Abrams back then.”
Reducing the number of lanes or width of lanes (sometimes called “road diet”) is somewhat popular among residents. It came up as one of the options people said they wanted to see happen in last year’s survey regarding Abrams Road and Skillman Street, among other traffic calming measures.
“Road diet refers to a kind of a palette of approaches to road safety that generally includes the narrowing of roads, so either taking out lanes or simply narrowing the travel lanes will cause people to drive slower,” Kingston says. “There are a bunch of other things that are more broadly known as traffic
calming that generally go along with road diet, but all that’s in the same family of things you do to try to make streets safer.”
Kingston’s wife, Melissa, who is the chairperson of the City Plan Commission Thoroughfare Committee, chimed in to say that there is a plan in the works to give Skillman Street the road diet treatment. We reached out to a city spokesperson to confirm this but didn’t receive a response by the press deadline.
Kingston claims that a three-lane road can be just as efficient as a four-lane road in terms of moving traffic, just slower and safer.
Majumdar says staff is still looking into the impacts of lane reductions. The public meeting presentations for the Abrams and Skillman corridor studies address this practice. For Skillman, the presentation details two options for lane reduction, and while it does list some positive aspects, the information provided stresses that lane reduction would cause certain intersections to become more congested over time. The Abrams presentation reads, “A preliminary analysis of a reduced lane scenario indicated high levels of delays at key intersections.”
But Kingston cautions against the “level of service” engineering mentioned in the presentations.
“What it means, basically, is if people have to wait too long at a light, traffic engineers want to widen the street, and that has been proven to be dangerous,” he says.
The recommendations available to the public don’t suggest adding more through traffic lanes, but the level of service thought process is used as a justification against lane reduction in some areas.
Lakeshore Drive neighbor Alan Horowitz points out the Lakewood area is missing an east-west highway or major thoroughfare, and that brings motorists through neighborhood streets that aren’t meant for heavy traffic. One of the City’s recommendations is to put a traffic light at Lakeshore Drive and Abrams Road, but Horowitz has mixed feelings about this plan. On one hand, having a traffic light there might make turning left on Abrams safer.
“If I want to take a left on Abrams, I can’t do it in the mornings or the evenings. Like, I can, but it’s very dangerous,” Horowitz says. “There’s people taking lefts onto Lakeshore from the other side. There’s people turning; there’s traffic that builds up from the lights back on Belmont and Richmond. … It’s dangerous, like it’s just too chaotic. So I typically have to go either up Alderson all the way up to Monticello, which has a light which is between me and Mockingbird, or I have to go all the way to Skillman on the other side and just go north from there.”
But he’s concerned that the new signal may bring in more through traffic.
Ultimately, Karimi has faith that the roadway conditions around Abrams Road and Skillman Street will improve in the future.
“I think East Dallas continues to grow,” he says. “More and more families are moving here. Keyword: families with small children. These folks can be very vocal. My wife and I are very vocal, and there’s a lot of us. So when we start to ask for certain things that make sense, I think it takes time, but I think they will happen.”
The City’s recommended solutions
ON ABRAMS ROAD
(from the 2024 public meeting presentation):
• Upgrade traffic signals at Northwest Highway and Mockingbird Lane; remove and replace signals at Lovers Lane, Kenwood Avenue, Monticello Avenue, Belmont Avenue, Richmond Avenue and Southwestern Boulevard; and add new signals at University Boulevard/Axton Lane, Trammel Drive, Ravendale Lane, Bob O Link Drive, Lakeshore Drive
• Install left-turn lanes at key intersections
• Maintain signing and striping at a high level of retroreflectivity
• Clear sight-distance obstruction at intersections
• Replace/ install barrier-free ramps at intersections where needed
• Install sidewalk where missing, repair existing sidewalk as identified
• Enhance illumination at intersections, convert existing streetlights to LED
• Enforce traffic infractions, educate the public on the high cost of traffic accidents
ON SKILLMAN STREET
(from the 2024 public meeting presentation):
IN THE SHORT TERM…
• Signal timing improvements at key intersections
• Wheel stops or curb/gutter installation between La Vista Drive and Oram Street along Skillman Street
• Speed reduction pavement markings and rumble strips on Skillman near Tietze Park
• High-visibility crosswalk at Woodcrest Lane
IN THE LONG TERM…
• Installation of a 12-foot shared-use path to accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists on the east side of Skillman Street and a 6-foot sidewalk on the west side of Skillman from Oram Street to Southwestern Boulevard
• Installation of a 10-foot shared-use path from Theater Way to Abrams Road
• Installation of curb and gutter with a 6-foot sidewalk from La Vista Drive to Oram Street, which would require relocation of striped parking stalls
• Signal infrastructure improvements at key intersections with end-of-life signal equipment
• Proposed pedestrian hybrid beacon signal at Vickery Boulevard near Tietze Park
• Median narrowing from Ridgewood Trail to Lovers Lane
• Median improvements with the proposed pedestrian hybrid beacon signal at the Home Depot driveway
NO USE CRYING OVER BROKEN PIPES
La Vista locals pay no mind to leaky water main Story by
MADELYN EDWARDS
THE WATER MAIN ON LA VISTA DRIVE BETWEEN HUBERT AND MECCA STREETS HAS BROKEN FIVE TIMES BETWEEN 2021 AND 2025, but according to one neighbor on that stretch, that’s just part of living in East Dallas.
A replacement project is in the works for that part of La Vista. The cast iron pipe installed in 1934 will be replaced by a PVC pipe, and construction is planned for this summer, according to a Dallas Water Utilities representative.
City workers previously replaced the water main from Mecca Street to Empire Drive in 2021. Meanwhile, the main from Greenville Avenue to Matilda Street is over 20 years old, and the pipes between Matilda and Hubert Streets were installed in 1999, with one section from 1970.
“Dallas Water Utilities (DWU) manages approximately 5,080 miles of water mains and 4,084 miles of sewer mains,” the water utilities representative says in an email. “DWU evaluates the condition and capacity of each main to determine the need for replacement. If replacement is warranted, the main is prioritized for replacement through a future capital improvement project.”
The statement continues, “ Various factors can lead to water main breaks, including increased water demands and stress to the water system, changes in system pressures, changes in weather that lead to expansion and contraction of clay soils and aged infrastructure. Dallas Water Utilities has a multifaceted, strategic approach to protect the system through operation and maintenance, conservation efforts and our capital improvement program.”
Residents on La Vista Drive see the water breaks as a fairly minor inconvenience, if they have experienced them at all. They said the water was shut off for a few hours, but didn’t report major property damage or their lives being significantly affected.
Shannon Thornton, 57, has lived in her home on La Vista for 20 years and has seen the same place on the road flood about half a dozen times.
“You just see water seeping up out of this giant pothole and running down the street until the city sends a group,” Thornton says. Usually, the city is quick to address the leak within 24 hours, she says, but last time it seemed to take longer.
When this happens, the street is still usable, but motorists have to know how to drive around the pothole, which Thornton says was almost a sinkhole last time.
Thornton hopes that the utilities replacement project means the City will repave La Vista Drive and fix the potholes, but it’s unclear if that will be part of the plan.
City officials also expect to replace the water main on Oram Street from Skillman Street to Abrams Road, which has broken seven times between 2000 and 2025. The main is a cast iron pipe installed in 1928 and will be replaced with PVC. The project is in the design phase.
Like her neighbors, Thornton took a more or less pragmatic approach to the water main breaks — it’s just something that happens, but it’s not the end of the world.
“I guess we figure we’re not alone,” she says. “Truly, it happens all over the city. It’s a big city.”
Illustration by smartboy10
CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT
BEST ART GALLERY
WINNER - TOMMY DEAN ART (ART ON MAIN)
2ND - BATH HOUSE CULTURAL CENTER
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WINNER - DALLAS ARBORETUM AND BOTANICAL GARDEN
2ND - GRANADA THEATER
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BEST MEMBERS-ONLY CLUB
WINNER - LAKEWOOD COUNTRY CLUB
2ND - THE EXCHANGE CLUB OF EAST DALLAS
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WINNER - WHITE ROCK LAKE PARK (FOR THE LOVE OF THE LAKE)
2ND - LAKEWOOD PARK
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BEST PLACE FOR DOGS
WINNER - WHITE ROCK LAKE DOG PARK
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3RD - WHITE ROCK ALEHOUSE & BREWERY
BEST SUMMER CAMPS FOR KIDS
WINNER - WHITE ROCK YMCA
2ND - ASI GYMNASTICS- LAKEWOOD
3RD - LAKEWOOD CONSERVATORY OF FINE ARTS
WHO REPRESENTS YOU?
Story by ALYSSA HIGH
In the City of Dallas, council members may come to mind. But behind every council member are topical boards and commissions that advise the council. Volunteer-based positions are appointed by council members for their district, with exceptions for district-only boards. Often we see the same 10 people in our neighborhoods jumping up to volunteer and speak out for their community, but volunteers can only serve on two. So where are the people that represent you?
When a charter amendment passed last year that allowed the public to sue the City for not complying with laws outlined in the charter, a petition signed by more than 80 neighborhood leaders came forth, demanding that the City remove those who have exceeded their term or be sued. The letter alluded to a number of commissioners fitting this bill without naming many names.
So we did a deep dive into the City’s database of all boards and commissions and their members.
WHAT ARE THE RULES TO PLAY?
Council members begin the nomination process during August of every odd year. Nominees:
• Must live in the city for at least six months.
• Must have no serious convictions.
• Must not have pending litigation against the City or a City employee.
• Must not owe any taxes or other obligations to the City.
• Must not be an employee of the City.
• Does not have to live in the district for which they are appointed, unless expressly noted.
• May serve a maximum of four consecutive two-year terms with at least one term elapsed before being on the same board again.
Another notable issue is that 75 commissioners reside in a different district than they serve across district-based boards/ commissions. While this is allowed per the City Charter and residence in or prior knowledge of a district is not required for service, it highlights a problem that we’re all aware of but rarely see evidence of: Residents of several wealthy neighborhoods (like 14, which makes up the majority of those serving in other districts) have a greater voice in City Hall than the rest of us.
Additionally, each districtbased board or commission also holds space for a commissioner nominated by the mayor, who is also required to appoint a chair of the commission from the members appointed. Of these positions, six out of 22 (27%) are vacant, and two are past their term limit.
(THEY ARE NOT REINVESTMENT ZONES OR DISTRICT-BASED BUT ARE TOPICAL OR GEOGRAPHICAL.) 123 POSITIONS
21 ARE REINVESTMENT ZONES 112 POSITIONS 14 GROUPED MISCELLANEOUS
22 ARE DISTRICT-BASED 330 POSITIONS
EAST DALLAS - DISTRICT 2, 9 AND 14
Like most of Dallas’ major neighborhoods, City Council districts exceed the boundaries of what we consider Lakewood or East Dallas. It’s important to acknowledge that, while these numbers are for the totality of Districts 2, 9 and 14, District 2 loops around the center of the city for some reason. Fourteen covers most of Uptown and Downtown. And District 9 creeps into Lake Highlands. But for the purposes of this data set, we’re only able to look at the districts as a whole.
DISTRICT 2
VACANCIES (PERMIT AND LICENSE APPEAL BOARD, ETHICS ADVISORY COMMISSION & DALLAS HOUSING PUBLIC FACILITY CORPORATION)
COMMISSIONERS SERVING PAST THEIR TERM LIMIT
COMMISSIONERS WHO LIVE IN OTHER DISTRICTS
DISTRICT 9
O VACANCIES
O COMMISSIONERS SERVING PAST THEIR TERM LIMIT
COMMISSIONERS WHO LIVE IN OTHER DISTRICTS
DISTRICT 14
VACANCY (VETERAN AFFAIRS COMMISSION)
O COMMISSIONERS SERVING PAST THEIR TERM LIMIT
COMMISSIONERS WHO LIVE IN OTHER DISTRICTS
COMMISSIONERS FROM D9 ARE SERVING IN OTHER DISTRICTS
COMMISSIONERS FROM D2 ARE SERVING IN OTHER DISTRICTS
COMMISSIONERS FROM D14 ARE SERVING IN OTHER DISTRICTS
There is ONE REINVESTMENT ZONE in our neighborhood, Deep Ellum. It has one vacancy.
OUT OF 330 POSITIONS IN DISTRICT-BASED BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, 44 ARE VACANT / 75 RESIDE IN A DIFFERENT DISTRICT THAN THEY SERVE / 25 ARE AT THE END OF THEIR ALLOWED TERM, UNABLE TO SERVE AGAIN IN SEPTEMBER, AND THEIR SEATS WILL BE UP FOR GRABS / 235 ARE ON CITYWIDE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
HOW CAN THOSE INTERESTED IN FILLING VACANCIES GET INVOLVED?
Explore the City’s boards and commissions webpage to see available positions. Fill out an online application. Introduce yourself to the council member who is set to make the appointments in the fall and keep in communication.
*All data represented in this story was taken from the City of Dallas Boards & Commissions website and, thus, is likely to have errors. Data was pulled on May 5, 2025, and is reflective of information available on the website at that time. Additionally, while we are sure that lots of time and effort go into carefully choosing the boundary lines for City Council districts, to our untrained eyes, it looks like a mis-filled color-by-numbers sheet. Most of the districts exceed our neighborhood and coverage boundaries, so district data is reflective of more than just the neighborhood. I mean, look at District 2. What is that?
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OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
B y PATTI VINSON
Bee thankful
Urban wildlife biologist:
‘Because bugs exist, we can exist.’
QUICK: WHAT IS YOUR FIRST THOUGHT WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORD “BEE”?
Something that will sting you, something to swat? Just for the record, never swat at a bee. Terrible idea. Let’s turn that line of thinking around. Listen to a couple of neighbors who feel gratitude for and appreciate the bees buzzing around our neighborhood, pollinating and playing an incredibly important role in our ecosystem.
DFW Urban Wildlife Biologist Sam Kieschnick was fresh off a weeklong trip to West Texas to study the wildlife in those dry parts when I contacted him with a few bee questions. He jumped right in. “I’ll start out with my love for bees — they’re just so dang charming!We are quite lucky in DFW to have a lot of different types of bees. ”
According to Kieschnick,around 150 bee species have been documented so far in the Metroplex. “They can be incredibly small (some of the sweat bees are only like a quarter of an inch), or pretty dang big — those bumblebees can be quite chunky. ”
He continues, “You find bees where you’d find flowers — so pretty much anywhere in DFW. The plants can be wildflowers close to the ground, shrubs or even trees – bees visit all of these locations in the landscape. ”
His favorite places to go “bee hunting” are the wild parks and preserves. “These are the places that have lots of wildlife habitat and a diversity of different kinds of plants. ”
In East Dallas, Kieschnick says White Rock Lake and the surrounding areas are perfect hangouts for pollinators like bees. Yes, there are lots of pollinators around:
birds, butterflies, beetles, flies, bats. But with all due respect to the bees’ pollinator colleagues, the bee is the most efficient of them all. “Bees are usually covered in lots of little hairs, and those hairs pick up the pollen, and as the bees visit another flower, they pollinate it. Most of our fruits and veggies exist thanks to bees,”Kieschnick explains. “Most of our flowers look or smell pleasant because they’re for attracting bees. ”
Unfortunately, bees, like many insects, are threatened by loss of habitat, pesticides/ herbicides, climate change, urbanization and other issues. Why be concerned about bugs?“They are the foundation of healthy ecosystems,”Kieschnick says. “Because bugs exist, we have food: pollination. Because bugs exist, we have cleaner air and water: ecosystem services driven by biodiversity. Because bugs exist, we can exist. ”
You can help bees by planting a variety of native flowers/plants. “In the urban ecosystem, even the smallest piece of land can be a genuine refuge for so many organisms. If folks are able to put in a diversity of plants, nature ‘smells’ this and easily returns. ”
Kieschnick suggests just a few: Autumn Sage, Turk’s Cap, Coralberry, Lantana, Cutleaf Daisy, Mexican Hat, Coneflower, Bluebonnet, Blackeyed Susan. “Biodiversity is the most important thing for any landscape, so experimenting with several different species is good for the pollinators and all of the urban ecosystem. ”
East Dallas neighbor Ryan Giesecke is another bee enthusiast. He is a master naturalist, master beekeeper and owner/operator of two businesses: Honey Bee Relocation Services and G-bar Naturals, an East Dallas homestead where he takes his removal bees and offers agricultural and nature-oriented education.
If you scroll through neighborhood social media, you’ve likely noticed more than a few semi-panicked posts from people who have discovered bees on or in their property. Enter Giesecke’s services. He has answered many a call from residents with bees in uninsulated spaces such as garage walls, porch ceilings
and spaces between floor joists.
While most of his work is residential, there is the occasional commercial job. “We broke our record for height a few years ago with a call to remove bees from 13 stories up in downtown Fort Worth. ”And among his more unusual cases? “I’veremoved bees from motorcycles and helicopters. ”
The number of calls varies from season to season, but late spring and early summer keep him hopping. “It’s not impossible for us to be getting a couple dozen inquiries in a day during busy season. ”
Most removal calls are about honey bees, but a small percentage involve bumble bees. Honey bees often require removal because they establish perennial colonies that may be there indefinitely. Bumble bees, on the other hand, pack up and leave in the fall. “I love the moments when I can address a caller’s concerns just by teaching them about the bees they’re seeing. ”
In his decade of bee business, Giesecke has come to appreciate bees beyond their importance as pollinators. “Sometimes I think the most important thing we get from our bees is what they can teach us. I find myself thinking about their teamwork, their altruism, their specialization, their adaptability, their fragility, their dedication to family, or the way they highlight everything else happening in and to the environments in which they participate. I’m reminded of a John Muir quote: ‘When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. ’”
“I also think that there’s such tremendous intrinsic joy from watching bees and other insects. They’re simply spectacular and gorgeous if you modify your perspective just a bit. Look closer at nature, and you can be amazed at the organisms that exist all around you,” Kieschnick adds.
PATTI VINSON is a guest writer who has lived in East Dallas for more than 20 years. She’s written for the Advocate and Real Simple magazine.
